The Hello People “Fusion”

As you might expect from a 1968 release in which two-thirds of the band are mimes, the music on this record is all over the place, from pop and country to psychedelic rock to jazz and folk. Along with bad-trip acid rock, there are songs that sound like the most radio friendly stuff you’ve ever heard, TV theme songs, Saturday morning cartoon, supper-club goofing, conservatory jazz, church music, and serious movie soundtrack tearjerkers—as well as serene-trip acid rock. Fans of the flute—you’re home! I’m not sure about the percentage of mimes—I’m judging by the six band member photos on the inside album cover—well, one of them is entirely in silhouette, or maybe the back of the dude’s head—but four are definitely mimes. How does that translate as more than a duo, sound-wise? Well, I think a musician can go back and forth from singing performance to mime performance, and it’s okay. I remember seeing David Bowie on some late-night music show when I was a kid, and he was doing some unmistakable mime business, and it worked out—I was both frightened and mesmerized. I didn’t go join a troupe or anything. Some people say they can’t tolerate mimes, but I think this is one of those affected hatreds (such as aversion to winter, clowns, fruitcakes, rainstorms, and Steely Dan) based on people wanting to “fit in”—more than any genuine, open-minded dislike.

And I suppose that’s all water under the bridge, seeing how they are one of the few record-releasing Sixties bands who are NOT still together and playing on this summer’s festival circuit. Too bad, too, because their lyrics—those that are of a political nature—are as relevant now as they ever were. There’s a bit of info on their Wikipedia page—one of their most catchy earworms (songs) was banned in some cities for being against war. Yet they were also on TV—appearances on the Tonight Show and The Smothers Brothers, even. As you might expect with the mime theme, the band members all had stage names, which I’m not going to list—but the one that cracks me up is: “Country”—a guy whose real name, W. S. “Sonny” Tongue, could have carried the day, just fine, unadorned, no problem. Looks like they put out about seven LPs over a decade, and that was it, but I wouldn’t mind finding a few more, like this one that doubled as a TEAC/Tascam 4-track instruction record. Their last LP is titled: “Lost at Sea”—and I’ve got to say, it would please me very much, as well, if my last record (but would you, realistically, know at the time?) had that title. Lost at Sea—the aptness and the poetry and the nautical. I’m not sure if this one—Fusion—consciously referred to the variety of musical styles—or—nuclear fusion—as in against it as a weapon, or, for it as a way to warm the swelling population without cutting down trees. Could easily be: “all of the above.”

5.2.25