I'm intrigued to find out what song we have in common!
It's alphabetical, dear Angus.
Jon, did you know this?
Jolly Roger Recording in Hoboken, New Jersey recently completed the recording and mixing of the soundtrack for the MTV full length movie of the poplar animated series "DARIA."
The soundtrack was written and performed by JANET WYGAL of the band SPLENDORA who originally recorded the theme song of the long running MTV weekly DARIA animated series.
That's from 2001. In case you wondered what Janet was up to. I'm writing about The Individuals for the book.
I knew that Janet did the theme song, but I never watched Daria and didn't know there was a full-length film.
Splendora (originally known as Popsicle) had a great demo cassette in 1993 that I played to death on the radio. I got them a show at the Middle East around that time. She was as nice as she was beautiful (and as The Most Beautiful Woman in Indie-Rock, that says a lot) As I write this, I found a second demo that Janet sent me a year later, complete with a hand-written note and the closing "Hope you're swell -- Janet." I remember that the 12-year-old in me was giggling for a week.
She also contributed a vocal to the most recent Two Dollar Guitar record.
Trouser Press dismissed The Individuals album as "unmemorable." Poppycock, I say! Glenn Morrow went on to Rage to Live, Jon Klages played with Russ Tolman (ex True West) and Richard Lloyd, Janet formed The Wygals, then Splendora. Sheesh, I know people that still prize their last beat up copy of
Fields
as if it were precious and irreplaceable (which it is).
Klages also had a solo album that featured an as-yet-unrecorded Yo La Tengo as his backing band.
Wasn't Trouser Press really Anglophelic (is that the word)? No surprise they wouldn't did The Individuals.
Wasn't Trouser Press really Anglophelic (is that the word)? No surprise they wouldn't did The Individuals.
They started off being very Anglophile back when there was a lot of reason for that stance (mid 70s). But they covered tons of stateside new wave and were especially on top of the Hoboken bands.
The Individuals sound very much like a mix of first album Feelies with first two albums by The dBs (Gene Holder produced the record), with bits of Pylon and some later bands like The Silos. But they had three songwriters, four singers and interesting arrangements on all the songs giving them that classic tension/release thang we like from the art pop. Jangly, skittery guitar, superthump bass, danceable rhythms and lots of deadpan surreal lyrics.
On the other hand, would it be terribly wrong to include the Cantina Band Theme from Star Wars on my mix? :)
Although I'm not participating, I'll point out that it isn't the worst song you could come up with. The year of SW was also the year of "You Light Up My Life." Which is too sappy even for me.
Oh, as I said--I was born in a year with a LOT of bad bad bad music. Baaaaaaad music. But that link Jon gave was FABULOUS, and gave me several ideas (and I had no idea a few of them were from my year! (1977, if you hadn't got it by the Star Wars thing)).
Glad t' be of service, ma'am.
I would like to announce that I got the best Chrismukah present EVER from erinaceous today.
Ahem! My favourite song of all time was released in 1977!
