There was once a music TV program in the UK called "The Chart Show", back when there were only 4 channels (we're talking the late-80's..yes i am that old..). It basically covered the UK music charts, but each week it would dedicate a section of the show to a rotating specialist chart (Dance, Metal & Indie). So every 3 weeks, indie kids country-wide would tune in to see what crazy sights & sounds awaited. I first heard (and saw) tons of stuff this way..The Sugarcubes, Talulah Gosh, Foetus, Big Black...it didn't seem to matter how lo-fi and home-made the video was, it would get at least 5 seconds of screen-time as the chart counted down. Then they would choose one, maybe two videos to show in full.
The Dave Howard Singers appeared one Saturday morning, a stocky short-haired Canadian fella stomping round a lumber mill repetitively chanting this insanely catchy tune about Yon Yonson from Wisconsin, as he nodded his head furiously towards the camera. I wish I had a copy of the video - but Lord Youtube is not being kind to me today..
So just because this takes me back to being a kid when the indie chart really WAS independent musicians and independent labels, selling independent records in independent record shops...
Dave Howard Singers - Yon Yonson
Archived history of The Dave Howard Singers (plus interview)
14 comments:
why, it's f-f-f-funky FRRRESH!
god there was loads of this crap around in the late 80s, wasn't there? hey kids, this is what it was like to listen to "Alternative music" back in the day. actually, i quite like this...
the pain of the Chart Show - as my brother has said, you wait three weeks for the Indie chart to be on and what do you get? Pale Saints and Carter USM!
thanks heaps for posting the mp3 - I've been trying to track down a copy of this tune for years! First saw it on the chart show all those years ago,and the comments brought it all back just like it was yesterday - nice one!
That´s amazing. Is there any chance of getting a peek at the video, if I remember rightly that was really out to lunch.
The very same episode of the Chart Show was a formative experience in my late teens also. Still got the vinyl 12" of this. The video was utterly monged. I recall Dave singing into a carrot, mounted in a mic stand on his wheelchair / keyboard stand combo.
I've been trying to track down this song for years too - after seeing it on the Chart Show! I remember that exact episode... (except I always thought he sang 'And I'm working with Scott and...'). I have bits of it on a home video somewhere in my parent's attic, and I was surprised to learn that Yon Yonson is infact a famous child's nursery rhyme (and featured in Slaughterhouse Five). The guys now have a MySpace page... http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=62398077
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Can't believe that after myself and my best friend trying to track this song down for nearly 20 years I finally got to hear it again! Like you, we first heard it on the Chart Show and it has just stuck in our memories for all these years. Time for it to be re-released so everyone can enjoy the sheer bizarreness of this masterpiece! The wonders of the internet eh! Gonna recommend this site to my friend, she'll be so excited.
Fantastic! I lost my mp3 of this! I had the video and have since lost that as well...otherwise it would be on You-Tube now! Cheers!
Dave Howard Singers have just released Yon Yonson and various mixes of the song, plus all the songs on all four of their EPs on to one CD. It's a Canadian import and all the tracks have been digitally remastered. Everything sounds amazing. One EP was produced by Dave Formula of Magazine and Visage. The Rock On EP is produced by Jean Jacques Burnel of the Stranglers (yes, DHS do a deconstructed rendition of the David Essex classic - it's amazing). I'll try to find the link where you can order the CD online. DHS were light years ahead of their time. Dave mixed elements of Sinatra, The Beastie Boys, Suicide and Heaven 17. He was ahead of his time and major labels were insane not to sign him. There's also talk of the Yon Yonson video going online soon.
Check out Dave Howard's MySpace page and listen to his other songs.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=62398077
DHS have an official website which is about to launch soon. Here's the link - http://www.thedavehowardsingers.com/
thanks for posting this.
i have a single of it somewhere which i've been threatening to play to my kids for a year or two. now they can delight in the mp3 of it, which i will add into their ipod shuffles, rather than just listening to me striding round the house singing it ad nauseum.
cheers,
potta
Can somebody please upload the video to "Rock On" by the DHS onto youtube? It was hilarious!
DHS001 CD "What your girlfriend threw out, or your friend never returned" featuring Yon Yonson, Rock On and Road Warrior. All of the....hits?
Available at www.thedhs.com/spend
Oh, and I'll try to get the vid for Rock On up on YouTube as soon as I can.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwCHi3KbsMQ
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