"Ditzy Scene" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Cardiacs Cardiacs are an English rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (lead guitar and vocals) and his brother Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. The band's sound fused circus, baroque pop and medieval mu ...

. It was planned as the opening track and lead single from the band's unfinished sixth album, ''

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

''. It was released on Org Records, and was the band's last single to be released in frontman

Tim Smith Tim, Timothy or Timmy Smith may refer to: Musicians * T. V. Smith (born 1956), British singer and songwriter *Tim Smith (Cardiacs) (1961–2020), English singer-songwriter and frontman of Cardiacs *Timmy Trumpet (born 1982), Australian DJ and prod ...

's lifetime, as well as their most recent to be composed of entirely new material. "Ditzy Scene" was included in ''

Prog Prog may refer to: Music * Progressive music ** Progressive music (disambiguation) ** Progressive rock, a subgenre of rock music also known as “prog” *** Progressive rock (radio format) * Prog (magazine), a magazine dedicated to progressive ...

s list of

Knifeworld Knifeworld is a British-based psychedelic rock band led by Kavus Torabi. Originally a Torabi solo project, it became a full band in summer 2009. Knifeworld has connections with various English musical projects both inside and outside the ro ...

frontman

Kavus Torabi Kavus Torabi ( fa, كاووس تورابى; born 5 December 1971) is a British-Iranian musician and composer, record label owner and broadcaster. A multi-instrumentalist, he is known for his work in the psychedelic, avant-garde rock field (prim ...

's Guide to Cardiacs. In 2018, the Alphabet Business Concern rereleased the song on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

Writing and recording

"Ditzy Scene" was written by

and

. It was the first of several songs written following a Cardiacs' line-up change in 2004. Torabi wrote the lyrics after beginning to record their unreleased sixth album, provisionally titled ''LSD'', in 2005. He said it was planned to be remixed for the album: The band recorded "Ditzy Scene" at Smith's own

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

Apollo 8 in Autumn 2007, shortly before the last Cardiacs tour. Torabi wrote the lyrics to Smith's arrangement, as well as playing the guitar solo for the intro. The intro, according to Torabi, was extremely hard to play, requiring complete concentration from the band. They recorded the song with tapes. Along with Smith, vocals were provided by Torabi, bass player Jim Smith, Claire Lemmon and "special guest star" Suzanne Kirby. In an interview with ''Prog'', Torabi described his first reaction to the song's structure whilst recording: "When we started recording it was like 'Fucking hell ... here we go!' When those girl vocals came in at the start, going 'Aaah aaah!' it was a real goosebump moment and I thought 'Okay, we've really got something here ...' It's just brilliant."

Release and reception

The "Ditzy Scene" single, backed with two other tracks "Gen" and "Made All Up", was due for release just prior to the start of Cardiacs' first full UK tour since 2000. On November 5, it had a limited edition press release on Org Records, with only 1000 copies made. Cardiacs planned to release their first studio album since ''

Guns A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...

'' (1999) early the following year. The song charted at number 72 on the Spanish iTunes Chart on 11 October 2020.

Formats and track listings

All lyrics are written by Cardiacs (noted); all music is composed by

. CD single # "Ditzy Scene" (Kavus Torabi) – 6:38 # "Gen" (Smith) – 3:42 # "Made All Up" (Torabi) – 5:04 CDr promo # "Ditzy Scene" – 6:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of "Ditzy Scene". *

– guitar, loud voice * Cathy Harabaras – tube bell,

big drum Big Drum is a genre, a musical instrument, and traditional African religion from the Windward Islands. It is a kind of Caribbean music, associated mostly closely with the music of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Music of Guadeloupe, Carriacou ...

, percussions * Jim Smith – bass guitar, voice *

– guitar, voice * Melanie Woods – voice * Bob Leith – many drums and some

cymbals A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

* Dawn Staple – tube bell, big drum, percussions * Claire Lemmon – voice with: * Suzanne Kirby – voice

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Cardiacs 2007 singles Cardiacs songs Songs written by Tim Smith (Cardiacs)