Hailing from northwestern D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, Nick Smith, Billy Sumler, and Ted “Skeet” Carpenter matriculated in a unique enclave of the capitol, an overlap of urban poor and international elite. Born prematurely, Who’s Gonna Save The World incubated for decades in producer Robert Hosea Williams’ garage, waiting for the world to save it. Perhaps most importantly, they had already tracked an album’s worth of material, the would-be creative supernova that should have been their eponymous debut seven years prior. The group had already weathered innumerable personnel changes, transitioned from doo-wop trio to large ensemble, discovered Islam, suffered multiple management upheavals, and narrowly dodged death. But Father's Children, though eponymous, was hardly the beginning if anything, it was the beginning of the end. Often, they serve as a sort of shorthand for fresh, optimistic young artists taking the world on their own terms, and delivering their cumulative innovations at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute. Self-titled albums are generally reserved for a group’s first circular foray into the marketplace. They had even gone so far as to call their album’s first and only single “Hollywood Dreaming.” But with the release of their eponymous debut, the dreams of Father's Children-Hollywood or otherwise-were over. Produced by the Crusaders Wayne Henderson, Father's Children-a self-titled, ten-song affair-culled together the work of a band already a solid decade into their Washington, D.C., escape plan. It had been a down spring for Mercury Records, with the Osmonds on their way out, the Gap Band on their way up, and Roadwarrior, Alfie Davidson, Hamilton Bohannon, and Father’s Children caught in the trough between two crests. In April of 1979, the lone long-playing release by Father’s Children hit retail and radio with a dull thud. South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands (USD $). Such is Carpenter and his band’s skill they even tackle the great Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack to perhaps his finest film, The Thing, with its terrifying sense of claustrophobia mirrored by the skin-crawlingly tense images above. There’s laughs too when Carpenter and their band simultaneously don sunglasses for They Live’s succession of consumerist slogans and on-the-money mid-80s cheese, accompanied by some amusingly endearing dad-dancing from the horror master himself.īy the time Halloween’s immortal arpeggios ring out underlined by some truly bombastic drumming, Carpenter has confirmed that he is both a master of audio and visual. While the enthusiasm for the pieces from Carpenter’s recent Lost Themes collection is slightly muted when compared to his better known works, they're in no way substandard, with a similar mood of fear and tension purveying each soundscape. The likes of Assault on Precinct 13 and Big Trouble in Little China mix perfectly with the action as the director’s backing band – including his son and godson – produce a pummelling sound at least the equal of modern masters of the genre like Mogwai and Mugstar. Indeed, the prospect of seeing the 68-year-old film director in the flesh has brought any number of be-costumed devotees out to what turns into a glorious black mass in celebration of both the man’s films and their eerily electronic self-penned soundtracks. Right from the off there’s the distinct feel of an event about tonight’s proceedings and grins break out as a beaming Carpenter launches into the theme from Escape From New York, with fans cheering as the big screen shows Kurt Russell doing his thing accompanied by stabbing synths and pulverising drums.Ĭarpenter’s own enthusiasm is infectious and he's clearly revelling in the chance to relive the darkly obscure corners from his oeuvre.
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