Words fail me.
So where is that from? And why haven't you heard it before?
The short version: As attentive readers will recall, two weeks ago I had very nice things to say about the cover version done by Cyndi Lauper, which plays over the end credits of her underrated film debut (with Jeff Goldblum and Peter Falk) in the 1988 sci-fi rom-com Vibes.
So anyway, a certain Shady Dame and I watched the flick, and when the song came on I wondered a) why it hadn't been a bigger hit and b) and more important, who wrote it? So I looked it up, and when I found that Lauper wasn't the author, I figured I should track down the original, if there was one. Hey -- never let it be said I don't do the heavy lifting for those of you reading this here blog.
Result:I found the above vid on YouTube, and it blew my tiny mind. Great lost singles of the 80s? Hell, I'd nominate that for THE great lost single of all time, period. I mean, if I was still in a band, I'd want to play stuff that sounded just like that, at the drop of a hat anywhere, and I'd do it for free. I mean, my god -- those layered inter-weaving jangly guitars (there's a 12-string in there, of course), that propulsive and melodic McCartney-esque bass, those killer drums (the production of which is astounding), and the out-of-this-world and hilarious lyrical conceit. And have I mentioned the beyond perfect lead vocal and harmonies? It's like the record of my dreams.
In any case, I still don't know exactly when that was made, or anything about its auteur, other than that he seems to have been active since the 70s, to little or no notice beyond the royalty checks he presumably still gets from streams of the movie. He does, however, have a Facebook page, and after today's post goes up, I plan to go over there and act like the most obnoxious fanboy imaginable.
Hey -- he deserves no less. I'll keep you posted as things develop.
5 comments:
Great song. Amazon offers Big Orange Sun as an mp3. I dislike mp3's but might make this an exception.
Richard Orange was the singer in Zuider Zee.
Both of their albums are worth your time.
https://www.discogs.com/artist/5040770-Zuider-Zee-2
That cover looked so familiar that I felt certain that I'd seen it somewhere before. And that somewhere was in my CD collection. Man, I think I played it once and put it away forever.
You can bet I'm breaking it out now. Great tune!
Orange also put out two albums on small labels in the early 2000s - one in 2000, the other in 2005. He was also - hang on to your hats - part of a group called Thomas Edisun's Electric Light Bulb Band, which put out a SERGEANT PEPPER-influenced album way back in 1967!! So he's been around for a while, folks. (Thanks to Discogs web-site for the info.)
Rate Your Music.com says this album was released in 2005 (though they don't say when it was written or recorded, and don't have any information about who else plays on it). It's a great song regardless, and although I probably heard the Cyndi Lauper version back in the day, I've never even heard of Richard Orange. So thanks!
Marc
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