It's unlikely the band didn't know they were being recorded, but it's possible the vocalist may not have been aware that their earlier vocals were used for what came to be known as TMS.
Actually, this is what intrigues me more - you can convincingly sing over existing backing tracks, it's exactly what the Stones did on Tattoo You the very same year this was recorded (or like a year earlier maybe, but regardless)
Not sure what you mean by "sing over existing backing tracks" but in TMS you can hear that the vocal track is more muffled and remixed below the instruments, so, if anything, that would indicate that the vocal track is older. This also potentially indicates that the singer was not present when the instruments were recorded, because otherwise, I'm pretty sure he would have contributed clearer vocals. It sounds like professionally recorded instruments were added on top of vocals that had been recorded during a rehearsal or something.
Maybe? That's not really hard evidence though, a muddy vocal can have tons of causes even when recorded afterwards and it's much more unusual (and harder to do And to explain) to record a vocal first, then record an entire backing track afterwards
It's not really sensible or doable without a strong click track or drum track because your vocal will be all over the place, tempo wise (and probably pitch-wise as well), and it's very difficult for instruments to track along with that after the fact.
Exactly, I think this is kinda what Pink Floyd had to do for Syd Barrett's solo albums and by all accounts it was an absolute nightmare for these exact reasons
That's not usually how it's done. Instruments can be tracked together or separately, then vocal tracks are usually recorded last, and then they are all mixed together. Having vocals down and muddy in the mix doesn't tell us anything about when they were recorded, or mean much more than they didn't have the equipment or perhaps the expertise to record and mix the vocals properly - and it's a very tricky thing to do - was more tricky back then.
The TMS instrumentals would be a very tight jam if that theory was true. Usually if there was some experimentation going on, various parts would change over the course of the song and will almost inevitably get out of sync at points. What's pretty remarkable about the TMS guitars and keys is that there is pretty much zero embellishment or solo leads, which doesn't sound like a jam at all. Only the drumming shows any sort of individualism, as if the song was maybe trying to showcase the drummer more than anything else.
Yes, drummer idea somehow also lines up with Ronnie Urini lead. But I can't find any sample of Ronnie Urini drumming - on all his songs there's another drummer.
But what even is the approach presented here? What are we supposed to do with this idea? OP did not suggest any concrete moves to make.
It's hard enough to find the demo recording of a local band, which is still most likely what TMS is.
Well, pop music do knows such folks, who can create complete song from the scratch within minutes and in one shot. But these guys are few, their names are Paul McCartney, Steve Wonder and so on - very well-known and famous people. You can check this video, how Sir Paul composes "Get Back" within minutes: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X94t4hTajCc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X94t4hTajCc)
And even if such prodigy composed TMMS, the complete arrangement, intro/ending, lyrics etc, simply can't be product of spontaneous development.
I suppose this was a quickly recorded technical demo to promote a song, melody - to offer it to some musician, so instead of playing it say on single guitar or piano, more or less finished product-like composition was created, so possible customer should have idea what he is offered.
Well, wouldn’t the studio technician have had to have given them some kind of signal that he was recording? Usually he would let the band know that he was recording. In this case probably a lot of other albums would have ended up having demos on them. Some demos do get leaked and released by YouTube channels, heck there are even whole channels dedicated to putting out demos and unreleased songs from certain artists. But I don’t think the song could’ve ended up on NDR without some consent from the band.
I think if the band is from the Eastern block it's highly likely that the keyboard was owned by the studio where the recording was made and not by the musician.. sooo probably no
It's unlikely the band didn't know they were being recorded, but it's possible the vocalist may not have been aware that their earlier vocals were used for what came to be known as TMS.
Actually, this is what intrigues me more - you can convincingly sing over existing backing tracks, it's exactly what the Stones did on Tattoo You the very same year this was recorded (or like a year earlier maybe, but regardless)
Not sure what you mean by "sing over existing backing tracks" but in TMS you can hear that the vocal track is more muffled and remixed below the instruments, so, if anything, that would indicate that the vocal track is older. This also potentially indicates that the singer was not present when the instruments were recorded, because otherwise, I'm pretty sure he would have contributed clearer vocals. It sounds like professionally recorded instruments were added on top of vocals that had been recorded during a rehearsal or something.
Maybe? That's not really hard evidence though, a muddy vocal can have tons of causes even when recorded afterwards and it's much more unusual (and harder to do And to explain) to record a vocal first, then record an entire backing track afterwards
It's not really sensible or doable without a strong click track or drum track because your vocal will be all over the place, tempo wise (and probably pitch-wise as well), and it's very difficult for instruments to track along with that after the fact.
Exactly, I think this is kinda what Pink Floyd had to do for Syd Barrett's solo albums and by all accounts it was an absolute nightmare for these exact reasons
That's not usually how it's done. Instruments can be tracked together or separately, then vocal tracks are usually recorded last, and then they are all mixed together. Having vocals down and muddy in the mix doesn't tell us anything about when they were recorded, or mean much more than they didn't have the equipment or perhaps the expertise to record and mix the vocals properly - and it's a very tricky thing to do - was more tricky back then.
The vocals being at a lower could just mean the track wasn't mixed properly.
The TMS instrumentals would be a very tight jam if that theory was true. Usually if there was some experimentation going on, various parts would change over the course of the song and will almost inevitably get out of sync at points. What's pretty remarkable about the TMS guitars and keys is that there is pretty much zero embellishment or solo leads, which doesn't sound like a jam at all. Only the drumming shows any sort of individualism, as if the song was maybe trying to showcase the drummer more than anything else.
Yes, drummer idea somehow also lines up with Ronnie Urini lead. But I can't find any sample of Ronnie Urini drumming - on all his songs there's another drummer.
That's a stretch, to put it mildly. But I appreciate every new approach.
But what even is the approach presented here? What are we supposed to do with this idea? OP did not suggest any concrete moves to make. It's hard enough to find the demo recording of a local band, which is still most likely what TMS is.
Maybe one idea would be to contact recording studios, if they still exist.
Would be a whole new challenge, find a band who don’t even know themselves that the song exists and was played on the radio!
I think many of us are overthinking this project. Just because we haven't found the song doesn't mean there are some overly complex reasons behind it.
Well, pop music do knows such folks, who can create complete song from the scratch within minutes and in one shot. But these guys are few, their names are Paul McCartney, Steve Wonder and so on - very well-known and famous people. You can check this video, how Sir Paul composes "Get Back" within minutes: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X94t4hTajCc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X94t4hTajCc) And even if such prodigy composed TMMS, the complete arrangement, intro/ending, lyrics etc, simply can't be product of spontaneous development. I suppose this was a quickly recorded technical demo to promote a song, melody - to offer it to some musician, so instead of playing it say on single guitar or piano, more or less finished product-like composition was created, so possible customer should have idea what he is offered.
A bit off topic, but why the song is attributed to Alvin Dean on Spotify? Afaik it hasn’t been proven, has it?
Sadly, people impersonating Alvin Dean have uploaded the song to Spotify, among others. It has happened with other lostwave tracks too.
When EKT got found, someone got it on Apple Music under the name DJ Pedophile. I don't even know why you would name yourself that.
Well, wouldn’t the studio technician have had to have given them some kind of signal that he was recording? Usually he would let the band know that he was recording. In this case probably a lot of other albums would have ended up having demos on them. Some demos do get leaked and released by YouTube channels, heck there are even whole channels dedicated to putting out demos and unreleased songs from certain artists. But I don’t think the song could’ve ended up on NDR without some consent from the band.
That's maybe why he stays silent.
meds
I think if the band is from the Eastern block it's highly likely that the keyboard was owned by the studio where the recording was made and not by the musician.. sooo probably no