"Wavelength" is the title song from the 1978 album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

. Released as a single in 1978, it climbed to number forty two in the US charts, and stayed in the Hot 100 for eleven weeks. According to Howard A. Dewitt, this "was the song which re-established Morrison's hit making abilities".

Recording and composition

"Wavelength" was recorded in spring 1978 at the Shangri-La Studios in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

. The most important contribution to the music was made by

Peter Bardens Peter Bardens (19 June 1945 – 22 January 2002) was an English keyboardist and a founding member of the British progressive rock group Camel. He played keyboards, sang, and wrote songs with Andrew Latimer. During his career, Bardens worked al ...

who played the 1970s synthesizers. In his biography,

Brian Hinton Brian Hinton, MBE (born 21 September 1950) is an English poet and musicologist. In June 2006 he was honoured in H. M. the Queen's Birthday Honours List with an MBE for services to the Arts. Education Born in Southampton, Hinton studied Englis ...

states that it is, "a love song about the mysterious and unspoken communication between a couple" and also refers to the singer's adolescent years when he would listen to the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

and the sounds of his favorite artists such as

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

singing "Come back baby, come back". In the song Morrison refers to his first solo hit single "

Brown Eyed Girl "Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang la ...

", using the lyrics "Won't you play that song again for me, about my lover, my lover in the grass". The

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 ...

reviewer wrote that, "'Wavelength' makes some nods to its era (1978), most notably and obviously via the use of fat 1970s synthesizers—played by Peter Bardens—which play spacy loops that mimic the interference and bubbling feedback one gets when dialing up shortwave radio stations. It is a little bit of cleverness, as Morrison elicits the same feelings on his own recording that he no doubt had discovering his favorite new music."

Live performances

As performed by the Wavelength band on tour, it was a very popular song. Morrison assembled the band to promote his album, ''

Wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tro ...

'' that was released at the same time.

Acclaim

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' said that "Morrison's classic jazz/rock style is particularly effective" on this song. "Wavelength" was rated at No. 253 in

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950) is an American music critic, and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of ''Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone (magazine), ...

's 1989 book ''The Heart of Rock and Soul, The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever''.

Other releases

"Wavelength" was the opening track on the ''

Live at Montreux 1980/1974 ''Live at Montreux 1980/1974'' is the first official DVD by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 16 October 2006. The films consist of two separate performances by Van Morrison at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switz ...

'' DVD released in 2006. It is one of the songs remastered in 2007and included on the compilation album ''

Still on Top - The Greatest Hits A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been use ...

''. It was also performed in 1979, on Morrison's first video ''

Van Morrison in Ireland ''Van Morrison in Ireland'' is the first official video by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1981 of a concert Morrison recorded in Northern Ireland in 1979. It was directed by Michael Radford who later became a noted film ...

'', which was released in 1981.

Personnel

– vocals, acoustic guitar,

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

– synthesizer, piano, organ, *

Bobby Tench Robert Tench (born 21 September 1944) is a British vocalist, guitarist, sideman, songwriter and arranger. Tench is best known for his work with Freddie King and Van Morrison, as well as being a member of The Jeff Beck Group, Humble Pie, Str ...

– electric guitar, backing vocals, *Mickey Feat – bass guitar *

Peter Van Hooke Peter Van Hooke (born 6 April 1950) is an English rock drummer and producer with over 350 credits to his name. He was the drummer for the English band Mike + The Mechanics (from 1984 to 1995) and also drummed for Van Morrison's band, Headstone, ...

– drums *Ginger Blake – backing vocals *Laura Creamer – backing vocals *Linda Dillard – backing vocals

Notes

References

*DeWitt, Howard A. (1983). ''Van Morrison: The Mystic's Music'', Horizon Books, * Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press, * Hinton, Brian (1997). ''Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison'', Sanctuary,

External links

* Allmusic Review: Wavelength song {{DEFAULTSORT:Wavelength (Song) Van Morrison songs 1978 singles Songs written by Van Morrison Music videos directed by Bruce Gowers 1978 songs Songs about radio Song recordings produced by Van Morrison Warner Records singles