Fields of Sound

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Philco Bendyx

Philco Bendyx — Pay to Play: The Complete Studio recordings 1993-1997

Originally the Philco Bendyx Sunshine Company, this group was the brainchild of Daron Murphy and Jonny Farrow and was named after the laundry mat in Cleveland Circle where Daron used to do his wash. The recorded history started on a dark night in the North End of Boston, MA circa 1993 with a borrowed Tascam four track. I believe the original recording from that night is somewhere in a Long Island basement and has probably been eaten by mice. Nonetheless, it was an improvised mélange of acoustic guitar, bass and stream of consciousness lyrics that included such cult-favorites as “Another Day, Another Shirt” and “My Indian.” As we did not have a blank tape at the time, we decided to record over a dubbed version of The Smiths “Louder than Bombs.” Between tracks you could hear Morrissey singing backwards.

“Pay to Play” contains none of those original numbers, but instead is the studio history of Philco Bendyx. They played and played and played on NYC’s East Village Rock scene all throughout the mid-90′s. Blasting through their sets (and rehearsals) like drunken donkeys with attitude, the guys psychedelic leanings went beyond the silly and into the sublime. Highly recommended, sing-along classics. And (not coincidentally) this band was immortalized by the greatest psych-pop band on the planet, Love Camp 7, with their hit song, “Philco Bendyx Sunshine Co.” which I believe is on their CD “Live in Las Vegas.”

Also of note: tracks 9-12 were originally released as the “Hello CD of the Month Club” EP, September 1995. “Hello…” was a subscription-based mail-order EP club started by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants in the mid-nineties. He was nice enough to fund the production of the EP for us and release it to his subscribers back then. Thanks again JF.

Tracks:

1. Mr. Casual 2. Flower Show 3. Disremember 4. I Am A Dog

5. Freak Flag 6. Soft Spot 7. Lucky Charms 8. NYC Sunshine

9. Far Too Gone 10. Uncomfortable Girlfriend 11. Tasty Candy

12. The Secret Days 13. Paper Plane 14. Coffee Cup

the musicians:

Daron Murphy (aka Daron M.) – G, V

Jonny Farrow (aka Jonny le Master) – B, V Bucket on 12

*Chris brown, the late – D

**Dave Campbell (aka D. Kal Koda) – D

***Billy “where’s the van” Donahue – K

*Tracks 1-8 **Tracks 9-11, 13, 14 ***Tracks 13, 14

Listen:

Flowershow