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Santa Claus Meets The Law (2008 re-mix)
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The 1983 Lawrence Wise And The Cosmic Funk Orchestra precursor to EVIL CLAUZ!
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An Experimental Project (Lawrence Wise And The Cosmic Funk Orchestra), and a Loose Funky Jammer (OSMOSIS). 2 separate sides, the very same dude.
Hello. Lawrence Wise And The Cosmic Funk Orchestra/OSMOSIS is actually a One-Man Home Recording Project that has been my 'stress relief' (ha ha!), since about MAY, 1981. I'm from that first wave of DIY Cassette-Tapers ('analog'--and PROUD OF IT!). Hell, the majority of my material between '81 and '99 was done on the earliest large-model Casio Synthesizers (the MT-68, MT-400-V and MT-200), with a Yamaha thrown into the mix (on occasion). Recently, I've started posting my material on the web (after transfering it from cassette-tape to digital disc, and then to MP3---a very hard process, considering the AGE of some of the tapes). It was in these past 2 1/2 years on the web that I discovered that, despite the ridicule you're going to get, there IS an Audience for your music--no matter how different it is. I've been telling some of my friends and peers for years to NEVER get rid of ANY of their recordings, no matter how 'crappy' you were (of think you were), because having a 'Back Catalog' is a damn good thing. You MAY have been sitting on some GEMS, and not even know it. And, when I discovered that a 21-year-old jam I posted on MySpace recently ROCKED a lot of folks as far away as SCOTLAND and AFRICA (!), I felt pumped. It means that this was a 'dream' that came thru in the end.
Song Info
Charts
#181 in subgenre Peak #2
Charts
Peak #14
Author
Lawrence Wise
Rights
1983, 2008
Uploaded
December 11, 2008
Track Files
MP3
MP3 6.3 MB 128 kbps 6:50
Story behind the song
It was NOVEMBER 1983 when I wrote and recorded this track, and it's one of the few surviving 'divided-track Stereo Masters' from that era (the rest--from between '82 and mid-'84--are flat mono). "SANTA CLAUS MEETS THE LAW" is also a product of it's time: I mention 'RICHARD NIXON' and also 'GUN CONTROL'--both of which Washington DC doesn't have anymore. In the original, full-length version, I also have some 'vocal characterizations' of myself as "Rudolph The Red-Nose Reindeer-turned-radio DJ", "Santa Claus" himself, and a "Bratty Kid" asking Santa for an ATARI 'Pole Position' video game (that is the original Racing Sim game, to all you BORN AFTER 1983's out there!!!). Only part of that characterization section I left on this re-mix is my "Santa" voice at the end of the song. Also missing (on purpose) from this re-mix/edit is the original beginning (a messed up "Jingle Bells" harpsichord part), as well as the original opening chorus--which I mixed-over with the much better, second chorus. Finally, I shortened the song down by over 2 1/2 minutes (still LONG, but not as the true version--which I still have on cassette). I tightened the length of some of the groove-breaks, and took out a whole section to compress it down to it's present (nearly)7-minute length. (You see, all of this was during the Post-Disco age--the days of the 12-inch 'Extended Version' single, so an--originally--8:47 track like the full version of "Santa Claus Meets The Law" would've been right at home. Not now, of course, but in '83, no problem.) Last, but not least, you'll notice an 'album credit' for "ELECTRIC MAN". That was a 1983 cassette album I made (a couple of months after "THE TOKYO CONNECTION") which featured a cassette-single called "FINE LINE"--that's gonna be posted soon. "SANTA CLAUS MEETS THE LAW" wasn't a part of the original cassette-album. I added it to a CD master of the "ELECTRIC MAN" in 2001--from which I edited this version. Compared to the proper album, this early track has all the trappings of what would become the OSMOSIS sound/style. (The proper ELECTRIC MAN album, which will soon be posted, is all psychedelic Lawrence Wise And The Cosmic Funk Orchestra---a completely different animal.) I hope you enjoy this (now 25-year-old) Proto-OSMOSIS thang. Plus, note that the "Santa with a Magnum/Ho-Ho-Ho Give Me Your Dough!" angle originated HERE, on THIS song (meaning "EVIL CLAUZ!" had a 'history' to it). -Lawrence Wise (a.k.a. OSMOSIS) Friday, December 12, 2008 (1:45 am)
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