Cast of Thousands (The Adverts Album)
| Cast of Thousands | ||||
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| The Adverts studio album | ||||
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Publication |
November 1979 |
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| Label (s) | RCA Records | |||
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Format (s) |
LP, CD, MC |
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Title (number) |
10 |
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running time |
31:58 |
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Studio (s) |
Manor Studio , The Barge on Regent's Canal , |
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Cast of Thousands is the second studio album by British music group The Adverts from 1979. It was produced by Tom Newman and released in November 1979 in the UK by RCA Records .
History of origin
The band recorded four pieces of music on the album at Manor Studios . For financial reasons, she then moved to the studio The Barge , which Tom Newman ran on a houseboat in Regent's Canal . A cheap, last-minute offer was later taken up in a studio in central London and the production was finally completed in the summer of 1979 in a mobile recording studio in front of Tom Newman's house in Maida Vale , London .
Tom Newman, who had produced Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield , put in contact with keyboardist Tim Cross, who was part of Oldfield's band. Cross recorded his contributions to the album late at night, when the rest of the band had already left the recording studio.
The single Television's Over , which was released in late 1978, and with which the band had presented their new sound, did not hit the charts. The record company RCA Records , with which the Adverts had recently signed a contract, lost interest in the band and refused to provide financial support. In addition, there were conflicts between the band members, and it became more and more difficult for them to perform together. On June 23, 1979 the Adverts gave a concert in London for the first time in six months to present the songs on the album. Their new member Tim Cross was parked inconspicuously far to the left of the stage. In August 1979, Howard Pickup and Rod Latter left the band. When the John Peel Show was recorded on BBC Radio 1 on October 16, 1979, brothers Rick and Paul Martinez played drums and guitar. The band split up in October 1979, just before the release of the album Cast of Thousands in November 1979.
Songs and track list
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| All lyrics by TV Smith |
Cast of Thousands is musically completely opposite to the adverts debut album Crossing the Red Sea with The Adverts . The band changed their dynamic and experimented with different styles; one approach promoted by producer Tom Newman. The performing musicians were front man T. V. Smith, who wrote all the music on the album and was responsible for the vocals, Gaye Advert on bass and Howard Pickup on guitar. Rod Latter worked as a drummer in the band since April 1978 and was more virtuoso on his instrument than his predecessor.
Instead of massive e-guitar blocks, as in the previous album, small guitar passages were inserted into the songs. In addition, Tim Cross played keyboard in all pieces of music, with the exception of the theme song Cast of Thousands and the acoustic My Place . The band received additional musical support on the synthesizer in the title song Cast of Thousands from Richard Strange , who had already worked with T.V. Smith for his former group Doctors of Madness .
The title song The Cast of Thousands is intended as a parody of music compatible with the masses and a parody of the band's image: "The amateur punk band accompanied by a grand piano, concentrated choir singing and wild synthesizer sounds," as TV Smith wrote in the text accompanying the new album in the Year 2005 describes. The choir consists of the voices of Tom Newman and Oldfield singer Maggie Reilly , superimposed several times.
The song The Adverts is about the influence of advertising that manipulates you: “ Pretty soon you'll be thinking like the adverts, spouting out the same words. “She also promises to be your friend. “ I am not that kind, I am your friend. ”
My Place (“Mein Platz”) begins with snapping fingers in the intro, contains catchy hand claps and acoustic guitar lines that are superimposed on the melody. Television's Over had been released by the band in 1978 to introduce their new musical direction, in the re-recording of Television's Over for the album the band moved even further from their original style and added tubular bells to the instrumentation . According to T.V. Smith, the text states "that the adventure of your life only begins when you give up the variant of it that other people suggest."
The story in Fate of Criminals ("Fate of the Criminals") is based on an incident in the 1970s reported by the newspapers. A woman tried to convince her mother to commit suicide in order to get her inheritance. The police had investigated with a camera through a hole in the wall and were able to convict the perpetrator through video recordings.
When the song I Surrender ("I give up") was created, the band felt at the creative peak with the work on the album. At the same time she got the reaction to the first single releases and it became clear to her that she would not be able to continue without the support of her fans. This discrepancy is reflected in the text at the end of the song: " Birds of a feather drop dead together, and that's all. "
TV Smith wrote I Will Walk You Home as the last song for the album and put it at the end of the story without knowing that it would be the last song the band ever wrote recorded together. Tom Newman wanted to hear a mandolin in the twisted ballad , but didn't have one, so he slowed the tape down by half the speed and played a guitar instead.
Singles
Of the songs on the album, Television's Over was released as a single in November 1978 . On the B-side is the title Back from the Dead, a co-production by T. V. Smith and Richard Strange. Strange band Doctors of Madness also released a version of the song on their album Sons of Survival .
This was followed by My Place , B-side New Church in a live version recorded in September 1978 in Cologne im Stollwerck for the film Brennende Langeweile by Wolfgang Büld , in June 1979, and Cast of Thousands , B-side I Will Walk you Home in November 1979 .
New edition 2005
In 2005 the album Cast of Thousands was remastered under the guidance of Jon Caffery in the Monoposto Studio in Düsseldorf and released as a double CD on The Devils Own Jukebox. The new edition also contains the song Television's Over in the single version and the B-side Back from the Dead . In addition, the complete recordings of the four radio sessions at John Peel to which the adverts were invited are attached. There are 16 pieces of music. The black and white booklet contains all the lyrics, photos of the band members and Tom Newman from the 1970s, as well as an accompanying text by T.V. Smith, who remembers the making of the album, and a review by Henry Rollins .
resonance
With their style change in the environment of well-trained musicians, the band could not meet the expectations of the press. In the punk scene, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells album was viewed as an enemy, and The Adverts did not accept the likes of well-trained musicians. Since the band had split up, there were no more tours and that with a band that was particularly popular for their live concerts. The album was not accepted.
Individual evidence
- ^ Dave Thompson , TV Smith - Your Ticket Out of Here, The Complete Collectors Guide. 2009, ISBN 978-1-4495-5815-4 , p. 51.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Booklet for the new edition of Cast of Thousands 2005, The Devils Own Jukebox.
- ^ Dave Thompson, TV Smith - Your Ticket Out of Here, The Complete Collectors Guide. 2009, ISBN 978-1-4495-5815-4 , p. 55.
- ^ Giovanni Dadomo: TV closes down , article in Sounds of November 17, 1979.
- ^ Dave Thompson, TV Smith - Your Ticket Out of Here, The Complete Collectors Guide. 2009, ISBN 978-1-4495-5815-4 , p. 53.
- ↑ a b Dave Thompson: TV Smith - Your Ticket Out of Here, The Complete Collectors Guide. 2009, ISBN 978-1-4495-5815-4 , p. 56.
- ↑ “ The little amateurish Punk Band - now with added grandiose piano, massed choirs and wild synthesizer, ” T. V. Smith in the text accompanying the new edition Tha Cast of Thousands , The Devils Juke Box, 2005.
- ↑ Excerpt from the lyrics of The Adverts translation: "Very quickly you will think like the advertisements and spit out the same words."
- ↑ “I'm not that kind, I'm your friend.” Quoted and translated from the text for The Adverts from the booklet accompanying the album.
- ↑ “ The lyrics say that the adventure of your life only starts when you abandon the version of it put forward by other people. ”T. V. Smith quotes and translates from the booklet accompanying the album The Adverts Anthology .
- ↑ Booklet for the album The Adverts Anthology
- ↑ " Like- minded people break down fatally and that's it." Quoted and translated from the text on I Surrender from the booklet accompanying the album.
- ^ Dave Thompson, TV Smith - Your Ticket Out of Here, The Complete Collectors Guide. 2009, ISBN 978-1-4495-5815-4 , p. 50.
- ↑ Booklet for the album The Adverts Anthology
- ^ Dave Thompson, TV Smith - Your Ticket Out of Here, The Complete Collectors Guide. 2009, ISBN 978-1-4495-5815-4 , p. 52.
Web links
- Cast of Thousands at Discogs (English)
- Cast of Thousands at Allmusic (English)