Blank Tapes
Behind every hit record, there’s a million misses. And I don’t mean single ladies. Misses, for lack of a better word, are the anti-hits of the music business. They are those records that music geeks and DJ’s treasure, those influential one-hit wonders, or sleepers that don’t move many units, generate inches of ink or hours of press. Every genre has its lost, forgotten, overlooked heroes. They’re either eccentrics, or “before their time” or prefer to work behind the scenes, content with the respect and adulation of their peers. What these records and their creators lack in commercial success, they make up for in influence.
Dance music has its fair share of influential behind the scenes and off the radar heroes. Larry Levan, Tom Moulton, Nicky Siano, Arthur Russell all spring to mind. Among them was producer/engineer Bob Blank. In the 70’s and 80’s, his New York studio, Blank Tapes, was home to a prolific class of left-field singers, producers, vocalist and performers. His credits include one of the first disco 12” releases (Jimmy Sabater, “To Be With You”), as well as Talking Heads, Chic, Instant Funk, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Lydia Lunch, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Ashford & Simpson, Tito Puente, Donna Summer, Sting, and Patti Smith. His wife was a former James Brown singer, and he also worked with Ronnie Spector, and Taana Gardner, of “Heartbeat” fame.
With so many avant pop stars in his pocket, it was inevitable that there would be lots of left-over tape, edits, out-takes and side projects. In 1980, Bob gathered some of his fabulous friends in the after-hours playpen that his studio had become and together they produced an album called “Aural Exciters”. Most of the songs were written by the Kid Creole & the Coconuts crew with help from James Chance of the Contortions on sax, Fonda Rae, and many others on vocals. The catchiest single is sardonically titled “Spooks in Space”; its cover features black ghosts swarming the galaxy. The track opens with a doo-wop vocal that quickly switches to a cartoon-like lilting raggae rhythm and non-sequitor vocals about an imminent funky invasion. It’s one of the most colorful entry points into the Post-Punk/No-Wave music scene that helped shape mainstream disco, pop and hip hop.
These days, Bob’s studio is apparently up in Connecticut, and as evidenced by the credits on his website, he is still quite busy, mostly licensing and producing music for various soundtracks, TV shows, and commercial jingles and making guest appearance on shows like Behind the Music and documentaries like Maestro, about the early underground disco scene in 70’s NYC. He most recently appeared in person at the premiere of the movie about Arthur Russell, “Wild Combination.” Sadly, I missed the it, but you best believe I will be trying to make contact and get an interview soon.
