 | Strange idea... 4 "special" mixes of "Misirlou" for the chrome and neon clubs. This is one strange cookie, quirky in a commercial club sort of way, not killer like Jon & the Nightriders' unexpected club hit with "El Paso". This is modern dance studio creation music. There seem to be really only 2 versions, with the "energy" versions being merely pitch-shifted for speed. CD available anywhere they sell this sort of thing. Turns out this CD is a club chart monster in the UK... ah, the commerciality of it all. I hoped that just maybe this would be a spaghetti western version of an industrialization of the surf classic. In my heart of hearts, I knew I'd be disappointed. Then, before even listening, I found that I wanted to hate this. Really wanted to loathe the whole notion. Then, it happened. I found that a smaller version of the sickness that makes the industrial treatments of the Surf Coasters so appealing lurked in here. There's no antidote, and admitting a certain enjoyment from it will bring disdain from your surf mates, but hey... There was no spaghetti western influences, which was too bad, because that might have made it more interesting. It comes from the label and mind of Mike Curb, former Republican California Lieutenant Governor, ex-President at MGM Records who purged the Animals from the catalog, former record mogul that still sits on most of the Davie Allan material out of some need to punish Davie for asking for his just due, and closet stranger. The less-than-satisfactory surf guitar was played out of ignorance by Rew (a pseudonym for someone obviously hiding from the real surf guitar players of the world). Anthony Stephens did the arranging, producing, engineering, programming... it's his fault, so yell at him. |