Chemical Worker's Song/Ron Angel
repo...@eden.com
For years I have been looking for a guy who wrote, among other things,
"The Chemical Worker's Song," whose chorus goes "And it's go, boys, go,
they'll time your every breath / and every day you're in this place you're
two days nearer death."
A friend of mine recorded the guy in northern England nearly 20 years ago
and gave me a copy of the tape, but he could not remember the performer's
name. An online folk music index listed Ron Angel as the writer of a
"Chemical Worker's Song" performed by Lorre Wyatt in 1985, but had no more
information.
I also understand "Great Big Sea" recorded a "Chemical Worker's Song."
Does anybody know if Ron Angel recorded an album?
Please CC your reply to repo...@eden.com
Thanks,
-- Jim Cullen
repo...@eden.com
Austin, Texas
ghost
In article <reporter-200...@net-2-098.austin.eden.com> repo...@eden.com writes:
->For years I have been looking for a guy who wrote, among other things,
->"The Chemical Worker's Song," whose chorus goes "And it's go, boys, go,
->they'll time your every breath / and every day you're in this place you're
->two days nearer death."
->A friend of mine recorded the guy in northern England nearly 20 years ago
->and gave me a copy of the tape, but he could not remember the performer's
->name. An online folk music index listed Ron Angel as the writer of a
->"Chemical Worker's Song" performed by Lorre Wyatt in 1985, but had no more
->information.
->I also understand "Great Big Sea" recorded a "Chemical Worker's Song."
->Does anybody know if Ron Angel recorded an album?
From the words you gave, the song on GBS's album *is* the one you're after;
just look at their album for the credits (here's hoping they don't call it
"trad" as they do with "Run Run Chameleon", where the tune is certainly
trad <I know it as the hymn-tune "There Is A Happy Land"> but, I'm told,
the "Run Run" words aren't trad).
Y'know, I recall them telling stories in concert about the writing of this
"Chemical Worker's Song", or at least referring to one of them or their
friends having worked in such a place as the place where the song is set;
perhaps one of GBS, or of their friends, is the author.
Marc Boire
ghost (j...@deas.harvard.edu) writes:
> In article <reporter-200...@net-2-098.austin.eden.com> repo...@eden.com writes:
> ->For years I have been looking for a guy who wrote, among other things,
> ->"The Chemical Worker's Song," whose chorus goes "And it's go, boys, go,
> ->they'll time your every breath / and every day you're in this place you're
> ->two days nearer death."
>
> ->A friend of mine recorded the guy in northern England nearly 20 years ago
> ->and gave me a copy of the tape, but he could not remember the performer's
> ->name. An online folk music index listed Ron Angel as the writer of a
> ->"Chemical Worker's Song" performed by Lorre Wyatt in 1985, but had no more
> ->information.
>
> ->I also understand "Great Big Sea" recorded a "Chemical Worker's Song."
>
> ->Does anybody know if Ron Angel recorded an album?
>
> From the words you gave, the song on GBS's album *is* the one you're after;
> just look at their album for the credits (here's hoping they don't call it
> "trad" as they do with "Run Run Chameleon", where the tune is certainly
> trad <I know it as the hymn-tune "There Is A Happy Land"> but, I'm told,
> the "Run Run" words aren't trad).
>
Great Big Sea lists Ron Angel as being the writer. No other mention of it
in the liner notes (unlike some of the other tunes.)
> Y'know, I recall them telling stories in concert about the writing of this
> "Chemical Worker's Song", or at least referring to one of them or their
> friends having worked in such a place as the place where the song is set;
> perhaps one of GBS, or of their friends, is the author.
--
___________________________________________________________________
Marc R. Boire
ad...@freenet.carleton.ca
Steve Austin
On 20 Sep 1997 23:02:53 GMT, ghost <j...@deas.harvard.edu> wrote:
>
>From the words you gave, the song on GBS's album *is* the one you're
after;
>just look at their album for the credits (here's hoping they don't call
it
>"trad" as they do with "Run Run Chameleon", where the tune is certainly
>trad <I know it as the hymn-tune "There Is A Happy Land"> but, I'm told,
>the "Run Run" words aren't trad).
No the words aren't trad. The song was a hit for the British band Slade in
1984, and the lyrics and music by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea are (c) 1983
Whild John Music Ltd. Surely GBS aren't claiming they had anything to do
with the writing of this song?
>Y'know, I recall them telling stories in concert about the writing of
this
>"Chemical Worker's Song"...
Hmm...
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On 20 Sep 1997 17:45:54 GMT, repo...@eden.com wrote:
>For years I have been looking for a guy who wrote, among other things,
>"The Chemical Worker's Song," whose chorus goes "And it's go, boys, go,
>they'll time your every breath / and every day you're in this place you're
>two days nearer death."
>
>A friend of mine recorded the guy in northern England nearly 20 years ago
>and gave me a copy of the tape, but he could not remember the performer's
>name. An online folk music index listed Ron Angel as the writer of a
>"Chemical Worker's Song" performed by Lorre Wyatt in 1985, but had no more
>information.
>
Yes it is Ron Angel who wrote the song,
I see him quite regularly on our local folk circuit.
Ron is a founder member and regular to Stockton folk club,
(north east England)
and Incidently he is quite a mean whistle/picollo player and has
written some tunes also.
banjo...@btinternet.com
www.btinternet.com/~banjo.bill/len.htm
ghost
>On 20 Sep 1997 23:02:53 GMT, ghost <j...@deas.harvard.edu> wrote:
Re the song "Run Run Chameleon" by Great Big Sea
>>(here's hoping they don't call it
>>"trad" as they do with "Run Run Chameleon", where the tune is certainly
>>trad <I know it as the hymn-tune "There Is A Happy Land"> but, I'm told,
>>the "Run Run" words aren't trad).
>No the words aren't trad. The song was a hit for the British band Slade in
>1984, and the lyrics and music by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea are (c) 1983
>Whild John Music Ltd. Surely GBS aren't claiming they had anything to do
>with the writing of this song?
No, they're not claiming they had anything to do with the writing of this
song. I think they list it as "trad", though. Somebody with
the album please check. I thought I had checked a friend's copy, but
I don't have it at hand to recheck. Though the tune *is* trad, the
copyright by the members of Slade would say the "Run Run Chameleon"
lyrics are not. What if it turns out to be a nursery rhyme that the
Slade guys copied in turn, though? Sounds very much like that's exactly
what it is (nursery rhymes & songs written by people on lots of drugs
do tend to sound a lot alike, though, so who knows?)
Copyrights on the tune as the hymn "Happy Land"
("There Is A Happy Land, Far, Far Away) exist dating back
far before Noddy Holder & Jim Lea's respective births, I'm sure, but I doubt
the hymn-book copyright-holders are going to prosecute because the tune is
probably in O'Neill's & a few other places as a trad tune.
Anybody want to consider another one? This one makes me ache:
A very nice hymn which starts out
"Awake my soul in joyful lays" is probably more famous these days as
"Ballad of the Green Berets", copyright by Sgt. Barry Sadler.
Sadler's version of the tune leaves out a really nice very-Irish-sounding
turn-around (on the word "joyful", making it sung "joy<-[vocal-wiggle]ful"),
but even without the turn-around, its basically the same tune.