Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Kites Are Fun’ (LP) (Released in 1967) (via Light In The Attic Records)
Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to enjoy an in-depth revisit of a pre-00’s sound of the past that has become very influential for the present for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, which is in-keeping with my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! Having caught an old episode of Cherry Red Radio on a whim two or three weeks ago, I quickly learned about The Free Design, an early 60’s to mid 70’s family pop group who were formed in Delevan, New York and went on to become huge influences for the likes of The Beach Boys, Beck, Stereolab and Belle & Sebastian, despite receiving relatively little attention during their earlier stages of their career. Comprised of three of four Dedrick siblings, this “harmony group” – of many from the time – speedily recorded a two song demo and subsequently found a home with the independent easy listening record label Project 3, a platform that allowed more creative freedom for them than most competitors. The band dabbled in Neo-Psychedelia, Jangle-Pop, Sunshine Pop and soft Funk, but failed to land a hit because their label suffered from their low resources to promote their artists very aggressively. Almost four decades later, however, Light In The Attic Records had re-issued most of the quintet’s back catalog of albums and singles, revealing a band that were unfairly slept on to a new generation of new-found fans. 1967’s ‘Kites Are Fun’ was cited as a huge influence for Japanese percussionist Cornelius, and the title track was the only real single release from it, having reached #33 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts in the US, thus becoming their only single to chart. Unveil the mysteries of ‘Kites Are Fun’ below.
Indie acts such as The High Llamas and Pizzicato Five have all cited The Free Design’s music as influences for their own for their happy-go-lucky brand of late-60’s Baroque Pop and pastoral Soft-Folk, and the critics have always seemed to be in agreement with this level of praise, and the title cut of 1967’s ‘Kites Are Fun’ earned single status on Billboard’s ‘Bubbling Under The Top 100’ and ‘Top 40 Easy Listening’ surveys in the US. The sounds on the title track are so 60’s that you might want a pair of sunglasses and a convertible Cadillac to complement your easy listening experience. It is a lovely mix of sophisticated Pop music and chilled Folk melodies, however, with the hushed croon delivering lyrics like “We’d like to be a zillion miles away from everyone/’Cause Mum and Dad and Uncle Bill don’t realize Kites Are Fun” as they celebrate child-like innocence with the gentle thump of a Tambourine and a whimsical Horn section carrying us to a peaceful chorus. The lyrical themes follow the typical embrace of peace and love that strangely didn’t resonate with the ‘Hipster’ crowd of the time due to its lack of commercial success, but the band deliver plenty of high notes when the intimate lyrics such as “See my kite, it’s green and white” that use gentle rhyming schemes to emphasize the nostalgic atmosphere of the cheerful sounds. It’s not massively upbeat however, and what strikes me most about their choice of instrumentation is how they emphasize sophisticated chords that are more often associated with Chamber Folk or Classical Jazz music to blur the lines between psychedelic pop, folk music and lounge Jazz in a way that gives them an individual edge over their peer groups of the time. This renders ‘Kites Are Fun’ as a lovely listen throughout, where a subtle sense of melancholy and a strong pushing of Sunshine Pop boundaries make for a mix of late-60’s and early 70’s music that was not quite done by another band in the same way since their time. Lyrics like “But we like each other more than anything” have a somewhat comic effect, while the orchestral instrumentation, especially the Flute sounds that all get peppered throughout the choral melodies, slot the track into a relaxed Easy Listening vibe that feels emotive enough, but expands the vocabulary of the writing. Just like Kites – this is a lot of fun!
Pictured: Chris Dedrick (Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar), Bruce Dedrick (Lead Guitar), Ellen Dedrick (Tambourine), Stefanie Dedrick (Percussion) & Sandy Dedrick (Drums) (1967) (Photo by TVTropes.org)
That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you for ringing in the new month with me, and it is my birthday tomorrow, but I look forward to finding some time to talk about some new music regardless. Tomorrow’s pick comes from an American Bedroom Pop singer-songwriter who began making music at the age of 13 and he grew up in Moraga, California situated in the San Francisco Bay area. He’s become prolific in a short span of time, and IQ says that his music is “genre-bending”.
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