The Free Design
Encyclopedia
The Free Design was a Delevan, New York
-based vocal group playing jazzy pop music
. Their music can be described as sunshine pop
and baroque pop
, which were pop music subgenres at the time, which later influenced the bands Stereolab
, Cornelius
, Pizzicato Five
, Beck
and The High Llamas
.
. Their uncle Rusty Dedrick
was a jazz trumpeter with Claude Thornhill
and Red Norvo
. They formed the band while living in New York City
. Chris has said the group was influenced by vocal groups like The Hi-Los (who performed in Greenwich Village
frequently at the time) along with Peter, Paul and Mary
and the counterpoint experiments of Benjamin Britten
. Their trademark sound involved complex harmonies, jazz-like chord progressions, and off-beat time signature
s, all products of Chris's classical training.
The band released seven albums from 1967 to 1972, the first six on Enoch Light
's Project 3 label and the last one, There is a Song, on the Ambrotype label. For the most part, they were accompanied on the albums by studio musicians.
, Canada, where he became a music producer, arranger, and a classical and soundtrack
composer. He has worked with directors Guy Maddin
and Don McKellar
, winning a Genie Award
for Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World
, and he made music for the Ray Bradbury Theater TV-series. In 1997 Dedrick won a Gemini Award
for his work on the television series Road to Avonlea
.Chris was nominated a total of 16 times for Gemini awards, winning a total of four, the others for "Million Dollar Babies, "Shipwreck on the Skeleton Coast" and "The Great Canadian Polar Bear Adventure." He won a Socan award for "Tripping the Wire" and a Hot Docs award, also for "Shipwreck on the Skeleton Coast."
Starting in 1976, Chris, Sandy and Ellen became the core members of The Star-Scape Singers, a classical vocal ensemble led by Dr. Kenneth G. Mills
. Chris Dedrick also served as the group's main composer. The group performed and toured extensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
and sunshine pop
from the 60s and 70s. In 1994, Japan
ese musician Cornelius
reissued the Free Design catalog on his "Trattoria" label. In 1997, the band Tomorrow's World covered their song "Kites Are Fun", and in 1998, the Spanish "Siesta" label put out four compilation albums of their music. Stereolab
, whose lounge-inspired music clearly showed a Free Design influence, named a 1999 single "The Free Design" (though the song itself had no direct connection to the band). The Free Design song "Bubbles" was covered by Dressy Bessy
on the 2000 Powerpuff Girls
soundtrack.
Perhaps inspired by this newfound interest, in 2000 the band re-grouped, after a nearly 30-year retirement, to record the song "Endless Harmony" on the Beach Boys tribute album
Caroline Now. This experience convinced them to record a new full-length album, 2001's Cosmic Peekaboo, which featured the original lineup (Chris, Sandy and Bruce) in addition to Rebecca Pellett, who had previously been Chris Dedrick's musical assistant for several years.
In 2001 the label Cherry Red
released a Best of Free Design compilation. The Free Design song "I Found Love" was included on the 2002 Gilmore Girls soundtrack
. From 2002 to 2005, the original albums were reissued in the United States
by the Light in the Attic
label. In 2005, the label put out The Now Sound Redesigned, an album of Free Design remixes from established acts like Stereolab
, Super Furry Animals
and Peanut Butter Wolf
.
The song "Love You" is featured during the credits of the film Stranger Than Fiction (2006), at the very end of season four on the Showtime hit, Weeds
, and as the theme song to the internet podcast "Jordan Jesse Go" co-hosted by The Sound Of Young America
host Jesse Thorn
and Fuel TV correspondent Jordan Morris.
"Love You" was also featured in TV commercials for Peters
Drumstick
ice creams in Australia
(2007), "Smil" chocolate in Norway
(2008)[link to commercial
's second "Progression" short (2010) and in Toyota adverts internationally (2009/2010).
The song "I Found Love" can be found on Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls
. The song plays as the start of "Sadie, Sadie" (Season 2, Episode 1).
Chris Dedrick died on August 6, 2010, from cancer
, aged 62. According to a message posted on his official site by his wife Moira, Dedrick passed away “after a week of increasing radiance, yet with rapid physical decline.”
Delevan, New York
Delevan is a village in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 1,089 at the 2000 census.The Village of Delevan lies inside the Town of Yorkshire- History :The first lot was cleared around 1821...
-based vocal group playing jazzy pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Their music can be described as sunshine pop
Sunshine pop
Sunshine pop is a subgenre of pop music originating in the United States, mainly the state of California, in the mid-1960s. Sunshine pop, by nature, is cheerful and upbeat music which is characterised by warm sounds, prominent vocal harmonies, as well as sophisticated productions...
and baroque pop
Baroque pop
Baroque pop, Baroque rock, or English baroque, often used interchangeably with chamber pop/rock, is a pop and rock music subgenre which originated in the mid-1960s in the United Kingdom and United States...
, which were pop music subgenres at the time, which later influenced the bands Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
, Cornelius
Cornelius (musician)
Cornelius is a Japanese recording artist and producer.-Career:Oyamada's first claim to fame was as a member of the pop duo Flipper's Guitar, one of the key groups of the Tokyo Shibuya-kei scene...
, Pizzicato Five
Pizzicato Five
Pizzicato Five was a Japanese pop group best known to audiences in the West in their later incarnation as a duo of Maki Nomiya and Yasuharu Konishi...
, Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
and The High Llamas
The High Llamas
The High Llamas are a London-based musical group, formed by the Irish guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Hagan after the demise of his group Microdisney. O'Hagan writes and arranges the music and the rest of the group consists of drummer Rob Allum, keyboardist/cellist Marcus Holdaway, and...
.
Early work
The members were all members of the Dedrick family: Chris Dedrick (12 September 1947–6 August 2010), sister Sandy and brother Bruce were the original lineup. Chris Dedrick wrote most of the songs. Younger sister Ellen joined the group later, and youngest sister Stefanie(1952–1999) joined near the end of their initial career. Their father, Art, was a trombonist and music arrangerArranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
. Their uncle Rusty Dedrick
Rusty Dedrick
Lyle "Rusty" Dedrick was an American swing and bop jazz trumpeter and composer born in Delevan, New York, probably better known for his work with Bill Borden, Dick Stabile, Red Norvo, Ray McKinley or Claude Thornhill, among others.-External links:**...
was a jazz trumpeter with Claude Thornhill
Claude Thornhill
Claude Thornhill was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader...
and Red Norvo
Red Norvo
Red Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...
. They formed the band while living in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Chris has said the group was influenced by vocal groups like The Hi-Los (who performed in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
frequently at the time) along with Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
and the counterpoint experiments of Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
. Their trademark sound involved complex harmonies, jazz-like chord progressions, and off-beat time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
s, all products of Chris's classical training.
The band released seven albums from 1967 to 1972, the first six on Enoch Light
Enoch Light
Enoch Henry Light was a classical violinist, bandleader, and recording engineer. As A&R chief and vice-president of Grand Award Records, he founded Command Records in 1959. Light's name was prominent on many albums both as musician and producer...
's Project 3 label and the last one, There is a Song, on the Ambrotype label. For the most part, they were accompanied on the albums by studio musicians.
Post-breakup
After the band's breakup in 1972, Chris Dedrick recorded a solo album, Be Free, which went unreleased until 2000. He moved to TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada, where he became a music producer, arranger, and a classical and soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
composer. He has worked with directors Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin, OM is a Canadian screenwriter, director, cinematographer and film editor of both features and short films from Winnipeg, Manitoba...
and Don McKellar
Don McKellar
-Personal life:McKellar was born in Toronto, Ontario to a lawyer father and teacher mother. He attended Glenview Senior Public School, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and later studied English at the University of Toronto's Victoria College...
, winning a Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
for Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World
The Saddest Music in the World
The Saddest Music in the World is a 2003 Canadian film directed by Guy Maddin. It stars Mark McKinney, Isabella Rossellini, Maria de Medeiros, David Fox and Ross McMillan....
, and he made music for the Ray Bradbury Theater TV-series. In 1997 Dedrick won a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
for his work on the television series Road to Avonlea
Road to Avonlea
Road to Avonlea was a television series which was first broadcast in Canada and the United States between 1990 and 1996. It was created by Kevin Sullivan and produced by Sullivan Films in association with CBC and the Disney Channel, with additional funding from Telefilm Canada.It was adapted from...
.Chris was nominated a total of 16 times for Gemini awards, winning a total of four, the others for "Million Dollar Babies, "Shipwreck on the Skeleton Coast" and "The Great Canadian Polar Bear Adventure." He won a Socan award for "Tripping the Wire" and a Hot Docs award, also for "Shipwreck on the Skeleton Coast."
Starting in 1976, Chris, Sandy and Ellen became the core members of The Star-Scape Singers, a classical vocal ensemble led by Dr. Kenneth G. Mills
Kenneth G. Mills
Kenneth George Mills was a Canadian metaphysical/philosophical speaker and author. An exponent of the oral tradition, he gave spontaneous lectures and poetry for over 37 years. At the same time, he became noted for his accomplishments in music, particularly as the conductor of the choral ensemble...
. Chris Dedrick also served as the group's main composer. The group performed and toured extensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Revival of interest
During their career, The Free Design never gained the commercial success they, and their small fan-base, felt they deserved, a plight they noted in their 1969 song "2002 - A Hit Song", in which they describe how to create a hit, then continue, "there's just one fact that we can't quite shirk/ we did all this last time, and it did not work." They remained in obscurity after disbanding in 1972. Starting in the mid-90s, however, interest in them began to grow as part of a general resurgence of interest in easy listeningEasy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
and sunshine pop
Sunshine pop
Sunshine pop is a subgenre of pop music originating in the United States, mainly the state of California, in the mid-1960s. Sunshine pop, by nature, is cheerful and upbeat music which is characterised by warm sounds, prominent vocal harmonies, as well as sophisticated productions...
from the 60s and 70s. In 1994, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese musician Cornelius
Cornelius (musician)
Cornelius is a Japanese recording artist and producer.-Career:Oyamada's first claim to fame was as a member of the pop duo Flipper's Guitar, one of the key groups of the Tokyo Shibuya-kei scene...
reissued the Free Design catalog on his "Trattoria" label. In 1997, the band Tomorrow's World covered their song "Kites Are Fun", and in 1998, the Spanish "Siesta" label put out four compilation albums of their music. Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
, whose lounge-inspired music clearly showed a Free Design influence, named a 1999 single "The Free Design" (though the song itself had no direct connection to the band). The Free Design song "Bubbles" was covered by Dressy Bessy
Dressy Bessy
Dressy Bessy is an indie rock band from Denver, Colorado, associated with the Elephant Six Collective. Guitarist John Hill also plays with The Apples in Stereo. Lead vocalist/guitarist Tammy Ealom formed the band with drummer Darren Albert and guitarist turned bassist Rob Greene in 1996. The name...
on the 2000 Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera for Cartoon Network...
soundtrack.
Perhaps inspired by this newfound interest, in 2000 the band re-grouped, after a nearly 30-year retirement, to record the song "Endless Harmony" on the Beach Boys tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
Caroline Now. This experience convinced them to record a new full-length album, 2001's Cosmic Peekaboo, which featured the original lineup (Chris, Sandy and Bruce) in addition to Rebecca Pellett, who had previously been Chris Dedrick's musical assistant for several years.
In 2001 the label Cherry Red
Cherry Red
Cherry Red is a London-based independent record label formed in 1978.-History:Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern Winter Gardens...
released a Best of Free Design compilation. The Free Design song "I Found Love" was included on the 2002 Gilmore Girls soundtrack
Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls
Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls is a 2002 soundtrack release from Rhino Records for The WB's Gilmore Girls. The album is a combination of selections from the score composed by Sam Phillips and the music of other musicians heard, mostly, during the first two seasons of the...
. From 2002 to 2005, the original albums were reissued in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by the Light in the Attic
Light In The Attic Records
Light In The Attic Records is an independent record label established in 2002 in Seattle, Washington by Matt Sullivan, known for its roster of reissue projects, and for its distribution catalog. . As reissue label, Light In The Attic has re-released works by artists such as Betty Davis, Serge...
label. In 2005, the label put out The Now Sound Redesigned, an album of Free Design remixes from established acts like Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
, Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
and Peanut Butter Wolf
Peanut Butter Wolf
Chris Manak, aka Peanut Butter Wolf, is a DJ, hip-hop producer and the founder of hip-hop label Stones Throw Records.A native of San Jose, California, He took on the name Peanut Butter Wolf in the late-80s when he realized that a girlfriend’s youngest brother feared the “peanut butter wolf monster”...
.
The song "Love You" is featured during the credits of the film Stranger Than Fiction (2006), at the very end of season four on the Showtime hit, Weeds
Weeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
, and as the theme song to the internet podcast "Jordan Jesse Go" co-hosted by The Sound Of Young America
The Sound of Young America
The Sound of Young America is a public radio program and podcast based in Los Angeles, California and distributed by Public Radio International...
host Jesse Thorn
Jesse Thorn
Jesse Thorn is an American public radio show host/creator. He is the host and producer of the radio show and podcast The Sound of Young America, which is distributed by Public Radio International to 25 public terrestrial radio stations in 13 states and is also broadcast weekly on XM Radio's "XM...
and Fuel TV correspondent Jordan Morris.
"Love You" was also featured in TV commercials for Peters
Peters Ice Cream
Peters Ice Cream is an Australian ice cream brand developed by American expatriate Fred Peters in 1907, using his mother's recipe. The company was established in Redfern, Sydney as the Peters' American Delicacy Company...
Drumstick
Drumstick (ice cream)
Drumstick is the brand name for a variety of ice cream cones sold in the United States, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, and other countries across the world. The original product was invented by I.C...
ice creams in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(2007), "Smil" chocolate in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
(2008)[link to commercial
DC Shoes
DC Shoes is an American company that specializes in footwear for extreme sports, skateboarding, snowboarding as well as snowboards, shirts, jeans, hats, and jackets.The company was founded in 1993 by Ken Block and Damon Way, and is based in Vista, California...
's second "Progression" short (2010) and in Toyota adverts internationally (2009/2010).
The song "I Found Love" can be found on Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls
Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls
Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls is a 2002 soundtrack release from Rhino Records for The WB's Gilmore Girls. The album is a combination of selections from the score composed by Sam Phillips and the music of other musicians heard, mostly, during the first two seasons of the...
. The song plays as the start of "Sadie, Sadie" (Season 2, Episode 1).
Chris Dedrick died on August 6, 2010, from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, aged 62. According to a message posted on his official site by his wife Moira, Dedrick passed away “after a week of increasing radiance, yet with rapid physical decline.”
Discography
- Kites Are FunKites Are FunKites are Fun is the debut album from The Free Design, released in 1967.-Track listing:# "Kites Are Fun" # "Make the Madness Stop" # "When Love is Young"...
(1967) - You Could Be Born AgainYou Could Be Born AgainYou Could Be Born Again is the second album by The Free Design; it was released in 1968.-Track listing:#"You Could Be Born Again"#"A Leaf Has Veins"#"California Dreamin'"#"The Windows of the World"#"Eleanor Rigby"#"Quartet No. 6 in D Minor"...
(1968) - Heaven/EarthHeaven/EarthHeaven/Earth is the third album from The Free Design, released in 1969. Produced by Enoch Light for his Project 3 label.-Track listing:All songs were written by Chris Dedrick except where otherwise noted.# My Very Own Angel# Now is The Time...
(1969) - Stars/Time/Bubbles/LoveStars/Time/Bubbles/LoveStars/Time/Bubbles/Love is the fourth album from The Free Design. It was released in 1970.-Track listing:All songs are by Chris Dedrick except where otherwise noted.# Bubbles# Tomorrow Is The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life Stars/Time/Bubbles/Love is the fourth album from The Free Design. It was...
(1970) - ...Sing for Very Important People...Sing for Very Important People...Sing for Very Important People is a 1970 album by The Free Design. It was the band's fifth album. The album was a children's album, inspired in part by Peter, Paul and Mary's album Peter, Paul and Mommy of the previous year...
(1970) - One By One (1971)
- There is a Song (1972)
- Cosmic PeekabooCosmic PeekabooCosmic Peekaboo is the seventh album by The Free Design. Released in 2001, it was the sunshine pop group's first album after a long hiatus.The album features original members—and siblings—Sandy, Chris and Bruce Dedrick, along with Rebecca Pellett....
(2001)