Crazy Rhythms
Encyclopedia
Crazy Rhythms is the Feelies
' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff Records
.
The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound (achieved by direct injection
: plugging the guitars directly into the mixing console
without the use of an amplifier or microphone) and also its long interstitial passages of drones
and improvised percussion. All of the songs were credited to "Mercer
/Million", with the exception of a cover of the Beatles
' "Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)
".
critics' poll, beating out such notable critics' favorites as David Bowie
's Scary Monsters, Joy Division
's Closer
, The Rolling Stones
's Emotional Rescue
, and The Specials
' debut album
. It was ranked #49 in Rolling Stone
s top 100 albums of the 1980s, and #69 on Pitchfork Media
's similar list.
In September 2009 the album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties
-curated Don't Look Back
series.
was in Germany
and the United States
in 1986. The 1990 A&M CD release included, as a bonus track, a cover of The Rolling Stones
' "Paint It, Black
." This track was recorded in 1990 (without Fier or DeNunzio), and not during the original sessions for Crazy Rhythms.
Bar/None Records
reissued Crazy Rhythms on September 8, 2009, while Domino Records reissued the album outside of the U.S. & Canada.
The Feelies
The Feelies are a rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008 and most recently released an album in 2011....
' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff Records
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
.
The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound (achieved by direct injection
Direct injection
Direct injection may refer to:*A music recording technique more commonly referred to as Direct Input*A method of fuel injection for an internal combustion engine, as in a gasoline direct injection petrol engines and most diesel engines...
: plugging the guitars directly into the mixing console
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
without the use of an amplifier or microphone) and also its long interstitial passages of drones
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
and improvised percussion. All of the songs were credited to "Mercer
Glenn Mercer
Glenn Mercer is the vocalist and guitarist of the North Haledon, New Jersey-based rock band The Feelies. Together with Bill Million, Mercer wrote and produced virtually all of the Feelies' recorded output .-History:...
/Million", with the exception of a cover of the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
"Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" is a song written by John Lennon and performed by The Beatles on their 1968 album The Beatles, also known as "The White Album".-Origins:...
".
Critical reception
The album was a critical success, voted one of the best albums of 1980 in the Village Voice's annual Pazz & JopPazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics' poll, beating out such notable critics' favorites as David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's Scary Monsters, Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
's Closer
Closer (Joy Division album)
Closer is the second and final studio album by the English post-punk band Joy Division, released , two months following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. The album was originally scheduled to be released on . The record was originally released on the Factory Records label as a 12" LP and...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
's Emotional Rescue
Emotional Rescue
Emotional Rescue is the 15th British and 17th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1980. Upon release, the album topped the charts in both the US and UK.-History:...
, and The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
' debut album
Specials (album)
Specials is the debut album by British ska revival band The Specials.Released in 1979 on Jerry Dammers' 2Tone label, the album is seen by some as the defining moment in the UK ska scene...
. It was ranked #49 in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s top 100 albums of the 1980s, and #69 on Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's similar list.
In September 2009 the album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
-curated Don't Look Back
Don't Look Back (concert series)
Don't Look Back is a yearly series of concerts in which London based promoters All Tomorrow's Parties ask artists and bands to play one of their seminal albums live in its entirety...
series.
Reissues
The first release on CDCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
was in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1986. The 1990 A&M CD release included, as a bonus track, a cover of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
' "Paint It, Black
Paint It, Black
"Paint It, Black" is a song released by The Rolling Stones on 13 May 1966 as the first single from their fourth album Aftermath. It was originally titled "Paint It Black" without a comma. Keith Richards has stated that the comma was added by the record label, Decca.The song was written by Mick...
." This track was recorded in 1990 (without Fier or DeNunzio), and not during the original sessions for Crazy Rhythms.
Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.-Early history:Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his native Ireland, Prendergast moved to Hoboken in 1982 and started Pier Platters...
reissued Crazy Rhythms on September 8, 2009, while Domino Records reissued the album outside of the U.S. & Canada.
Side one
- "The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness" – 5:10
- "Fa Cé-La" – 2:04
- "Loveless Love" – 5:14
- "Forces at Work" – 7:10
Side two
- "Original Love" – 2:55
- "Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" is a song written by John Lennon and performed by The Beatles on their 1968 album The Beatles, also known as "The White Album".-Origins:...
" (John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
) – 4:18 - "Moscow Nights" – 4:34
- "Raised Eyebrows" – 3:00
- "Crazy Rhythms" – 6:13
CD reissue bonus track (recorded 1990)
- "Paint It Black" (Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
, Keith RichardsKeith RichardsKeith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
)– 2:54
Download Bonus Tracks 2009 Domino Reissue
- "Fa Ce-La" [Single Version] - originally released on Rough TradeRough Trade RecordsRough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
, 1979 - "The Boy With the Perpetual Nervousness" - Carla Bley demo version
- "Moscow Nights" - Carla Bley Demo Version
- "Crazy Rhythms" [Live] - from the 9:30 Club, Washington D.C., March 14, 2009
- "I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms" (Jonathan RichmanJonathan RichmanJonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing...
) [Live] - from the 9:30 Club, Washington D.C., March 14, 2009
Personnel
- Bill Million - acoustic, treated rhythm, lead, bridged, 6-string, "excercised [sic] & oboed"guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, vocals, timbali, sandpaper, claves, can, tom-tom, snare, cowbell, shaker, shoes, temple blocks, tambourine, boxes and bellsPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Glenn MercerGlenn MercerGlenn Mercer is the vocalist and guitarist of the North Haledon, New Jersey-based rock band The Feelies. Together with Bill Million, Mercer wrote and produced virtually all of the Feelies' recorded output .-History:...
- electric, "faulty," 12-string, lead, rhythm, treated, bowed and galloping guitarsGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, temple block, shaker, claves, maracas, bell, castanettes, sleigh bells, reverbed sticks, shoes, spasmodic drums and coat rackPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Keith De Nunzio - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, snare drumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, anchor drum, tom-tom, woodblock, pipe, bellPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
and background vocals (except on "Paint It Black") - Anton FierAnton FierAnton Fier, , is an American drummer, composer and bandleader. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.Fier was an early member of The Lounge Lizards and The Feelies. He was in The Lodge , worked with Pere Ubu, was briefly in the Voidoids and founded The Golden Palominos...
- drums, drum kit and "kit drums"Drum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, tom-toms, pipe and cowbellPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
(except on "Paint It Black") - Brenda Sauter - bass, background vocals on "Paint It Black"
- Stanley Demeski – drums on "Paint It Black"
- Dave Weckerman – percussion on "Paint It Black"