In a world where it seems everyone and anybody can have their own podcast (and not necessarily pull it off so it's interesting) it's refreshing to find one that's done it right - even more so to find one that offers a unique twist - adding something you're not likely to come across just about everywhere else. (What is that, you ask? Well - we'll get to that in a moment...) May I direct your ears to a relatively new addition to the podcast world "The Royd's Revue Podcast" featuring Robb Hall and Andrew Jefferes.
Full disclosure: Andy's my nephew. Am I biased? Go scratch yer ass!! I mean - no - of course not... I can write an unbiased review - just watch me...
The title of their podcast "The Royd's Revue" gives you some insight to what to expect. They review movies... as to today's date they've done several from the Jurassic Park franchise, Toy Story, and Thor - but here's the twist...
Being musicians they give themselves an ingenious homework assignment - they create songs to accompany their individual perspectives - record them separately - and then reveal what they've done to each other at the end of the podcast, after a coin flip (or as a few episodes I've listened to, a guitar pick flip.) The result is nothing short of amazing.
Given the time constraints these are often spontaneous, unpolished recordings - and they admit to flubs they've left in, recording styles outside of their comfort zones, and even riffs they've nicked from other sources.
More often than not they choose to record from the perspective of one of the characters in the movie - most recently, episode 8 - Thor: The Dark World, Robb wrote "That Hammer" from Jane's perspective (Thor's love interest) - while Andy wrote "I'll Show You" - from Loki's (Thor's brother - and as the Royd's put it - a very sad boy).
But before they even get to the music I must say I enjoy the banter... Robb and Andy, longtime pals, are genuinely synched - and quite funny! The Royd's have done a hilarious video to their Christmas single "Christmas Is Cancelled" and Robb is no stranger to doing stand-up - we've also featured Robb several times on our website doing his "Dick Bones Show" - interviewing a fork, a bat, a box of tissues, a french press, a printer, over-ripe bananas...
So check them out! Listen to the podcast - you can find their spontaneous combustions available for download at their band camp channel and you may even find a few podcast accompanying videos courtesy of Ravid Design on their youtube channel.
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As a side note to The Royd's: How can you possibly think Woody tried to murder Buzz Lightyear - you sick BASTARDS!!!
I
should really pay more attention to these things... apparently the Out
Of Bodies have WON BEST SONG Alternative Pop Rock 2021 at
IndieMusicPeople.com - and we've been awarded our first Golden Kayak for "On
and On" - To think that a little impromptu warm-up recording we did in Dan's cramped bedroom in the Bronx on Ollinville Road - so many years ago - could somehow find life anew and cut through all the clutter and get noticed today - that was... well, UNEXPECTED to say the least!
Various internet stations took the time to leave us notes...
The PICNIC station wrote "reminds me of a Beatles outtake maybe, or The Kinks, poppy, catchy concoction, musical and fun - kudos..."
SMILE ABOUT IT wrote "enjoy the musicality, and quite c-a-t-c-h-y chorus, who doesn't understand "on and on", and the repetition is strangely liberating, neat backing vocals also, recalls the 60s in exuberance and pop simplicity, kudos..."
TERRY TONER, Radio Southland wrote "Congratulations to the OOB on your award win - wonderful news - from Terry T :-) - longtime supporter of OOB - New Zealand - lemonade all around - all the best for many more :-))))
To be fair it's easy to see why last year's nominee picks got lost in the rubble - as the site crashed during a routine maintenance procedure which left it almost completely inoperable for several months - and it happened just around the same time they began announcing their Golden Kayak winners. Good news is that they've apparently worked out their site bugs and are back online - and bleary-eyed musicians everywhere are returning to their pages to find, as I did, whether or not they've won any categories. Best Song Alternative Pop Rock on our first go around - what a nice surprise - and it's a song that features Dan, Mark and myself... can't wait to tell the other fellas...
In addition to our win we've been nominated for several other
songs which caught their attention, "Roses", "In The South Bronx", "Mirror Land", "Willow" and "Mashed
Potato"...
You read that right... Beavis and Butthead are back in a new movie set for release this June, "Beavis and Butthead Do The Universe" and here's a little sneak peek.
Mike Judge returns as the voices of both Beavis and Butthead, and this time they're on a space mission with NASA in the year 1998 (the year after the original series ended) - - but somehow they wind up in the year 2022 (oh, God - help them!) As the NSA and the U.S. government track them down, the two struggle to adjust to this bizarre new world they find themselves in - while retaining their juvenile sense of wonder and awkward innocence. I guess the lesson here would be is, if Beavis and Butthead can get through this, so can we.
Regarding the cameo with Cher - she looks pretty damn good here (I just googled her - is she really 76 years old?) - she looks better here than she's looked 10 years ago. With modern de-aging technology available these days could there be some digital tampering afoot? Regardless, she's a good sport - even to go as far as making Butthead think he's got a chance to score with her, "You feeling' lucky, Butthead? ...You know all you gotta do is... yeah... lose... (gesturing with her eyes towards Beavis) ....lose... you know who...". Butthead lifts off his virtual helmet and looks at Beavis, who still has his on and says "Hey, Beavis... get OUT of here!" Butthead's already forgotten the whole encounter with Cher was via virtual reality. But to Butthead scoring is scoring... even virtually.
If you were at the Pine Bush UFO Fair this weekend you probably saw THIS guy! That's our Joey (with some friends) posing between the kiosks I made for him! It was a lovely event - and unlike last year the transient lunatic touching all the objects clearly marked "do not touch" was a no show - although they were ready for him this time! (I'm imagining security guards dressed up as extraterrestrials).
It's been roughly 4 or 5 years since I posted Sarah Silverman in a Gorilla Suit (for no apparent reason - other than Joey likes gorillas - and subsequently, gorilla suits, and I like... well... Sarah) and as I recall the hits went through the roof. Search words like "Out Of Bodies" gets barely a trickle... but Sarah Silverman in a Gorilla Suit? Jackpot!
With that in mind Sarah Silverman Flashing Various Groups of People may just crash the internet. That wouldn't be so bad, would it? We could all probably use a little downtime - we're all just a bit over-saturated with social media, aren't we? Yes we are - and that includes you too! Yes, YOU!!
This one's my favorite of the three - - oddly enough it's got the least of Sarah, but look at the expressions on those Japanese tourist's faces! (Oooooooh you - - Click! Click! Click!) And while we're on the subject of Sarah Silverman - make sure to check out her excellent podcast, The Sarah Silverman Podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts - and keep an eye out for her brand new off-Broadway Musical production of her best seller book The Bedwetter.
Out of everything ever recorded by the Out Of Bodies I'd say the Unicorn Song is the most collaborative effort between Dan and I - especially when it came to one particular effect we used during the recording process - in which we borrowed heavily out of the Beatles/George Martin handbook of psychedelic recording techniques! Inspired by songs like "Rain", "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Taxman", which all feature backward guitar licks, I thought it'd be interesting to see if we could pull off the same trippy effect using Dan's ole' Fostex 4-track cassette recorder.
Kickin' it old school
If you're at all familiar with how those old 4-track mixers worked, then you're also probably a member of AARP - - I mean, AHEM!! Sorry 'bout that - I meant to say you're probably familiar with how BASIC they were. Kids, listen up, because the more you know what we had to work with, the more you'll appreciate what we had to figure out! Remember, this was an analog recorder - as opposed to DIGITAL. Some would say the difference between the two was as evident as CDs are to VINYL. I know, I know... WHAT'S a CD? I think I've just lost half my audience - - ha ha!!
Okay, hang in there with me. I know this is all defunct old school talk - but still, pretty cool stuff if you ask me. Okay... Dan's 4-track recorder worked with cassette tapes. Now there are plenty of YouTube videos out there that will tell you about the problems associated with cassettes (they'd unravel, they'd stick, and in time the tape oxide that recorded your music would deteriorate - all true) but you'll ALSO find videos praising them for their unbelievable sound and "punch". Okay, now considering you probably have at least seen a cassette tape in your lifetime - remember that they could be played (and likewise recorded) on two sides. There was side A and the flipside was side B. Each side utilized 2 tracks each - a left and right channel, which gave you stereo. 4-track cassette recorders simply utilized ALL 4 tracks at once - recording in one direction only.
Technically Speaking
For the Unicorn Song I knew that if you recorded a guitar solo on one track, and then turned the cassette over and listened to it, you'd hear how it sounded going backwards. If you then listened to that track and again played (and recorded) what you were hearing - you can then DISCARD the first track and replace it with the track you just mimicked - and played backwards THAT would give you a backwards guitar - only it'd ALSO give you the FORWARD playing melody! Get it?... Okay, you can come off that window ledge now - I'm sorry! I'm sorry... I know that was a LOT to handle all at once...
Just know this - - we tried that and it WORKED - - and you can hear it for yourself here in our brand new video... ENJOY!!
Special thanks to Dan Banic for listening to the demo and seeing some potential there - - and we'd BOTH like to thank Sir George Martin for the inspiration to think outside the box, and try something that was new to us - and of course, thanks to the Fabs, without whom... oh, you know...
As any Beatles fan worth his weight in salt knows, "Please Don't Ever Change" (Yes, I know I added the word "please" - I'm very polite!) was a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King in '61, which was recorded by Buddy Holly's backing group The Crickets in '62. The Beatles (who were big Buddy Holly fans, especially Paul McCartney who ended up purchasing the publishing rights to his song catalog) recorded Holly's "Words Of Love" on their "Beatles For Sale" album in '64 - but aside from that, in spite of being huge fans of Holly, they never recorded any other Buddy Holly songs on any of their albums during their Beatle years.
They did, however, do a few Holly/Crickets covers for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation - nicknamed the BEEB) on their own "Pop Go The Beatles" radio program in '63, before most of the world knew who they were - "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" and "Don't Ever Change". Before eventually finding their way to an official Beatles release titled "Live At The BBC" in 1994 these rarities, and many other gems, circulated the bootleg market for over 20 years.
Digging for treasure
My buddy Lloyd and I would always dig deep into The Beatles unreleased booty - and we'd make frequent trips into the city looking for Beatles bootlegs (which were, of course, illegal) going store to store, scouring through dusty record store bins. When the heat was on, and the word "bootleg" became a dirty word, you'd have to find a way to ask for them *differently* by asking the store owner if they had any Beatles "imports" (wink wink) - which he'd then proceed to pull out from somewhere behind the counter. We felt like criminals... it was very... "naughty!"
Aside from the legal standpoint there was an issue of quality and sincerity. You never knew what you were going to get. Bootlegs were VERY hit or miss back then, and often pricey - so you had to be very careful - and with the inherited "no return policy" of dealing with bootlegs, it was understood you were always taking a risk. You could find gold or something that wasn't even the Beatles. (case in point, Have You Heard The Word or Genius Is Pain). But even before we ever saw "Don't Ever Change" in the record stores (and way before the Live At The BBC album came out) Lloyd and I were introduced to it in the strangest of ways...
From Cowboy Boots to Beatle Boots...
I was commissioned to do some western-themed cartoons for some entrepreneur businessman from Texas in the early 80s - - which I know sounds like the beginning of a joke - but it's true... and I can't for the life of me recall how I got to know this man or how he found me - or what these cartoons were for (but that's really not an integral part of this story). All I know is I had some cartoons to deliver to this address somewhere in Greenwich Village, and invited Lloyd to come along with me. Before my scheduled cartoon drop-off we visited our usual record store and comic book pit-stops - and then headed out to meet this mysterious Texan.
Lloyd recalls the huge wood-paneled loft with western themed decor right down to the giant steer horns on the wall and horse saddle lamp shades. The guy was probably dressed normally, but my thwarted recollection sees him wearing a rodeo bolo tie and cowboy boots - but again, that's neither here nor there. After our cartoon transaction the conversation somehow went to The Beatles - and he showed us his vast collection of unreleased Beatles tracks on vinyl. But THIS is where our stories splinter off into two different directions.
Lloyd recalls the discs being what was yet to become "The Lost Lennon Tapes" and I recall specifically reading a record sleeve imprinted with the words "Beatles at the BEEB" (which as I mentioned earlier was the nickname given to the BBC.) He pulled out a few records from plain, unmarked boxes and played some stuff - and I believe this is when we first heard "Don't Ever Change" - although at this point it might've been John Lennon's "Real Life" - who knows? Granted, it was years before EITHER of these things were heard by the public - so, could we have actually heard *BOTH* of these things and BOTH Lloyd and I are right? It's possible... anything is possible... anyway, that leads us to the next part of this story...
Jump to the 90s
Okay, so at this point you're probably wondering - Buddy Holly... Buddy Holly's back up band The Crickets... bootlegs... a Texan entrepreneur... and "Don't Ever Change" - where's this going? Well, now we're in Donald's attic bedroom in College Point with Donald, Lloyd, Dan and his Fostex Double Cassette 4-Track recorder. Dan suggested we do something from the Beatles - and somehow Lloyd and I gravitated towards - you guessed it - "Don't Ever Change". (I don't think we knew at the time it wasn't actually a Beatles song - but The Crickets!) Lloyd and I jotted down some lyrics - and in one take we nailed down the vocal track without so much as a single rehearsal - Dan was SHOCKED! Who would've guessed that mimicking the Beatles, singing over their records would've primed us for just such an occasion?
Incidentally, DON'T go looking for the lyrics to "Don't Ever Change" in here - we tried that! They ain't there!
...and NOW ...it's 2021
So now we've come full circle... I KNEW there was a reason for all this! Did you have your doubts? I've always wanted to do a video of this song for the site - it's been a rough year - hell, it's been a rough 4 years quite frankly - and we ALL need MORE things to make us smile! So, having said that and now knowing the ENTIRE back story (yes, I know a few of yous would have a hard time sleeping tonight without knowing THAT) let me introduce to you our NEW OOB Video, "Please Don't Ever Change" by The Out Of Bodies! (with a little help from Soupy Sales!) ENJOY!!!
Working on this re-edit of our 1986 music video for "I Wonder" was a surreal experience... particularly the dummy attack that happens midway through...
I was getting a real Zapruder film vibe working on this - watching a rabid ventriloquist doll go on a killing spree (in slow motion) and feeling the need to "liberate us" from our spleens... chilling, to say the least... "Back, and to the left.... back, and to the left" - 35 years ago and the footage still makes your hairs stand up on end.
But here it is, with all it's charming little "add ons"... the Batman TV-series word balloons that pop up to emphasize the horrors unfolding before your eyes... the behind the scenes photographs of Lloyd directing the shoot, and going over with Jerry - his "motivation"... and or course, that chilling newspaper story, which only gives you a fleeting glimpse of what really happened that hot, summer day.
The fainting and stumbling at the end of the video were all too real - after prancing, which turned into leaping, which accelerated into running (you'll see why) was too much for us - and by the video's end you can see it take it's course on all of us. For Jerry, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.
Some nice feedback regarding our latest OOB Blog posts featuring "ultra rare and priceless" finds from the (ahem!) Capitol Records collection - including my sis, Becky who told me Dan sounds like Mick Jagger! I was reminded also that way before "Green Tangerine" was an OOB Blog post it was the background song for this animated cartoon of Dan's... The Origin of his Ka Ka Cat!... ENJOY!
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Cartoon and Music by Dan Banic, added sound effects and editing by Donald Jefferes
Opened my front door this wintery morning and my peripheral vision picked up a brief yet unmistakable image of an old man scampering down the block, sideways like a crab, diving into bushes and disappearing behind a snowdrift... he might've also been naked, I'm sort of trying to block out that part.
As I stepped out from my doorway I almost tripped on a box he had left at my door. At closer inspection I discovered, aside from a few back issues of Juggs Magazine, it was a box of old 45rpm records - and a note which read "My wife will no longer allow me to keep these in the house. I've heard you might be interested - please do not throw out as I might be encouraged to scour through your trash and take 'em back! Please - they are yours now... ENJOY them as I used to ............in my younger days. Signed, Old Man".
The most bizarre discovery in this collection of random records (we'll just forget about the magazines, shall we?) was an ULTRA RARE and priceless record from The Out of Bodies, Green Tangerine! Apparently aside from being completely insane this old man had taste! I must tell Dan about this!
Hey, would you look at THAT!! Yet ANOTHER extremely RARE and priceless find! Gee, they seem to be falling out of the sky, now - don't they? Well - here's two great tracks of Dan's - The "Boogah Boogah Song" backed with "Come Out & Play"!
Oh - - if only!! Gee, what a cheap way to get Blogger hits with a title like that! (I'm sorry!)
Still, enjoy this (ahem!!) extremely RARE and PRICELESS find... "Crazy Boy", featuring Joe Vento, Dan Banic and Donald Jefferes... backed with "All Over Now" an even rarer audio track salvaged from the cutting room floor during the filming of the Out Of Bodies documentary "Let Me Pee" - their last ever jam session.
'Tis that time where it is somewhat acceptable to say the word 'Tis and get away with it! Yes, we're talking Christmas Time, folks! Immediate households only, please! Let's face it - we can barely stand the sight of each other, much less the thought of all those germs! No thank you!
But I digress - what sort of Holiday Spirit is THAT? Let's think about the GOOD things, shall we?
"Donald, I tried a test with a frame grab. Color apps always work best with high quality pics, but what I did was colorize it and then fix it up in my photo editor to make it even better. Not too bad! You can put this up in the OOB site! Ha Ha!"
