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FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH HYPERBUBBLE

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:39:53 +0000

Do elves make MicroKorgs?

Jess with a box of Christmas vinyl surprises!

Crank up the Christmas tunes! Hyperbubble are going shopping this weekend!

Besides the crucial visit to Toy Joy in Austin, we’re doing a lot of buying on the internet this December.

If you’re at a loss for space age holiday ideas, you’ll find a dozen swell ideas right here! Who knows, if you’re on Hyperbubble’s Christmas list…and if you’ve been nice…you may even find one of these goodies stuffed into your stocking.

To find out more about the presents, just click on the links to see the details….Okay, here we go…

ahem….

On the twelfth day of Christmas, Hyperbubble gave to me:

Bis singer, solo artist, and Hyperbubble collaborator Manda Rin's 'Cover Versions and Other Hits' art series features Devo, Kraftwerk, Blondie and more collectable prints and originals!

twelve Manda Rin prints…

FINALLY! The entire JEM animated series on DVD! Eleven day-glo discs contain the ultimate new wave sci-fi girl group cartoon, including the legendary STINGERS episodes! Truly-uly-uly outrageous

…eleven Jem DVDs…

For the Funkateer who has it all: The gatefold LP version of MOTOR BOOTY AFFAIR with cut-out Atlantis diorama and paper dolls.

…ten P-Funk LPs…

The hours and hours and hours of music in the 'La Vie Electronique' series will leave your brain saturated in Klaus...and there's more on the way!

…nine Klaus Schulze CDs…

Help! Riverdale has been ZOMBIFIED! The deluxe edition comic featuring 4 alternate covers (one for each KISS member, of course) includes a total of 8 books!

…eight Archie Meets KISSes…

Pefectly crafted Indiana Jones jams for dashing through the snow, or cuddling up in front of an open fire.

…Seven and the Ragged Tiger…

A Santa's workshop full of doits, zwarngs, zorps, and squiggles.

…six synthesizers…

Yes, you can get one in pink.

…FIVE DRUM MACHINES…

Click on the link to see Hyperbubble's Bee Gees Christmas video on YouTube

…four Brothers Gibb…

Hands down, the coolest instrument in the universe.

…three Theremins…

Bring a smile to your favorite surfer girl's face, with this double disc, button, and poster set!

…two Beach Boys…

Apparently, after Han went solo, Chewie got his Giorgio on, and did his own thang...

…and the new album by the Wookies.

Thanks for reading and listening to Fuzzy Warbles this year. Have a fantastical holiday season, and a musical 2012!

Jeff

FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: LIVING ON THE EDGE

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:19:36 +0000

The CHROME BOX. Essential.

You know the story: Two American kids named Tom and Barry change their names to Damon Edge and Helios Creed, and form the classic nucleus of CHROME, the greatest acid drenched zombie sci-fi punk nuclear holocaust rock band ever, releasing album after album of mind-blowing music: ‘Half Machine Lip Moves’, ‘Alien Soundtracks’, ‘Red Exposure’, ‘Blood on the Moon’, and ’3rd from the Sun’, climaxing when their label, Siren Records, reissues the majority of the albums along with two all new discs: ‘The Chronicles I and II’, in a single, ominous container: the now legendary CHROME BOX.

Damon Edge flying solo.

When the pot smoke clears, the duo have split up. Helios Creed starts releasing albums under his own name, eventually moving to Texas. Damon relocates to Europe, taking the Chrome name with him. Die hard Chrome fans are not happy about this, and the value of a Creed-less Chrome is seriously brought into question. Though Creed was not an original member, and the name is legally Edge’s, many fans think Creed’s music is more representative of the ‘true’ Chrome sound. Those who caught ex-Chrome Helios and ex-Hawkwind Nik Turner‘s ‘Space Ritual’ performance in Austin (which also featured Michael Morcoock) , witnessed both artists re-claiming their previous bands, if not legally, then artistically. After Damon’s death in1995, Helios began performing live again under the Chrome moniker, as well as releasing albums which many cited as a return to form.

Strangeness from another world.

Now here, dear reader, is where my personal taste parts with about 98% of the planet Earth’s. The Damon Edge-only Chrome and solo albums? I like ‘em. A lot.

Fellow Chrome-domes, I can understand if you don’t initially love Damon’s mush mouthed vocals or miss all the crazy tape editing and effects, and I can understand why you’d miss Helios. And yeah, Damon repackaging the classic Chrome albums with ‘FEATURING DAMON EDGE’ scribbled over new-but not improved cover art was almost as tacky as Ralf and Florian’s recent Kraftwerk re-issues…

Escape pod BGM

Yet, if you just accept the fact (or even better, get into the fact) that the dude is an eccentric weirdo space case, you’ll find that Damon’s really got something unique going on with his freaky cosmic ego groove. You may even find that you like some tracks, gasp, MORE than you like some of the Helios stuff.

For that special zombie king (or queen) in your life.

Regardless of which is better, Edge’s albums are definitely different. The sonic environment isn’t as dirty and apocalyptic as the early Chrome and Creed albums. Less Dawn of the Dead, more Things To Come: snazzy cityscapes…neon bedrooms…dome shopping malls… tube transportation… new wave android go-go dancers…There may still be the occasional zombie lurking about, but Damon’s pearl-finished hovercar keeps you at a safe distance. Nuclear blasts and radiated skies not so much pose a threat, as a provide pleasantly colorful backdrops for Edge’s hallucinatory tales of alien romance.

One can’t help but imagine Damon being wheeled into the studio, dark glasses, blasted out of his mind on who knows what. As the engineer rolls the musical backing track of his latest cosmic pop epic, Damon lights another cigarette, rolls up to the mike, and babbles….THE FUTURE:

FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: THE UNKNÖWN KNÖWS

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:01:49 +0000

Snake… Piggy… Blacky… Away…

Korgüll the Exterminator cranks up the killing machine

No, it’s not the 2011 remake of The Little Rascals. It’s my favorite hard rock sci-fi band from The Great White North (Sorry, Geddy), VOIVOD! On their first album, 1984′s War and Pain and it’s brutal followup, the appropriately titled, Rrröööaaarrr, Voivod sounded a lot like black metalists Venom, but the boys were too brainy (and talented) to stay in one place for too long, and soon transformed into an uncanny mutation of progressive psychedelic metallic electronic punk pop.

The original 3-D album cover of The Outer Limits included a pair of Voivod 3-D glasses

By the band’s fourth album, a cosmic rock opera entitled Dimension Hatröss, Snake‘s scab-throated vocals were abandoned for a more unique, melodic approach, as the band’s chops continued to get better and better. Guitarist Piggy, who, played the best discordant chords this side of Killing Joke, further enhanced his sound with effects and more complex arrangements. The sci-fi concept progressed, as well. Over the course of the first few albums, the Voivod journeys through primitive war zones, to shiny new cybercities, through space, time, and beyond, occasionally dropping by the present day to grace us with it’s wisdom. Drummer Away‘s album cover art kept up with the band’s musical evolution, starting out as crude and chunky paintings, then getting slicker and more computer-generated with each release.

Did I forget to mention Blacky? Well, besides being a bad-ass bass player, the kid had great hair, as documented in this delightful little crunch-a-thon from Voivod’s third release, the rip-roaring Killing Technology:

FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: DISCO INVASION!

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:52:09 +0000

Richard Burton leads an all-star cast.

Today’s special Halloween Fuzzy Warbles features an album so geeky, your high school teacher might actually try and play it for you…if you’re lucky.

Jeff Wayne’s 1978 concept album, ‘War of the Worlds‘ is more than just a dork-o-rama rock opera version of the 1898 HG Wells novel. It’s more than just a stage musical your class is going on a field trip to see next week. It’s the story of The Death of Rock and The Arrival of Disco.

Around the time this album came out, the whole “Disco Sucks” thing was in full swing. Several American rock DJs were hosting Disco Demolition Nights, commanding their followers to smash up dance albums. The jocks attributed the same qualities to dance music as Wells did to the Martians: Cold. Inhuman. Destructive. Evil. Earthlings were terrified. To quell their fear, alleged Earthling, Meatloaf appeared on national television, defending the Bee Gees. Was the ‘Loaf truly trying to prevent an a national panic, or was he actually a rock alien himself, assimilating the planet’s youth to the Brave New World of Disco?

The answer may lie in the ‘rock’ version of ‘War of the Worlds‘. For the duration of the album, the music representing the humans, when not orchestral and string driven, is melodic and guitar based, while the music for the aliens is always relentless, repetitive, synthesized, soul-crushing DISCO. During the album’s most over-the-top track, ‘Spirit of Man‘, it’s easy to imagine rocker Phil Lynott screaming in horror as kids in polyester suits install a giant mirror ball in the middle of his rock stadium.

Thin Lizzy is being replaced by Barry Gibb:

‘The voice of the devil is heard in our land!’

'The voice of the devil is heard in our land!'

Which leads one to wonder, did HG Wells forsee the coming of the Bee Gees? One things for sure, Orson Wells is doing The Hustle in his grave:

NEXT WEEK: THE UNKNÖWN KNÖWS

FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: LINDSAY LOHAN…BEWITCHED???

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:14:41 +0000

For many electronic music freakos who dig on the dark side, or those of us who wish Halloween were every day, ‘Witch House‘, or ‘Drag‘, or whatever you want to call it, is a nightmare come true. Since it’s initial 2009 incantation, what started as a joke has become a full-fledged craze. Naturally, the creeps who make these records would never allow their music to be labeled ‘Witch House’. Their category-free spooky soundtracks have deliberately existed under the radar, perhaps to delay its becoming a trend. Regardless of what category they fall under, these albums all have one thing in common: They make great haunted house music.

Albums by Pwin ▲▲ Teaks, C V L T S, Teehn Bwitches, LAKE R▲DIO, and †‡† (Eye Double Cross) vs Fostercare

To be fair to the artists, the music is a bit hard to classify. For example, here’s an album by I†† (available for free on their website). It’s pretty far out , dark, minimal, stuff. Don’t expect it to hear it on KTFM anytime soon. On the other hand, Ghetto Ass Witch by †‡† (Ritualz) is so mersh sounding, it almost stands a chance on pop radio. Great cover art, by the way!

Albums by ∆AIMON , I†† vs Black Lodge Cave, †‡† (Ritualz), ▼▲▼ vagina Vangi, and I†† vs \^◊^///

As obscure as these artists may be themselves, many do indeed dabble in pop iconography. Like some kind of Satanic poster child, pop prisoner Lindsay Lohan has been materializing on witchy album covers, as well as in song titles such as ‘Free Lindsay‘ on the I†† vs Black Lodge Cave album. To seal the deal, Lindsay’s actual songs and singing have been remixed and witchified on the Triangle Records compilation, ‘Let Me Shine For You‘ (which the label offers here for free). In the album’s notes, Triangle claims,

‘Even though we are all fond of Lindsay in our own ways, there is no FREE LINDSAY agenda here…(The artists are) inspired in part by Lindsay Lohan’s grotesquely fascinating black hole existence.’

ᄼᄽᄾ, ❖ / t b a c c o, Ayshay, powwoww, and yes, Lindsay Lohan.

Here are a few tracks which have kept my iPod under demonic possession over the past couple ‘o years. First up, ▼▲▼ vagina Vangi, from their Benighted United EP, followed by a track from the LAKE R▲DIO‘s Blair album, into some ghetto ass witchcraft by †‡†, before disappearing into the black hole with Inside The Black Lodge by Pwin ▲▲ Teaks.

More Halloween sounds next week in our Fuzzy Warbles War of the Worlds Special, but until then, let’s pull the shades, light the candles, turn off the lights, and crank up the sound of angel trumpets and devil trombones…

NEXT WEEK: DISCO INVASION!

FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: Диско альянс

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:46:27 +0000

Disco Alliance

While we all-American kids were getting our electronic Eurosleaze filtered through Blondie, Donna Summer and Meco, disco citizens in the Soviet Union were blasting off to their own version of instrumental space disco in the form of ZODIAC.

ZODIAC’s head musical cosmonaut, Jānis Lūsēns hooked up fellow spaceheads at the Latvian State Conservatory in Riga to record Disco Alliance (Диско альянс), released in 1981 on the monopolist Melodiya label. The best-selling album rocketed off the Soviet Union record shelves not only due to it’s spacey synth grooves, but because of it’s outstanding sci fi cover art. If Spinal Tap had gone through with David St. Hubbins’ girlfriend’s costume design, then been cloned by Dr Funkenstien into an electro funk army, the result would look and sound something like Disco Alliance.

Because they performed only instrumentals, ZODIAC‘s music apparently showed zero political ideology, and was therefore allowed to sit on the shelves alongside the usual albums deemed inoffensive to the Communist Party. Compared to the usual scrubbed up pop portraits, ZODIAC‘s Saturday Night Sci-Fi cover art easily caught the attention of both music and fiction fans throughout the Soviet Union, and because the music was on par with (and often compared to) French disconauts Space, Disco Alliance became a huge hit. Light years later, it’s comic book synth squiggles and sneaky Star Wars riff rips still fill dance floors all around the world.

ZODIAC: Sputnik disco kids are GO!

Music in Universe

ZODIAC recorded their second album in 1982, after meeting with actual cosmonauts in Moscow, who told the band of their real-life space experiences. Music in the Universe translates those stories into a disco powered tour de force . The entire album is included on the CD version of Disco Alliance. Zodiac continued to record albums, movie soundtracks, and cosmonaut documentary music up until Clouds, the group’s last heard transmission, in 1991, but don’t be surprised if you hear modern artists like PPK and Morgan Geist working ZODIAC into their 21st Century Yuri’s Night Space Party mix tapes.

Okay, comrades!…Here’s ZODIAC performing Mysterious Galaxy, from Music In Universe, Live!

Get ready for some red hot dancing!!!

Next Week: Chilling, Thrilling Sounds!

FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: LOVING THE ALIENS

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 12:35:19 +0000

Rock Aliens sighted over San Pedro

Strange, the stuff that sticks in your mind, even after decades. I remember like it was yesterday, driving down San Pedro in 1984 and marveling at the giant billboard over Taco Cabana: VOYAGE OF THE ROCK ALIENS. Spilling out of the billboard were androids, spaceboys, new wave damsels, a chainsaw killer, a giant monster and a spaceship shaped like a Flying-V guitar! Actually, it looked pretty stupid. But even back then, I was fine with stupid, and being a fan of both synthpop and sci-fi, counted the days until the day Voyage of the Rock Aliens invaded the San Antonio theaters.

Well, those days became weeks, and weeks became months, and months became years. The advertisement long gone, I began to question my own sanity. Did I actually see the billboard? Was it a hoax? Or a creation of my own cheesed-out imagination? It would be several more years before I learned the truth.

Dee Dee meets ABCD

The film was finally released four years later in Japan, and on home video in the US. It was fascinatingly bad: An attempt to meld Grease, Star Wars, Devo, and whatever else those gol’ darn kids are into these days. Bad jokes, bad songs, bad acting, and a plot so weak that I’m not going to bother giving a synopsis.

Of course, I loved it…watched it endlessly…memorized the songs. My friends were not so taken by the film, and if visiting my home, risked exposure to this cringe-inducing new wave movie monster. I’ve never seen people actually PLEAD to take a movie off until then.

I continued to champion the movie into the 21st Century, on my band’s MySpace page, listing the film as one of Hyperbubble‘s greatest influences. Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by an actual member of the cast, who shall remain nameless. My contact, who we’ll refer to as Alien X, agreed to answer my lovingly insulting questions…

Voyage of the Rock Aliens soundtrack

The first thing I had to ask was, ‘Less than a quarter of the way through the film, I’m wondering why someone didn’t just say ‘WAIT!!!…NO MORE!!!….THIS MUST CEASE!!!’ ?’ My informant told me that although the set was teaming with better-judgment-numbing cocaine, one of the actors actually did speak up: The star of the film, Pia Zadora. Within earshot of my friend, and dressed in yet another silly new wave teenager costume, Zadora finally snapped, yelling at her husband, who was bankrolling the film, ‘THIS IS HORRIBLE!…I LOOK RIDICULOUS!!!’ And folks, when Pia Zadora thinks she looks ridiculous, well…

Hubby heeded, and the film was placed in a time capsule.

Rhema rock the restroom

It’s now the year 2011, the capsule has been long open, and Voyage of the Rock Aliens hasn’t gotten any better. It hasn’t aged well. It’s not exactly what you’d call ‘prophetic’, but it still has moments that you really shouldn’t miss. The intro, featuring Jermaine Jackson, who disappears after the first 4 minutes of the film is confusingly fun… Pia’s numbers are so horrid that they become compelling…the Rock Alien songs, performed by a real-life 80′s new wave band, Rhema, are kinda Krafty and catchy. But the greatest moment, hands down, is ‘Nature of the Beast‘, where co-star Craig Sheffer steals the show, pushing an already remarkably bad film into such an advanced realm of badness that it’s utterly jaw-dropping:

NEXT: DROIDS IN DENIM

FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: BRING ON THE SPACE MAIDENS

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:30:54 +0000

Bardot makes Contact

Space Maidens. The future of music dare not exist without them. For songwriters still on the launching pad, the sci-fi universe offers a wellspring of lyrical subject matter. For video directors, it’s a great excuse to slip the lead singer into something foxy and futuristic.

For a perfect example, let’s timewarp back to 1968, The Year of Barbarella, and an absolutely amazing performance by Brigitte Bardot of Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘Contact‘. As usual, Gainsbourg delivers on the Eurosleaze, with Bardot commanding the listener to ‘Remove my spacesuit’, a rather light task.

Hot Gossip!

Now, not all singers have pulled off their foray into fantasy with such kooky cool. For those who later wish to be accepted as a serious artiste, such a performance can leave an irremovable stain on an otherwise brilliant career. They can namedrop Stockhausen, wear a beret, hang out with Eno and blab on about oblique strategies and chance operations until the end of time, however, nothing…nothing can erase the public’s memory of the tacky little novelty single they recorded ‘just that one time’ to give their career an early boost. Bowie had his ‘Laughing Gnome‘, Zevon, his ‘Werewolves of London‘, and in 1978, the year after Star Wars and Saturday Night Fever collided, Sarah Brightman, who would later become the biggest selling Classical soprano of all time, lost her cred to a Starship Trooper.

'Jamie' 7" by Mistral

Also during the late 70′s, Robbie van Leeuwen (ex-Shocking Blue), Rick van der Linden (ex-Ekseption) and their ‘band’ Mistral had a string of synthpop singles which paved the way for groups like Goldfrapp and Lady Gaga. Mistral were primarily a scruffy studio-only band. But when it came time to play their hits on Dutch TV, they knew their best bet was to put a shiny space girl in front of the camera, or in the case of Mistral’s Topop performance of the song ‘Jamie’, a shiny space lady and a pair of giant insect dancers mating on stage. The band went through several lead singers, but you can bet that no matter who sang, a lamé spacesuit awaited them in the dressing room.

JYL's self-titled debut

Perhaps taking a cue from Gainsbourg, German electronic music legend Klaus Schulze (solo/Ashra Tempel/Tangerine Dream) managed to take advantage of the Bladerunner craze, without totally blowing his Synth-God image, by getting someone else to sing the softcore porno pop lyrics. On JYL‘s self-titled album from 1984, steamy eurosynths pump away while Jyl (Porch) in her role as an Aerobiscized Robot Maria, pouts:

‘They programmed all your fantasies within my plastic heart’

The album is relentless in its mission. Songs like ‘Computer Generation’, ‘Animation’, ‘I’m A Machine’, ‘Electric Lady’, ‘Silicon Valley‘ and ‘Positions‘ never stray from the robo pinup pose. This is the stuff that should have been in Giorgio Moroder‘s remake of Metropolis instead of Bonnie Tyler and Pat Benatar.

…and Joachim Ballon ‘s video for ‘Mechanic Ballerina’ ? Well, just try to keep from giggling.

'Welcome to Joyland' by Leda

Yet another Tangerine Dreamer. Yet another digital diva protege. A bit more tasteful than Jyl (which I know isn’t saying much), but no less enjoyable. Peter Bauman lays down fantastical synth riffs over automated rhythms, while Leda sings of stardust, space rides, time travel and, of course, dome cities. Like the Jyl album, ‘Welcome to Joyland‘ is a solid listen, however, the second track, ‘Endless Race’, with it’s menacing Midnight Express riff and goofy futurebabble, is particularly stunning.

Of course, these are just a few examples. The list of female robo-poppers seems to be as infinite as The Universe, itself, with new artists such as Janelle Monáe still finding inspiration in classic films such as Metropolis and I Robot, suggesting that, even musically, space really is the final frontier.

NEXT WEEK: AFFORDABLE FIREPOWER!

FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: TRANSFORMER MEN, SPUD BOYS, and LAWYERS

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:16:36 +0000

Neil 'Cylon' Young and his vocoder

In 1983, Neil Young‘s record label sued him for 3.3 million dollars for not sounding like Neil Young. So what was the deal? He got the MTV mullet just like Geddy Lee and Eric Clapton. They were probably happy about that. But he also got his hands on a Sennheiser VSM-201 vocoder and was fraternizing with those weirdos from Devo. Worse than that, he recorded an album full of unsellable, synthesized ROBO MUSIC! And even worse than that, he made it the soundtrack to an even more unsellable weirdo movie that nobody understands!! Then he had the gall to play his unsellable weirdo robomusic soundtrack for the better half of his HBO concert special!!!

Gotta love the guy. But Trans wasn’t just some quick sell new wave gimmick made to confuse the masses and slap David Geffen in the kisser. Nope. Trans was a creative work which mirrored what was going on in Young’s world at the time. Which was most likely, let’s see… gettin’ high…hangin’ out with Devo… and spendin’ a good part of the year with his son, Ben. In fact, Neil claimed one of the inspirations behind his using a vocoder, apart from it sounding way cool and Kraftwerky, was to reflect how Ben’s cerebral palsy impeded communication between the two.

To be fair, Trans isn’t all indistinguishable cybo-rock. As part of the album’s concept, the vocals and music shift back and forth between sounding like good ‘ol Neil (Little Thing Called Love/Like an Inca/Hold on to Your Love) to sounding like a chorus line from Battlestar Galactica (Sample and Hold/Computer Cowboy AKA Skycrusher/Transformer Man), climaxing in a fusion of both styles, with a cover version of The Buffalo Springfield‘s “Mr Soul“, which is given the Devo-Satisfaction-Treatment.

Now, for both Neil Young fans and Devotees, here’s ”Sample and Hold” live in Berlin, and a beautifully mutated version of ‘Out of the Blue Into the Black’, from the movie Human Highway, featuring the Spud Boys themselves, along with Neil Young totally shredding on guitar, and Boogie Boy on synthesizer and lead vocals:

Neil Young & Devo

Paul | Myspace Video

NEXT WEEK: BRING ON THE SPACE MAIDENS!

FUZZY WARBLES for your mood organ: SPIDEY CAN YOU HEAR ME???

Jeff from Hyperbubble — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 14:00:52 +0000

Greetings, and welcome to Fuzzy Warbles, Mission Unknown’s new weekly column about super sci fi sounds for your stereo! My name is Jeff, and I’ll be your DJ for the occasion. First off, a big thank you to Paul Vaughn for his occasional invitations to write, and Sanford Allen for his kind review of the new Hyperbubble album, Drastic Cinematic. Okay, enough with the niceties, let’s crank up the mood organ…

Before Hyperbubble, I was in a band called Pink Filth who were hired by Antarctic Press (of Ninja High School fame) to record CD ‘soundtracks’ for deluxe editions of two of their new titles, ‘Shotgun Mary’ and ‘Areala vs Razor’. Little did the guys at the comic book company know, but they were fulfilling a childhood dream: To do my own version of SPIDER-MAN: Rock Reflections of a Superhero.

front cover

Not that I had actually heard the album. As a kid, my measly allowance did not allow taking a chance on an unheard mailorder-only LP. After all, there were bubblegum cards and ELO records to be purchased, and a kid’s got his priorities. But I always felt I missed out on something, especially since John Romita‘s album cover art from the comic book advertisement was indelibly etched into my mind: Dressed in his best Gerry Rafferty denim and suede, Peter Parker bows reverently in front of his bedroom mirror, which shows his reflection: TOMMY!…… uh, no, I mean, SPIDEY!

A quarter of a century after its initial 1975 release, SPIDER-MAN: Rock Reflection of a Superhero was made available on CD. I found a used copy by accident at Hogwild Records, nearly died, raced home, popped it on , cranked it up and out blasted THE SEVENTIES: A hairy Steely Dan intro chord, kicking into a full-on Elton Turner Overdrive piano boogie called ‘High-Wire’, an all too sober attempt at Bob Marley called ‘New Point of View’ (of course, when Spidey sings ‘now I can escape to a higher ground’, he means it literally), and a serious knock off of Jackson Browne‘s ‘Doctor My Eyes’, including hip L.A. Rock drug references ‘with the ground so far below me…a natural high!’ all bound together by a narrative from Mr Marvel himself, Stan Lee.

one of several ads for the album

So, is it an amazing, spectacular, webslinging rock opera all the way through? No way, True Believers. Though Crack the Sky (yes, Crack the Sky) did a swell job on the rockers, the album dips into many a show-bizzy ditty. If you just absolutely love the song ‘Reproduction’ from the Grease 2 soundtrack, or regularly enjoy watching Glee, or have ever actually purchased a Manhattan Transfer album or tickets to ‘Cats‘, you will have no problem with this. Otherwise, swinging ahead to the Doctor Octopus tracks is a good idea. The proggily titled ‘Doctor Octopus Part I’ and ‘Doctor Octopus Part II’ are super silly Emerson Lake and Palmer progressive octo-rock monsters, and , what with Doc Oc being a brainy guy and all, feature over the top choral vocals and an extended Moog solo (performed by The Silver Surfer, according to the album credits).

Comparisons to that other existentialist rock opera those British guys did in 1969 about an orphaned mirror-gazing teenage savior with supernatural ability, and that other coming-of-age rock opera those British guys did in 1973 about the inner dialogue of a conflicted costumed teenager with more than one personality, are inevitable. The album’s centerpiece, ‘Peter Stays and Spider-Man goes’ combines’em both amid stoney acoustic strums and psychedelic Jimi-licks:

back cover

‘Will somebody call me Peter Parker before I go insane? You see, this other guy that I’ve been lately forgot he had a name…It’s like fighting both sides of a mirror.’

Rock Reflections of a Superhero indeed has more self-indulgent, introspective moments than the entire Perfect Circle catalogue, and purposefully ends on a heavy 70s Electra-Glide bummer, as Stan Lee narrates,

‘As the Green Goblin flies away, battered and weakened, a bruised and exhausted Spider-Man raises himself up to find that the only victim proved to be a girl named Gwendolyn, his hopes and dreams of love are gone, he kneels beside her lifeless body. Ignoring the approaching police sirens, Peter Parker whispers gently in her ear, as the echoes of his words carry him to her…reaching to her…trying to bring her back…to share life with him again…‘

So was it worth the wait? You bet! The album is a grand failure, chock full of stupid songs, outrageous melodrama and loving attention to detail. Is it good? Is it bad? I’ll leave that up to your Spidey Senses. But guaranteed, it is very interesting. Leaving the album in the vaults for a while to simmer in its own aftershave lotion has transformed SPIDER-MAN: Rock Reflections of a Superhero into a nifty little period piece, and a must-hear for fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Phantom of the Paradise.

NEXT WEEK: TRONSPOTTING ON PLANET LIME