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revered debut album Surfer Rosa , Albini moved the entire studio into the studio bathroom where singer/bassist Kim Deal recorded her backup vocals on ‘Where is My Mind’ and her lead vocals on ‘Gigantic’, both hugely popular pieces in their collection. Albini just ‘didn’t like the studio sound’. 8 Not to be laughed at (more with), Al Yankovich also recorded a glowing debut single in a tiled bathroom. His first parody, of The Knack’s ‘My Sharona’, was recorded in the men’s washroom of the campus radio station at California Polytechnical State University where he was a student. 9 ‘My Bologna’ put Weird Al on the musical map, and not only showcased a sense of humour, but the setting gives both his voice and his accordion a sense of aural depth, all because the sound waves were bouncing around the men’s receptacles. * Reverb in music doesn’t have to come from singing or playing in bathroom, but there is something special about using the natural reverb a room creates rather than trying to apply technologically manufactured effects. The bathroom, with its unique spatial requirements and services offered, will always offer an organic option for those willing to go there. The tradition continues today. Nadine Coyle, member of British girl group Girls Aloud, made her solo debut by recording all the demo vocals in her bathroom. On the song ‘Chained’, Coyle and her producer agreed that her original vocal had a more fitting sound that couldn’t be re-created, and so her bathroom vocal appears on record. 10 Companies outside the world of music have recognised how common it is for people to sing in the shower, and have made attempts to capitalise on this truth. Kohler, a company that makes fixtures and faucets, released the StereoStik this year, a device that attaches to your cabinet and plays mp3s or the radio for you to sing along with, transforming your bath into a ‘singing arena’. Purchase.ie , an Irish business dedicated to developing products that help homeowners save money by reducing energy usage, conserving water and limiting waste, sells a ‘water powered shower radio’ which uses water pressure from the faucet to turn a small internal turbine which powers the radio. 11 There are plenty of other products are on the market at present, all with the intention of promoting entertainment while in the bathroom. So, the next time you step out of your clothes and into a bathtub, with the door closed behind you and the water on, belt it out. Think of it as your personal Grand Ole Opry, Brixton Academy, or Massey Hall, and let the walls and tiles make you into the classic, legendary singer you are. Gene Kelly may have sung in the rain, but a rain showerhead does the trick just as well. j
The Pixies,‘Gigantic’ The Pixies,‘Where is My Mind’ Weird Al Yankovich,‘My Bologna’ (bathroom version)
Nadine Coyle,‘Chained’
1 free download http://michaelrault.bandcamp.com/album/whirlpool 2 Doyle, Peter. ‘ ‘My Blue Heaven’ to ‘Race with the Devil’: echo, reverb and (dis)ordered space in early popular music recording.’ Popular Music (2004) Vol. 23/1. Cambridge University Press. p 31 3 Doyle, 32 4 Carey, Tanith. ‘Sing in the Shower, sit up straight- the simple tips that’ll keep your voice young’ Daily Mail (UK) , 27 April 2010 5 Doyle, 31, 45-46 6 ‘Ray Manzarek of The Doors talks “LA Woman”, A Favorite Jim Morrison Memory, “She Smells So Nice”, Skrillex, and “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Interview with Ray Manzarek by Rick Florino. www.artistdirect. com/entertainment-news/article/ray-manzarek-of-the-doors-talks-l-a-woman-a- favorite-jim-morrison-memory-she-smells-so-nice-skrillex-and-2001-a-spacey- odyssey/9854908 . Dec. 18, 2010 7 ‘6 Career defining Records of Peter Criss.’ Interview with Peter Criss by Vince Medina Sanna of Rhythm Magazine. www.musicradar.com/news/ drums/6-career-defining-records-of-peter-criss-215270/3 8 Frank, Josh; Ganz, Caryn. Fool the World; An Oral History of A Band Called Pixies. Virgin Books, 2005. pp 80-1 9 Details for ‘My Bologna- “Weird” Al Yankovich. ‘The Demented Music Database” http://dmdb.org/cgi-bin/plinfo_view.pl?SYN053221 10 “Nadine Coyle: ‘I recorded my album in the bathroom’” Interview with Nadine Coyle by Mark Savage, BBC News Entertainment Reporter . October 11, 2010 11 ‘Kohler turns bathroomss into ‘singing arenas’.’ Middle East Interiors , May 1, 2012 12 http://purchase.ie/water-powered-shower-radio 2009
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