The Hello People
Band members Related acts
|
line up 1 (1967-68) - Ronnie Blake (aka Thump Thump) -- drums, percussion - Greg Geddes (aka Smoothie) -- vocals, bass, sax, clarinet - Michael Sagarese (aka Why One) -- flute, sax, clarinet, oboe, percussion, backing vocals - Bobby Sedita (aka Goodfellow) - vocals, lead guitar - Larry Tasse (aka Much More) -- keyboards, backing vocals - W. S. "Sonny" Tongue (aka Country, aka Wrightson Tongue) -- vocals, rhythm guitar, bass, harmonica, kazoo
line up 2 (1968) NEW - George Abruzzese -- drums, percussion (replaced Ronnie Blake) - Greg Geddes (aka Smoothie) -- bass, vocals - Michael Sagarese (aka Why One) -- flute - Bobby Sedita (aka Goodfellow) - guitar, vocals - Larry Tasse (aka Much More) -- keyboards, vocal - W. S. "Sonny" Tongue (aka Country, aka Wrightson Tongue) -- vocals, guitar
line up 3 (1968) - George Abruzzese -- drums, percussion (replaced Ronnie Blake) - Greg Geddes (aka Smoothie) -- bass, vocals - Michael Sagarese (aka Why One) -- flute - Bobby Sedita (aka Goodfellow) - guitar, vocals - Larry Tasse (aka Much More) -- keyboards, vocal NEW - Peter Weston -- vocals, guitar (replaced W. S. "Sonny" Tongue)
|
- Bo Gumpus (Ronnie Blake and N.D. Smart II) - Great Speckled Bird (N.D. Smart II) - Hungry Chuck (N.D. Smart II) - Jolliver Arkansas (Ronnie Blake) - Kangeroo (N.D. Smart II) - Mountain (N.D. Smart II)) - Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels (N.D. Smart II) - The Remains (N.D. Smart II) - Wrightson Tongue (solo efforts) - Woodstock Mountains Revue (N.D. Smart II)
|
|
Genre: pop Rating: 2 stars ** Title: The Hello People Company: Philips Catalog: PHS
600-265 Country/State: New York, New York Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: small punch hole lower right corner Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $20.00
|
Like life, rock and roll is full of bad ideas - disco; Ted Nugent, jazz-rock-fusion, The Osmond Brothers. That said, few musical concepts were as bad as The Hello People.
The musical and cultural nightmare that was The Hello People can be blamed on one person - producer, manager and real estate mogul Lou Futterman. Graduating from Cornell University, Futterman started his music career in the early 1960s working for the Prestige Records label producing the likes of Brother Jack McDuff, singer Carol Ventura and George Benson. He branched out into pop, rock and soul with acts like crooner Johnny Maestro, Jay & the Americans and J.J. Jackson. In 1967 Futterman became intrigued by the work of Etienne Decroux. Best know as "the father of French mime" Decroux had branched out into painting and his list of students included a group of musicians under contract to Futterman. Impressed the musicians learned to paint so quickly Decroux wanted to know if the could learn to mime. Futterman went along with the idea, recruiting drummer Ronnie Black, bass player Greg Geddes, woodwind player Michael Sagarese, guitarist Bobby Sedita, keyboard player Larry Tasse and guitarist W. S. "Sonny" Tongue for what would become The Hello People.
Futterman arranged a contract with Philips Records, producing their debut 45:
- 1968's 'Let's Go Hide In The Forest' b/w 'Disparity Waterfront Blues' (Philips catalog number 40481)
Produced
by Futterman, if their 1968 debut album "The Hello People"
had a sav
"the hello people are just like everybody else only more so in fact they are so much like all of us that they feel the same things we feel only twice as hard
you say thats silly that no one can feel your pain more than you or laugh half as heartedly when the seed you planted becomes a flower wlell my friends theres the crux most of us know only what touches us and we try hard as we can to keep those things we fear or dont understand from getting too close the hello people though reach out to all life
you see the very word hello is a key to many doors it means say hello back to me and lets see what happens next obviously if you try this enough times you are going to have some pretty interesting experiences in fact you might even find out you are alive
no the hello people are totally convinced theyre alive whats more theyre convinced your alive or at leats that o=you ought to be whats totally amazing however is that none of them finds what he may have experienced to be unique they each take it for granted that must have felt the same things only they realize they may not like to talk about them
thats what this LP is all about to articulate some very personal experiences what may have almost universal application to sing about life and love and hopes and dreams and sadness and disappointment and sometimes a child smiles through a window although outside its raining"
I really wasn't expecting much from this album, so I'll admit I was mildly surprised. Musically it was a jumble of styles, none demonstrating much of a band identify. I really only liked two of the nine tracks and those were the atypical, upbeat numbers - the slightly lysergic flavored 'Sunrise Meadow' (almost ruined by a lengthy Sagarese flute solo) and the fuzz powered single 'As I Went Down To) Jerusalem'. The rest of the collection fell victim to forgettable sunshine pop ballads like 'Movin' And Growin'', painful stabs at jug band music ('It's a Monday Kind of Tuesday') and weird attempts at cuteness ('A Stranger at Her Door' and the dreadful single 'Paisley Teddy Bear'). Still, these guys weren't without talent. Even though they weren't credited, Geddes, Sedita, Tasse and Tongue wrote most of the material. Unlike many of their contemporaries they apparently played and sang on the album (in contrast how many debut albums featured The Wrecking Crew?). Unfortunately most of the songs weren't memorable and spitting lead vocals neither Geddes, Sedita, or Tongue were going to change your world. All told it was a disappointment..
"The Hello
People" track listing: 1.) It's a Monday Kind of Tuesday (N. Reiner) - 3:28 rating: ** stars Geez, the "cutesy" title sounded like something off a Monty Python album. Complete with an extended Michael Sagarese flute solo, musically 'It's a Monday Kind of Tuesday' sounded like a crappy Lovin' Spoonful slice of jug band music. The track seems to go on far beyond the three and a half minute running time and every time I head it, the song makes me feel tired. 2.) Sunrise Meadow - 5:15 rating: *** Opening up with some surprisingly rugged electric guitar from Sedita and Tasse's church organ keyboards, the psych-tinged 'Sunrise Meadow' was not what I expected from these guys. Showcasing "group" vocals the track was actually totally enjoyable. Kudos to bassist Greg Geddes who took the spotlight for most of the song's second half. I would have given the song another star except Sagarese reappeared mid-song with another extended (I mean extended) jazzy flute solo. It left me wondering if I had somehow mistakenly put a Focus album on the turntable. 3.) A Stranger at Her Door (W.S. Tongue - Larry Tasse) - 3:42 rating: ** stars Back to cutesy jangle pop ... Imagine one of the crappy pop songs Davy Jones got stuck singing for The Monkees. The song reappeared as the "B" side on their equally irritating 'Paisley Teddy Bear' 45: 4.) Movin' And Growin' - 3:37 rating: ** stars 'Movin' And Growin'' was a sappy, radio friendly ballad. The lyrics were appalling; the gasping vocals were simply painful.
(side
2) Oh my goodness. You have to feel for these guys. Hard to believe they would have willingly recorded this piece of dross. About the nicest thing I can say is the song had a breezy, childrens' sing-along flavor. Perhaps it was more appealing if you were stoned out of your mind? The song was also released as the album's sophomore 45:
- 1968's 'Paisley Teddy Bear' b/w 'A Stranger at Her Door' (Philips catalog number 40522)
2.) (As I Went Down To) Jerusalem (W.S. Tongue) - 4:10 rating: **** stars Okay, '(As I Went Down To) Jerusalem' was another surprise. Powered by some nice Sedita fuzz guitar, the track managed to combine a catchy garage-rock rhythm and melody with Dylan-esque lyrics. An edited version of the track was released as the first 45:
- 1968's '(As I Went Down To) Jerusalem' b/w 'It's a Monday Kind of Tuesday' (Philips catalog number 40531) # 123 US Billboard pop charts
3.) Lamplight, Nightlight - 4:30 rating: ** stars If you want to take the energy out of a song be sure to feature a flute solo at the start. 'Lamplight, Nightlight' presented another sappy singer/songwriter ballad. The only notable feature here were the sweet backing vocals. 4.) Mr. Truth Evading, Masquerading Man - 2:20 rating: *** stars Overlooking the bizarre title and goofy lyrics, 'Mr. Truth Evading, Masquerading Man' was a decent '60s garage rocker. Once again the highlights came from Sedita's fuzz guitar solo and Blake's pounding drums. 5.) Paris In The Rain - 4:51 rating: ** stars Zzzzzzz ballad - made worse by the jazzy flute accompaniment.
© Scott R. Blackerby November, 2024
|
BACK TO BADCAT PAYMENT INFORMATION
ing
grace it's the fact the mime portion of their act was absent for those
listening to the album. True, you had to
deal with the ghastly Bert Andrews band cover photo, but if you flipped the
cover over the black and white band photos weren't as disturbing.
Featuring nine tracks, the absence of writing credits was notable.
Interesting to note the two 45s included writing credits. Either
Philips Records and Futterman were pulling a fast one on the band (no
royalties for you), or the band members were desperately trying to protect
their identities. The back panel notes will also give you a feel
for what was to come. It'll certainly make you wonder of the '60s were
really a time of enlightenment, or simply drug induced pomposity.
Frankly, reading this stuff, some folks are liable to toss the album and
make a run for it. By the way, the quote reflects the grammar and
punctuation (or lack thereof) on the album, not mine:
