''Humans Only'' is the fourth full-length album (1982) by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

electronic band Earthstar. It was their third and final release for

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

-based

Sky Records Sky Records was a Hamburg, Germany-based independent record label specializing in krautrock/Kosmische Musik and electronic music. Some of their releases could be classified as progressive rock or art rock, experimental music, industrial, ambient, ...

(in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

). ''Humans Only'' was result of a partnership between Earthstar founder

Craig Wuest Craig Wuest is an American keyboardist currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. He is best known as the founder and leader of the electronic music group Earthstar (band), Earthstar during the 1970s and 1980s. E ...

and Utica,

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-based guitarist and songwriter Dan Hapanowicz (credited as Daniel Happ), who replaced longtime guitarist

Dennis Rea Dennis Rea (born July 7, 1957) is an American guitarist, author, and music event organizer. He was a member of the electronic music group Earthstar (band), Earthstar in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He leads the progressive rock quintet Morain ...

on this album. ''Humans Only'' presented a far more conventional, softer, more guitar-oriented sound than previous releases. It is also the last album on which the

Birotron The Birotron (pronounced by-ro-tron) is a tape replay keyboard conceived by American musician and inventor Dave Biro of Yalesville, Connecticut, US, and funded by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman in the 1970s, and Rudkin-Wiley of Pepperidge Farm F ...

, the rarest of tape loop keyboard instruments, was played by Wuest. The two tracks with "funk" in the title aren't really funk at all, but they do reveal a more playful side to Earthstar's mainly

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

. The track "Indian Dances" was originally recorded in 1980, with original drummer/vibraphonist and contributing composer Daniel Zongrone, as part of the ''Sleeper, the Nightlifer'' sessions. That album was never released, and a shorter, somewhat pared-down version was recorded for ''Humans Only''.

Track listing

#"Rainbow Dome" – 5:48 #"Don't You Ever Wonder?" – 4:50 #"Indian Dances" – 8:04 #"One Flew Over the Ridge" – 5:28 #"TV Funk" – 7:38 #"Tip Toe Funk" – 13:20
a. "Umbrey Flowing Lights"
b. "25 Arrival Pieces"

Personnel

- Synthesizers,

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

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chimes Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

, industrial box, horn keys,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixed by *Daniel Happ - Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bells, chimes, percussion, composer, producer, engineer, mixed by *Andy Retscher -

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, synth bass, Birotron, engineer, mixed by *Bob Mishalanie -

Drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player ( drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsti ...

*Tim Finnegan - Sounds, wood blocks *Meredith Salisbury - Vocals *Mark Rowe - Sax * Daniel Zongrone - Drums,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

*Melanie Coiro - Bells *Kathy Fusco -

Flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

*John Leogrande - Congas *Mark Magnet Kimsinger - Rattle, voices *Anne Hacker - Flute *John Bunkfeldt - Engineer, mixed by *Bob Yeager - Engineer, mixed by In addition, a nine piece string section appeared on the album.

References

* Discog
Discogs: Earthstar - Humans Only
Retrieved June 30, 2008. * Prog Archive
Earthstar - Humans Only
Retrieved June 30, 2008. * Planet Mellotro

Retrieved August 20, 2007. {{Authority control 1982 albums Earthstar (band) albums