Numa
Records: The Formative Years
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THE SECRETS OF S E V E N
D E A D L Y S
I N S THIS MONTH, IN
THE CONFESSIONAL: "SEVEN SINS" |
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Welcome back.
After taking an unexpected hiatus from the Numa Records website, I've returned
at last with the next installment in our review series of Hohokam's
unpublished album, Seven Deadly Sins. Last time we
took the covers off of "To Sleep" in an interview with Tony Alum
that revealed for the first time the song's disturbing genesis and provided a
rare song sample of the brilliant remix. If you missed it or would like to read it again, it may
still be accessed by clicking the "ARCHIVE" button
next to the song title further down this page. With
this update, we are exactly seven songs into discussing the ten-track Seven
Deadly Sins album. It seems only fitting then that the commentary this time
focus on the song that's all about the sevens: "Seven
Sins,"
which, in its re-recording, featured lead vocals by Skip and backing vocals
by Keeley Coburn Smith and Melanie Redmond. Actually, "Seven Sins" would have been the
opening song on the album. As
such, one might have expected it to be an overture to the nine remaining
tracks, setting a tempo, style and theme that would carry over into other
songs like "Don't You Know," "Broken Days," "To
Sleep" and "Envy Your Innocence." However, thanks to the handiwork of first-time
producer Ade Orange, the song's unusual style makes it stand alone as a
showcase of the group's musical potential. "Seven
Sins" not only marked the beginning of Hohokam's first album, it
signaled the beginning of the end for the band's relationship with Numa. As is widely known, Tony Alum met Ade
Orange in a music store and introduced him to Gary Numan. However, despite the fact that Ade's
talent was immediately recognizable to all, his involvement in Hohokam
created enough ill feeling in the Numan camp that the schism between the
Webbs and Hohokam quickly widened.
With the relative financial failure of the Gary Numan produced
"Don't You Know?" single (b/w "Envy Your Innocence")
recently behind them, Hohokam's request to permit Ade Orange a role in the
production of the album was taken as an affront to Gary's management and
leadership. Hohokam members
certainly understood the reaction but could not disabuse Gary of the notion
that they meant to undermine him.
Alum explains that wanting Ade Orange to produce more of the album
"wasn't a reflection of Gary's production capabilities, which are
obviously excellent. More a need
for us to establish a musical identity of our own. ["Seven Sins"] was the song we chose to let Ade
loose on as we knew he'd take it in a very different direction. It was already outside of our normal
sphere of influence and we knew Ade would 'raise the bar' even
more." The result
professionally was fraught with problems, but the effect musically was quite
promising in its creative direction and its marketable sound. The composition of "Seven
Sins" clearly stood apart from other Hohokam songs from its very
inception. Alum admits that for
the most part he had been taking his songwriting inspiration from other
contemporaneous synth bands by using simplistic octave bass-lines. By contrast, "Seven Sins"
was born out of a greater confidence in his own songwriting abilities and a
wider range of musical influences. Rhythmically complex and musically very
textured, "Seven Sins" is an experienced composition compared to
earlier works released on the singles--"just me spreading my wings
musically," says Alum--and in consequence it was felt that the different
style of production Ade Orange could offer would capitalize on the difference
of the songwriting. The unexpected downside to this, however, was that
performing the song live was egregiously tricky, forcing the group to rely
significantly on backing tapes instead of hiring additional musicians that would have done the song greater justice. Even now, Alum regrets never having
heard the song properly performed with a brass section and bass player. Another
minor way in which the song seems somewhat out of joint with the album is its
almost eponymous title. The word "Deadly" was left
out of the title to make it "snappier" and distinct from the album
title while still maintaining a link.
Additionally, the abbreviation helped to avoid the misperception that
"Seven Sins" was an overture to the rest of the album's lyrics
(even though, musically, it did aim somewhat to be a précis of the music to
come). Alum explains, "I
just thought the album covered a fair amount of human emotions and failings
and most of those fall under the SDS concept. The actual song 'Seven Sins'
doesn't specifically relate to that idea though." Because the song sounded so distinct
from other tracks and because it stood apart lyrically (and, to some degree,
even thematically), the group strategically made it the first track on the
album, which demonstrated forthrightly how much more musical ground Hohokam
could cover beyond people's expectations. The
lyrics of "Seven Sins" were co-written by Tony Alum and Steve
Devier in the same collaborative process evinced in other songs like "Broken
Days." Nonetheless, however much "Seven
Sins" appears at first to reference the theme of deadly sins pervading
the rest of the album, this particular song in fact has nothing to do with
scriptural censure. The irony of
this is no accident. Quite often the band
intentionally chose song titles that were not quoted from the lyrics, in
hopes that listeners would prevail more upon their own interpretive skills
and ponder the subject matter more thoughtfully. In fact, the actual inspiration for the song's lyrics was
drawn from a news headline from early 1986, an event that moved Alum deeply
in the scope and import of its tragedy.
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Those seven crewmembers became the
theme of Alum and Devier's lyrics:
seven examples of a nation's failure, seven ciphers of neglect, seven
sins of pride and omission. Alum
created the narrative premise of the song from the point of view of someone who, after experiencing a premonition of the Challenger disaster, cannot
convince anyone to take his premonition seriously. The premonition manifests in a frightening dream as
"a thousand cries" that will become "hurt and sorrow" on
the morrow. As the Challenger
"slowly fades away and disappears into your mind," so too does the
hope that millions of us once invested in the ideal of space exploration,
effectively making the song as much about the death of a dream as it is about
the tragic death of seven people.
"Seven Sins" catechizes its listeners about the tragic irony awaiting those who neither heed
the prophets nor listen to reason. One might proffer that basing an album's opening track upon
portents of disaster is itself a portent of disaster overlooked--no doubt an
irony in which critics would have reveled had the album ever seen a proper
release. And, sadly, "Seven
Sins" did spell the end of the dream for Hohokam. Though the ambition of the song's
composition and the freshness of Ade Orange's production foretold of the
group's greatness to come, the resulting rift between Hohokam and Gary Numan
never quite healed. Ade Orange
eventually shifted his loyalties over to Gary and has since become an
important fixture in the Gary Numan band, but soon after he produced
"Seven Sins," Hohokam and Numa parted company forever.
Enjoy
an audio sample of "Seven Sins" below, presented for the first
time, and read the lyrics. Also,
please write with your comments and impressions of the song. Though Hohokam has long since
disbanded, its former members still
would like to know what you think! |
HOHOKAM
(MARK III)
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SEVEN DEADLY SINS
NUMA 1006
Numa Records 1986 |
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To find out more about the events leading to
the making of the Seven Deadly Sins album, including its re-recording with new
vocals, visit the individual pages of the Hohokam singles. (Click the singles icons above their
corresponding song titles.) |
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all
tracks written by Alum / Devier / Earl Produced
by Gary Numan and Ade Orange Skip (Graham Collins),
Vocals and Keyboards Keeley
Coburn, Backing Vocals Melanie
Redmonds, Backing Vocals Dave
Earl, Guitar and Keyboards Tony
Alum, Keyboards Andy
Reilly, Drums Ade
Orange, Additional Piano and Sampling Keyboards Engineered
and Mixed by Tim Summerhayes Additional
Engineering by Andy Reilly Recorded
at Rock City Studios, Shepperton, Middlesex, England |
3:02 4:31 3:28 3:35 3:58 3:55 4:50 3:54 3:05 3:10 |
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SIDE A
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SIDE B
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Broken Days
ARCHIVE
Lyrics written by Tony Alum/Steve Devier
Why's the silence deafening in the empty rooms above me? Could it be life's passed me by are slowly fading? We said goodbye to all the years. We're slowly fading. I close my eyes and dream of leaving Chorus: Is this the love we know? (Is this the love?) Is this the hope you gave me? Is this the love we know? (Is this the love?) Is this your way to save me? Ran away from this before. Cold as hell the truth surrounds me. Is it wrong to ask for more? Suddenly the rain has caught me breathing, softly. Raise your glasses once again: I'm drowning, slowly, sinking in these misty waters. Chorus: : Is this the love we know? (Is this the love?) Is this the hope you gave me? Is this the love we know? (Is this the love?) Is
this your way to save me? Is this the love we know? Is
this the hope you gave me? |
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©
Karl J. Sherlock 2004-2006 |
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