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Funkadelic_
Funkadelic_was_an_American_funk_rock_band_formed_in_Plainfield,_New_Jersey_in_1968_and_active_until_1982._The_band_and_its_sister_act_Parliament,_both_led_by__George_Clinton,_pioneered_the_funk_music_culture_of_the_1970s.John,_Bush.__Funkadeli_...
._During_the_American_tour,_fans_would_come_back_stage_to_meet_the_band_and_ask_Hillage_of_his_musical_tastes,_expecting_him_to_list_progressive_rock_artists,_but_Hillage_would_reply_that_he_was_"quite_into"_the_new_
''Motivation Radio'' is the third studio album by British
_
_
_
In_modern_politics,_and_history,_a_parliament_is_a_legislative_body_of_government._Generally,_a_modern_parliament_has_three_functions:_Representation_(politics),_representing_the_Election#Suffrage,_electorate,_making_laws,_and_overseeing__...
_and_art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
musician Steve Hillage
Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...
. Whilst touring in the United States in promotion of his previous album '' L'' (1976), Hillage grew disillusioned with the progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
tag attached to him by the media and fans, and disliked their attitude towards funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
music, which Hillage was a big fan of. Hillage wanted to create a funk-influenced album as he was predominately listening to artists such as Funkadelic
Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkadeli ...
and Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...
. Originally written as ''The Red Album'' in early 1977, it was retitled ''Motivation Radio'' prior to recording.
Hiring electronic innovator Malcolm Cecil
Malcolm Cecil (9 January 193728 March 2021) was a British jazz bassist, record producer, engineer and electronic musician. He was a founding member of a leading UK jazz quintet of the late 1950s, the Jazz Couriers,
, formerly of the pioneering Tonto's Expanding Head Band
Tonto's Expanding Head Band was a British-American electronic music duo consisting of Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. Despite releasing only two albums in the early 1970s, the duo were influential in the development of electronic music an ...
, to produce and engineer the album, ''Motivation Radio'' introduces Hilage's new rhythm section of drummer Joe Blocker and bassist Reggie McBride and was primarily recorded in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in July 1977. The album presents a much more funk and dance-orientated sound than his previous albums, and relies more so on synthesizers, including T.O.N.T.O. (The Original New Timbral Orchestra), Cecil's large handbuilt polyphonic synthesizer
Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophoni ...
, the first of its kind, that Cecil had played with the Expanding Head Band as he does here. Nonetheless, Hillage's glissando
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a glide from one pitch to another (). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In some contexts, it is distinguished from the co ...
guitar remains at the centre of the album.
The album was released by Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
in September 1977 and features a manipulated image of Hillage holding a Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
in front of the Parkes Observatory
Parkes Observatory is a radio astronomy observatory, located north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. It hosts Murriyang, the 64 m CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope also known as "The Dish", along with two smaller radio telescopes. T ...
on its album cover. Only entering the UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
at number 28 and receiving little success in the United States, the album was not as much a commercial success as its predecessor, which Hillage believes was due to its funk influence. Nonetheless, it received praise from music critics and has continued to do so over time, and today is seen as a milestone in Hillage's career, establishing the electronic direction he later became known for. The album was remastered for CD on several occasions, most recently in March 2007 with the addition of bonus tracks.
Background
Hillage's second album, theTodd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...
-produced '' L'' (1976), had proven to be his biggest commercial success to date, entering the UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
on 16 October 1976, where it stayed for 12 weeks, hitting a peak of number 10.The Guinness book of British Hit Albums, 1983, page 80. The success of ''L'' was largely due to the fact that Hillage had formed a band to promote the album in concert, extensively touring England and France for the remaining months of 1976. The concerts were well attended and well received, and news that ''L'' was also selling strongly in the United States led to Hillage and his band opening for Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...
on their 1977 tour of the United States. Hillage recalled that "the reaction we got was very encouraging and we went down well."
During his time in the United States, Hillage was seen by the media as "another" English progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
artist, much to Hillage's dislike. Hillage explained "I did have mixed feelings about the perception that surrounded my music," adding that "I must admit I never liked the term 'progressive rock'. I felt it never applied to Gong and it certainly never applied to me either. I felt that the music I was making was somehow out on its own, and although it had a quintessentially English feel and possibly it had a ' Canterbury sound' to it, I never considered my music or most of the so-called 'Canterbury' music for that matter 'progressive rock.'" Hillage felt he was far removed from the music of bands such as Yes and saw himself and his band as more like a psychedelic blues
Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording tech ...
band with complex arrangements, with Hillage later saying that "we didn't have a label and I'm not into rigidly labeling music, and that was how is_songwriting_partner_and_keyboardist_is_songwriting_partner_and_keyboardist_Miquette_Giraudy">Miquette_Giraudy.html"_;"title="is_songwriting_partner_and_keyboardist_Miquette_Giraudy">is_songwriting_partner_and_keyboardist_Miquette_Giraudyand_I_felt."funk_
Funk_is_a__music_genre_that_originated_in_African_American_communities_in_the_mid-1960s_when_musicians_created_a_rhythmic,__danceable_new_form_of_music_through_a_mixture_of_various_music_genres_that_were_popular_among_African_Americans_in_the_m_...
_bands_such_as_is_songwriting_partner_and_keyboardist_Miquette_Giraudy">Miquette_Giraudy.html"_;"title="is_songwriting_partner_and_keyboardist_Miquette_Giraudy">is_songwriting_partner_and_keyboardist_Miquette_Giraudyand_I_felt."funk_
Funk_is_a__music_genre_that_originated_in_African_American_communities_in_the_mid-1960s_when_musicians_created_a_rhythmic,__danceable_new_form_of_music_through_a_mixture_of_various_music_genres_that_were_popular_among_African_Americans_in_the_m_...
_bands_such_as_Parliament_(band)">Parliament_album_''Spirit_(Earth,_Wind_&_Fire_album).html" "title="Parliament_(band).html" "title="Miquette_Giraudy.html" ;"title="Miquette_Giraudy.html" ;"title="is songwriting partner and keyboardist Miquette Giraudy">is songwriting partner and keyboardist Miquette Giraudy">Miquette_Giraudy.html" ;"title="is songwriting partner and keyboardist Miquette Giraudy">is songwriting partner and keyboardist Miquette Giraudyand I felt." Someone with eclectic musical tastes, Hillage had increasingly become a fan of
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
bands such as Parliament (band)">Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...and
Funkadelic
Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkadeli ...
. During the American tour, fans would come back stage to meet the band and ask Hillage of his musical tastes, expecting him to list progressive rock artists, but Hillage would reply that he was "quite into" the new Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...
album ''Spirit (Earth, Wind & Fire album)">Spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...'' (1976) and his fans would react in horror, telling Hillage, as he recalled it, "What? You're into disco music?" Hillage recalled; "We had all these fans coming to us and saying 'aw Steve, I really love your work, and I really love Van der Graaf Generator and King Crimson and all your British rock, tell me what are you listening to at the moment.' I’d say 'well I’m really into Bootsy's Rubber String Band and
P-Funk
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...
,' and they’d say 'what, you like disco?' It’s like I’d killed their pet cat."
The mislabelling of Hillage's music as progressive rock and his fans' attitude against funk and disco music would inspire him to change direction when preparing material for his next album. Hillage said his fans' "attitude annoyed me and I began to realise quickly that there was some sort of musical apartheid going on and it truly shocked me. I found myself wanting to do something more funky, partly to escape the 'progressive rock' tag." Speaking to ''Terrascope'', he similarly recalled that "I got this feeling of musical apartheid over there, and I thought sod all that, and this sort of propelled me further down that road."
Conceiving and production
Whilst based in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, Hillage and Miquette met the influential synthesiser pioneer Malcolm Cecil
Malcolm Cecil (9 January 193728 March 2021) was a British jazz bassist, record producer, engineer and electronic musician. He was a founding member of a leading UK jazz quintet of the late 1950s, the Jazz Couriers,
, who had come to prominence in the early 1970s as half of the innovative Tonto's Expanding Head Band
Tonto's Expanding Head Band was a British-American electronic music duo consisting of Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. Despite releasing only two albums in the early 1970s, the duo were influential in the development of electronic music an ...
, recording the influential electronic album ''Zero Time'' (1971). He would then begin a successful career producing, engineering and programming, most notably with Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
for four albums between 1972 and 1976. Hillage was a huge fan of Cecil and had listened to Tonto's second album ''It's About Time'' many times during the recording of ''L'' and was fascinated by the album and their work with Wonder. After telling a journalist in LA that he liked Cecil, Hillage was surprised to find the journalist knew Cecil and offered to arrange for them to meet. Cecil's electronic and dance textures were of interest to Hillage who was looking for a producer for his new album. Hillage recalled that "I thought that if I wanted to head into funkier territory then Malcolm was the man to help me achieve that on my next album."
Hillage and Giraudy wrote enough material for two albums during an "intense period" in spring 1977; Hillage recalled "when we were coming back from our first American tour we were on a creative high and a lot of music came out." Hillage's original idea was to release the material on two separate albums, ''The Red Album'' and ''The Green Album''; however, the plan was abandoned and instead ''The Red Album'' was reworked to become ''Motivation Radio''. Following a series of negotiations, Cecil agreed to produce and engineer ''Motivation Radio'', and work began on the album in July 1977 in Los Angeles with a rhythm section consisting of drummer Joe Blocker and bass guitarist Reggie McBride. The album was recorded throughout July at Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
' world-famous Record Plant
The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...
studios, Westlake Audio studios (also in LA) and Cecil's own studio, T.O.N.T.O., in Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
.Back cover. Ron Alvarez worked on the album as an assistant engineer at Record Plant, whilst Dion Forrer was an assistant engineer for the sessions at T.O.N.T.O. The album was also mixed at Westlake Audio. The sessions at Westlake Audio were to record the glissando
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a glide from one pitch to another (). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In some contexts, it is distinguished from the co ...
guitar, the hallmark of this album, intentionally on 7 July 1977 (7/7/77), to give the record mystical relevance.Steve Hillage - Motivation Radio (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs/ref> Cecil's large handbuilt
polyphonic synthesiser
Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophoni ...
, TONTO, which stands for "The Original New Timbral Orchestra", was played by Cecil on the album, although "never in any great capacity."STEVE HILLAGE – Motivation Radio , Real Gone/ref> The first, and still the largest, multitimbral polyphonic analog
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
in the world, designed and constructed over several years by Cecil for usage in Tonto's Expanding Head Band, it started as a Moog modular synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...
Series III owned by record producer Robert Margouleff, although by the time of the recording of ''Motivation Radio'', a second Moog III was added, then four Oberheim
Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim.
History and products
Tom Oberheim founded the company in 1969, originally as a designer and contract manufacturer of electronic effects devices for Maestro (most ...
SEMs, two ARP 2600s, modules from Serge Serge may refer to:
*Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric
*Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme
*Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name)
*Serge (post), a hitchi ...
with Moog-like panels, EMS, Roland
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
, Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
, etc. plus several custom modules designed by Serge Tcherepnin and Cecil himself - who has an electrical engineering background. In their review of ''Motivation Radio'', ''Real Gone Rocks'' said that although the instrument was a great leap forward for music, it was not especially practical, "since it was the size of a static caravan."
Music
Presented as "a multidimensional window,"Motivation Radio/ref> music writer Mark Powell noted that, true to Hillage's wishes, ''Motivation Radio'' was "funkier in nature" than his previous material, although "still undeniably Hillage." Inspired by
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
, disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
and dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
, ''Motivation Radio'' sees Hillage extensively employing the synthesiser for the first time, as well as a guitar technique that gives much of the music here a mystical atmosphere.Buyer's Guide: Steve Hillage - Classic Rock/ref> Hillage recalled that ''Motivation Radio'' was "the moment where the dance/funk thing began to manifest itself and even then that came out of an unusual and interesting experience." Although the album is more dance-orientated than previous works, it still features Hillage's trademark
glissando
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a glide from one pitch to another (). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In some contexts, it is distinguished from the co ...
guitar work at its core. ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' said the album was "a further extension of illage'sunique rock vision consisting of electronic galactic-seeming mind excursions filled with heavy synthesiser and a philosophy built around ancient Eastern culture," and noted that this fusing of disparate elements produces a "startling overall spacy sound."Billboard – Google Books/ref> Although not a concept album, the album has been described as possessing a trademark sound that is carried throughout its nine tracks. Dave Connolly of
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
characterised the album as the "light side of the moon," referring to Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
's ''The Dark Side of the Moon
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...
'' (1973), saying it draws the listener into its "own astral plane with a glossy and gauzy sound similar to Pink Floyd without the darkness, or Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompani ...
without the dorkiness." He said that Hillage's guitar work is "typically transcendent," Giraudy's keyboards "a vital component" and Joe Blocker's drums "a frequent breath of change." The new age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
/space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
ideology on the album has been said to be not far removed from Gong's "original alternate reality" which has been said to be "spelled out best during the album's true point of transmigration," "Saucer Surfing." Hillage said there was a definite Funkadelic
Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkadeli ...
influence on ''Motivation Radio'' and recalled that his excursions into funkier territory had begun with Gong, considering "Isle of Everywhere" from ''You
In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers.
History
''You'' comes from the Proto- ...
'' (1974) to be a good example.
Songs
"Hello Dawn" opens the album with heavily processed guitars, whilst both electronic and acoustic drums back Hillage's multi-tracked vocals as "he greets a new day with optimism." According to ''Real Gone Rocks'', Hillage's multi-tracked guitars have "their signature sound" and they noted that during the vocal sections, they are used as "striking punctuation;" for example, during the brief instrumental break in the song's ending, "their chorus of sound dominates." With a track length of under three minutes, its brevity was a complete departure from the extended jams that dominated Hillage's previous work. "Motivation" sees the band opt for afunk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
groove and features positive lyrics and, although dominated by Hillage's guitar work, Giraudy's keyboard fills are "supportive" whilst Blocker's drum patterns are "superb" and McBride's bass work shows "complexity without losing sight of his anchoring role."
The similarly groove-orientated "Light in the Sky" opens with a tight drum intro and is constructed around a "classic 70s riff". Its lyrics have been interpreted to be about how aliens can be viewed with suspicion, whilst Giraudy's heavily French accented vocal interludes give an "air of quirkiness". The ethereal "Radio" has been compared to Hillage's work on ''L'' and carries a more spacious vibe, opening with a slightly jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
y guitar line, reprising the closing moments of "Light in the Sky" in the process; critics pointed out that the transition is unusual, as there is an obvious break in between the songs despite sounding like a segue
A segue (; ) is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next. The term is derived from Italian ''segue'', which literally means "follows".
In music
In music, ''segue'' is a direction to the performer. It means ''continue (the next ...
was intended to merge the tracks. McBride's bass is high in the mix during the song whilst Blocker's drums are laid back and Giraudy's "blanket of keys" are "hovering somewhere in the back." Cecil performs a solo on his TONTO synthesiser during the song prior to the introduction of Hillage's vocals.
"Wait One Moment" is a ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
featuring soft vocals, "unassuming" bass runs and drum work compared to Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...
of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
. "Saucer Surfing" was described by Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
as the album's "true point of transmigration"Motivation Radio - Steve Hillage , Songs, Reviews, Credits , AllMusic/ref> and provides the album with its spikiest arrangement, possessing a sense of urgency. "Searching for the Spark" features a then-
futuristic
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...
base laid down by Giraudy and Cecil's synthesiser work, both of whom dominate the track with their synthesisers and TONTO. Blocker's drum work is aggressive in "an attempt to create a line between progressive rock and electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
." The instrumental "Octave Doctors" is exemplary of Hillage's sweeping guitar solos, here featuring plenty of glissanto and vibrato
Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...
, and carries a typical spaciousness. The album closes with a cover of The Crickets
The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, ...
' " Not Fade Away" featuring a loose groove with trippy keyboards and "some quirkier sounds" courtesy of Cecil.
Release
The album's cover features Hillage standing on a shoreline holding a Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
guitar, with the radio telescope
A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency ...
at Parkes Observatory
Parkes Observatory is a radio astronomy observatory, located north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. It hosts Murriyang, the 64 m CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope also known as "The Dish", along with two smaller radio telescopes. T ...
superimposed in the background. Hillage's father bought him the Stratocaster because Steve went to a public school - the City of London School
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public school Boys' independent day school
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Alan Bird
, chair_label = Chair of Governors
, chair = Ian Seaton
, founder = John Carpenter
, speciali ...
- and "did quite well" on his O levels
The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...
and won a scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholarsh ...
, meaning that his father did not have to pay fees any more.Steve Hillage on Gong, Steinbergers and disappearing guitars , MusicRadar/ref> Hillage recalled that "We found it through Exchange & Mart or ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' - one or the other, I don't know." American art director Bob Cato is credited on the album sleeve for "design and photography."
Promoted with a magazine advertisement featuring the slogan "Get Motivated,"Billboard – Google Books/ref> ''Motivation Radio'' was released as an LP and cassette by
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
in most regions in September 1977, with release in other countries such as Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
following in January 1978. The album entered the UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
on 22 October 1977, where it stayed for 5 weeks, hitting a peak of number 28. This was significantly lower than ''L'', which peaked at number 10. The album was also largely unsuccessful in the United States, although nonetheless, the album fared considerably better in Europe than his previous albums. Upon completing ''Motivation Radio'', Hillage feared that he would not be as respected as before, but "wanted to go down that musical route anyway." In retrospect, he speculated that the Funkadelic influence lead to the relative commercial failure of the album in the United States, but noted that, in being one of Virgin's biggest acts, he was able to dictate his musical terms in some ways. Candy Absortian, writing in '' The Rough Guide to Rock'', said the album was not going to win Hillage "many friends in the new punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
order, and he was more or less the last remaining link with Virgin's hippie past, the label having by now signed the Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
." A music video was produced for "Radio", featuring a radio telescope similar to that on the cover.
"Not Fade Away (Glid Forever)" was released by Virgin Records as a seven-inch single
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separa ...
in the United Kingdom and Germany in 1977, although it did not enter either country's national singles chart. Also in 1977, Virgin Records released the double ''Six-Pack : Six Track'' picture disc
Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...
EP, which was limited to 5,000 copies and contains fifteen minutes of material, including "Not Fade Away" and "Radio". ''Motivation Radio'' has been remastered and re-released on CD by Virgin Records on several occasions; in 1987 with modified artwork, on 4 July 1990 in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
only as the eleventh volume of Virgin Japan's ''British Rock History on CD'' re-issue series, and on 21 March 2007 with remastering by Pamela Byrne at The Audio Archiving Company, London, and the inclusion of three bonus tracks: the "Tonto Version" of "Leylines to Glassdom"–a song Hillage would re-record for his subsequent album ''Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
'', the original "Power Trio" backing track version of "The Salmon Song" and an alternate mix of "The Golden Vibe". The bonus tracks were selected by Hillage as "suitable" and "pertinent" and as fitting in with well with the concept of ''Motivation Radio''.
Critical reception
Despite the relative commercial failure of ''Motivation Radio'', it received enthusiastic reviews from music critics, and, according to music writer Mark Powell, "did much to enhance Steve Hillage's reputation as an innovative musician." A magazine advertisement for the album noted that critics had called it "the best guitarist's album so far this year." ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' were favourable, saying that "Hillage's powerful guitar powers its way through each cut as the synthesizer evokes the hypnotics" and singling out "Radio", "Motivation", "Searching for the Spark" and "Saucer Surfing" as the album's "best cuts." Phil Sutcliffe of ''Sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
'' magazine also wrote a review despite being heavily preoccupied with punk rock at the time.
In later times, the album has been increasingly acclaimed. ''Real Gone Rocks'' were very favourable, saying that, of all Hillage's albums, ''Motivation Radio'' "best represents Hillage as both a great musician and arranger." They said that the album "rarely meanders into self-indulgence, making it an unheralded classic among Hillage's recorded works." Dave Connolly of Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
rated the album four stars out of five, saying "those in tune with being transported through music will want to station themselves near the speakers for ''Motivation Radio''." He commented that "''Motivation Radio'' works as well as it does because it draws listeners to that halfway point (and beyond), steering them with spiritual signposts and rewarding them with rapturous music. It's a remarkably smooth journey, more accessible than ''L'', if equally cosmic. Again, it was an idiomatic cover tune, "Not Fade Away," that became the single; though an odd way to end the record, it wouldn't have made any sense in the middle. The rest of the record is a contiguous collection of music. So tune in and bliss out."
''Connolly Co'' were very favourable and said "meditate, medicate, do whatever it takes, but tune into ''Motivation Radio''. Presented as “a multidimensional window,” it’s a remarkable musical journey that fills the listener with positive energy. I know, that sounds sooo new agey, so let me explain. I don’t listen to this record, I lose myself in it. For forty minutes, my grey little world becomes a technicolor landscape where flying saucers and octave doctors come to life on crackling waves of energy. Still not helping? Okay, then think about Pink Floyd. Remember how '' Dark Side'' and ''Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to:
Film, television, and theater Film
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland
* ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...
'' transported you to another place? Well, ''Motivation Radio'' does the same, only it’s a much friendlier place. The sounds, the melodies, the musicality of it all conspires to make me drop my guard, and before I know it I’m no longer listening to the music, I’m breathing it. Maybe it’s just a harmonic thing, and you’re either tuned into this kind of music (in which case Gong’s ''You'' is probably one of your favorites) or you’re not."
Aftermath and legacy
To coincide with the release of ''Motivation Radio'', a new-line up of Steve Hillage's band featuring Blocker on drums, Curtis Robinson Jr on bass guitar and Chuck Bynum on keyboards and synths toured throughout the UK and Europe in late 1977, ending with a performance atThe Rainbow
''The Rainbow'' is a novel by British author D. H. Lawrence, first published by Methuen & Co. in 1915. It follows three generations of the Brangwen family living in Nottinghamshire, focusing particularly on the individual's struggle to growth ...
in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
on 3 November. The band were then due to tour America, but the tour was abandoned after the album's commercial failure, freeing the band to record again. For the subsequent album ''Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
'' (1978), he recorded the material he had written alongside ''Motivation Radio'' in early 1977, originally intended to be released as ''The Green Album'' alongside ''The Red Album'', before the latter album became ''Motivation Radio''. ''Green'' builds upon the dance and electronic experiments of ''Motivation Radio''.
The record has been credited as a major turning point for Hillage for both its experimentation and dance influence; ''Team Rock'', who labeled ''Motivation Radio'' "Superior" in their "Buyer's Guide" for Hillage, noted that in some respects, the experimental nature of ''Motivation Radio'' presaged the music Hillage would create more than a decade later with his ambient project System 7
System 7, codenamed "Big Bang", and also known as Mac OS 7, is a graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers and is part of the classic Mac OS series of operating systems. It was introduced on May 13, 1991, by Apple Co ...
, and commented that the way in which Hillage used synth sounds on "Light in the Sky" and "Radio" had "opened up illage'shorizons to take in new influences." ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' also credits the album with breaking Hillage's "hippy" image, noting that instead of taking a punk rock or post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
influence to change his sound, he unexpectedly explored funk music:
''Robbie Rocks'' placed the album at number 6 in its list of the "Top 10 Albums of the Year 977
Year 977 ( CMLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* May – Boris II, dethroned emperor (''tsar'') of Bulgaria, and his brother Roman ma ...
" Music critic Charley Walters included the album in his list of the best albums of 1977, compiled for the 1977 edition of the annual Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...
critics poll of the best albums of the year included in ''The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
''.Robert Christgau: Pazz & Jop 1977: Pazz & Joppers Dig Pistols-What Else Is New?/ref> As with all editions of the Pazz & Jop, participating critics assigned a number value, ranging from five to thirty, to each of the albums on their top ten list, with all ten albums totaling one-hundred points, and Walters assigned eight points to ''Motivation Radio''. An official promotional flyer created to promote a concert by experimental rock band
Zag and the Coloured Beads
Zag And The Coloured Beads are an England, English experimental rock band.
Blending elements of psychedelic rock and progressive rock, the band were initially active in the 1980s London free-festival scene and featured several members who went ...
in the 1980s was a pastiche of the ''Motivation Radio'' artwork./ref>
Track listing
Music bySteve Hillage
Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...
; lyrics by Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy
Miquette Giraudy is a French keyboard player and vocalist, best known for her work in Gong, and with her partner Steve Hillage. She and Hillage form the core of the ambient band System 7. She has also worked as an actress, film editor and writer ...
, unless otherwise specified.
Side one
# "Hello Dawn" - 2:48 # "Motivation" - 4:07 # "Light in the Sky" - 4:12 # "Radio" - 6:13Side two
# "Wait One Moment" - 3:25 # "Saucer Surfing" - 4:28 # "Searching for the Spark" - 5:38 # "Octave Doctors" - 3:38 # " Not Fade Away (Glid Forever)" - 4:00 (Norman Petty
Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, radio station owner, and considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll.
Biography
Petty was born in the small town of Clo ...
, Charles Hardin)
Personnel
*Steve Hillage
Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...
– guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
, synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
, vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
* Reggie McBride
Reggie McBride (born September 17, 1954) is an American bass player.
Biography
McBride was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, United States; listening to Motown records, he began to play bass at the age of 8. At the age of 14, he played in ...
– bass
* Malcolm Cecil
Malcolm Cecil (9 January 193728 March 2021) was a British jazz bassist, record producer, engineer and electronic musician. He was a founding member of a leading UK jazz quintet of the late 1950s, the Jazz Couriers,
– synthesizer
* Miquette Giraudy
Miquette Giraudy is a French keyboard player and vocalist, best known for her work in Gong, and with her partner Steve Hillage. She and Hillage form the core of the ambient band System 7. She has also worked as an actress, film editor and writer ...
– synthesizer
* Joe Blocker – drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
* Music composed and arranged by Steve Hillage except for ''Not Fade Away (Glid Forever)'' by Norman Petty and Glen Hardin.
* Recorded : July 1977 at Record Plant, T.O.N.T.O. and Westlake Audio in Los Angeles, CA.
* Produced by Malcolm Cecil
References
{{Authority control Steve Hillage albums 1977 albums Virgin Records albums Albums produced by Malcolm Cecil