Trees' "Sleep Convention"

[Treesgirl]

Hi!

You mentioned "Come Back" was not one of your favorite tracks. Let me tell you the background on that song. Originally, Dane and I did that song as a duet (very Missing Persons in nature). It was very cool. However, the Executive Producer heard the track once Dane finished it, and although he liked it, he thought it would confuse the publlc by thinking I was part of the band, so Dane had to re-cut the song with different lyrics and perform it himself at the last minute. We only have a "board mix" on cassette of that duet because the master was erased!

[quote][i]Originally posted by SomebodySomewhere[/i]
<br>Has anyone here ever even seen the "Delta Sleep" video? The only one I saw back in '82 was "Come Back" (which was also the only single), but the MTV2 marathon introduced me to "Shock of the New." I don't know where that one was hiding, but it certainly wasn't ruling the airwaves at the time of release. "Delta Sleep" remains an enigma. I'm guessing it looks like the other two.

"Shock of the New" was probably my favorite track. "Come Back" was decidedly not one of my favorites, and I wish MCA had picked something -- anything -- else to push the record.


[/quote]

[Treesgirl]

Hi again,

I just went to our ITunes catalog and listened to the unrealeased duet version of "Come Back". If anyone would like to hear it, let me know an email where I can send you a copy for your enjoyment. Just a little way of saying Thanks for being a fan!

Love,
Marisa

[quote][i]Originally posted by Treesgirl[/i]
<br>Hi!

You mentioned "Come Back" was not one of your favorite tracks. Let me tell you the background on that song. Originally, Dane and I did that song as a duet (very Missing Persons in nature). It was very cool. However, the Executive Producer heard the track once Dane finished it, and although he liked it, he thought it would confuse the publlc by thinking I was part of the band, so Dane had to re-cut the song with different lyrics and perform it himself at the last minute. We only have a "board mix" on cassette of that duet because the master was erased!

[quote][i]Originally posted by SomebodySomewhere[/i]
<br>Has anyone here ever even seen the "Delta Sleep" video? The only one I saw back in '82 was "Come Back" (which was also the only single), but the MTV2 marathon introduced me to "Shock of the New." I don't know where that one was hiding, but it certainly wasn't ruling the airwaves at the time of release. "Delta Sleep" remains an enigma. I'm guessing it looks like the other two.

"Shock of the New" was probably my favorite track. "Come Back" was decidedly not one of my favorites, and I wish MCA had picked something -- anything -- else to push the record.


[/quote]
[/quote]

[Treesgirl]

Hi Everyone,

To my pleasant surprise, the requests for the original duet of "Come Back" have been overwhelming! I'll send a copy to every one of you!. A little of "Sleep Convention" triva:

On "Come Back"

For those of you who have heard the original version, Dane and I have an improvised "fight" on the recording. We got so into it, that we wanted to break real glasses and dishes for sound and drama, but Earle Mankey said no, no, no.....so we banged on the piano instead.

"Delta Sleep"

There is a very dreamy echo on the track as a whole. Well gang, a bit of history here! Earle was the Beach Boys head engineer at Brother Studio and had the very echo unit to create the famous "sound" on Good Vibrations. That unit was used on "Delta Sleep".
[quote][i]Originally posted by Treesgirl[/i]
<br>Hi again,

I just went to our ITunes catalog and listened to the unrealeased duet version of "Come Back". If anyone would like to hear it, let me know an email where I can send you a copy for your enjoyment. Just a little way of saying Thanks for being a fan!

Love,
Marisa

[quote][i]Originally posted by Treesgirl[/i]
<br>Hi!

You mentioned "Come Back" was not one of your favorite tracks. Let me tell you the background on that song. Originally, Dane and I did that song as a duet (very Missing Persons in nature). It was very cool. However, the Executive Producer heard the track once Dane finished it, and although he liked it, he thought it would confuse the publlc by thinking I was part of the band, so Dane had to re-cut the song with different lyrics and perform it himself at the last minute. We only have a "board mix" on cassette of that duet because the master was erased!

[quote][i]Originally posted by SomebodySomewhere[/i]
<br>Has anyone here ever even seen the "Delta Sleep" video? The only one I saw back in '82 was "Come Back" (which was also the only single), but the MTV2 marathon introduced me to "Shock of the New." I don't know where that one was hiding, but it certainly wasn't ruling the airwaves at the time of release. "Delta Sleep" remains an enigma. I'm guessing it looks like the other two.

"Shock of the New" was probably my favorite track. "Come Back" was decidedly not one of my favorites, and I wish MCA had picked something -- anything -- else to push the record.


[/quote]
[/quote]
[/quote]

[randy]

Just took a listen..definatly a cool take on the song!

[CounterCircular]

The Puppies Mechanical Beat b/w Atmosphere is one of the GREATEST new wave 45s to ever be made in the 80s. Two perfect songs.

[SomebodySomewhere]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Treesgirl[/i]
<br>Hi!

You mentioned "Come Back" was not one of your favorite tracks.[/quote]

It wasn't my pick for single, no. I would have released "Shock of the New" first and "Delta Sleep" second. Not that I think there are any bad tracks on "Sleep Convention." Of course, I think it's safe to say whatever was released, Bob Siner would've ensured a swift commercial death anyway.

By the way, how'd Dane get to be buds with Christopher Watson of Spot the Dog? It's weird how their video was one I actually saw back in the day. It might have aired all of one time on "Basement Tapes," but it stuck with me all these years (probably because of the military angle).

--
[b]YouTube Music Video of the Week[/b]

Netherworld Dancing Toys - "For Today"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE82oke8BWM

[skygeex]

[quote]By the way, how'd Dane get to be buds with Christopher Watson of Spot the Dog? It's weird how their video was one I actually saw back in the day. It might have aired all of one time on "Basement Tapes," but it stuck with me all these years (probably because of the military angle).[/quote]

Hey everyone! Christopher Watson here. Boy, am I behind the curve. Haven't been here in a while, and now I see that Marisa jumped in late last year and gave everyone some cool updates. Yay, Marisa!

Max, to respond to your inquiries, it was actually the Audities list and Google that put Dane and I in touch. Back in 2000 or 2001, I had posted a long diatribe to Audities about how utterly magnificent SLEEP CONVENTION was, and what a travesty it was that it didn't get the chance to go somewhere. Dane one day decided to Google himself, and my post popped up. He emailed me, and the rest is history. We lost touch around '02, but found each other again a few years later. Couple of years ago, we started work on DaneConover.com, but even though we had a good design going, we never could find enough time to nail it down, and the hosting expired. In its stead, Dane and Marisa have the YouTube account, and a few other productive "viral" outlets that are working to get the word out.

Meanwhile, Dane hasn't really stopped sending me new MP3s, as he continues to digitize his vast catalog. Not long ago, he sent a fantabulous Trees-era tune titled "Pandora's Box", which he tells me was to be a track on the second Trees LP (which of course never happened). I also have the great fortune to hear most of his RPM Challenge tracks before he sends them in each February (he's done it twice, so far). By now, you guys have seen and heard his video for "Double or Nothing" on YouTube, right?! It's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FntCyItkBXc. It was picked up by National Public Radio's "Second Stage" program, and featured in its podcast. It's a terrific song. The podcast has syndicated all over the Web now.

Also, we've been having some fun lately picking 60's and 70's pop/rock hits and "giving them a new coat of synth". I do up the basic rhythm tracks in Cakewalk Kinetic 2, send Dane the 24-bit stereo WAV file, which he imports to his digital rig, and then layers on the vocals and some other instruments. We did Gary Wright's "Love Is Alive" and Tommy James' "Draggin' the Line". The next one up should be either Tommy Rowe's "Jam Up and Jelly Tight", or The Turtles' "Happy Together". I also have a new version of an unreleased Spot The Dog tune, "Man of Mathematics", which I hope to get Dane and Marisa to sing on. A version of the music bed for that tune is up on my SoundClick page now: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... dID=645551

And as far as Spot The Dog goes, the "Adventures In Anxiety" music video was indeed played ONCE on MTV, as part of the "Basement Tapes" competition in 1985. The video is available on YouTube under my account there: http://www.youtube.com/sleepconvention. I believe it was Meatloaf who said it was one of the best amateur music videos he had ever seen, up until that time. Not according to the callers that week, however, who voted us into next-to-last place! We thought we had a pretty poignant piece there with that song -- all about the youth who knew nothing of the Vietnam War, but sure knew how to dance. Funny how you can almost slot that 1984 song's message right into today's headlines....

When we fight for oil from the desert,
Will you fight to keep your car alive?
Do you like you like your vinyls and your plastics,
and the petrol on which you survive?

It was a fun video to shoot. I edited most of it. The cool Vietnam footage came from a hijacked downlink of a documentary (Kent Russell, the video's director, was the main Community Access guy at our local cable TV franchise). He also produced a weekly music magazine show that Spot The Dog hosted for more than a year, which was called "JAM!". It pains me that the tapes for all those great shows are lost.

Anyway, Dane and Marisa and I have been taking a little break from the musical collaborations to put a few personal items in order, and then hopefully we'll get back to it. The two of them also recently sent some choice tracks to some of Marisa's old industry contacts (some BIG names, by the way). I'm really hoping they'll get a bite.

Lots more to say, but no more time to say it.

Wave Out,
Christopher

[SomebodySomewhere]

[quote][i]Originally posted by skygeex[/i]
<br>And as far as Spot The Dog goes, the "Adventures In Anxiety" music video was indeed played ONCE on MTV, as part of the "Basement Tapes" competition in 1985. The video is available on YouTube under my account there: http://www.youtube.com/sleepconvention. I believe it was Meatloaf who said it was one of the best amateur music videos he had ever seen, up until that time. Not according to the callers that week, however, who voted us into next-to-last place![/quote]

Hey, Chris. Yeah, I had the video in my sig last year. (My sig's taking a little break at the moment.) You don't know how I excited I was to find it there. I watched most of the "Basement Tapes" specials from 1983-1986 (and some of them after that). I don't remember most of the songs/clips too well because, let's face it, most of them were not worth remembering. Case in point: Bombay. I thought Bombast would have been a better band name. Most of the winners irritated the shit out of me, none so much as that horrible SoCal "metal" band featuring the least untalented bunch of siblings since The Jets. As if the song wasn't bad enough, the video was an even bigger piece of crap.

Well, at least nothing ever come of the recording contract they won.

I would have rather had you guys in rotation, suffice to say.