Looking through old cassette tapes one day a few years back, I found some preliminary versions of songs that I had written, and then forgotten about. One of them interested me, so I re-learned it, and recently recorded it (officially) for the first time. I’m guessing it was composed circa 1983. I shot a bare-bones YouTube video with my flip recorder (remixed Dec. 1, 2018).
Two new videos are now available for your viewing pleasure. The first is a 22-second unedited file straight from my Flip camera to you, shot while waiting at Nathan’s in Coney Island last summer. The second is a music video for Tunnel of Love, a 1980 composition that I recorded last year (remixed Feb. 24, 2018), and for which I shot all the video and created several animated sequences. For those of you with modern computers and high-speed internet connections, please click the “watch in high quality” link when you get to the YouTube page (the link is located at the bottom right of the video window).
Details for some of the still images and animations in the Tunnel of Love video are as follows: the tunnel image comes from the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus), a chalet in the German Alps built as a 50th birthday present for Adolf Hitler; the superimposed semi-circular “tunnel of love” text is extracted from an image of an actual tunnel of love whose location I was unable to determine; the phallic stone turret containing the dancers is part of The Fuerta San Felipe del Morro, constructed in 1539 in Puerto Rico; the animated dancers are based on an image of four Boca Raton salsa dancers, apparently shot at an event for “4over, Inc.” (a wholesale trade printing company whose corporate office is in Glendale, California); the two painting fragments are based on Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory” (1931), and Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” (1504); and the animated dueling trumpeters are loosely based on images of Miles Davis (from the “Tribute to Jack Johnson” album cover of 1970) and Dizzy Gillespie. By the way, for all you trumpet players, the musical notation accompanying the trumpet solo is an accurate transcription, created on GarageBand based on my midi keyboard improvisation, and transfered to the video by (a) executing a screen capture of the musical notation displayed on GarageBand, (b) cleaning up the image and making the background transparent in PhotoShop, and (c) importing the image into Final Cut Express, where it was motion keyframed in sync with the music.
I present two songs, one old and one new. I wrote This Isn’t Hollywood in 1981, a few years after hearing Billy Joel’s “Say Goodbye to Hollywood,” to which it refers obliquely (at the end of the song). Mister Nobody was a collaboration between myself (music) and Jennie Ochshorn (words); Jennie wrote the lyrics in 2007.
The song, Squints on a Triple, is based on a true story: my daughter Jennie beat me in a game of Scrabble by putting the word “squints” on a triple word square on her last turn. Scrabble fans know that putting the letter “Q” on a triple word square generates many points; having the letter “Q” simultaneously on a double letter square makes the points scored even greater, and the pain of defeat that much more severe. Warning: song contains some metaphorical content.
Shadows Burn was written and recorded in 2007. I just shot and edited a YouTube video (remixed De. 2, 2018) including me walking all over Collegetown and the Cornell campus, (with historic shots of the Brandon Avenue sidewalk in Ithaca, NY prior to its obliteration and reconstruction in June 2008) as well as some special effects.
Manifesto of Love is a song that I wrote in 1983, based on an interest both in manifestos and in gospel-tinged piano-oriented rock. The current arrangement adds guitar, drums, bass, and a touch of organ, but pretty much preserves the original feel of the solo piano. As has become usual, you may find links to both a YouTube video, as well as its “home” on my music webpage (including lyrics and production notes). Susan again provided the outstanding videography using my Flip video recorder; I did the video editing using Final Cut Express.
I began Shrinkwrap in late 2007 and finished it early this year as a poem; only later was it set to music, unlike most of the other songs I’ve written, which have started as musical ideas. I created some animated sequences (frame-by-frame in PhotoShop) and tried out some keyframe-triggered effects while editing the video. Susan shot most of the footage (with Rob providing the meat). Here are two links: to the song and lyrics; and to the YouTube video. The video also contains short excerpts from another version of the song (in the intro and ending sequences), which otherwise shall remain unpublished. Thanks to Joe at Tony’s Barber Stylist on Linden Avenue in Ithaca for playing the barber in our haircut scene.
We drove down to Merion, PA during Spring Break, to visit the Barnes Foundation before its extensive collection of artworks is dismantled and shipped to Philadelphia. I made a short movie with my Flip video camcorder of the trip; of course this meant I needed to write a soundtrack for the movie. One thing led to another, so here is the music video derived from the movie. I experimented with the “protest” song genre, so hopefully, it sounds a bit familiar, without being explicitly stolen from anything in particular. There are two links here: one for the SoundCloud link and the other for the YouTube video (remixed Aug. 24, 2019).
Ran Thru My Mind represents another experiment with live recording and videography. This is another “old” song (written circa 1980), but recorded for the first time in March 2008. Unlike the “live” recording of Almost Doesn’t Count, this one has some basic tracks (drums, bass, piano) pre-recorded on GarageBand before the “live” guitar and vocals are recorded. Hence the headphones in the video. Like the last one, the one-take videography is by Susan Schwartz; I did the editing on Final Cut Express. See video.
I wrote Almost Doesn’t Count in 1978, so this recording marks a 30th anniversary of sorts. After trying a few arrangements with drums, bass, and so on, I decided to just play the song live, using a single mic and acoustic guitar, pretty much as it was originally written. I asked Susan to film the project while I recorded to a single track on GarageBand (you can see my salvaged eMac in the background). She used my new pocket-size Flip video recorder, also in a single take; the result can be seen courtesy of YouTube. Videography: Susan Schwartz.