The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => Feedback on Finished songs => Topic started by: pompeyjazz on September 19, 2019, 08:15:24 AM
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Hi All,
A few weeks ago, Paul pinged me a cracking little backing track to see if I had any ideas for it. It really had a kind of sci-fi feel to it I thought (I think it was the riff) Anyway, I spent a bit of time chuckling to myself while watching a few episodes of the 1960's TV series "Stingray" to reacquaint myself with the story lines and the characters and so Stingray was spawned :)
We had great fun putting this together - Hope that you enjoy it :)
The photo shoot was quite a hoot as well
Paul - Guitars, bass, drums
John - Extra guitar, synth, lyrics, vocals, mixing
V1
Surface agent X-2-0
Slimy, cunning anti hero
How he hates that Captain Troy
He's real jealous of the boy
Titan plots in Aquanation
Plotting global domination
Tempest stole his girl Marina
Sweet revenge is getting nearer
Ch
We're on our way
We'll save the day – Stingray
Diving deeper every day
We'll find a way – Stingray
V2
Stingray launches into battle
Iron fish to shake and rattle
Fighting with the mighty ogre
Hoping that his time's soon over
Diving to one thousand leagues
Bring the tyrant to his knees
Now they've got him in big trouble
Trapped inside a giant bubble
(c) Adamson / Bradley - 2019
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Brilliant guys.. 8) awesome lyrics..made me smile bigtime...in the production area I reckon if you ducked the delay a little during singing the vocal would be a little clearer and the high frequencies need calming down a bit..IMHO.. :) :)
really excellent work..just fab!!
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Hi guys, brilliant, I've no idea how you got from that backing to sci fi, and from sci fi to Stingray ;D ;D.Great lyric and everything just worked. loved the 'anything could happen' quote at the end too.
Great stuff!
Cheers
Jamie
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You geezers are on fire this month! Hot on the heels of Mr Benn we have another childrens' TV programme post-punk anthem. "John Craven's Newsround" next please.
Anyway, this is great. Again, full of lovely choppy fuzz guitar energy that marries really well with PJ's gritty vocals. Nice use of samples (not over done).
You know, this has made me realise that I really like it too when lyrics are sometimes about trivial fun stuff... not love or politics or philosophy or trying to make a point, but just fantasy like this. Pure escapism, and sometimes music should just be that. Thanks for reminding me of that, you fiery geezers.
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Yo Pomps and Paul.
Great guitar bashing! Love that part from 1.45 to 2.23.
A top,fun song superbly executed. 8)
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Listened to this last night. I like to give myself time to see if a song is memorable, and this definitely is, and has your distinctive style. Thought it was a lot of fun. My favorite part was when the background "Marina" came in. Liked this one a lot.
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Fab vibe from the get go! Great lyrics.. I thought the vox were a little high in the mix (something I always struggle with), I'd back them off a smidge... But then what the hell do I know :)
LOVED this!
K
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My heroes! Here they come!
Great soundtrack feel here...got a real catchy theme tune sound....i can just see it now...and it has great motion...we're on our way....feels like it! i can't rightly remember Stingray in any detail but i can imagine our heroes scrambling and speeding down down through the depths to the rescue
Great riffing/guitar work and good driving bass. Really rocks as they say. Love the interspersed snippets.
Like your vocals especially in this one John! Love the sound of it all.
Nice one chaps!
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those Stingray chaps certainly had their work cut out for them!
Another top drawer rocker from you guys!
I can imagine a video for this, those dolls n their strings, they'd get into a tangle.
great rocker! (forgive me, I preferred "Jam on it")
All the best! R.
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Awesome energy in this one. The very beginning of the song together with that picture made me lol :D vocals are great. I love the mid section before the guitar part which is also great, I'd love to hear more of it but maybe one shouldn't over eat the candy :P
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Hi chaps. This is an enjoyable slab of pure out and out rock and roll. It's got a great live feel to it and the balance of tracks, pacing and production is perfect. Had fun listening to this twice. I've got somenew headphones and the sound sounds awesome with them. Is the guitar live? Curious to know. Cheers Micky
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@pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) - Just superb work all the way from Marineville.
Maybe bing up the BVox on the choruses a tad, loved the harmony Gtrs in the M8, could have a few more samples from the show during that bit. Oh yeah, the TV samples could all come up in the mix a bit...not much
I don't know about you John but I really fancied Marina, she was GORGEOUS, later on when I was older I kind of wondered how a date might have gone....
I wonder if Stingray needed an MOT?
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Funny, I never got into Thunderbirds, Joe 90 any of those - I remember people at school talking about them and I had no idea...
So even working on just a general idea of what this is all about it's still super fun and infectious. It does sound cinematic somehow (I have been bingeing on bond themes to get primed for that one) - it's just a "big", dramatic, soaring production.
Fab stuff, really hooky and fun.
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A big Thank you to all who reviewed and listened to this track
@shadowfax (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20024) Very valid comments Kev - I adjusted it accordingly :)
@Jamie (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19125) I've no idea how I got to Stingray either ;D I think I was looking for a chorus hook and "Were on our way / Stingray" kinda started it off
@PaulyX (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=21034) Thanks Paul - I know what you mean. Sometimes it's just a whole heap of fun to do something a bit off the wall and not too serious - John Craven's New Round Eh ! - Now I'm going to have that theme stuck in my head all day ;D
@Skub (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20061) Cheers Davy - Can't beat a good guitar bash :)
@redrhodie (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=21171) Thanks Lynn - Yeah - Marina was great, she could breathe underwater as well ;D
@MonnoDB (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=19820) Thanks Karen - Hopefully I've made a (subtle) adjustment to the vocals. Glad that you enjoyed it
@Viscount Cramer & His Orchestra Cheers Ian - I did have to watch a few episodes on Youtube to re-aquaint myself with the characters and the stories - Very entertaining ;D
@Rightly (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20219) Yep - The Stingray team had some serious sh*t to sort out every week but always came up trumps
@t.wretborn (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=22159) Thanks Man - Glad you enjoyed the listen
@mickyplankton (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20769) Thanks Micky - Paul did the majority of the guitar work. I only added some power chords in the chorus and a little solo, pre verse. Actually, the mix is based on the backing track which Paul sent to me (as one track) and my additions added on top so very glad that it worked for you
@cowparsleyman (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=21308) Thanks Rich as ever for your observations. Marina only had one expression didn't she ? Apparently in the later shows, the puppets had interchangeable heads so they could have more than one facial expression. I date might have been difficult, especially wearing all that breathing apparatus :D
@adamfarr (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20124) I don't really remember too much about Stingray these days but know that I did used to watch it avidly. It was great to watch a couple of episodes on Youtube. We did have a whole heap of fun doing this one.
Thanks All :)
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Great intro, both the sample and then the guitar - sounds very exciting like a proper action drama score. Turned it up loud to appreciate! :)
I liked the reverb heavy yet more distant 'Marina' section, which contrasted well with the all action chorus and riffing. John, you sound like you really got into character on that chorus, really giving it some! :)
A very fun tune about an underrated programme, well there was only one Stingray versus about five or six Thunderbirds, which wasn't really fair.
Sorry can't be more constructive, top idea, very well executed -but hopefully you will be glad to hear that this put a big smile on my face - and now I am going to find Stingray clips on YouTube if at all possible!
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Cheers to John for taking this one on... I loved the fun lyric and the vocals are a knockout. The middle "marina" section is brilliant... And John did a super job of creating this out of the shorter pre-mixed mp3 I lobbed over to him.
The drums were from a set of 1970s drum loops from drum drops I think... They sounded great and I cobbled it together into a simple structure with just the drums...then started howking away on ye olde telecaster and an hour later, there it was...john turned it into a riotous few minutes of retro fun and nostalgia in his own brilliant and infectious way. Cheers, @pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) 😃
Thanks for listening and all the kind comments.
BTW, ta @mickyplankton (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20769) I did twin lead guitars and one rhythm with the tele...i think it has quite a live feel to it as I don't tend to dwell on stuff much...I just tend to whack it out a bit of a raggy fashion and move on.
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London calling... ;-) This is good, very good. Just the right amount of roughness, great guitars and the vox is a perfect fit. At first I found it odd to write a song about a bass guitar but I got it one I read the lyrics :-) Not much to add really, I sat back with a big grin and just enjoyed. Guess one could dig in to details but I really don't see the point. Well done both of you!
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Absolutely fantastic! The M8 guitar was spot on. Great vocals too
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Hi Guys, Been away for a bit,
This sounds great, has a really cool driving feel and captures the vibe of the lyrics spot on.
You cant beat the rorkus tone of the pomps and together with the track you guys created!!, yeh I like
Thumbs here guys.....we like a bit of rorkus, time to throw the TV out of the window and kick over a few amps.
Andy
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possible SOTM for me, so many good songs this month...
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brilliant idea for a song..
love the drive of the 'band' .. nice work in the engine room there @PaulAds (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20253)
knock out vocal and lyric @pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) really giving it yer all..
nice surprise in the middle
i think i was more a thunderbirds man, i can hear the theme to it now, whereas if i remember correctly stingray had a kind of squelchy romancy 'marina, aqua marina' .. bit like a soap advert.
anyone remember 'four feather falls'..? it was their first tv series (so my grandad told me anyway..)
great song chaps great collab