Remember back in the late 70s, before you were born when mellow tunes (and lots of disco) ruled American Top 40 and you cheered when "You Light Up My Life" was at #1 one more week?
Of course not, so the Squad has added to its mission bringing forth the occasional creation to do Koko of Yacht Rock proud.
So mix up an umbrella drink and prepare to chill to his week's smoooooth edition, "Sweet Luisa".
As a band, we generally write songs about love, and rock, and loss, and science, and girls, and fiction, and girls in science fiction. I never thought Bill Davis would make his way into a World Racketeering Squad tune, but sometimes we must bow to the irresistible weave of fate, and let the Drunken Earl of Rock have his say. All two words of it.
Here's "Bill Says":
Let us know what you think!
It's been while since we posted a new song, but we've been a'brewin and a'steamin. Here's the latest tasty treat, "Ghost Hunter." Oddly, it has nothing to do with the film Ghostbusters, even though there would be lots of product tie-in opportunities if it did. Go figure.
I just signed my paperwork to become an official Apple employee.
So I'm totally thrilled and excited. I set a goal to dedicate myself fully to this job, do well, and get hired. And it worked!
And since I scheduled it beforehand, I still get to go to the Kerrville Folk Festival next week.
Life is very good.
love,
reed
It's summer, and since people often take up new things at the new year, or in spring, I figured it was just about time for procrastination to curl up in the backseat and read comics for a while.
That left me free to try some new things, like entering a life of more physical activity (more than none is lots!) and taking charge of our lawn.
A few weeks ago, I had the bold plan to go out, buy a mower, and take care of the lawn, all in one swell foop. It didn't matter that I hadn't bother to mention this to Isaac, who is also my roommate. I'm a take-charge guy. I was gonna take care of this problem on my own, just like those guys in movies who do things alone (and have a fleet of assistants, makeup and hair professionals, agents, and lawyers leaping to their side as soon as the assistant director hollers "CUT!")
I'm just like those guys, so it took me totally by surprise when Isaac was interested in taking care of the lawn too and wanted to be part of the decision-making process. Oops. In the end, a fleet of tornados working for a guy called only Dan swept across our yard for $40, mowing, edging, and trimming the whole thing in 15 minutes.
But time marches on, and seems inevitably to lead to the growth of the green stuff that for some reason has the same name as marijuana, even though it has no mind-altering properties (that I've noticed).
Suddenly, two worlds collided in my brain. (Yes, it hurt, but I wrote more lyrics new tune "Awesome" in a parking lot, so it's okay.) If I bought a reel push lawn mower, I could mow the lawn AND get good exercise pushing the darn thing around.
So, now I'm the proud owner of a 16" Scotts Elite lawn mower with no engine. I mowed the front lawn this evening, and I'll get the back tomorrow. And it's awesome! I'm hot, and sweaty, I'm having a low blood-sugar reaction, and I'm very very happy.
"Amish style. Are you turning Amish?" as the woman in the major chain store asked her platinum-blond potential customer. Yes Rebecca, if this is what it means to be Amish, I'm in Amish Paradise.
Years ago, when I lived in Houston (yes, it's true and no matter what anyone says, the food there is fantastic) I took advantage of the theatrical opportunities available in a city of 4 million people, several of them obscenely rich, and paid student prices to see a lavish production of a new play, Svengali.
It was a fun show, the lead actor Chuck Wagner was terrific as the charismatic and manipulative Svengali, and it had some great songs, none of which I recalled till I found Chuck's website tonight.
I hadn't thought about it in years until Isaac talked about how he always wanted to be the man behind the music for an all-girl pop band and wrote "9 1/2 Tears" with that in mind.
Mix all that up in the magical daquiri blender that is my mind and the spherical music of Isaac's fingers, and you get our latest demo, "Dreams of Svengali".
Some fool forgot to post the lyrics to the new songs we've been writing in the last couple of months, so I just paid a web gremlin $2.50 to painstakingly build the words by hand, letter by black letter.
And he, she, or it earned hishts pay! Check out our lyrics page for all the new updates!
And if you see a few grubby black handprints in the html code, don't think harshly of that web gremlin. It would've done a much cleaner job for an extra 50 cents.
When I watched a lot of MTV in my young youth, and when I saw filmmakers interviewed in my older youth, they always asked the artists how they came up with their ideas, their creative processes.
Well, I'm here to crack open the doors of my mind for a glimpse into how I first create some of the tunes that then get crafted into the mighty pop monsters of WRS.
For example, "I'm Not Dead" came out of something I was singing to myself as I drove home from work earlier this year. I kept singing the chorus over and over - it was catchy and I didn't want to forget it.
Then, to make sure I didn't forget it, I queued up iMovie on my Macbook Pro, put it in my lap so my face would be in the frame, and sang the chorus as I drove down Mopac Expressway. Kids, don't try this at home. It's probably a good way to die, but I like to think riskin life and limb is all worth it to deliver the rock to you, the people.
And to prove I ain't lying, here's the video I recorded that day.
Yesterday, Isaac and I went to Eeyore's Birthday Party in Pease Park. We saw a lot of beautiful people in gorgeous costumes under the mighty mighty Texas sky. Some of those folks we knew. Most we didn't. A few we'll be dreamiing about for weeks, and not just naughty Tigger.
For me, a place like Eeyore's is a slice of Heaven. Everybody there to celebrate themselves and everybody else, and I get to flow from hug to arm to community to costume and back again, just touching everybody (yes, metaphorically in many cases) and being touched in return.
Since that was such a mellow, inspiring time, we wrote an rebellious party song tonight, to keep things in balance.
Enjoy "Going Out!"
