from the album "Big Eye Little Eye" (2005)
This is a cover from Paul McCartney's 'Band on the Run' album (1973)
Our version of the track was recently featured on a compilation released by Mojo Magazine called "Songs in the Key of Paul" along side such notable acts as Squeeze, The Nerves, Yo Le Tengo, Robyn Hitchcock, and The Flaming Groovies.

Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five

from the album 'Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band'

Vocals: Yoko Ono
Guitar: John Lennon
Bass: Klaus Voormann
Drums: Ringo Starr

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band is the avant-garde debut album by Yoko Ono, which came after recording three experimental releases with John Lennon and a live album as a member of the Plastic Ono Band. With the exception of one track (recorded with Ornette Coleman), the entire album emerged from one raw and cacophonous freeform session when, improvising throughout, Ono develops and pushes to extremes her characteristic trademark, a strained vocal style derived from Japanese hetai, a vocal technique used in Kabuki performances.

It was recorded simultaneously with her husband's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band at Ascot Sound Studios and Abbey Road Studios using the same musicians and production team.

Initially on Apple Records, through EMI, Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band was released to considerable critical disdain in 1970, at a time when Ono was being widely blamed for the break-up of The Beatles. Notable exceptions were the estimations of Billboard who called it 'visionary' and critic Lester Bangs who supported it in Rolling Stone. More recently, the album has been credited (like those of The Velvet Underground) with having an influence, particularly on musicians, grossly disproportionate to its sales and visibility. Critic David Browne of Entertainment Weekly, has credited the album with "launching a hundred or more female alternative rockers, like Kate Pierson of the B-52s to current thrashers like L7 and Courtney Love of Hole."

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band - Why

Another in my series of Halloween soundtracks and long-form generative drone pieces. Play this on your home system in the background, or through outdoor speakers, to spookify the mood as the costumed tykes hit you up for treats. Guaranteed to get you in the spirit of things!

All Hallows' Eve 2022

All Hallows' Eve - 2022

Elstree
Words and Music by Trevor Horn & Geoff Downes
Arranged and Performed by Richard Arnold
April 2014

Lyrics:

I had a dream on a back lot. I saw my life like a long shot.
I smile at faces in a picture parade of all the stills from the films that you made
that we would see in the Essoldo after drinking coffee on the Giocondo

CHORUS
Elstree, Remember me. I had a part in a B movie. I played a man from history.
Elstree, I look at me. Now I work for the BBC. Life is not what it used to be.

I took no dives in the fight scene. I had a stuntman keep my suit clean.
There's no technology to fake up a song. They stop the orchestra if you get it wrong.

CHORUS
Elstree, Remember me. I had a part in a B movie. I played a man from history.
Elstree, I look at me. Now I work for the BBC. Life is not what it used to be.

They made a field into a war zone. I beat the enemy on my own.
All the bullets just went over my head. There's no reality and no one dead in...

CHORUS
Elstree, Remember me. I had a part in a B movie. I played a man from history.
Elstree
Etc.

Copyright (c) – 1979, Island Records Ltd.

Notes on the Song:

UPDATE 5/24/14: I uploaded a new version. I wasn't happy with the vocals, so I remixed them and applied different filters. I'm *still* not particularly happy with them now, but they are better than before, and I'm not as embarrassed by them. :)

"Elstree" is a song by The Buggles from their 1979 album "The Age of Plastic." It relates the story of a man looking back sadly on his former career as a B-movie actor at the Elstree Studios in London. Two words from the lyrics that are perhaps unknown to American audiences are "Essoldo" (a chain of movie houses in England) and "Giocondo" (which I believe is a reference to the "Giaconda Dining Room" restaurant in the London theatre district).

Notes on the Recording:

For the most part, my arrangement closely emulates the original recording, using synth sources to recreate strings, piano, oboe and percussion. Likewise, I heavily compressed the vocals in the verses. I added a few flourishes of my own to fill in some gaps, such as a countermelody in the second instrumental break and the addition of sound clips from movies recorded in whole or in part at the Elstree Studios. The sound clips are from the following movies: "Murder in Soho" (1939), "The Yangtse Incident" (1957), "Hell is a City" (1960), "Get Carter" (1971), and even a brief clip from "Star Wars" (1980).*

[*All sound clips are the rights of their respective owners. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.]

All instruments, including percussion, were manually recorded by me using a Korg M3 Workstation and a Novation MiniNova Analog Synthesizer. There were no drum machines, automated sequencers, Apple Loops, nor any outside recordings apart from the movie sound clips. Vocals received an assist from a TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch. All parts were recorded direct to Logic Pro 9 for the Mac.


This Recording Copyright (c) - 2014, Arnold's Logic. All Rights Reserved.

Elstree

Frame By Frame A-Cappella. Song by King Crimson 

Frame By Frame A-Cappella

I wanted to explore some more music from the 1980s. I also love the instrumentation and lyrics of this song! 
I sang all of the vocoder parts, and all the orchestral tracks were a combination of my Yamaha M06 keyboard and the East West Hollywood Strings Library. The guitars were a combination of my custom MarbleHead and Ibanez guitars. The drums are the Session Drummer 3 Glam Kit.

Sowing The Seeds Of Love - Tears for Fears (cover)

Had a lot of fun with this one, hope you enjoy it. :)

Tomorrow Never Knows (Beatles Cover)

The Buggles - Vermillion Sands (SJTA Remix)

A short medley of otherworldly sound and music from Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space. (infinitespacegames.com)

Weird Worlds: The Single

ATOMIC PEACH BOY covers The Buggles' other hit...

Michael D'Agostino: Drums, Vocals
Chris Breetveld: Bass, Fuzz Bass, Vocals
Dave Biglin: Lead Vocals, Keyboards

Elstree

mudhead02

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