Buzz Buzz Buzz

I'm switching to Tuesdays

Buzz Buzz Buzz

I’ve read in a couple places in the past week that a posthumous Lou Reed demo album is in the offing. This is exciting and good.

The fact that I read about it in a few places means the marketing machinery is up and running for this release. (I am now contributing to this marketing and hoping in a certain way to benefit from it as well—read on.)

I excitedly tracked the release down and listened to the one teaser track that is available, “I’m Waiting for the Man (May 1965 Demo)” which Reed duets with John Cale—and it is lovely. I encourage you to do the same.

As I looked down the track listing on Apple Music, I saw there was a song called “Buzz Buzz Buzz (May 1965 Demo)” on this posthumous record, which will be released on August 26, 2022. (See below.)

A chill ran down my spine. I grabbed my phone and opened the Voice Memos app.

You see, I also have a song called “Buzz Buzz Buzz.” Granted, mine is called “Buzz Buzz Buzz 5 am improv” in the Voice Memos app.

I thought to myself, “What if Lou’s version comes out and mine is somehow inadvertently derivative?” This would be bad.

Also, it seems like it takes me about 4 to 10 years to bring a demo to fruition these days.

It became clear, I need to get this song out fast! Definitely before the Lou Reed version comes out.

That way, if they are similar, (which they likely won’t be) I’ll be seen as channeling a ghost rather than imitating my hero.

My “Buzz Buzz Buzz” song was recorded at 5:30 am on January 19, 2022. I woke up, still in my pajamas, and recorded three song ideas on my phone.

“Buzz Buzz Buzz” I made up as I played it, kind of auditioning parts as I went. (That’s why it’s almost 5 minutes long.)

The only thing I had to go on for lyrics was a picture my daughter had brought home from 2rd grade science class. She had drawn a bee and wrote underneath it “How do they do all that work? I think the babies are the trick.” I put a Capo on the 4th fret with drop D and there you have it. You can listen here:

When I told her that she had inspired this lyric, she was PISSED! She’s still pissed. (“I hate that part!” she just said when I mentioned it.) She also told me I need to fix the header on my Bandcamp page. (“The dots are uneven!!”)

Anywho, I am going to change gears with this newsletter and start putting it out on Tuesdays, ideally adding a new track each week to the Bandcamp album series “From the Mixed Up Files of Mr. Matthew T. Schindler.”

I’ve got at least 200 songs sitting on phones, hard drives, cassettes and the like, and I don’t want them to end up on a posthumous release. Dig it, hepcats?

I remain your humble servant, OX&C,

Faux Jean