Miss Feist may or may not have known I was a Unicef fan but she definitely knew I was a big fan of some of the people who were involved, namely Steven MacDonald of Redd Kross fame and David Cross of Mr. Show and Arrested Development fame.
Yes, it was still summer, but they had to have the thing done in time for a Halloween release. They sent me a version of the track with someone singing it through to illustrate how it should/could go. The people at the project were open to having it be interpreted however I wanted. I should also mention that they were interested in having the other guys in the band participate, but only I ended up being able to do it in time.
I went over to Jay's and recorded on his computer. They had given me 5 lines or so to sing and would keep however many they needed, presumably depending on how many people they got to participate, or how horrible my contribution was.
In the end I can hear my voice only briefly, but it's there. If you're ever playing 6 Degrees of Separation and you are stuck on Beck/Malcolm McLaren, the connection is Chris Murphy. My voice is paired with both of them.
I wanted to somehow include my gem of a line that the scariest thing about Halloween is that rent is due the next day but it didn't make it.
I guess the moral of the story here is: Don't vacation with your bandmates.
By the by, next year is the 30th anniversary of my going out dressed as KISS for Halloween. 30th! Holy crap!
Happy Halloween. Chris
"Do They Know It's Halloween" is out now on Vice Recordings. For more info go to: http://www.vice-recordings.com/halloween/
Comments
Alicia - October 17, 2005 6:20 PM
Certainly an interesting project... :)
Nikki - October 17, 2005 6:23 PM
I loves this a lot! :-) How brilliant!
Lothriel - October 17, 2005 6:32 PM
Ooo...tinglies down my spine...
...if tinglies is even a word...
Pretty cool piece of work! It would be nice to have that on CD to play for the people that come to my door this year. Hm...(lightbulb goes on!! Ding!)
Oh, and just out of curiosity, since I (regretfully) am not familiar with many of the other artists who participated...is the list on the website also the order in which they sing?
Nice work, though, Chris. I caught ya in there, though I had to listen to it twice...heh. Ooops.
Keep recording!
^_^
Julie - October 17, 2005 9:35 PM
I love it!
kickstartmyheart - October 17, 2005 10:13 PM
But I think the question we're all asking here is:
which MEMBER of KISS?
P4P - October 17, 2005 10:59 PM
The 6 Degrees of Separation? I like the way you think ;)
Mariko - October 18, 2005 1:28 AM
Happy Halloween, SLOAN~! (^_^)/"
Claire - October 18, 2005 3:49 AM
Random: Sloan is up for Yahoo's "Dig It or Dis It" thing again and they're currently in LAST PLACE which is clearly a travesty, so everybody should go vote because if they're beaten by The Killers, I might have to shoot myself in the face: http://music.yahoo.com/promotions/digitdisit/
soothsayer - October 18, 2005 9:11 AM
30 years eh Chris? I remember halloween night 1976 because I stayed home from trick or treating that night to watch Kiss on the Paul Lynn halloween special. My mom couldn't believe that I wanted to miss out on candy to see them on tv. I was a fan from then on.
Sloan Obsessed - October 18, 2005 12:36 PM
This years marks the 4th anniversary of when I went out for halloween dressed as KISS!!!
Beth - October 18, 2005 1:18 PM
Too bad Beck's (distinctive) voice pretty well drowns his part out.
And to add to the "summer while at a cottage with the families of the band" part - here's a little-known fact: Chris almost ran us down with his mini van. I know, shocking truth! <i>MINI VAN!</i>
Someone in the GTA needs to go out for Halloween dressed as Chris dressed <i><b>as</b></i> KISS. And let me photograph you.
Lydia - October 18, 2005 5:11 PM
I'll do it, Beth
SHP - October 18, 2005 11:32 PM
I can vouch for that mini van! ;)
Chris - if you dress up as a KISS guy, I'll get you into Cobo Hall somehow. Ha!
Beth - October 19, 2005 9:59 AM
Oops. After a couple emails I suppose I should clarify my prior post: the mini van "incident" was in Bala before the Kee show. In no way did I mean to imply that <i>I</i> stayed at the cottage with them.
So no, I DO NOT know what Chris sleeps in or what Andrew eats for breakfast, but thanks for asking!
- Beth
P4P - October 19, 2005 1:46 PM
C'mon Beth! I know you know something. Cocoa puffs? Teddy bears? Aquafresh? PJ's with feet? You must know something. ;p
Beth - October 19, 2005 3:31 PM
OK, yeah, you got me - Chris sleeps in cocoa puffs and Andrew eats teddy bears for breakfast.
P4P - October 19, 2005 9:56 PM
And people think I'M crazy? Geez.
kickstart - October 19, 2005 11:13 PM
Pshaw. Mandrew eats REAL bears for breakfast! RAR!
Emily Abrams - October 21, 2005 8:05 AM
this is a great song!
Ruh - October 23, 2005 11:20 AM
Hear hear, Natalia ;)! (Beth, if anyone is going to have inside info it's you, and you know it ... the panthers flock to you)
saltygal36 - October 23, 2005 12:27 PM
boy, i hope some Sloan fans checked out ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT on Chris' recommendation!
Both AD and Sloan are the cream of their leagues, and therefore underappreciated in these United States. David Cross is brilliant also as a smart, lefty standup.
Good times!
Beth - October 23, 2005 7:48 PM
David Cross is brilliant in/at/on pretty much everything he does.
Scott yet again - November 16, 2005 11:42 AM
Still not quite sure what the point of the song was, outside of raising money for UNICEF, which is very cool, but shock and surprise, it actually came out down South. Not to plug or anything, but the Best Buy at Bloomington had copies. Chris is awfully buried in the mix, though, sad to say...
Speaking of the holidays. Would "Bells On" be considered a Christmas song? I'm just trying to think ahead to next year's Christmas card mix discs and any excuse to stick Sloan on there. You've got bells being worn and Chris dreaming about the subject thinking of him over Christmas. I'm reaching, but any opinions?
Lisa* - November 19, 2005 4:48 PM
Hey, this may be a little irrelevant, but I think that's great that so many musicians got together to help Unicef. I have a Co-Op right now at the Children's International Learning Centre in Hamilton, ON that's sponsored by Unicef. It's a not-for-profit organization dedicated to teaching children about different cultures and world issues. Schools book a trip there in the morning or afternoon, and the classes are like school, except more hands-on with crafts and games. We also go all-out with displays that have authentic items from around the world and we ensure that each display is culturally acurrate.
Went off on a tangent there....well, my point was....it's just great to see so many charitable things happening. Ever since I've had my Co-Op at the Centre, I appreciate how hard organizations (like Unicef) wrk to improvete world. It really makes me feel hopeful.