The mid-to-late 80s was an interesting time in popular music in that the children of the “classic rock” generation were just starting to come into their own. Ziggy Marley and Julian Lennon come prominently to mind, both having enjoyed hits with “Tomorrow People” and “Valotte,” respectively.
In 1985 my college roommate was a music writer for the school newspaper, and as a consequence of his work covering the contemporary music scene, I and a percussion student from the university were invited to tag along on a recording session with a musical duo just in case they needed the services of a bass guitarist (which, ultimately, they did not) and a drummer (which they did, on one track).
The two principal artists were Alex Lasarenko, a classically-trained keyboardist who did a lot of the compositional and arrangement work, and Chris, the vocalist, lyricist & guitarist. Chris, as it turned out, was Chris Otcasek — son of Ric, main songwriter for The Cars — who was attending art school nearby at that time. The name of this musical duo was Glamour Camp.
I got to watch Alex and Chris work on several tracks that one could describe favorably as “dance synth pop,” which was big at the time on the college music scene. This was my first time getting to witness how the new digital synthesizers were being “programmed” and “sequenced” – terms that had not previously been applied to popular music.
“Number 3” is one of the songs Alex and Chris worked on that day:
The opening vocals, as I later learned from Alex, are a native Chinese speaker – as instructed – speaking random Chinese words, phrases, and idioms.
A couple years later, when I was just beginning my career as an elementary schoolteacher, I went down to the local record store after work one day and received a little bit of a jolt when I discovered that Glamour Camp had gotten signed to a major label (Capitol/EMI).
“She Did It” 45
However, to my disappointment their debut album used none of the material from the demo tape that I had heard, nor came close to capturing the dance-synth-pop vibe that struck me as the essence of their initial sound. Maybe their sound had, indeed, changed by that point, but my sense was that Capitol decided to emphasize Chris (and his connection to rock royalty) at the expense of the original musical partnership. Keyboards, for instance, which had been such a big part of the group’s sound, seemed much more buried in the mix on their Capitol debut. At least, that was my youthful, reactionary view at the time: anger at the major label for their heavy-handedness and contemptible need to alter the sound of every artist in their employ simply because they could.
Capitol did shell out some dough for a video though:
“She Did It“
Glamour Camp (1989)
Capitol’s budget also allowed for top session talent, judging by the musician credits on the duo’s 1988 self-titled album:
LP Musician & Production Credits
Christopher Otcasek – Vocals, Guitar & Keyboards
Alexander Lasarenko – Keyboards & Backing Vocals
Andy Newmark – Drums & Percussion
Will Lee – Bass
Mark Egan – Fretless Bass
Eddie Martinez – Guitar
Sid McGinnis – Guitar
Frank Simms – Backing Vocals
Ian Lloyd – Backing Vocals
Jim Nicholson – Percussion
Jimmy Bralower – Percussion
Jimmy Maelen – Percussion
Producer – Jonathan Elias
EMI Japan would make the decision to issue a split 45 in which up-and-coming modern rockers, Glamour Camp, would be paired – incredibly – with singer/songwriter legend, Carole King!
Split 45
(1988)
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LINK to Modern Rock on Zero to 180
LINK to Carole King’s “Battle of the Spaceship Races“
