The Official Website of the FREELANCE VANDALS

*mp3:

Holiday - Freelance Vandals

Great Ooogly Googly!  Today on the TV Eye we feature the Freelance Vandals on that great adult kiddie show, The Uncle Floyed Show!  This tv appearance comes from 1981 and features the band playing Roll That Rock, a song which Ray & I wrote that is based on (gasp!) The Myth of Sisyphus (Hey, how about that--- greek mythology in a rock song folks!) 

Let it be noted that I am indeed one of the worst lip synchers ever to trod the tv screen... Huzzah!

Special thanks go out to my daughter Molly who is in the process of transferring all of my old Freelance Vandals video to the digital realm!  We hope to have a comprehensive video archive set up in the Freelance Vandals Museum within a couple of weeks!

Every week

We post another song from...

THE FREELANCE VANDALS TAPE LIBRARY!

This week's selection...

DREAMING OF THE SNAKE

(click on link to play or download song)

Today's song, Dreaming of The Snake, is a brief meditation on Jim Morrison of The Doors. Back in 1982, I wanted to write something about the cult of Morrison that had sprang to life in the years following the singer's death. To me, there seemed to be some sort of hypnotic influence that was floating around Morrison's moth-to-the-flame persona. I've always been fascinated with other folks enthrallment with celebrity and the depth that some people think a famous person brings to their lives. It takes the art of fame to the Andy Warhol realm of disposable hoo-hah. I always liked this recording which is an outtake from the band's 1984 live album, Yer Money Or Yer Ears. Listen to the thunderous rumble of Billy's drums and Mike's bass, Tommy Yamasaki's sweet soprano sax and the erstwhile Al Speed conjuring up a great mock Ray Manzarek organ solo. Ooh yeah. Nicely done fellas!

Note to all the Doors fans out there: Yes, I know the song takes liberties with the actual timeline of Morrison's death. Let's just chalk that up to artistic license, eh?

DREAMING OF THE SNAKE

(J.P. Gelinas - R. Finch)

I heard he died in Paris 'round 1969

The Lizard King, I heard him sing, he was so serpentine

He always dressed in leather, that was his big mistake

Tonight, you'll pull the covers up....

Dreaming of the Snake... Dreaming of the Snake

His body was a hobo, looking for a ride

A messenger of promise that came from deep inside

Just like Houdini, he made the great escape

Tonight, you'll pull the covers up...

Dreaming of the Snake... Dreaming of the Snake

In a ghost white bathroom, he turned out the light

Out here in the jungle, nobody gets out alive.... awright!

I heard he died in Paris 'round 1969

The Lizard King I heard him sing, he was so serpentine

He always dressed in leather, it was his big mistake

Tonight, you'll pull the covers up...

Dreaming of the Snake... Dreaming of the Snake.... Dreaming of the Snake

..........................................................................

Hmmmm, let's see what's on the ol' disc player today...

ah yes, The Sky Is Falling by James Cotton! 

This one comes from the out-of-print Takin Care Of Business lp (Capitol Records 1971) that was produced by none other than Todd Rundgren (who handles all of the lead guitar parts on the record as well).  I love this whole album because it was one of the first blues albums I'd heard which placed blues music in a more modernistic setting (much like some of Paul Butterfield's work at the time) thereby avoiding the old traditional cliches.

*mp3:  The Sky Is Falling

Amidst all of the madness surrounding the death of Michael Jackson, the demise of the sixties rock icon Sky Saxon has gone largely unnoticed. Saxon, the leader of the Seeds and composer of the seminal classic Pushin Too Hard, passed away on Thursday due to "a massive infection of his internal organs."

From the Wikipedia site: "Lead singer and bass guitaritst Sky Saxon was heavily influenced by Mick jagger, and the group promoted the fact that blues great Muddy Waters once called them 'America's own Rolling Stones'.  Keyboardist Daryl Hooper was a major factor in the band's sound; the band was one of the first to utilize keyboard bass; guitarists Jan Savage and Jeremy Levine with drummer Rick Andridge completed the original quintet, but Levine left shortly after the first recording sessions for personal reasons.  The Seeds' first single, Can't Seem To Make You Mine, was a regional hit in southern California in 1965. The song was also played regularly on AM rock stations in northern California (and probably elsewhere), where it was well received by listeners. The band had their only national Top 40 hit, Pushin' Too Hard, in 1966 (#44 in Canada). Three subsequent singles, Mr. Farmer (also 1966), a re-release of Can't Seem To Make You Mine (1967) (#33 in Canada), and A Thousand Shadows (1968) achieved more modest success, although all were most popular in southern California. Though musically primitive, one album was devoted to the blues (with liner notes by Muddy Waters), and another (Future, 1967) was full-blown psychedelic rock, with ornate flower-themed graphics to match.  By mid-1968, with their commercial popularity flagging, the group's personnel began to change; the band was renamed Sky Saxon and the Seeds in 1969, by which point Bob Norsoph, guitar, and Don Boomer, drums, had replaced Savage and Andridge. Saxon continued to use the name The Seeds, using various backup musicians, at least through 1972; the last major-label records of new material by The Seeds—two non-charting singles on MGM records—were released in 1970.  After the dissolution of the Seeds, Sky Saxon joined the Yahowha religious sect, inspired by their divine leader Father Yod. He released several albums as the Yahowha 13 in the mid 1970s. Members of the sect went their separate ways after Father Yod died in a hang gliding accident in 1974, although Saxon continues to collaborate with various members of the Yahowa to this day.  In the 1980s, Saxon collaborated with several bands—including Redd Kross and The Chesterfield Kings —before reforming the original Seeds in 1989 to headline The Summer of Love Tour, along with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Arthur Lee and Love, The Music Machine and The Strawberry Alarm Clock.  The Seeds remained dormant again until 2003, when Saxon reformed them with original guitarist Jan Savage and newcomer Rick Collins on bass. This new version of the Seeds has gone through several incarnations, with Savage departing midway through their 2003 European tour due to his health. Saxon remained the only original member of The Seeds, which continued to tour Europe and the United States."

I can vividly recall how in-the-moment Saxon and the Seeds sounded when I first dropped their Pushin Too Hard 45 on the old turntable.  Mmmmm, pure brutal youth that made me gasp for air... and besides that, the record featured one of my favorite guitar solos ever (I revel in its cheesyness!)  In retrospect, it's easy to see where many of the punk rock singers found their inspiration--- from Saxon's nasal sneering vocalese.  Well done Sky.... and have a happy journey.

*mp3:

Pushin Too Hard

Mr. Farmer