![]() ![]() You said, in part, “like any good diet, it will be reviled then ultimately loved by all who give it a chance to work its way into their lives.” That sounds a little defensive. The statement that you released with news of this album suggested that you think people might not like this. So I'm really discouraging anybody from actually supporting this.ĭuly noted. What do you mean? You'll owe them more money if “The Diet” is a hit?Ībsolutely. I had to provide a certain amount of remuneration up front, and hope that this thing doesn't take off. Eventually I found out who to talk to and I humbled myself before them trying to at least get some sort of permission to pursue this legitimately. I found out it was originally on Coral Records. The whole routine came from a really obscure website that I use to mine for old 78 records. ![]() I discovered quite a bit about the nature of sampling in that world, and it was a bit of an adventure. I’m assuming you had to get permission from Buddy Hackett estate?Ībsolutely. And, of course there's the sound of his voice, which is pretty unique, almost like Tony Soprano’s. I thought there might be a connection there of some kind. I thought, ‘Well, pills and dance music.’ Diet pills in particular are a reference to whatever stimulants are going down on the floor these days. In Buddy Hackett's case, there's a routine where he's talking about diet pills and losing weight. It’s by Boris Badenough and it really does rip it up on the dance floor. I've got one Chicago house record that samples Rocky and Bullwinkle, but that’s about it. Is there a way to do that with a sense of dignity? And not be too cheap about it, either? One of the things that I've noticed about a lot of dance music in general is that there really wasn't a lot of humor going on there. And take what I do, which is work with ideas, words and song and put that as sort of a structure. I thought that it would be an interesting idea to try to take the things that are strong that Ryan does as an electronic composer and that Scott does as an electronic performer - which is what they pretty much do outside of their work with Lambchop. I may have an idea, but I don't know where it will take me exactly. This was an opportunity for us to get together and see what we could each bring to the idea of making songs with this type of structure. I wasn’t sure where this was going to take us a concept but the fellow Lambchop guys that became HeCTA, we were all interested in electronic music in one form or another. “The Diet” doesn’t seem to be as much about that. Normally dance music celebrates a certain form of exuberance, this joy at being alive on the dance floor. The idea of conceptually combining comedy and dance in some way seemed to me to be a fun thing. As goofy as it sounded, it did seem like a place to start. ![]() Kurt Wagner: I had become obsessed with this particular routine that Buddy Hackett did, and I’m quite not sure why. Los Angeles Times: Advance press materials describing the track "The Concept" reads: "This song (and the entire project) was inspired by a Buddy Hackett standup routine.” How so? It's followed by a Q&A with Wagner in which he discusses the inspiration behind it for context, pay particular attention to the song, “The Concept,” which samples a stand-up routine by the late comedian Hackett. That kernel, "The Diet," is embedded below. Woe be it unto the man whose tastes are frozen forever, for given time, space, and understanding, such things become reborn and reimagined as we search for a creative kernel of truth.” “It unlocked in my mind a genre of music long dormant in memory yet an influence so prevailing in a variety of current musical genres. “In reading it, I saw parallels between the dance culture of that era and the indie-rock/punk/experimental music culture,” he wrote. SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter > In notes accompanying the release, Wagner cited one particular book, British writer Tim Lawrence’s “Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture 1970–1979,” as particularly inspiring in pushing him further afield. The three worked in the studio to make “The Diet” based on a desire to explore a different set of musical ideas. HeCTA sounds virtually nothing like Lambchop, though both feature Wagner’s oft-droll baritone. 18.Ī project by members of the long-running country outfit Lambchop, HeCTA features the band’s founder, Kurt Wagner, collaborating with fellow Lambchop contributors Ryan Norris (who also makes music as Coupler) and Scott Martin (Hobbledeions). The Times is premiering the work in its entirety below, before its Merge Records release on Sept. That, in essence, is the curious premise behind “The Diet,” the new album by Nashville threesome HeCTA. Mix an old recording of Borscht Belt comedian and actor Buddy Hackett with new electronic dance music - and see what comes of it. The pitch is pretty simple, if somewhat Dada-esque.
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