Cybernetic Dreams of Pi
Encyclopedia
Cybernetic Dreams of Pi, released in 1983, is The Slickee Boys
second "proper" album (third, if you count the compilation album
Here to Stay
), and the first to be recorded all in one place at the same time. It was released on LP by the Minneapolis
record label Twin/Tone (catalog number TTR 8337). Along with songs penned by the band, there are cover versions of songs by Hamilton Streetcar and the Status Quo. To support the album, the band shot music videos for "Life of the Party" and "When I Go to the Beach", the latter video receiving semi-regular airplay on MTV, thanks to a second place finish on that channel's Basement Tapes show. A CD version with eight additional tracks was released 22 years later.
The Slickee Boys
The Slickee Boys were a Washington, D.C. area punk-psychedelic-garage rock band whose most-remembered lineup consisted of guitarist Marshall Keith, guitarist Kim Kane, singer Mark Noone, and drummer Dan Palenski. The band has become a legend in the D.C. punk community...
second "proper" album (third, if you count the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Here to Stay
Here to Stay (Slickee Boys album)
Here to Stay compiles all five Slickee Boys 7"s from 1976–1981 . It was released by the German label Line Records with a catalog number of LLP 5170....
), and the first to be recorded all in one place at the same time. It was released on LP by the Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
record label Twin/Tone (catalog number TTR 8337). Along with songs penned by the band, there are cover versions of songs by Hamilton Streetcar and the Status Quo. To support the album, the band shot music videos for "Life of the Party" and "When I Go to the Beach", the latter video receiving semi-regular airplay on MTV, thanks to a second place finish on that channel's Basement Tapes show. A CD version with eight additional tracks was released 22 years later.
Track listing
- "Escalator 66" – 2:39 (Marshall Keith, Mark Noone)
- "You've Got What It Takes" – 3:37 (Noone)
- "Life of the Party" – 3:25 (Noone)
- "When I Go to the Beach" – 2:42 (Noone)
- "Pushin' My Luck" – 3:45 (Kim Kane, Keith, Noone)
- "Invisible People" – 3:32 (Ralph Plummer)
- Originally recorded by Hamilton Streetcar, 1968
- "Nagasaki Neuter" – 3:16 (Keith, Kane)
- "Say Goodbye" – 3:03 (Noone)
- "Time Spent Waiting" – 3:06 (Keith, Noone)
- "The Crawling Hand" – 2:45 (Keith)
- "Pictures of Matchstick Men" – 2:41 (Francis RossiFrancis RossiFrancis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, OBE is a British musician best known for being a co-founder of the English rock band Status Quo, in which he sings lead vocals and plays lead guitar.- Career :...
)- Originally recorded by the Status Quo, 1968
- "Marble Orchard" – 6:02 (Kane)
- "Gotta Tell Me Why" – 4:22 (Noone) [CD bonus track]
- "GlendoraGlendora (song)"Glendora" is a popular song written by Ray Stanley and published in 1956. It was recorded on May 8, 1956 by Perry Como. It was released by RCA Victor in the United States and by RCA in France ; it was released in the United Kingdom by HMV .The song deals with a man's unusual attraction to...
" – 2:39 (Ray Stanley) [CD bonus track]- Originally recorded by Perry ComoPerry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, 1956
- Originally recorded by Perry Como
- "Golden Love" – 3:48 (Kane) [CD bonus track]
- "Forbidden Alliance" – 2:32 (Keith, Noone) [CD bonus track]
- "A Question of Temperature" – 3:31 (Mike AppelMike AppelMike Appel is an American music industry manager and record producer, most known for his role in both capacities early in the career of Bruce Springsteen....
, Ed Schnug, Don Henny) [CD bonus track]- Originally recorded by the Balloon FarmThe Balloon FarmThe Balloon Farm, a musical act from New Jersey, took its name from a New York City nightclub. It is best known for its sole hit song, "A Question of Temperature," which made the Billboard charts in February 1968, peaking in the top 40....
, 1967
- Originally recorded by the Balloon Farm
- "Reverse Psychiatry" – 4:03 (Noone, Keith, Emery Olexa) [CD bonus track]
- "Without a Word of Warning" – 2:22 (Snuff GarrettSnuff GarrettSnuff Garrett is a retired American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s. His nickname is a play on Garrett's Snuff, a brand of snuff....
, Leon RussellLeon RussellClaude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
, Gary LewisGary Lewis (musician)Gary Lewis is an American musician who was the eponymous leader of Gary Lewis & the Playboys.-Early life:Gary Lewis is the son of comedian and actor Jerry Lewis...
) [CD bonus track]- Originally recorded by Gary Lewis & the PlayboysGary Lewis & the PlayboysGary Lewis & the Playboys were a 1960s rock group fronted by Gary Lewis, son of comedian Jerry Lewis. They are best known for their 1965 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "This Diamond Ring."-Original members:* Gary Lewis - Drums and vocals...
, 1965
- Originally recorded by Gary Lewis & the Playboys
- "(I'm) Misunderstood" – 2:34 (Ed KuepperEd KuepperEd Kuepper is an Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded the seminal punk band The Saints, the experimental post-punk group Laughing Clowns and later the grunge-like The Aints...
, Chris Bailey) [CD bonus track]- Originally recorded by the SaintsThe Saints (band)The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
, 1978
- Originally recorded by the Saints
The band
- Mark Noone — Lead vocals
- Marshall Keith — Lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, 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...
, back-up vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Kim Kane — Rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds.... - Dan Palenski — DrumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, back-up vocals - John Chumbris — Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Emery Olexa — Bass guitar ("Escalator 66", "Life of the Party", "When I Go to the Beach", "Pushin' My Luck", "Invisible People", "The Crawling Hand")
Additional credits
- Recorded at Inner Ear Studio, Arlington, VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
- Kim Kane — Cover art
- Tom Shea — Photos
- Dedicated to Richard Sobol
- Steve Carr — Digital remastering (for CD)
- Digitally remastered at Hit & Run Recordings
Alternative versions
- The LP was also released by the German Line label (1000 copies on white vinyl with significantly different cover artwork, catalog number LILP 4.00094) and on New Rose, too (with the Twin/Tone cover art, catalog number ROSE 33).
- An expanded CD version was released on Dacoit in 2005 (catalog number 2005-3). The CD includes eight additional songs: all four songs from 1979's 3rd EP ("Gotta Tell Me Why", "Glendora", "Golden Love", "Forbidden Alliance") plus four songs "found in the trunk of Kim Kane's orange FuryPlymouth FuryThe Plymouth Fury is an automobile which was produced by the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1956 to 1978. The Fury was introduced as a premium-priced model designed to showcase the line, with the intent to draw consumers into showrooms....
" ("A Question of Temperature", "Reverse Psychiatry", "Without a Word of Warning", "(I'm) Misunderstood"). The cover art was slightly altered.
Sources
- LP, CD and cassette liner notes
- ASCAP Ace
- BMI Repertoire