Fifty Foot Hose: Difference between revisions

Fifty Foot Hose
Fifty Foot Hose
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Psychedelic rock
Years active	1967–1970, 1995–present
Labels	Limelight, Mercury, Big Beat, Weasel Disc

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Fifty Foot Hose is an American psychedelic rock band that formed in San Francisco in the late 1960s,^[2] and reformed in the 1990s. They were one of the first bands to fuse rock and experimental music. Like a few other acts of the time (most notably The United States of America), they consciously tried to combine the contemporary sounds of rock with electronic instruments and avant-garde compositional ideas.^{[citation needed]}

1960s – original group[edit]

The original group comprised three core members: founder and bassist Louis "Cork" Marcheschi, guitarist David Blossom, and vocalist Nancy Blossom, augmented by Kim Kimsey (drums) and Larry Evans (guitar).^[2]

Cork Marcheschi (born 1945) grew up in Burlingame, California. In his teens, he performed with the Ethix,^[2] who played R&B music in clubs around San Francisco and in Las Vegas, and released one experimental and wildly atonal single, "Bad Trip", in 1967, with the intention that the record could be played at any speed. Interested in the ideas of experimental composers like Edgard Varèse, John Cage, Terry Riley, and George Antheil, he constructed his own custom-made electronic instrument from a combination of elements like theremins, fuzzboxes, a cardboard tube, and a speaker from a World War II bomber.

David and Nancy Blossom brought both psychedelic and jazz influences to the band. Together, the trio recorded a demo which led to a deal with Limelight Records, a subsidiary of Mercury Records. They released one album, Cauldron, in December 1967.^[2] It contained eleven songs, including "Fantasy", "Red the Sign Post" and "God Bless the Child", a cover of a Billie Holiday number.^[2] It was an intriguing mix of jazzy psychedelic rock tunes with fierce and advanced electronic sound effects.^[2] "I don't know if they are immature or premature", said critic Ralph J. Gleason.^{[citation needed]}

The record sold few copies at the time, although the group had a small but intense following in San Francisco and also toured with other acts including Blue Cheer, Chuck Berry and Fairport Convention, when the band was augmented by Robert Goldbeck (bass). They broke up in late 1969, when most of its members joined the musical Hair, Nancy Blossom becoming the lead in the San Francisco production and later singing in Godspell. Larry Evans returned to his hometown of Muncie, Indiana, where he fronted several club groups until his death in 2008.

1990s – reformation[edit]

Interest in Fifty Foot Hose resurfaced in the 1990s, as they became recognized as precursors to the electronic rock sounds of groups like Pere Ubu, Chrome and Throbbing Gristle, and Cauldron was reissued on CD. By this time, Marcheschi had become a respected sculptor, specializing in public work using neon, plastic, and kinetic characteristics.

In 1995, Marcheschi reformed the group for live performances in San Francisco, with a new set of musicians. These performances led to the release of the album Live & Unreleased, which was followed in 1997 by a new studio album, Sing Like Scaffold. On the latter album, Fifty Foot Hose essentially comprised Marcheschi (on echolette, twin audio generators, squeaky stick, white noise generator, theremin, spark gap, and saw blades), Walter Funk III (jokers Ulysses and Cupid constructed by Fred 'Spaceman' Long, Bug (Tom Nunn), vocoder, Hologlyphic Funkaliser, and other electronix), Reid Johnston (guitube, guitar, tools, horns, harmonium, hardware, bikewheel), Lenny Bove (bass, electronics, vocals), Elizabeth Perry (vocals), and Dean Cook (drums).^{[citation needed]}

Funk and Johnston subsequently formed the avant-garde electronic band Kwisp, the first of whose two albums also featured Marcheschi.

In 2006, Marcheschi, Funk, Johnston, and Konstantine Baranov (producer of Sing Like Scaffold), known as CWRK Musical Environments, installed a public sound installation in an atrium in Hong Kong.

Discography[edit]

Cauldron (1968, Limelight Records)
...Live... And Unreleased (1997, Captain Trip Records)
Ingredients (1997, Del Val)
Sing Like Scaffold (1998, Weasel Disc Records)

References[edit]

^ Brend, Mark (2012). The Sound of Tomorrow: How Electronic Music Was Smuggled into the Mainstream. Bloomsbury. p. 186. ISBN 9781623561536.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 859. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.

External links[edit]

[1] Brend, Mark (2012). The Sound of Tomorrow: How Electronic Music Was Smuggled into the Mainstream. Bloomsbury. p. 186. ISBN 9781623561536.

[LarkinGE-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 859. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|American underground rock band}}
-{{No footnotes|date=August 2014}}
+{{More footnotes|date=August 2014}}
 {{Infobox musical artist
 | name                = Fifty Foot Hose
 | image               =
-| caption             =
+| caption             = A band portrait from the late 1960s
 | image_size          =
 | background          = group_or_band
 | alias               =
 | origin              = [[San Francisco]], [[California]], United States
+| genre               = [[Psychedelic rock]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brend |first1=Mark |title=The Sound of Tomorrow: How Electronic Music Was Smuggled into the Mainstream |date=2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury |page=186 |isbn=9781623561536 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJHFAgAAQBAJ&q=fifty+foot+hose%22underground+rock%22}}</ref>
-| genre               = [[Psychedelic rock]], [[experimental rock]]
 | years_active        = 1967&ndash;1970, 1995&ndash;present
+| label               = [[Limelight Records|Limelight]], [[Mercury Records|Mercury]], [[Big Beat Records (British record label)|Big Beat]], Weasel Disc
-| label               =
-| associated_acts     = [[Kwisp]]
+| associated_acts     = Kwisp
 | website             =
 | current_members     =
 | past_members        =
 }}
-'''Fifty Foot Hose''' is an American [[psychedelic rock]] band that formed in [[San Francisco]] in the late 1960s, and reformed in the 1990s. They were one of the first bands to fuse [[rock music|rock]] and [[experimental music]]. Like a few other acts of the time (most notably [[United States of America (band)|the United States of America]]), they consciously tried to combine the contemporary sounds of rock with electronic instruments and avant-garde compositional ideas.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
+'''Fifty Foot Hose''' is an American [[psychedelic rock]] band that formed in [[San Francisco]] in the late 1960s,<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=859}}</ref> and reformed in the 1990s. They were one of the first bands to fuse [[rock music|rock]] and [[experimental music]]. Like a few other acts of the time (most notably [[United States of America (band)|The United States of America]]), they consciously tried to combine the contemporary sounds of rock with electronic instruments and avant-garde compositional ideas.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
-==The 1960s – the original group==
-The original group comprised three core members: founder and bassist Louis "Cork" Marcheschi, guitarist David Blossom, and his wife, vocalist Nancy Blossom, augmented by Kim Kimsey (drums) and Larry Evans (guitar).
+==1960s – original group==
-Cork Marcheschi (born 1945) grew up in [[Burlingame, California]]. In his teens, he performed with the Ethix, who played [[R&B]] music in clubs around San Francisco and in Las Vegas, and released one experimental and wildly atonal single, "Bad Trip", in 1967, with the intention that the record could be played at any speed. Interested in the ideas of experimental composers like [[Edgard Varèse]], [[John Cage]], [[Terry Riley]], and [[George Antheil]], he constructed his own [[Custom-made instrument|custom-made electronic instrument]] from a combination of elements like [[theremin]]s, [[Distortion (music)|fuzzbox]]es, a cardboard tube, and a speaker from a [[World War II]] bomber.
+The original group comprised three core members: founder and bassist Louis "Cork" Marcheschi, guitarist David Blossom, and vocalist Nancy Blossom, augmented by Kim Kimsey (drums) and Larry Evans (guitar).<ref name="LarkinGE"/>
+[[Cork Marcheschi]] (born 1945) grew up in [[Burlingame, California]]. In his teens, he performed with the Ethix,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> who played [[R&B]] music in clubs around San Francisco and in Las Vegas, and released one experimental and wildly atonal single, "Bad Trip", in 1967, with the intention that the record could be played at any speed. Interested in the ideas of experimental composers like [[Edgard Varèse]], [[John Cage]], [[Terry Riley]], and [[George Antheil]], he constructed his own [[Custom-made instrument|custom-made electronic instrument]] from a combination of elements like [[theremin]]s, [[Distortion (music)|fuzzbox]]es, a cardboard tube, and a speaker from a [[World War II]] bomber.
-David and Nancy Blossom brought both psychedelic and [[jazz]] influences to the band. Together, the trio recorded a [[Demo (music)|demo]] which led to a deal with [[Limelight Records]], a subsidiary of [[Mercury Records]]. They released one album, ''[[Cauldron (Fifty Foot Hose album)|Cauldron]]'', in December 1967.  It contained eleven songs, including "Fantasy", "Red the Sign Post" and "God Bless the Child", a [[Billie Holiday]] cover. It was an intriguing mix of jazzy psychedelic rock tunes with fierce and advanced electronic sound effects.  "I don't know if they are immature or premature", said critic [[Ralph J. Gleason]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
+David and Nancy Blossom brought both psychedelic and [[jazz]] influences to the band. Together, the trio recorded a [[Demo (music)|demo]] which led to a deal with [[Limelight Records]], a subsidiary of [[Mercury Records]]. They released one album, ''[[Cauldron (Fifty Foot Hose album)|Cauldron]]'', in December 1967.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> It contained eleven songs, including "Fantasy", "Red the Sign Post" and "[[God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)|God Bless the Child]]", a cover of a [[Billie Holiday]] number.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> It was an intriguing mix of jazzy psychedelic rock tunes with fierce and advanced electronic sound effects.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> "I don't know if they are immature or premature", said critic [[Ralph J. Gleason]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
-The record sold few copies at the time, although the group had a small but intense following in San Francisco and also toured with other acts including [[Blue Cheer]], [[Chuck Berry]] and [[Fairport Convention]], when the band was augmented by Robert Goldbeck (bass).  They broke up in late 1969 when most of its members joined the musical ''[[Hair (musical)|Hair]]'', Nancy Blossom becoming the lead in the San Francisco production and later singing in ''[[Godspell]]''. Larry Evans returned to his hometown of Muncie, Indiana where he fronted several club groups until his death in 2008.
+The record sold few copies at the time, although the group had a small but intense following in San Francisco and also toured with other acts including [[Blue Cheer]], [[Chuck Berry]] and [[Fairport Convention]], when the band was augmented by Robert Goldbeck (bass).  They broke up in late 1969, when most of its members joined the musical ''[[Hair (musical)|Hair]]'', Nancy Blossom becoming the lead in the San Francisco production and later singing in ''[[Godspell]]''. Larry Evans returned to his hometown of [[Muncie, Indiana]], where he fronted several club groups until his death in 2008.
-==The 1990s – reformation==
+==1990s – reformation==
 Interest in Fifty Foot Hose resurfaced in the 1990s, as they became recognized as precursors to the electronic rock sounds of groups like [[Pere Ubu (band)|Pere Ubu]], [[Chrome (band)|Chrome]] and [[Throbbing Gristle]], and ''Cauldron'' was reissued on CD. By this time, Marcheschi had become a respected sculptor, specializing in public work using neon, plastic, and kinetic characteristics.
-In 1995, Marcheschi reformed the group for live performances in San Francisco, with a new set of musicians. These performances led to the release of the album ''Live & Unreleased'', which was followed in 1997 by a new studio album, ''Sing Like Scaffold''.  On the latter album, Fifty Foot Hose essentially comprised Marcheschi (on echolette, twin audio generators, squeaky stick, white noise generator, theremin, spark gap, and saw blades), Walter Funk III (jokers Ulysses and Cupid constructed by Fred 'Spaceman' Long, Bug (Tom Nunn), vocoder, Hologlyphic Funkaliser and other electronix), Reid Johnston (guitube, guitar, tools, horns, harmonium, hardware, bikewheel), Lenny Bove (bass, electronics, vocals), Elizabeth Perry (vocals), and Dean Cook (drums).{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
+In 1995, Marcheschi reformed the group for live performances in San Francisco, with a new set of musicians. These performances led to the release of the album ''Live & Unreleased'', which was followed in 1997 by a new studio album, ''Sing Like Scaffold''.  On the latter album, Fifty Foot Hose essentially comprised Marcheschi (on echolette, twin audio generators, squeaky stick, white noise generator, theremin, spark gap, and saw blades), Walter Funk III (jokers Ulysses and Cupid constructed by Fred 'Spaceman' Long, Bug (Tom Nunn), vocoder, Hologlyphic Funkaliser, and other electronix), Reid Johnston (guitube, guitar, tools, horns, harmonium, hardware, bikewheel), Lenny Bove (bass, electronics, vocals), Elizabeth Perry (vocals), and Dean Cook (drums).{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
-Funk and Johnston subsequently formed the avant-garde electronic band [[Kwisp]], the first of whose two albums also featured Marcheschi.
+Funk and Johnston subsequently formed the avant-garde electronic band Kwisp, the first of whose two albums also featured Marcheschi.
-In 2006 Marcheschi, Funk, Johnston and Konstantine Baranov (producer of ''Sing Like Scaffold''), known as CWRK Musical Environments, installed a public sound installation in an atrium in Hong Kong.
+In 2006, Marcheschi, Funk, Johnston, and Konstantine Baranov (producer of ''Sing Like Scaffold''), known as CWRK Musical Environments, installed a public sound installation in an atrium in Hong Kong.
 ==Discography==
-*[[Cauldron (Fifty Foot Hose album)|Cauldron]] (1968, [[Limelight Records]])
+*''[[Cauldron (Fifty Foot Hose album)|Cauldron]]'' (1968, [[Limelight Records]])
-*...Live... And Unreleased ‎(1997, Captain Trip Records)
+*''...Live... And Unreleased'' (1997, [[Captain Trip Records]])
-*Ingredients ‎(1997, Del Val)
+*''Ingredients'' (1997, Del Val)
-*Sing Like Scaffold ‎(1998, Weasel Disc Records)
+*''Sing Like Scaffold'' (1998, Weasel Disc Records)
 ==References==
+{{Reflist}}
+==External links==
 *{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p17503}}
 *[http://www.corkmarcheschi.com/  Cork Marcheschi website]
@@ Line 49: / Line 54: @@
 {{Authority control}}
-[[Category:American psychedelic rock music groups]]
 [[Category:American experimental rock groups]]
+[[Category:Musical groups from San Francisco]]
+[[Category:Psychedelic rock music groups from California]]
+[[Category:Mercury Records artists]]

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