MLT Club Member Jürgen
MLT Club MemberForum Replies Created
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Hello Steve,
a very nice idea to choose this lyrics. As you have already indicated: the interpretation usually says more about the person reading the text than about the person who wrote this text. Here are my associations: Yes, it could perhaps be an autobiographical section in the lives of Mona and Lisa. After all, they are at an age when many things can change quickly and sometimes have to change. The step into a new phase of life. The road as a metaphor: from nowhere to somewhere, from beginning to becoming. The song reflects this mood very well: A bit rough and hard at the beginning, maybe the point where everything started („We’re leaving the game“ / „We’re not gonna play with their loaded dice“) and then ends in harmonious duet singing: „Destination Sunrise“, switching then to „Generation Sunrise“: perhaps also an indication that their own generation needs to change something. They have to find their own path, because the path chosen by the generation before leads to nowhere from their point of view, maybe even to an abyss (So far interpreted in terms of the complete album „Why?“). Phil Collins asks in the lyrics of “Land of Confusion”: “Oh, Superman, where are you now, when everything’s gone wrong somehow?” and then is confident: “My generation will put it right”. Did they? From our children’s point of view? Mona and Lisa could be my daughters in age. We handed them the road in not particularly good condition. I wish them good luck and all the best for their departure into their personal sunrise.
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Let’s do the time warp again (no, no, not „the jump to the left and a step to the right“ thing). After interesting LP covers from the 60s and 70s, logically the 50s follow, of course 😀. Which LP sleeves from that time do you remember, which ones did you like?
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The first Mike Oldfield album that caught my interest many years ago was QE2. The design wasn’t really pretty and somehow it seemed very technical to me. But it made me curious how the music would sound on this LP. The name of the record refers to the passenger ship of the same name: Queen Elizabeth 2. With a lot of imagination you can see the bow of the ship.
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Certainly not suitable for the masses and not for sound purists, but I like the idea: Shaped records.
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Why actually print the art work of an LP on a cardboard sleeve, when the disc itself offers enough space for a picture? Uriah Heep, along with many other musicians, have released some colorful picture discs in recent years.
The only colorful LP I’ve ever owned was a cover of the song La Bamba (La Bamba as a disco number 🙄 ). The disc was fiery red and the sleeve bright yellow and orange. Are any of you the proud owner of a particularly beautiful example? What do you think of the idea of the Picture Disc?
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Some interesting (and also very detailed …) information about Beatles Picture Discs:
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Tough guys, guitars and engines (and not a bit stereotypical…). And what does that have to do with LP covers? A lot at ZZ-Top. Bill Gibbons, the band’s guitarist, is not only a passionate guitar collector, he also collects fast cars. Accordingly, some of his personal dream cars can be seen on the covers of the band. Like this hot rod on the cover of the Eliminator LP. A converted Ford coupe. Original year of construction 1933.
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Thanks for your detailed answer Ckay. It seems to have been a pretty crazy time. I can understand that you will always have fond memories of this time together with the musicians. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that your mother is doing well given the circumstances.
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Ah David, now I get it. The cereal box records were cut out. Our cereal packages also had such cut-outs and handicraft figures. Maybe there were such cardboard records. But to be honest, the contents of the cornflakes boxes weren’t that interesting most of the time. A plate of sugar-sweet cornflakes and my need for the next few weeks was satisfied. That’s why the figures were cut out first and the battered rest of the pack was stowed away in the cupboard. Since my mother threatened that there would be no new pack until everything was eaten, the remaining cornflakes gradually disappeared.
The Original Record Waggon (that’s what it was called) really worked. It had no loudspeakers, but the car’s housing was used as a resonance chamber. A soft, rattling sound. Fluctuations in pitch and a ruined LP. But it worked.
Speaking of turntables: I found some unusual turntables here:
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Hi Jung,
when I heard “She’s leaving home” for the first time, I didn’t cry, I had to laugh. And it happened like this: It must have been around the time I was twelve or thirteen years old. Our English teacher announced that he wanted to present a song from The Beatles at the next lesson and that we will have to talk about this song (and of course sing it). I liked the idea very much, because that was the time when the Beatles came into my life. Most of the other kids didn’t like the idea. At that time, Queen and ELO were hot. „Lucifer“ and „A walk in the Park“ were played on the radio. But anything better than learning English grammar. Said and done. Our English teacher distributed the lyrics to the song, put the tape in the recorder and we listened to the song. There was quite a giggle as the high chorus sounded. Should we really sing that? Some of us were already moving rapidly towards break voice. The singing was canceled spontaneously and only the lyrics were translated and interpreted. So a nice idea turned into boring lessons once again. But it was still funny.
Yes, it’s interesting to see how everyday messages can turn into songs in the minds of musicians. Another good example is “A day in the life”. This was the time when the Beatles experienced a major musical upheaval. Their music became more sophisticated. The lyrics moved away from the pink soap bubble “I wanna hold your hand” to daily updated and also critical topics. A kind of maturing process.
Also an interesting development within The Beatles: while Paul increasingly was attracted by topics that were happening around him, John instead described things that were happening inside him, i.e. his personal experience and emotional states, like “Yer Blues” or this one:
(I hope the link works for you)
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Yeah Jung, „Sharp Dressed Man“, „Gimme All Your Lovin“ and „Legs“ are the three best tracks on this album. I was 16 years old at that time and wanted this record together with „Catch as Catch Can“ by Kim Wilde for Christmas. The car in the video clip really looks hot. I wonder what the driving experience is like. Relaxed gliding or rather a wild rodeo ride? The cameo appearance of ZZ-Top in “Back to the future” also remains unforgettable for me.
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Speaking of Picture Disks and Pink Floyd: a colorful LP version of the „Animals“ album has now been released. This time as a cover version by different artists, with a new sleeve design (let’s see how often this cow can still be milked…).
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Hi David and Tim,
as far as I know, we never had cardboard singles in cornflake packs, but instead there were lots of figures and stuff that you’re kind of keen on as a child. I also liked playing around with the record speed. I once owned a Single by Madonna. Reducing the speed from 45 to 33 resulted in a passable male voice (and the rest of the music went with it too). It actually sounded pretty good. Tim, I’m glad to hear, that I’m not the only one who sometimes has trouble understanding the Twins (they often speak fast and in a very high pitch. As a non-native speaker, it is sometimes difficult for me to listen to them. Slow down seems a good idea). 😀
And then there were those funny gimmicks that let you play your LPs, like this reissue of the Record Car (I would never have done that to my discs, but watching this was fun).
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Yeah, that’s a funny LP, David. Thanks for posting. It’s a pity that picture discs have always been treated as rarities. Whether they really sounded that much worse? I don’t know. Not everyone has a high end stereo system at home, to hear the difference. In any case, the production was more complex and cost-intensive. I could imagine that this was one of the reasons why picture discs never became mass-market. At that time I was already happy about the apple label from Apple Records. This halved apple sticker gave the otherwise mostly sterile black discs a somewhat friendlier and cheerful appearance.
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Hi Jung,
thank you for the entertaining contribution from the movie „The Piano Forrest“. Who knows, maybe the piano on the cover of Supertramp only sounds when a very special person is playing it? A very nice idea. Japanese manga tend to lead a shadowy existence here. I find the often philosophical ideas and mythologies behind them very interesting. I only know of Makoto Shinkai movies that tell modern fairy tales. Everyday stories of dreams, hopes and longings. Presented in a very unique, charming way.
And then I remember „Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within“. The first feature film created entirely on the computer – produced by 150 digital artists and 20 computer animators. A flop at the box office. Visually a feast for the eyes. I like the film, also because of the complex Far Eastern mythological basic idea, which was packed into a modern science fiction setting.
