It's Memorial Day, and this morning this old song started haunting my mind. It was written by my band in early 1982. We called ourselves The Raid from 1981-1984, but the same guys were Voyager from 1979-1980 and Everything But Anchovies from 1984 onwards. Same trio of Cold War kids, growing up under this threat of nuclear annihilation, practicing getting under our desks to kiss our asses goodbye. Tim and I would be 17 later that year, and would be required to go to the post office and register for the draft. I think that's where Tim's lyrics were coming from.
A lot of our early gigs, before we were old enough to be in bars, were at the Hidden Valley 4-H Camp outside of Watkins Glen, NY. We had help from parents driving us, our own home-made lighting system, a rented PA, and had a set of 24 songs or so, of which maybe only 4 were originals. Here's an example Hidden Valley set list from August 17, 1983 (all caps are originals):
| Set 1 | Set 2 |
|---|---|
| 1 Every Breath You Take | 13 Synchronicity II |
| 2 Message In A Bottle | 14 CRAZY BABY |
| 3 You Really Got Me | 15 Squeeze Box |
| 4 Red Shoes | 16 Sunday Papers |
| 5 London Calling | 17 Time Is On My Side |
| 6 I Can't Explain | 18 I Need To Know |
| 7 POOR MAN'S HELL | 19 Train In Vain |
| 8 Rebel, Rebel | 20 Driven To Tears |
| 9 On Your Radio | 21 SILENCE |
| 10 MR. WHITE SHIRT | 22 Behind Blue Eyes |
| 11 MORE THAN A MEMORY | 23 Twist and Shout |
| 12 Johnny B. Goode |
This song was recorded in Moonfish Studios in Ithaca, NY, in the summer of 1983. The band was about to go on a hiatus as Andy and Tim started college, and we wanted to get a recording of the band at its most-rehearsed peak before an uncertain future. We recorded the guitar, bass, and drums live then overdubbed the vocals and the military snare intro and outro. This Moonfish tape of five songs ended up on the album The Raid.
Give it time... the fade in takes a while.
Thanks for listening!
Andy
More Than A Memory You know I really wouldn't care If I never again Saw a plane flying through the air You know I really wouldn't mind If I never again Had that thought cross my mind If we could only be more than a memory If I could only live long enough to see You In a different situation One without the preparation For things to be And sights we'll never see You know It's really weird That all the sounds we ever heard Can be silenced You know It's really strange That the world can change in just one night That's not all right Will we be much more than a memory Will there be no pain for you and me We could be walking in the starlight When someone, somewhere could say "What a lovely night for a fight" lyrics by Tim Odell on 1 February 1982 music by The Raid ©1982 by The Raid
