Strangetown
Episode #184: Strange Town\xa0 \xa0 \xa0(Song starts at 4:41 & 26:00 )\nIf it\u2019s your first time here, thanks for dropping by. You\u2019ve picked an interesting one - this is a bit of a wild and whacky episode.\nI\u2019ve picked on an old song from 1987. I was a \u2018piano man\u2019 back then, Paul Dredge ( co-writer / long time buddy ) and I were performing as a duo in the evenings, presenting dining music.\nBut we were ready to rock out\u2026 in some sort of inner David Byrne (from Talking Heads), style - a zany sort of rock (Now it\u2019s 2023, I still feel the same way - maybe that 80s synth rock album needs to be prioritised..)\nBack in 1998, we borrowed some 4 tracking (early multi tracking) recording gear. And away we went.\nWe picked song #38 (I\u2019ve now gone on to composed 800+). You\u2019ll get to hear the piano vocal version I recorded as part of this episode\xa0 - and you\u2019ll also hear the old 4 tracked version as well. It\u2019s pretty lively, I can\u2019t quite believe where we got to, given it was our first effort at producing a multi tracked recording of a song.\nWhen you consider the lyrics..\u2019oh steel blue eyes, see painted city scapes\u2019, they sound pretty mellow, right?\nWell, there are no rules when it comes to creating music. That\u2019s part of the joy. You have total freedom. It\u2019s like going on a holiday, when there are no firm plans. You roll with what ever comes along.\nTo be honest, the 4 tracked version from April \u201998 is pretty rough and ready. We had no idea how to make the borrowed gear \u2018go\u2019. But we were determined to do it - and we were going to have some fun.\nSo am I embarrassed to share this in 2023?. The answer is: not even close. What you\u2019ll hear are two enthusiastic, inspired young people. And what we caught on tape really has some merit still, today, I think.\nI composed the music for this song on the piano (lyrics were written first). As the song took shape, I started to hear a band arrangement in my mind straight away. This became the vision I started with when we recorded.\nPoor old Paul\u2026 he was in charge of the drum machine. I was thumping out a guide track on the old acoustic piano, calling out to Paul speed up & slow down the tempo, repeatedly. To Paul\u2019s credit he didn\u2019t block me and we carried on.\nI glad we recorded it the way we did it. There is nothing quite like realising a vision, something you have in mind.\nHere\u2019s my blog with the lyrics, etc www.petepascoe.wordpress.com\xa0.\nHere we go.. \u2018from TV to office, rat race to numbness \u2018, ..leave it all behind for a while - it\u2019s time for a song and some chat - including the 80s synth rock guitar band recording -\xa0 all fun here.