2000 Great Songs #1506: Bubbles

The Free Design weren't the most predictable band to get a mini-revival some decades later. The late 60s/early 70s vocal pop band, like the Cowsills comprised of family members, blended 60s swinging bachelor pad light jazz (they were part of the kitsch-jazz-pop Enoch Light stable) with a cappella harmonies and sunshine pop naivete. It was dated schlock from the start--a cover of the Sesame Street theme wasn't a bid for coolness, and I'm not sure what to say about a song like "To A Black Boy." Still, they got some unexpected attention (i.e. by people like me) when indie electronica band Stereolab named a song & EP after them (and incorporated some of their vibes into their music).

Anyway, they're not a band I crank up on the stereo very often, but I do get a kick out of playing their records (like the Enoch Light jazz albums) on the occasional hungover Sunday morning. "Bubbles," from 1970's Stars/Time/Bubbles/Love, is a pretty indicative sample of their work, some bouncy moog and oh-so-late-60s sunshine pop harmonizing about, well, blowing bubbles, gradually building up some intricate baroque pop steam; it's absurd and childlike and wonderfully disarming, and even if you can't stand it you'll never forget it.

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