The vault of my musical past is yawning open with music and art on display. See what shadows come out of the crypt, and what shades Orpheus brings up from the House in the Underworld.
This is a remake of a Bill Nelson song I had done with Tom Davis as a tribute to Bill back in 1997. I used imagery from a colorized version of "La Belle et la Bete." The guy who did the color is a genius. His use of subtleties is amazing. The video comes alive in ways I never dreamed of. I hope Bill likes the video, if he ever comes down to these quarters.
Thanks Orphan. I could the AWOOS in it where Bill does his falsetto. I wish Bill would redo this song – it's got great potential. Maybe the Count could do a duet with him? Be like Bowie and Jagger doing Dancing in the Streets! Ok this is silly... first thing in the morning too!
I'm waiting for there to be a big dance hall in space, a big Disco. It will be a sanctuary and monastery for believers in God. The song Vera Lynn sang "We'll Meet Again" will be the theme written across a darkened altar for space pilgrims following the beat.
Here is a very hip, with it video. It has Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre jigging to a detective theme I wrote centuries ago. This will have the money shaken out of you as you get shaken down. It's a nervy thing. But it has "it."
I think I might write a song called "Jesus says hello." Could be Bowieish, could be Billish, could be their bastard son... men can have babies today, don't cha know! He wouldn't have wooden teeth. It would be very hip, very with it.
This is my Altar Piece. My cat is on everything, moves things around, and alters them. He is the furry God with four legs, whiskers, and a long tail, that bumps and nods to be loved. Can you imagine having a God that scoottles around from alter to alter, table to table? All about being fed the latest canned sacrifice or being scratched and fussed about. And we love cats for their pristine nature, simplicity, and sublime indifference. But mostly because they love us back.
Another W&T collaboration. In this one we went for Latin, maybe Ricki Martin or Ricki Ricardo. It's a Ricki kind of song. I mean to redo my solo because I played it safe and should have opened up like a drunken Spaniard on a bender. Oh well, I could do it again. In music, you shouldn't be too safe – it's not like knitting the same wallpaper pattern forever. You should be challenged to try something different. Otherwise, you're musically dead without knowing it. Art has to be something of an adventure. So, I'm going to see if I can dig up the bed tracks and resurrect the song by doing a solo that has some life in it. If I can't find it, then I'll do a double solo – this one can work as a background harmony to the lively one.
Thom Bell is a rap song, of sorts. This is the incomplete version. Again, it is a collaboration between Tom Davis and myself. Most people probably don't have the foggiest idea of who Thom Bell was. That's OK. Enjoy the mystic wheel and the Arabic Middle Eastern tinge.
Another Tom Davis & Water P collaboration. In this one, we are pretending to be Africans. Personally, I never dreamed of being an African musician, but it's amazing what can happen when you put your mind to it. Call me Count Zulu Floyd. And if there are any missionaries wandering around the Underworld of Dreamsville I like them well done.
Another song that Tom Davis and I wrote. This one is about San Salvador and Tom's experiences down there. There is also a Mariachi flavor in parts of it. Parts of the dance scenes are very erotic, and you definitely get a flavor of the place.
Will wonders never cease -- more editing of excruciating details! But I was told this is Count Vlad's best work, and I'm trying to make it even better. Never in my wildest dreams, I would have thought of doing a tribute to T.H.E. CAT. Never! And here it is – a tribute to my boyhood, knife-throwing, tight wire walking hero.
For the BBD fans, there is a bit of a fast Bill Nelson run on electric guitar. Just saying...
The Promise is a song I wrote with Tom Davis. It has a slick production and almost needs fashion magazine pictures to do it justice. I can see Vogue or Vanity Fair imagery accompanying the storyline. However, this is my first attempt at finding images for this song so please bear with me if you see it reposted a number of times. Hopefully, the images I find will improve over time and will equal the production values in the song.
Because the song sounds lush I was looking for glossy magazine-type images. It's a female fantasy of sorts. I could also try tinting the whole video so that there is a consistency of mood. So far I've been playing with colors where every picture contains a little of the color that will be the dominant color in the next picture, like a suggestion or hint of what's to come. You get a flow and consistency. You can do that in music where every next chord will have at least one note of the previous chord. That way you can connect wacky, unexpected strings of chords and there is some consistency running through the entire piece. There are target notes and lead-ins of what's to come. Anyway, I'm just experimenting with this though I know there are rules to good design and beauty. I'm sure graphic designers and illustrators know this stuff inside out to produce eye-pleasing commercials.
If any Nelson fans who do this kind of thing could make some suggestions for improvement, I'm all ears. I'll certainly give them credit if anything gets published.
My friend Chris Rockheart has finished the vocals for Gimme Shelter, and we have to shoot the video. He works in another city and all of what we have been doing is done via the internet. I have not seen Chris in years. But this just shows what can be accomplished with today's digital technology. He plans to have a fan blowing him backward as he sings to suggest a storm. If we did physically meet, it could be a bit camp and kitch to do the Jagger/Bowie Dancing in the Streets routine in a storm, And, I might add, loads of fun too. I can't think why Glenn Gould and Leonard Bernstein didn't do it for the classical crowd? Anyway, this is the nonsense we are throwing around.
Thanks Orphan. I appreciate your kind words. I've been doing it for a big chunk of my life and maybe that explain why it looks easy. But it was never always like this and certain styles are challenging – like Be Bop jazz, that I don't think I'll ever master. To play like Joe Pass is inconceivable for me. Technically I understand, but to think that way on the spot would be such a forced effort. It's not something natural or that attractive to me. But thanks again Orphan!
Posting another version of ROMANCE. Found a wav file as opposed to mp3 and did some visual editing to make things flow a little better. I also inserted pictures of Tom Davis and myself to offset a star-studded cast of NEW ROMANTICS. Truth be told we're now old romantics eyeing the jello at the old age homes. Time changes all, but the beat still goes OM.
I don't know. I was in the St. Veronus restaurant re-acquainting myself with their fantastic, monstrously huge sandwiches and Belgian beer and I hear this music in the background that I liked. The waitress didn't know what was playing, so she pointed to the owner who was near, and I asked him. He told me he had been a DJ in England and the name of the band. But he was busy removing some beer from an old vault and couldn't stay to chat.
I knew about John Punter owning a pub called the Pig's Ear in Peterborough, but I forgot to look for it. I'm finding out now that the building was condemned (165 years old) and that Hank Williams once drank himself so stupid in there that he couldn't perform – the concert had to be canceled. Came across this video about the place and an interview with John Punter showing some of his memorabilia from Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, and Japan.
Partially based on Shakespeare's play The Tempest, this is a rap song of sorts that brings up existential themes. It's a delicate, moody little piece. Again, another composition by Tom Davis and me when we were younger. This was so delicate of a piece I almost dropped it on the floor coming out of the vault. That would have been horrible! It's like a picturesque, miniature porcelain plate I've kept close to my heart.
Found out about a brilliant English band named Lemon Jelly. I would serve up Lemon Jelly to anyone craving a piece of new ambient music. It was beyond words good. Sitting in a restaurant named St. Veronus (rebounded for its excellent Belgian sandwiches), in Peterborough, Ontario, I heard this beautiful music. The owner is an Englishman who told me the name of the band. I can't recommend it enough for an intelligent, other-world ambient experience.
Incidentally, there is a producer, John Punter, who owns a pub in Peterborough and produced Roxy Music and Japan. Amazing that I didn't check it out. He was the guy who produced this album.
I have to present another offering from the Vault. This needed a bit of a re-edit on the visuals. Again it is a song that Tom Davis and I wrote some years ago. It reminds me of the Moody Blues or Bill Nelson's song Contemplation. Tom was a Catholic who because a Buddhist, and I am Ukrainian Orthodox. So it is Buddhist meets Orthodox (East meets West). I received a gracious compliment from Orphan of Babylon that the song Romance reminded him of the band Fiat Lux and that it would have been a big hit in the 80s. And he told me that Ian Nelson was in the band. That I didn't know, though I remembered the band's name.
Thanks, Orphan for telling me of Fiat Lux. I'll correct it – I have dyslexia at times. It's great that the band reformed and is playing around. Maybe they would be interested in doing “Romance” if they are still playing in the 80s style? haha If you see them say “Hi” from Count Vlad!
A progressive pop sensibility along the New Romantic sound of the 80s, though it wasn't written with that in mind. I wrote this with my friend Tom Davis, to whom I now dedicate this piece. It's like King Crimson meets Japan with Bowie on vocal. Some strange amalgam. Enjoy and I'll be enjoying the start of my vacation next week.
The Count is going on a much-needed vacation. He has finished the song Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones with Chris Rockheart and will be doing a video when he comes back. The theme of the song is up in the air. It could be about COVID, about the war in Ukraine, about the jab. It could be about all of it… or none of it. The Count hopes people will appreciate the humor in BOOTLEG. There is always the possibility of doing it for real instead of poking fun at prog rock music and himself. The Count has grown up with this music, and as much as the Count loves it, it's kind of a fitting end to “serious” music before a fun, free vacation.
Count Vlad has a bad day during rehearsals. He is doing a retro prog-rock medley and is singing along to his midi instruments. Hopefully, he'll get things together, learn the songs, do the instrumental parts, and turn in a good performance. Personally, I think he is thinking about his long-awaited summer vacation. But it's certain to bring a smile.
Count Vlad is working on a medley of classic prog-rock songs, done in his inimitable way. They will include songs by Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, and ELP. Expect it shortly after he goes on vacation.
This is a remake of a Bill Nelson song I had done with Tom Davis as a tribute to Bill back in 1997. I used imagery from a colorized version of "La Belle et la Bete." The guy who did the color is a genius. His use of subtleties is amazing. The video comes alive in ways I never dreamed of. I hope Bill likes the video, if he ever comes down to these quarters.
I'm waiting for there to be a big dance hall in space, a big Disco. It will be a sanctuary and monastery for believers in God. The song Vera Lynn sang "We'll Meet Again" will be the theme written across a darkened altar for space pilgrims following the beat.
Here is a very hip, with it video. It has Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre jigging to a detective theme I wrote centuries ago. This will have the money shaken out of you as you get shaken down. It's a nervy thing. But it has "it."
I think I might write a song called "Jesus says hello." Could be Bowieish, could be Billish, could be their bastard son... men can have babies today, don't cha know! He wouldn't have wooden teeth. It would be very hip, very with it.
This is my Altar Piece. My cat is on everything, moves things around, and alters them. He is the furry God with four legs, whiskers, and a long tail, that bumps and nods to be loved. Can you imagine having a God that scoottles around from alter to alter, table to table? All about being fed the latest canned sacrifice or being scratched and fussed about. And we love cats for their pristine nature, simplicity, and sublime indifference. But mostly because they love us back.
Another W&T collaboration. In this one we went for Latin, maybe Ricki Martin or Ricki Ricardo. It's a Ricki kind of song. I mean to redo my solo because I played it safe and should have opened up like a drunken Spaniard on a bender. Oh well, I could do it again. In music, you shouldn't be too safe – it's not like knitting the same wallpaper pattern forever. You should be challenged to try something different. Otherwise, you're musically dead without knowing it. Art has to be something of an adventure. So, I'm going to see if I can dig up the bed tracks and resurrect the song by doing a solo that has some life in it. If I can't find it, then I'll do a double solo – this one can work as a background harmony to the lively one.
Thom Bell is a rap song, of sorts. This is the incomplete version. Again, it is a collaboration between Tom Davis and myself. Most people probably don't have the foggiest idea of who Thom Bell was. That's OK. Enjoy the mystic wheel and the Arabic Middle Eastern tinge.
Another Tom Davis & Water P collaboration. In this one, we are pretending to be Africans. Personally, I never dreamed of being an African musician, but it's amazing what can happen when you put your mind to it. Call me Count Zulu Floyd. And if there are any missionaries wandering around the Underworld of Dreamsville I like them well done.
Another song that Tom Davis and I wrote. This one is about San Salvador and Tom's experiences down there. There is also a Mariachi flavor in parts of it. Parts of the dance scenes are very erotic, and you definitely get a flavor of the place.
Will wonders never cease -- more editing of excruciating details! But I was told this is Count Vlad's best work, and I'm trying to make it even better. Never in my wildest dreams, I would have thought of doing a tribute to T.H.E. CAT. Never! And here it is – a tribute to my boyhood, knife-throwing, tight wire walking hero.
For the BBD fans, there is a bit of a fast Bill Nelson run on electric guitar. Just saying...
The Promise is a song I wrote with Tom Davis. It has a slick production and almost needs fashion magazine pictures to do it justice. I can see Vogue or Vanity Fair imagery accompanying the storyline. However, this is my first attempt at finding images for this song so please bear with me if you see it reposted a number of times. Hopefully, the images I find will improve over time and will equal the production values in the song.
Because the song sounds lush I was looking for glossy magazine-type images. It's a female fantasy of sorts. I could also try tinting the whole video so that there is a consistency of mood. So far I've been playing with colors where every picture contains a little of the color that will be the dominant color in the next picture, like a suggestion or hint of what's to come. You get a flow and consistency. You can do that in music where every next chord will have at least one note of the previous chord. That way you can connect wacky, unexpected strings of chords and there is some consistency running through the entire piece. There are target notes and lead-ins of what's to come. Anyway, I'm just experimenting with this though I know there are rules to good design and beauty. I'm sure graphic designers and illustrators know this stuff inside out to produce eye-pleasing commercials.
If any Nelson fans who do this kind of thing could make some suggestions for improvement, I'm all ears. I'll certainly give them credit if anything gets published.
My friend Chris Rockheart has finished the vocals for Gimme Shelter, and we have to shoot the video. He works in another city and all of what we have been doing is done via the internet. I have not seen Chris in years. But this just shows what can be accomplished with today's digital technology. He plans to have a fan blowing him backward as he sings to suggest a storm. If we did physically meet, it could be a bit camp and kitch to do the Jagger/Bowie Dancing in the Streets routine in a storm, And, I might add, loads of fun too. I can't think why Glenn Gould and Leonard Bernstein didn't do it for the classical crowd? Anyway, this is the nonsense we are throwing around.
Posting another version of ROMANCE. Found a wav file as opposed to mp3 and did some visual editing to make things flow a little better. I also inserted pictures of Tom Davis and myself to offset a star-studded cast of NEW ROMANTICS. Truth be told we're now old romantics eyeing the jello at the old age homes. Time changes all, but the beat still goes OM.
Lemon Jelly
Partially based on Shakespeare's play The Tempest, this is a rap song of sorts that brings up existential themes. It's a delicate, moody little piece. Again, another composition by Tom Davis and me when we were younger. This was so delicate of a piece I almost dropped it on the floor coming out of the vault. That would have been horrible! It's like a picturesque, miniature porcelain plate I've kept close to my heart.
Found out about a brilliant English band named Lemon Jelly. I would serve up Lemon Jelly to anyone craving a piece of new ambient music. It was beyond words good. Sitting in a restaurant named St. Veronus (rebounded for its excellent Belgian sandwiches), in Peterborough, Ontario, I heard this beautiful music. The owner is an Englishman who told me the name of the band. I can't recommend it enough for an intelligent, other-world ambient experience.
I have to present another offering from the Vault. This needed a bit of a re-edit on the visuals. Again it is a song that Tom Davis and I wrote some years ago. It reminds me of the Moody Blues or Bill Nelson's song Contemplation. Tom was a Catholic who because a Buddhist, and I am Ukrainian Orthodox. So it is Buddhist meets Orthodox (East meets West). I received a gracious compliment from Orphan of Babylon that the song Romance reminded him of the band Fiat Lux and that it would have been a big hit in the 80s. And he told me that Ian Nelson was in the band. That I didn't know, though I remembered the band's name.
A progressive pop sensibility along the New Romantic sound of the 80s, though it wasn't written with that in mind. I wrote this with my friend Tom Davis, to whom I now dedicate this piece. It's like King Crimson meets Japan with Bowie on vocal. Some strange amalgam. Enjoy and I'll be enjoying the start of my vacation next week.
The Count is going on a much-needed vacation. He has finished the song Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones with Chris Rockheart and will be doing a video when he comes back. The theme of the song is up in the air. It could be about COVID, about the war in Ukraine, about the jab. It could be about all of it… or none of it. The Count hopes people will appreciate the humor in BOOTLEG. There is always the possibility of doing it for real instead of poking fun at prog rock music and himself. The Count has grown up with this music, and as much as the Count loves it, it's kind of a fitting end to “serious” music before a fun, free vacation.
Count Vlad has a bad day during rehearsals. He is doing a retro prog-rock medley and is singing along to his midi instruments. Hopefully, he'll get things together, learn the songs, do the instrumental parts, and turn in a good performance. Personally, I think he is thinking about his long-awaited summer vacation. But it's certain to bring a smile.
Count Vlad is working on a medley of classic prog-rock songs, done in his inimitable way. They will include songs by Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, and ELP. Expect it shortly after he goes on vacation.