The Aeon Wanderers

It’s 1986 and this Andy Partridge-penned number, inspired by a series of children’s books of the same name which he considered exploitative, appeared as the B-side of the band’s single, “Grass”. He wasn’t completely happy with the lyrics, and didn’t include it on the album “Skylarking”, however when college radio in the USA picked up the B-side (with perhaps predictably controversial consequences over there) it was rapidly added to the album’s pressings.

Nearly 40 years on, it’s great to see that all the arguing, fighting and forcing of ideals upon others is now a weird anecdote of history, right?

Our cover was started a year or two ago – we finally got to the vocals earlier in the summer; enjoy (or take offence at) our take on this rant from XTC!

A song about how things change and nothing’s quite how it was before – and no matter how we want to turn back time, and return to the normality we once knew, more often than not we have to make the most of where we are now. It’s been a mad few months for us, which have had us wishing we could find our way back to the ordinary world! Started in October last year (which might give some indication of how mad it’s been), here’s our take on Duran Duran’s 1992 comeback hit.

There was a meme going around last week that pointed out how the maximum length of totality for yesterday’s North American total solar eclipse was roughly the same length as the Radio Edit of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” … and that “you know what to do!” So we did!

However, the “Radio Edit” is only 4 minutes-odd long, and the full song tops out at over 7 minutes. So naturally, we had to go for the full audio experience with our hastily crafted cover of the 1983 smash, written by Jim Steinman, and originally sung by Bonnie Tyler. We also made the shorter mix for those who don’t have the time for all those other verses! 😉

In 2007, a new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary omitted forty words, all names of common plants and animals, that had apparently fallen so far out of use by children that they no longer warranted inclusion. The “lost” words included acorn, fern, heron, kingfisher, newt, otter, wren, and willow. New words were included in their place: blog, broadband, bullet-point, cut-and-paste, and voicemail.

This inspired author Robert MacFarlane and Illustrator Jackie Morris to create the book “The Lost Words,” a book of “spells” intended to restore these words to our collective vocabulary by restoring their names and forms to our collective consciousness. That book, in turn, inspired a collective of musicians to create the album “Spell Songs,” all featuring the lost words.

This song, “The Lost Words Blessing,” takes its form from traditional Scottish Gaelic folk songs, in particular a type of Scottish incantation called Carmina Gadelica, and it struck us as the perfect benediction for the new year. Each year incurs loss, forgetting, leaving or being left behind. So here’s a song of restoration, of calling back to you what has been lost, of allowing yourself to remember that outside the gray box, there is simple magic that is always available to you, as a creature who is both in this world, and of it.

Here’s to a peaceful new year.

Those who saw our cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer” will recall Andrea’s star turn as Paul Simon at the end – well we’ve scooted forward a decade and a half or so for her to reprise the role in this cover of “You Can Call Me Al” from his solo album Graceland. And if you’ve seen the original video for this song, you can probably predict what’s coming visually. If you have not, then … this will be confusing, and references to Chevy Chase will be lost on you. Anyway, come along and be our long-lost pals as we attempt our living-room version of this 1986 classic.

(Stick around for the bloopers!)

Hallowe’en nearly-frights in this cover of They Might Be Giant’s short and scary “Aaa”. Who is that hiding underneath the blanket? What does that button do?

When Owen first learned this song, back in around 1986, he would play it loudly (and badly) on pianos in his school’s music room at lunchtimes, much to the chagrin of the Head of Music, who would loudly exclaim, “Don’t bash pianos!” Owen did not learn his lesson, and continued to bash pianos. Perhaps he should have heeded that sage advice from 40 years ago, as repeated bashing of his own piano in the making of this video left him with a sprained index finger. 🙂 Andrea was thankfully uninjured, being sufficiently far away across the Atlantic to avoid any piano-bash ricochet.

Which is a long and cautionary tale by way of introduction to this Justin Hayward classic from The Moody Blues, given the Aeon Wanderers twist. This is our first duo cover of the Moodies, but Owen may have done a handful more solo…

Also look out for growing vines – we’re quite pleased with them. 😉

Our very close comrades, The Disclaimers, perform That Song From Scotland That Everyone Knows for Theme Music’s “Mispeldt Words” theme (yes, it has been a while!) – they invite you to sing along in your best brogue!

Disclaimer: no accents were permanently harmed during the making of this song.

It seemed like a no-brainer, when we were contemplating famous duets, to try to tackle a cover of “Easy Lover,” as originally performed by noted Englishman Phil Collins, with soulful sidekick Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire.

Less obvious was what to do about a video.We watched the original video many times. It has everything: helicopter flight! Costume changes! Dancing! Goofing around in a studio! And an elaborate professional film set with lights, cameras, and action.

WE, on the other hand, have laptops, green screens, iPhones, Sharpies, USB interfaces, Hoovers, unflappable determination… and, apparently, quite a long time to put together our best interpretation of this classic 80s video about making a video about making a video

Edit (18th November 2023):

For the first time ever, we were initially unable to upload to YouTube because their algorithm thought our cover was the “Extended Dance Remix” of the original, and blocked it worldwide! But on trying again later in the year, everything seemed ok! Must have been an awesome dance remix. 😉