Song #30: As Hot in the Dark (1981)

Just in time for Halloween, here is a song from the dead!*

I am an admitted wimp when it comes to scary movies or haunted houses, but when Damon Leigh brought me lyrics he had created about Peter Sellers speaking from the grave, I was all in.
I love to laugh, and although Damon and I may not share political beliefs, we still share deep appreciation for a good joke, British humor, and the actor/writer/musician Peter Sellers.

Perhaps, if congress would share one amazing laugh, our country could get along better?

Damon is a true wordsmith, and a real poet; the lyrics for this song work even spoken aloud around a campfire on a fall evening. I look forward to someday fulfilling my promise to him to develop the Broadway musical we started years ago.

And if anything, Tenacious D should definitely cover "As Hot in the Dark".

In the meantime, I hear Billy Joel needs a lyricist, so if anyone out there knows Billy, please pass Damon's information on to him.

As Hot in the Dark

I've been dying to meet you

But your lines have been tied

Help me breech this disconnection

From the other side

'Cause I finally made it

Where I grow my own grass

The last scene I played it

Was six handles and brass

No I could not take the monkey

Had to leave it all behind

Where I left the silver legend

Here to flicker on your mind

I'm a rolling Moviola

Lick** the switch and hit the spark

Stop believing that it's over

I'm as hot in the dark

I put on all your faces

And I pulled off my pants

In some celluloid aces

That I laid down to chance

Now I'm digging in the garden

But I had to get back

To tell you if you're wondering

I'm still alright Jack

No I could not take the monkey

Had to leave it all behind

Where I left the silver legend

Here to flicker on your mind

I'm a rolling Moviola

Lick the switch and hit the spark

Stop believing that it's over

I'm as hot in the dark

I was the first or so she said

No not the last in Lolita's bed

I made a stranger love instead

Showing my life I played the game

Knowing the price you can pay for fame

Britt Bacon: piano, electric piano, vocals

Teddy Zambetti: drums, bgs

Alan Morse: guitars, bgs

Scott Monahan: organ, bgs

Dean Groves: bass

Written by Britt Bacon and Damon Leigh
©1981

Source: 22 tracks Ampex audio tape 30 ips +3, baked, transferred (192k), and remixed  (no auto tune).

The most hellish/scariest part is that the mix could still be better...

Happy Halloween!

*As I read the Wikipedia entry for Mr. Sellers, it gives me goosebumps realizing that he was two years younger than I am now when he died. 

** Damon's original lyrics said "click", but for some reason I sang "lick". Chalk it up to my impetuous youth.

Song #29: Make It Good (1983)

Early on, attempting to push popular music boundaries, and always "working without a net", Ira Ingber and I made a strict pact to write NO LOVE SONGS.

This song is the closest we came to violating that pact. Using one of our favorite "Twilight Zone" episodes, "It's a Good Life" as the inspiration, we crafted a "love story" where one partner does whatever it takes to keep the other partner happy.

In 1983, the Linn Drum Machine was a ubiquitous device in most recording studios. It was the first commercially available drum machine to feature well-recorded samples of actual drums. 

It did not show up late or hung-over, and didn't complain when you wanted to try (yet) another take.

The sounds could be altered in pitch, or be altered completely by physically replacing the chips that produced each sound (some Linn's had John Bonham bass and snare drum samples). 

Attempting to give some human feel to this new robot drummer, we altered the drum machine's sound by feeding it into the speakers of the main recording room, and recording the resulting sound.

Make it Good

What's your pleasure

I'm your treasure

Shall we dance in the rain

Change the landscape

Plan our best escape

We'll take the midnight train

You are here this is true

And this is good

We're alive you and I this is real

Now that is good

You can think any single thought

But make it good make it good make it good

We can make love any way you want

But make it good make it very good

I can feel you

As I touch you

Please don't be afraid

Slow my blood flow

Funny how the time goes

In locked embrace

You are here this is true

And this is good

We're alive you and I this is real

Now that is good

You can do anything you want

But make it good make it good make it good

We can make love any way you want

But make it good make it good make it good

We can be anything we're not

But make it good make it very good

We can make love any way we want

But make it good make it very good

Britt Bacon: vocals

Ira Ingber: guitars, bass, drum programming, bgs

Katy Moffatt: bgs

Mark Morgan: keyboard

Written by Britt Bacon and Ira Ingber 

©1983

Source: 1/4" analogue tape 30ips