PLEASE THE GHOST - Old Demo + More

The home demo, the album version and The Sinners live on French TV!

I continue to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of my third album, Spacey and Shakin’, with three versions of “Please the Ghost.”

First up, my home demo:

I recorded this version to an eight-track digital multitrack machine. ADATS are widely considered the worst digital recording format ever. They’re known for their cold, harsh, thin sound. I did what I could to warm things up, and it ended up sounding pretty good. For a demo, at least.

It’s not fair for me to blame the recording medium, though. The main reason for the subpar fidelity is the fact that I was a novice engineer at the time. In my defense, the purpose of the recording was just to get the song across so my producer and band could hear it. I did manage to successfully capture a spirit and energy that producer Brendan O’Brien and The Sinners picked up on and took all the way.

Check out the album version here:

I wanted to make a rock record. And rock it does! No demoitus here. Demoitus is where you fall in love with your demo so much that the record falls short in comparison. In this case, the record wins hands down.

While mixing the track, I asked Brendan how he got those incredible-sounding tom drums. His reply was, “You just get lucky sometimes.” Attention, audio dorks! The overall drum mix benefits from a healthy dose of compression from a genuine Fairchild. For you non-dorks, the Fairchild is the holy grail of vintage recording equipment. A two-channel 670 model sells for $30k to $40k on the used market!

FUN FACT #1:
At the beginning of the song, you hear a faint ghost of a vocal singing a portion of the opening line, “I love.” That’s the result of what’s called “print through.” According to Wikipedia, print through is “an effect that arises in the use of magnetic tape for storing analog information, in particular music caused by contact transfer of signal patterns from one layer of tape to another as it sits wound concentrically on a reel.”

FUN FACT #2:
We put subliminal messaging into “Please the Ghost.” Listen carefully at around the 2:33 mark, and in the left speaker, you’ll hear me sing, “Buuuuuyyyyy my record.” Unfortunately, the tactic was not very successful. The album did not sell all that well. Not by major label standards, anyway.

“Please the Ghost” was a staple in our live set during the touring cycle for Spacey and Shakin’.

Here I am with The Sinners on the French TV show Nulle Part Ailleurs:

The audio on this YouTube video is horrendous, but you can still tell that The Sinners were firing on all cylinders at the time. Here is the lineup:

Rob Brill - Drums
Pete Droge - Vocal & Guitar
Dave Hull - Bass
Peter Stroud - Lead Guitar
Elaine Summers - Backing Vocals, Guitar & Percussion

I look forward to the day I can get back together with that kick-ass band. My dream is to meet up with The Sinners at a residential studio to cut an album. Fingers crossed, we can make that happen sooner rather than later. Once my fatigue is in the rearview, it’s a matter of finding the money. The good news is that my energy continues to improve. I’m hopeful that before too long, I’ll be well enough to hunker down in a studio and work full-time.

Until then, I’m happy to be chipping away at writing posts and sharing music with you, dear reader.

Peace & Love Songs,

Pete

PS: Paid subscribers can stream and/or download my old home demo of “Please the Ghost” by visiting my rarities page HERE.