I'VE CREATED A MONSTER!

Today's Recommended Listening: Frankenstein - Edgar Winter Group
Arguably the greatest song of all time, certainly one of my top 3 favorites.
The story of Frankenstein (as I know it):
When a band puts out an album, they typically pick the best song to play on the radio, this song, by itself is called a 'single'. Well, back in the day, when a single was released, it would arrive at the radio stations in the form of a small vinyl record, and the DJ's would play the record on the radio. Well, the single only takes up one side of the record, so the musicians would also pick a song to put on the other side (side B) which is where we get the term 'B-side'. They did this so as not to waste an entire side of a perfectly good record. The B-sides were typically a song that wouldn't have mass appeal, but the musicians liked it for personal reasons. Sometimes, the B-side didn't even make it to the final cut of the album.
Example, Nine Inch Nails 'With Teeth' album. I have the 'Hand that Feeds' single on vinyl, and the b-side is a song called home, that didn't even make it on the album.
Back to the story, Frankenstein was originally released as the B-side to a song called Hanging Around. When DJs heard Frankenstein, they realized that it was the real hit, and started flipping the records over. Hanging Around has faded into obscurity but Frankenstein still plays loud and strong all over the country.
Go Figure.
The song itself has no vocals, and is the first hit song to feature a synthesizer as the lead instrument. The Edgar Winter Group (originally called White Trash) is headed by front man Edgar Winter himself. The song was christened 'Frankenstein' during the mixing stage of the music. They played and recorded the song without ever having a name. Back in the day, everything was recorded onto magnetic tape. Think of a cassette tape without the cassette. Yeah, it was a mess. They had bits of song strewn all across their mixing studio. They quickly realized that they had 'created a monster' and so decided to call the song 'Frankenstein'. Can you imagine having to mix all this stuff manually? Neither can I. Old musicians really put a lot of work into their music. Nowadays, anyone can make music, and the radio waves are flooded with crap. It is for all these reasons, plus the awesome magnificence of the song itself, that makes Frankenstein my favorite song ever.


Another point of interest is the albums cover art. Which I will not show as it can be quite disturbing. You see, Edgar Winter is an albino, which catches many people off guard just by his appearance. He takes this to a whole new level by dressing in drag for the cover of his album 'They Only Come Out at Night'. I think it is hilarious, and slightly disturbing.