No Strings Attached (Those Darn Accordions album)

Last updated
No Strings Attached
TDANoStringscover.jpg
Studio album by Those Darn Accordions
Released June 18, 1996
Recorded 1996 at Tiki Town, Marin County, United States
Genre Rock, pop, comedy, polka
Length48:30
Label Globe Records
Producer Scott Mathews
Those Darn Accordions chronology
Squeeze This!
(1994)
No Strings Attached
(1996)
Clownhead
(1999)

No Strings Attached is the third studio album by American accordion band Those Darn Accordions, released on June 18, 1996 by Globe Records.

Accordion Bellows-driven free-reed aerophone musical instruments

Accordions are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type, colloquially referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist. The concertina and bandoneón are related; the harmonium and American reed organ are in the same family.

Those Darn Accordions, commonly abbreviated as TDA, are an American accordion band from San Francisco, California, originally formed in 1989 by Linda "Big Lou" Seekins.

Contents

Overview

Released at the height of TDA's popularity, No Strings Attached showcases the band's trademark mixture of accordion-driven rock, pop and polka, as well as boasting ska, funk and jazz influences. The album notably features two cover songs, one of The Who 's "Baba O'Riley" and the other of Rod Stewart 's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", the latter sung by TDA's then-81-year-old member Clyde Forsman.

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods. Later it became popular with many skinheads.

Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when African-American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B). Funk de-emphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bass line played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a drummer, often at slower tempos than other popular music. Like much of African-inspired music, funk typically consists of a complex groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that created a "hypnotic" and "danceable feel". Funk uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths.

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".

In a positive review, the Memphis Flyer called TDA "the true champions" of the alternative music scene's revival of the accordion, ahead of Brave Combo and They Might Be Giants. The review concluded "This is one recording filled with good-natured humor where the novelty doesn't wear off, because there's a wealth of musical integrity behind it. Those Darn Accordions! are blazing a trail down a path that most fear to tread, and they're doing it with panache and aplomb". [1]

The Memphis Flyer is a free weekly alternative newspaper serving the greater Memphis, Tennessee, area. The Flyer covers Memphis news, politics, music, entertainment, sports, food, and spirits. As of January 2018, the weekly print circulation is 44,000.

Brave Combo polka/rock/worldbeat band based in Denton, Texas

Brave Combo is a polka/rock/worldbeat band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than thirty-five years. Their music, both originals and covers, incorporates a number of dance styles, mostly polka, but also some Latin American and Caribbean styles like norteño, salsa, rumba, cha-cha-cha, choro, samba, two-step, cumbia, charanga, merengue, ska, etc.

They Might Be Giants American alternative rock band

They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG expanded to include a backing band. The duo's current backing band consists of Marty Beller, Dan Miller, and Danny Weinkauf. The group has an unconventional and experimental style of alternative music. Over their career, they have found success on the modern rock and college radio charts. They have also found success in children's music, and in theme music for several television programs and films.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mothra"P. Rogers/B. Schwartz/L. Wallace3:19
2."Behind the Bellows"P. Rogers3:27
3."Them Hippies Was Right"P. Rogers/B. Schwartz/L. Wallace4:13
4."Ramune"L. Seekins1:59
5."The Hotsy Totsy Polka"L. Seekins/P. Rogers/A. Peterson/S. Mathews3:21
6."Baba O'Riley" P. Townshend 4:53
7."Citizen Contraire"P. Rogers3:45
8."Paco's Dream"P. Rogers3:13
9."Deathbed Confession"P. Rogers2:50
10."Following the Puppets"P. Rogers3:35
11."Hamsterman"P. Rogers3:55
12."Mambo Triste"L. Seekins2:52
13."The Happy House"P. Rogers/S. Mathews3:18
14."Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" R. Stewart/C. Appice/D. Hitchings3:50
Total length:48:30

Personnel

Those Darn Accordions
Additional musicians
Dick Contino American musician, actor

Dick Contino was an American accordionist and singer.

"Weird Al" Yankovic American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, satirist, film producer, actor, voice actor, comedian, and author. He is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts, original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, and polka medleys of several popular songs, featuring his favored instrument, the accordion.

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References

  1. Duncan, David D. (September 25, 1997). "Those Darn Accordions!, No Strings Attached (Globe)".