French TV - The Spanish Caper 2 x CDs

SKU Rune 544/545
French TV's latest CD, The Spanish Caper, is the 16th in their long history and their 2nd for Cuneiform.

Disc One is new songs recorded in Spain featuring charter member bassist/composer Mike Sary, guitarist Kasumi Yoneda (also from the Japanese band TEE), long-time drummer Jeff Gard, plus members of the French band Mentat Routage (who also make up French TV's line-up when touring Europe).

The second disc is a collection of somewhat-obscure rock covers from the late 60s-early 70s. Songs featured include deep tracks from Iron Butterfly, Kinks, Mountain, Spirit, Procol Harum, Traffic, Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, James Gang and more! The line-up on this includes Sary, Yoneda, Gard, plus keyboardist Patrick Strawser (best known for his work in the 90's band Volare).

Blending elements of progressive rock, fusion, cartoon music, and Rock-in-Opposition, the music of French TV can be simultaneously hilarious and highly challenging, making it one of the most original American prog rock outfits and also one of the longest lived, having created 16 albums as well as having toured Europe and the US, along with many major festivals since their formation in 1983.

“Now that I'm well into “bucket list territory” age-wise, this new French TV album knocks a couple items off that collection of chores.

CD1: Throughout the 70s as a starry-eyed bass acolyte I would pour over lp liner notes and try to picture what it was like to hole up in some remote farmhouse in the country and crank out a masterpiece like my heroes. 50 years later, my cohorts and I finally took the plunge and ensconced ourselves in a small village in beautiful Northern Spain for two weeks in July 2024. In that not-so-distant future when I'm in a hospital bed surrounded by overworked nurses and machines that go PING! I'm certain I'll be dreaming about that music-and-merriment-filled half-month as they fluff my pillow.

CD2: Yet more nostalgia: also been wanting to record a covers record for quite some time and devised the following criteria:

1) deep cut rock music from my sweet spot, the aforementioned late 60s-early 70s,
2) bands/musicians who haven't been active (or breathing) for a few decades, and
3) tunes with instrumental sections that could be argued as to be “progressive” in nature, in most cases songs that were a little outside the more well-known pop tunes those artists were known for.

I look at these recordings as performing a public service, as the notion that the cultural evaporation of these gems from me younger days is an inevitability I find disturbing, and hopefully this delays it slightly.

My suggestion for an optimal listening experience would be listening to this around 10:30 at night on a transistor radio (preferably with the album introduced by a DJ named Doctor Danger) while in bed on a school night.” – Mike Sary


  • LabelCuneiform
  • UPC045775054421
Your Price $21.00
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