There's something about family groups that makes their harmony singing so much closer than unrelated bands. Chris, Bruce, Sandy, Stephanie and Ellen Dedrick were The Free Design (in various combinations) and released 7 albums between 1967 and 1973.
Kites Are Fun was their first LP, and below you can download the simplistic-sounding title track. Apparently it was chief songwriter and arranger Chris Dedrick's first song, written when he ws thinking about a girl with the initials K.A.F. Not at all bad for a first attempt!
The Free Design - Kites Are Fun mp3 (available for 7 days)
They wrote a song called 2002 - A Hit Song which, sadly, wasn't. It really deserved to be, and is a lovely piece of catchy pop, as are most of their songs. It would be easy to write the Free Design off as a sickly, cheery family group, but for me they're right up there with the very best Bacharach and David melodies. A lot of their songs seem to be about appreciating simple joys in life and who can argue with that philosophy?
The Free Design - Love You mp3 (available for 7 days)
As we're nearing the festive season (ish), here's a Christmas song from the Free Design full of lovely sentiment and perfect harmonies.
The Free Design - Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas) mp3 (available for 7 days)
Buy The Very Best of Free Design from Cherry Red Records and find out more about the Free Design at this great fan site.
1 comment:
i'm a big fan - i was stunned by the stereolabness of lots of it - i kinda always imagined stereolab emerging fully formed out of nowhere somehow.
anyway ta for these - the xmas one that's new to me especially
x
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