Pancakes?…..
You can blame this one on Jek…… He suggested “Pancakes” as a topic in my previous post….. Maybe he remembered “Pancake Records and Tapes” in his subconscious since it was a long time ago or maybe he was talking about the eating kind….. Here’s the “Pancake” story…..
We had recorded a few live concerts (including McCartney in 1990) and made a few copies for friends of what you could call “Bootleg Recordings”…. So-o-o, I came up with the name “Pancake Records and Tapes”, a division of “Too-Loose Productions” as the recording company….. Jek and his then college mate, HuskySooner made a recording called “Water Police” under the name of “Thevenin” for a class they were taking….. So-o-o, naturally, I issued a cassette single….. Here’s what it looked like on the “Pancake” label:
As you can see I blocked out Jek and HuskySooners real names, but I think most of us know who there are….. I even got my name (MR) in there on the Mix-Down (Ha!)…… Â Now, if you want to hear this classic, you’ll have to request Jek and HS to give their permission and I’ll be glad to post it up….. Also, if anyone has a pancake story (food or otherwise), now’s the time to tell it…..
October 9th, 2010 at 9:34 am
THERE!….. Are you happy, Jek?….. For those of you that are wondering what Mr. Tech should be so happy about, I originally did not have the “Produced By” and “Mix-Down” credits blanked out…. It was last names only…. Jeez!….. What you have to do to satisfy some artist’s egos…… Oh, yeah, Jek and HS – Can we hear it – Can I post it on the Blog – Please – Huh – PLEASE……
October 9th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
MR: I just thought it was funny that you went through the trouble to block out things and missed names. I wasn’t worried about it.
Also, don’t you know the internet never forgets? You cannot totally get rid of anything.
As for the song, I’ll have to talk it over with HS. I’m inclined to let it rest or try and clean it up before sharing.
October 9th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
That’s a great jacket design — I didn’t recall that. I can remember most everything else about the project
The class itself was an honors “colloquium,” one of the requirements of the graduating with honors at OU. It was an evening class, which I absolutely despise, and was team-taught. The class was mostly reading and in-class discussion, though we had a big project like this and a few minor writing assignments. The funniest thing was that the professors were under the impression that the class was pass/fail, when in reality it was a graded class. I’m pretty sure everybody in the class ended up with an “A.” I can’t remember the full name of the class. “Water resource management” or something [Jek?]. Except for this recording, my most vivid memory from the class was a writing assignment asking us what to do about the Tennessee Valley Authority dam system and its impact on the regional ecosystem. I grew very weary in the class of reading a seeming endless stack of articles about the plight of the snail darter in the river-dammed ecosystem, so in a rare show of academic satire my essay advocated blowing the dams up with high explosives (obviously I’m not a good candidate for a public policy position). On the cost side, yes, there would be some loss of life and property; but on the benefit side, the ecosystem would be quickly returned to its primordial state by the cleansing function of the rushing water (both literally and symbolically). The instructors didn’t particularly appreciate my effort at well-justified, Swiftian satire.
The song was recorded on a 4-track reel-to-reel. I remember the performances being pretty good (though very weird/creepy in spots), but the recording was very lo-fi. It was a fall semester class, if I’m remembering correctly, and we froze our ass off in The Shop while recording. I need to check and see if I have a copy of it sitting around; I’d love a digital copy. I know they were sequenced drums, I assume from Jek’s 01/W.
Even as late as 2006 before we moved to the new building on the south side of campus, I’d see one of the profs (Mark) regularly.
October 9th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Thanks for the great background story, HS, as I don’t know if I ever knew exactly what class you and Jek were doing it for…… I have digital copies of it, as well as the bonus track, which was a live recording from the 7th (I think) Annual 4th of July Bash….. I can send you a MP3 or CD version of them, IF, you’ll talk to Jek about letting the rest of the Community hear “Water Police” – I’ll even make a CD size version of the Cover….. Yes, this is called bribery and blackmail…..
October 9th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
This just in, a note from Pancake House “Waffles suck”.
I would like to hear “Water Police”! 🙂
October 10th, 2010 at 1:40 am
lets hear it.
October 10th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Yeah, Let’s hear it….. PD Bob’s rockin’ out right now listening to it….. I think he’s planning on stealing the rights and start a “Thevenin” cover band and hit the casino circuit….. I wonder about some of his ideas….
October 15th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Ahh yes, I vaguely remember that project. Can’t recall what it sounds like as that was the time I was trying to break the record of how much alcohol could one human consume without becoming comatose on a daily basis. But remember a pretty Techno/Avant Guarde sound. Kind of Spyro Gyra meets Rush.
October 16th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
JJ: That is an interesting take. I can definitely see the connection.
If you want to hear this track, contact myself or MR directly.
October 18th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
What about the rest of us?
October 18th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Yeah, Jek, and HuskySooner, What about the rest of us?….. Are you telling us NO on posting it on the Blog?…… I don’t know why you two are so negative about having it up for all to hear – I think it’s quite good….. I guess PD Bob and I will have to go to “Plan B” if they don’t allow it on the blog (Plan B is e-mailing it to everyone individually)…. You still have the same result – Everybody gets to hear it (Ha!)……
October 19th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I’m fine with emailing it to you all; I’d rather not having it on the blog.
Heck, I can’t even find my copy!
October 19th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
I will send you an MP3 file of it, HS, and then we can go from there….. I’ll get that done tomorrow, and, I still plan to make a CD Single out of it with the same Artwork, but with updated fonts on the lettering….. The graphic program I’m using now just flat blows away all the hand stick-on lettering and basic word processor fonts that were used on the original….