Trex - Cacappella

Okay, here I was, age 7, introducing my music (and myself) to the world.

To be honest, I'm kinda proud that my first words had a touch of wit in them. Just a touch, mind you, but it was clearly there.

Instead of saying "Testing testing, 1, 2, 3" like everyone else, I said "3-2-1 contact". This was a reference to a geeky kids' TV show which aired between 1980-01-14 and 1980-04-11, resuming again on 1983-10-17. Those dates suggest that I recorded this (and the following piano songs) after the premiere (1980-01-14) but not too long after the final original episode (1980-04-11), unless the show went into reruns. Early 1980 seems like a good guess for this recording.

The weird buzzing at the end is audio playback of a data tape used by my dad's Sinclair ZX-81 computer. This was back in the days between punch cards and floppy disks. We stored programs and data on audio tapes. When a tape was no longer needed for data, I got to use it for recording my voice and music. On this tape, I forgot to record over all the bits of data; the beeping is some of those bits (no pun intended).

So anyway, right from the start I decided to present myself as geeky, independent, and funny rather than serious, manly, and cool. Even as a kid I was silly, self-indulgent, and unpretentious. Just like today. I really haven't changed that much.

This is my earliest known musical recording. I think I was 7. The piano part is improvised and uses very basic chords. It's funny how my piano improvisation ability hasn't changed very much since then.

Hmm, did I say "funny"? I guess I meant "sad". Or "funny in a sad way". Or "sad in a funny way". Take your pick.

This and the next few piano songs were on side 2 of the "Live Wire" tape. Side 2's label says "old piano - 1980" in very young handwriting. "Old piano" implies that the piano was recorded long before the label was written, which was probably right after "Live Wire". We got our piano in Charlottesville before moving to Alabama in 1981. So, a 1980 date for the piano sounds realistic.

Here's another piano improv. Yeah, I know, it's pathetic, but so are my noodlings 25+ years later.

This is a continuation of the previous song. I think it was supposed to be the soundtrack for a fantasy story.

It's pretty horrid. But hey, at least I wasn't just randomly pressing keys.

Or was I?

Or am I?

I think the tape recorder's battery started to die, causing the periodic "blips". The underlying piano improv isn't very interesting, except for some of the Asian-sounding chords near the middle. I guess this was the day I discovered the black keys. :)

I have no idea what I was saying in the beginning, but I think it was supposed to be French. Hence the title. The music's another piano improv, choppy and lame. I wasn't exercising much quality control back then. Of course, my recent practice tapes aren't much better.

More fake French and awful piano, ending in pounding. I think by this point my attention span was very short. If you look at all the songs for this day, you'll see that they keep getting shorter. By this point, my stamina, patience, and/or ambition must've worn pretty thin.

This was a long radio play featuring lots of reading from a newspaper, and tons of straight-faced jokes. The other voice in the background is probably my sister (Jess), though it's hard to tell, since we both sound like chipmunks in a beanbag.

Dating this is kinda tough. I know it was recorded when we lived in Alabama, between 1981 and 1983. It refers to governor George Wallace, who was (most recently) elected in 1982. It also mentions "only 16 more days of school left", which implies that this was recorded in early May. So, I'm guessing early May 1983 as the most likely date. There are tons of other news references, but I can't tell which are serious and which are babbling.

Like my southern accent? You can have it.

This is an excerpt from a radio play called "The Cora Saga". I was talking about needing to find twelve songs. The first song was "Please Please Me" (by The Beatles), recorded off the radio. I mimicked or made up other eleven, which constitute the next several tracks.

This is is the first song needed for "Search for Twelve Songs". It's "Please Please Me" by The Beatles, which was playing on the radio in the background.

After a few seconds of this, I decided to record my own songs (or at least my own voice) instead. I preferred making my own bad music to simply copying other people's good music. This attitude remains with me today.

Note: Since this includes copyrighted material, I'll exclude the mp3.

This was my first "serious" song. It's about starving people in Africa. I was 9 at the time. Yeah, it's kinda dumb, but I had dreams of turning this into a "big" song. That tinkling of ambition is part of what's kept me going all these years. That, plus caffeine.

It's the second song needed for "Search for Twelve Songs".

On one of my tapes to Kim (see "Hunger Intro"), I said that this was written in Alabama in "1981 or 1982". I've seen the latter associated with this song more frequently, so I think it's more likely.

Kinda cliche. Kinda dorky. Okay, really cliche and dorky. I sound like I was sucking my thumb while I sang. Really cool, Trav.

This was a nice "grandparent-friendly" song. Well, I don't know about "nice"; isn't "oh lady" (or "old lady") a little offensive? And where's the "please" and "thank you"?

So much for grandparent-friendliness. This was my first deliberately offensive song. I was making fun of the children's song "I'm a Little Teapot", which my sister liked at the time.

This was an excerpt from a radio play called "The Cora Saga". I think I recorded it with my friend Jon (and perhaps his sister) after I returned to Charlottesville in 1983. However, the only voice I hear in the recording is my own. Maybe I recorded my own spinoff after Jon went home?

I forget what I thought was "disgusting" at the time. When I re-sequenced these track I decide to make it sound like a reflection on the previous song. I call that decision "artistic license".

I have no idea what I was singing. Were we going to the airport?

Here's my rip-off adaptation of "Jingle Bells". We had a dog named "Jock" who had one white foot ("sock"). This the first take.

The next two versions immediately follow it on tape, and were probably recorded the same day. The second version's lyrics mention the dogs "Sheeba", "Champ", and "Cleo", who (according to my mom) lived near us when I was in 5th grade. For me, 5th grade was 1983-1984. If this song was recorded around Christmas-time (which seems appropriate), then my best date estimate is December 1983.

Since all the songs from "Land of Hunger" through "We Are Coming" were recorded on the same day (as part of "The Search for Twelve Songs"), I'll assign that date to all of them.

This is take 2. Our neighbors had a "foxy" collie named "Sheeba". We had a green van. Yeehaw!

Take 3 is the longest, sloppiest, and darkest. It's kinda funny how I lost the rhythm at the end.

This is an excerpt from a radio play called "The Cora Saga".

This is an abstract semi-improv. It starts off being about sisters, but then I think I got distracted by a catepillar.

Here's another semi-improv, this time interrupted by Jessica. Or maybe my imagination.

The "Cora" reference suggests that it was recorded on the same day as "That's Disgusting" and "No Good".

I was out of song ideas, so I just clucked my tongue and banged on stuff. Yep, barrel scraping already.

Awesome, eh? It was actually number 11. Nice job, dork!

I had run out of song ideas, so I started mimicking songs on the radio. This one's a pathetic cover of "Let's Dance" by David Bowie. Yikes!

My painful inability to cover other people's songs is part of what has driven me to focus on originals.

Note: Since this is a cover version, I'm not sure if I should post the mp3. It's a very bad cover version; does that make a difference?

This was the final track needed for "Search for Twelve Songs". It's a very lame cover of "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats. I made up most of the words.

Note: Since this is a cover version, I'm not sure if I should post the mp3. It's a very bad cover version; does that make a difference?

This is the final bit from the radio play called "The Cora Saga". I had "found" all twelve songs. Yay.

Somehow Jessica got hold of the tape recorder. It was probably some time (day? month? years?) we recorded the rest of the stuff on this tape. I have no idea to what she was referring.

I have no idea what made Jessica (then age 9) and me (age 11) so hyper. Sugar? Caffeine? Christmastime excitement??? Or were we always like this?

The main topic is a fashion show of Jessica's stuff animals. It's pretty manic, full of fake stuttering and turrettes-like babbling. Every once in a wild we broke into song, including "Land of Hunger" and "We Are Coming".

Since "Ghostbusters" was released in 1984, and since I say "today is Christmas Eve", I'm guessing this was recorded 1984-12-24.

Note: I haven't checked this for profanity yet. If it passes, I'll post the mp3.

This was my attempt to create a "choose your own adventure" book on tape. The title is a cliche, but the rest of the writing is my own. It's really dorky, but is probably the first game that I created.

It appeared on side 2 of the tape with "Jess and Trav". So, I'm thinking it was recorded in the spring of 1985.

This is a silly song about investors. Very dumb.

I used the same voice as in "Guy Maxwell", so I'm guessing it was recorded the same day.

This was an annoying "radio personality" that I made up. I seemed to be practicing for prank phone calls. You can occasionally hear Jessica in the background.

I sound older here than on most of the other recordings. So I'm gessing this was recorded some time in 1985.

Note: I need to check this for profanity. If it passes, I'll post the mp3.

Jessica and I were being naughty. We called people on the phone and pretended to be radio personalities (including "Guy Maxwell").

The first kid we called was someone Jessica knew, possibly the brother of one of her friends.

Note: I haven't checked this for profanity yet. If it passes, I'll post the mp3.

This seems to be a continuation of "Prank Calls". It starts with Jessica talking seriously to someone on the phone. I, feeling bored and impish, started singing into the phone. Jessica's reaction is priceless.

By the way, I was probably singing "a do" instead of "adieu", but the latter looks more appropriate for the end of the album!

This final snippet of piano improv is from back in 1980. It's there to remind you that my main focus is music, not pranks and babbling. Or web sites. Right?