Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Shock the monkey...

Back in 1984 or so I picked up a cassette sitting on a table in the audio/video department at Bay High School. It belonged to a tech guy who worked part time for the school. It was marked "Peter Gabriel-Live". I popped it into a cheap cassette player, put on a pair of craptastic headphones and proceeded to have my mind absolutely blown.

The music was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It sure as hell wasn't Pink Floyd or pop music. It was something mesmerizing, haunting. From the first track (The Rhythm of the heat) to the desolate and sad "Biko". I listened to it over and over. One of the first CD's I ever owned was Peter Gabriel and when I got to hear his music on a semi-good system it blew my mind all over again.

You might know his more popular tunes Shock the Monkey, Salisbury Hill or Sledgehammer. But you owe it to yourself to listen to some of his other works. He did the soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ and is a central part of Real World studios.

A while back he provided the source track to some of his songs and invited to people to remix them as they wished. The results were pretty cool. You can listed to a warped but very cool version of Shock the Monkey here:



11 comments:

Erika said...

LOVE Gabriel. Have been a huge fan ever since I can remember. Adore his Genesis days too! He's an amazing artist!

grim said...

Did you just denigrate the holy Floyd Gods while referencing your heretical false Gabriel deity? Floyd is the only true God, and Roger Waters is his prophet! I declare a holy music jihad upon your infidel tunes...

You should be forced to listen to Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast, followed by Atom Heart Mother, Echoes, and Several Species until you recant your heathen ways. (no new covenant Barret tunes for the likes of you)

Atonement may only be achieved by memorizing the lyrics to Careful With That Axe Eugene. I'll expect you to be able to recite them by heart when we next meet... (hint: the live version has more extensive lyrics)

Patrick said...

No need to dis Floyd...

I like this remix better - two approaches at this song wrapped in one with a jarring transition then a build.

http://www.realworldremixed.com/remix.php?remix_id=Isol7BYyIvlwS3Ao

Cool versions of Games Without Frontiers on there too..(some have rap mixed in as part of an X Games promotion)

http://www.realworldremixed.com/remix.php?remix_id=qcV9DGU4yHn4UWP2

http://www.realworldremixed.com/remix.php?remix_id=Dxh2yVS0wJdDy45E

http://www.realworldremixed.com/remix.php?remix_id=FCGOXBF15UcTW1k3 (minus the rap advertising Xgames, I love this from 1:30 on)

And a TOTALLY different approach:
http://www.realworldremixed.com/remix.php?remix_id=yTVJCYLYq5QLLMjg

Steve said...

I originally learned about this project some months ago but forgot to post about it. I'm geeked there are more remixes available.

Grim, I did not mean to speak blasphemy of the Holy Floyd. Back in the 80's there were basically two general music camps in my school. Pop and Floyd. I liked Floyd very much. I even managed to get to a concert of theirs thanks to my Star Trek group working concessions at the stadium.

I shall perform 10 Hail Mary's and listen to "One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces". Or as I like to call it. "Frost Giant Killin Music".

grim said...

I still expect you to be able to recite all the lyrics to Careful With That Axe Eugene...

Or, barring that, the lyrics to Come In Number 51, or perhaps Beset By Creatures Of The Deep...

(yes, I'm waiting for someone to "get it")

Patrick said...

I think with maybe a couple days to work on it, Steve might be able to handle reciting the lyrics to Careful With That Axe, Eugene, so long as you don't require him to mimic the accompanying vocals too closely.

Steve said...

Down, down. Down, down. The star is screaming.
Beneath the lies. Lie, lie. Tschay, tschay, tschay

Careful, careful with that axe Eugene...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Erika said...

Bravo.

grim said...

Beset By Creatures Of The Deep is a partial musical precursor to Careful-, and Come in number 51 is a partial precursor for the latter portion of Careful-.

But you cheated. Realistically, I know you don't own good enough stereo equipment to pick out those first lyrics that easily. (though your dad probably does) Still, I suppose even cheating is worth something.

In return, I listened to the song version you presented. I have to say first that I'm more of a Salisbury Hill / Sledgehammer fan than a Shock The Monkey fan. Given that caveat, I still appreciated the technical skill and artistry that this remix offered. I myself enjoy avant garde art. I even like some of the more drawn out Pink Floyd tunes, though not so much the style of Yoko Ono's "singing." Still, while I appreciate the wonderful opportunity that Peter Gabriel's largesse has provided, I have to admit that this particular result was not revelatory for me.

I liked the original Shock The Monkey better.

As penance, I'm working on getting my hands on a live pro-shot recording of Peter Gabriel from 15th June 1986 at the Giants Stadium. Shock the Monkey is in the setlist.

Steve said...

Sweet!

One the first concerts I ever bought tickets for was Peter Gabriel. It was a hell of a show.

grim said...

I watched the DVD. I still like Sledgehammer way better than Shock The Monkey, even in this performance.

Peter hops around on the stage like in one of his videos.

The concert is short, and was a charity deal filmed by MTV. I can get other full concerts, but this is the highest quality video I could find in the 80's. Let me know if you'd be interested in lesser quality footage...