Hidden Track

A couple of days ago, I posted some info and liner notes for my 2003 album, 4.75 Inches of the Andy Fossett Rock Supreme. It really brought up some nostalgia.

Today, I want to share this:

Where the 12 songs on 4.75 Inches were basically “rock,” “Pictures of You” would fall into the “soft rock classics” category. That is, of course, if it were actually a classic. Come to think of it, it’s not even really all that classy either.

I wrote this song in 2005, while I was living in Myogi, Japan. Myogi was a really small town (so small that it doesn’t even exist anymore), so I spent a lot of evenings hanging out at the Mister Donuts in nearby Tomioka. And that’s where I was when I got the idea for this song.

MisDo (as it’s called in Japan) has a monthly musical theme that is played in all of the stores nationwide, and that particular month, the theme was 80s schlock - or “soft rock classics.” I was sitting there, eating my old fashioned doughnuts and drinking my tenth or so cup of American coffee, thinking to myself that I could do better. So I pulled out the iBook and headphones and went to work with Garageband. Those built-in samples turned out to be just cheesy enough to make a really good backing track.

After writing out some quick lyrics, I went out to the car, where I recorded the vocals straight into the built-in mic on the computer. You can actually hear a couple of trucks driving by in the mix.

I actually rerecorded this song later, using a better mic and a few real instruments, but I’ve reserved that copy for the (eventual) followup to 4.75 Inches, 12 Centimeters of the Andy Fossett Soft Rock Classic.

Periodic table graphic from the TAFRS T-shirts.