Alice just sent me this link to a fellow in Russia doing an “unboxing” video of his acquisition of the very first Splashdown release, a blue-vinyl 7″ of Pandora/Deserter. Hardcore! I haven’t seen one of those for well over a decade.
A couple thoughts on that record:
* The mastering on the 7″ version of those two songs is slightly different than what wound up on the CD. It was adjusted to fit the sonic range of vinyl. A bit more high-end in the EQ if I recall correctly.
* “Deserter” was the first Splashdown song. I’d had a long day at work, and I had yet to ever meet Melissa, but she was coming over later that night to try some writing with me (Cynthia had arranged the meeting). I remember sitting on the bed just before she arrived, holding the guitar, barely awake, thinking, “gotta write some music… gotta write some music…” And that’s where the chords for “Deserter” came from.
UPDATE AUGUST 2012: This individual, Valentin, actually came from Russia to Boston to visit with myself and Kasson! And a very charming fellow he is. It was a memorable lunch for me. The matryoshka doll he gave me has a new permanent home on my studio desk.
Nice story about how you wrote “Deserter.” Sleep-depravation must inspire creativity in you!
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t watch that entire video, even though there was no reason for me to do so and I couldn’t understand a word. (Maybe because it’s the only Splashdown recording that I don’t own? Though, to be fair, I never had and still don’t have any sort of record player.) That was a weird three minutes of my life… but you know what? There are much worse/stupider ways to spend three minutes.
Ha, I hear you. I’m just not that used to blogging and thought it was the kind of bizarre thing that belongs here. I’ll have more to write about when the Map & Key CD comes out shortly.
A fellow from Russia likes it 🙂