I suppose after three years I can probably stop calling these creations “COVID Sessions,” but what the hell…
Beam Me Up is a song written by my good friend and musical colleague, Mark Hasbrouck, known locally as Hazzy. For a good bunch of years he ran a band called Surahoolies, which I had the good fortune of being a part of back in the late 80s to early 90s. Beam Me Up is one of the first songs he taught me, and we played it at every gig.
Mark wrote the song about a friend of his who committed suicide. When you know that, the lyrics are very easy to get. Near the end of this version you will hear the telephone touchtones for 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Sadly, Hazzy’s friend didn’t have such resources when he decided to end his life, but we do.
This song makes extensive use of ToonTrack EZDrummer 3 and EZKeys 2. I find these tools to be very easy to use, and invaluable to making my own music. My keyboard skills are rudimentary at best, and I don’t play drums, but these programs do. Plus the sounds are played by real people in real studios, so the output doesn’t sound computerized or robotic.
Personnel:
- Written by Mark Hasbrouck
- Mark Hasbrouck – guitar intro (from the original recording, but altered severely)
- Muggsy Lauer – guitars, bass, vocals, synth & MIDI programming
- ToonTrack EZKeys 2 – piano
- ToonTrack EZDrummer 3 – drums
- Apple Loops – congas, bongos, triangle, shaker, tambourine
- Recorded by me in my bedroom studio
- Mixed by Jeff Engholm
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