The Spendrick Hogsbottom Experience vs. Madonna

My cousin Ryan and I were at a loss for what to record this time around: should we continue to play with powerballad schmaltz? Was the version of "Hella Good" with the bassline nicked from "Billie Jean" even possible given the fact that we basically had one Friday night in which to complete it? What sort of future did the bossanova hold for Spendrick Hogsbottom?

We both had songs that we were interested in recording: at the top of his list was Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", although he was afraid that he liked that song far too much to give it the sort of butchering Sir Spendrick was known for. He also had a guitar synthesizer -- basically a guitar that you hook into a synthesizer, and which translates the notes you play into whatever sound you choose it to -- that he made himself, and which he was anxious to try to use to orchestrate an entire song. Unfortunately, because Ryan and his family were going to Indiana this weekend, his wife had returned the "Hits of the 80s" songbook that he had borrowed from the library, and he didn't trust himself to do it justice without the music. So then I suggested a song that I had thought Sir Spendrick should record for a long time: Madonna's "Borderline". Ryan was initially reluctant, but I managed to get his wife on my side, so he grudgingly accepted the choice, and he started laying down the track.

He brought the guitar synth up to his living room, because the dryer was still running in the basement studio, and we ended up recording everything in the living room. Because he had no speaker hooked up to the recorder, I had no idea what the track sounded like until he was almost done; I just heard something that sounded very "MTV Unplugged" as he played the guitar. I had no idea that what was actually being recorded sounded much more like a toy piano. Although the somewhat chaotic nature of the arrangement somehow suits the lyrics, i.e., well, the singer is insisting he's going crazy!

The lyrics are double-tracked. I think this is actually my strongest singing yet, partly because I am very familiar with the song, and also, as my mother pointed out, it requires a very limited range.

Anyways, here it is; I hope you like it. My mother says it's her favorite Spendrick Hogsbottom Experience song yet.

The Spendrick Hogsbottom Experience: Borderline.mp3