The Free Design
The Free Design were an American pop group from Delevan, New York , who became known in the 1960s and 1970s for their jazzy sunshine pop (also known as baroque pop) and easy listening with a strong vocal component.
Band history
The Free Design were a family project, all members of the group belonged to the Dedrick family: Christopher Dedrick (1947-2010), who wrote most of the songs, his sister Sandy and her brother Bruce were the original cast. Later, her younger sister, Ellen, joined them, as did her cousin Jeff Dedrick for a while. The youngest sister Stefanie did not join them until the late 1970s. The siblings' father, Art, was a trumpeter and arranger . Her uncle Rusty Dedrick played as a jazz trumpeter with Claude Thornhill and Red Norvo .
The Free Design was founded in 1967 in New York City . According to Chris, they were influenced by vocal groups like The Hi-Los (who were performing frequently in Greenwich Village at the time), as well as Peter, Paul and Mary and Benjamin Britten's counterpoint experiments . The soft, harmonic sound that became their trademark was based on intricately elaborated vocal parts and flowing melodies.
The band released seven albums between 1967 and 1972, the first six on Enoch Light ’s label Project 3 , the last, There is a Song , on the Ambrotype label . For the most part, they were accompanied by studio musicians.
After separating in 1972, Chris Dedrick recorded a solo album: Be Free , which was not released until 2000. He then moved to Toronto , where he worked as a producer, arranger and composer of classical music and film soundtracks .
comeback
In the course of her career, The Free Design never really enjoyed commercial success, but it did have a small but loyal fan base. The 1969 song 2002 - A Hit Song is about the futile pursuit of a breakthrough . The group remained an insider tip until they split up .
In the mid-1990s, however, with the rediscovery of Easy Listening and Sunshine Pop in the 1960s and 1970s, a new interest in The Free Design awoke . In 1994 the Japanese musician Cornelius republished the free design catalog on his label "Trattoria". In 1997 the band Tomorrow's World covered the free design song Kites Are Fun and in 1998 the Spanish label "Siesta" released four compilations . The group Stereolab , whose lounge-inspired music shows a clear Free Design influence, released a single in 1999 called The Free Design . In 2000 Dressy Bessy covered the free design song Bubbles on the soundtrack for the film Powerpuff Girls .
Inspired by the newly awakened interest in the band in 2000 came after nearly 30 years together again and recorded the song Endless Harmony for the Beach Boys - Tribute Album Caroline Now on. As a result, the album Cosmic Peekaboo was created in 2001 (with all members of the group except Ellen) .
In 2005 the album The Now Sound Redesigned was released on which various groups such as Stereolab , Super Furry Animals and Peanut Butter Wolf remix songs from The Free Design.
In 2009, the car manufacturer Toyota deposited a commercial with the title "Love You" by The Free Design, which gained this increasing popularity.
The Free Design are now regarded as a classic of the Easy Listening genre and are widely recognized, not least because their music had a strong influence on groups such as Stereolab , Cornelius, Pizzicato Five , Beck and The High Llamas .
Discography
- Kites Are Fun (1967)
- You Could Be Born Again (1968)
- Heaven / Earth (1969)
- Stars / Time / Bubbles / Love (1970)
- … Sing for Very Important People (1970)
- One By One (1971)
- There is a Song (1972)
- Cosmic Peekaboo (2001)