“I Need A Gig” from The Neanderthal Yodeler LP 1985 - Michael Welch

I Need A Gig, is one of my favorite tunes on my Neanderthal Yodeler record, lp, vinyl. Yes, way back then. 

It was recorded on my analog Tascam 8 track ½ inch tape machine. I love the drum sound. Probably, 2 overheads and a “BASS DRUM” microphone. 

I did another version of this for my TV Willie project. It’s swingin, snat snat, cool daddy-o. 

At the time of this recording, 1984-1986, I was employed as a Theme Park musician. I had a regular 2 day gig at EPCOT GERMANY, in the German Show Band. I was there from day 1, starting in 1982. (that’s how The Neanderthal Yodeler got its life) A video was made of that tune. I’ll post it a.s.a.p. 

The instruments on I Need A Gig include, Gretsch drums, Emu Drumulator, which I used for accented clave additives, Glenn Lee plays guitar and possible additional synthesizer. 

The bass and melody was created on my Commodore 64 Executive computer with a 4 track sequencer. This was early midi technology. (mid 80s)

There are 4 mono synth parts, including the bass and flute-like melodies. 

I played and recorded my drumtrack while listening to the sequence track. This may have been a one take, drum part. It’s very unusual. I wish, I still had that imagination. I don’t think like that anymore. I wasn’t under the influence of any other drummer, or music. That’s a different story.

The vocals were recorded using my Shure headset mic. One take. I don’t have any original text, lyric sheets. My lyrics were composed and written on paper. I Need A Gig was composed, although several of the Neanderthal Yodeler tunes were improvised. I was reading mumbo jumbo from a newspaper and TV guide. 

The Neanderthal Yodeler, is probably my best creative work. I base that on originality and uniqueness of content. 

When it was reviewed, there were a couple comparisons to Beefheart and Zappa. That’s a compliment and right on. I’ve listened to many hours of those two artist.

At the time of this recording, I was listening to a variety of groundbreaking artist. Laurie Anderson, Steve Reich, Phillip Glass, Lounge Lizards, John Zorn, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Tom Ze, Adrian Belew, Ornette Coleman, Material, Talking Heads etc etc. 

There was a great “record store” in my neighborhood called Retro Records. You could rent a record, a couple dollars for a few days. It was a super hip music library. 

Glenn Lee was a music and recording genius. Anything and most everything I know about recording and mixing, I learned from Glenn. He was the real brains, behind this content, to make it sound the way it does. 

He was slow, but meticulous. Glenn was involved in my first record, Illegal Radio followed by The Neanderthal Yodeler and TV Willie. He was also there when I needed him for my Zulu Time, jazz project and drumtrack library recordings.  (All Drums)

Glenn Lee was my Rudy Van Gelder and Tom Dowd. Our recording path began with 2-track stereo. It evolved to 4-track analog, 8-track ½ inch and 16-track 1-inch analog. We experimented with digital DAT, when it was introduced.  

I can’t say enough about Glenn Lee. He was one of a kind. I also learned to play music from Glenn. His playing and ideas were unlike anyone. He was a child prodigy, legally blind from early years. In his final years, living with Parkinson’s, his attitude was still great. He played the hand he was dealt. 

Beginning with I Need A Gig, and each tune on The Neanderthal Yodeler. I started with a drum track. I continue with that process today, for most projects. 

Even today, as I listen to this with my little ear-pods, I hear new things. As an example, the instrument drop out during the final verse Rap, is brilliant. That was Glenn.  

This record, at the time, when I was pimping it to record labels, came close to getting signed. It definitely got some record executives attention. The reject letters I got were real, not a generic covers.

The competition was tough when I was pimping this. It’s also very unusual. I think this record would have fit a label like Nonesuch. I was a little early, before those (type) of labels started signing at-risk artist.    

I have zero regrets in 2023. I’m glad my material has been off the radar. I own my catalog.    

I’ll be pimping my catalog in the NFT world, soon.

You can hear my cynicism for the music business in these lyrics. It was the inspiration from rejection at local and global levels. 

What would be a long rant, is my business concept to be “successful” as a (recording artist) 

I’ll stop there.

I hope you enjoy this first post. I’ll be posting from my music catalog, on Substack. Please share if you can. I’d like to grow my 50+ subscribers. In the last week, I’ve had a couple new subscribers. Thanks, Best regards, Michael Welch