Tonto’s Expanding Head Band |
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bruin69
Forum Senior Member Joined: February 15 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 319 |
Topic: Tonto’s Expanding Head Band Posted: February 15 2006 at 14:37 |
Does anyone remember Tonto's Expanding Head Band, the electronic band created by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff in the 1970s? They produced two very interesting experimental electronic albums ("Zero Time" in 1971 and "It's About Time" in 1975), which featured "The Original New Timbral Orchestra": the world's first (and still the largest) multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesiser, designed and constructed by Malcolm Cecil. They don't seem to be listed on this site, yet they seem MUCH more worthy of inclusion for their challenging experimental nature - also with a good sense of melody! - than the Beatles! This was true prog or proto-prog or electronic prog or whatever you want to call it! |
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Dr Know
Forum Senior Member Joined: February 10 2006 Location: Brazil Status: Offline Points: 532 |
Posted: February 15 2006 at 14:42 |
Tonto´s Expanding Head Band!! Now I´ve heard it all Funniest name ever! |
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bruin69
Forum Senior Member Joined: February 15 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 319 |
Posted: February 15 2006 at 15:44 |
I know lol - but it's true!! I looked them up on Wikipedia - apparently the TONTO synthesiser Cecil created was used by Stevie Wonder on several albums including "Songs From the Key of Life". I've downloaded some tracks on LimeWire - the second-hand CD of "Zero Time" is over £300 to buy! - and the music sounds quite dated now, but it still deserves some place in the history of prog... |
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limeyrob
Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: January 15 2005 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 1402 |
Posted: February 15 2006 at 16:19 |
You'll probably think I'm making this up but I did have an old first release vinyl of Zero Time. Thought I still had it but it's gone. (Did it have an Ancient Egyptian style poster?) I went through a phase in the 70's when I bought mainly synth vinyls. I also used to have Cosmic Jokers and Switched on Bach. Still have Zygoat, Krokodil - Swamp and Seventh Wave. Needless to say this is when I also got into Tangerine Dream
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darren
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 31 2005 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 452 |
Posted: February 16 2006 at 15:19 |
Wow. Blast from the past.
A friend of mine had their first album. I was beginning to wonder if I got the name right because I never seen anything mentioned about them anywhere. I've spent a few years trying to remember if that was the name of the group or if it was the title of the album or if it was some alcohol induced hallucination. I loved this album. I was in college at the time and didn't get a chance to tape it off of him. I lost contact over the years and when we met up again, he didn't remember the album (well, he did have over 4000 or so albums.) and he sold his vynil years before, so it was pretty much a lost cause... or so I thought. I've got to look again trough limewire. Thanks for reopening this memory and giving me hope I will hear it again. |
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"they locked up a man who wanted to rule the world.
the fools they locked up the wrong man." - Leonard Cohen |
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bruin69
Forum Senior Member Joined: February 15 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 319 |
Posted: February 16 2006 at 19:47 |
Hi Darren - I've managed to download four tracks from "Zero Time" on Limewire, and am tantalisingly close to getting the other couple - 96% and the host vanished! Often happens on Limewire - so I'll get them eventually. Once I've got them all I could send you the mp3s if you want The tracks I have so far are: Cybernaut, Jetsex, Timewhys and Riversong Still waiting for Aurora and Tama. |
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soundsweird
Prog Reviewer Joined: December 08 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 408 |
Posted: February 17 2006 at 01:51 |
I had "Zero Time"; I bought anything with synths back at that time. I kept the album for several years, mainly because of the last song, "Tama", a quiet, melodic, repetitious track. My main problem with the rest of the album was their use of typical, in fact cliche, synth sounds. One would think that their huge modular system would be capable of many new sounds (incidentally, strange, unique analog synth sounds are my specialty), but I suspect that Malcolm and Robert didn't spend too much time searching for new sounds. Of course, nowadays young people are loving all those cliche sounds, as evidenced by Moog Cookbook-style tripe, and the CD re-issues of 60's hacks. I bought the second album, but unloaded it quickly...
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: February 17 2006 at 01:58 |
I've heard of this band. Their name has always been used rather
jokingly in our house, because it's such an amusing name. Almost
as bad as Toad The Wet Sprocket! I've not heard any of their
music however. I'm not really into electronic stuff so much.
Never did I think I'd hear this band mentioned on here. |
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PROGMAN
Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: February 03 2004 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 2661 |
Posted: February 17 2006 at 09:35 |
With a name like that I trust them to be added here!!
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CYMRU AM BYTH
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bruin69
Forum Senior Member Joined: February 15 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 319 |
Posted: February 17 2006 at 20:39 |
Got Tama now - yey! Just Aurora to grab now... Listening to it now makes me realise what rose-tinted specs you look through when you think of past releases...
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PROGMAN
Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: February 03 2004 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 2661 |
Posted: March 13 2006 at 05:08 |
Yeah just been listening to Tama!! A nice elctronic piece!! also combines Prog/Symphonic too!! Best electronic I've heard in a while!! Let's add them as Electronic Prog, alongside the likes of Tangerine Dream, JMJ, Kraftwerk and Klaus Schulze.
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CYMRU AM BYTH
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shantiq
Forum Newbie Joined: September 12 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 2 |
Posted: September 12 2006 at 07:17 |
hi limeyrob
so i did not dream this zygoat really existed
i once had the lp out of a library sometime in 75 or 6
any idea were i could find it
does not appear on amazon
could you send me a sample or more @ [email protected]
it would make an old (48) man happy
peace shan Edited by shantiq - September 12 2006 at 08:13 |
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