Bruce Haack made some of the most insane music I’ve ever heard. Dense and buzzing with homemade drum machines and synths. Most people wouldn’t be able to take more than a few moments of the sounds from his twisted imagination. Unless most people are children.
Upside Down (mp3) from the “Electronic Record for Children” (1969)
What makes these electronic music pioneers to decide that the target audience for their swirling psychedelic music are people who can’t tie their shoes yet?
Raymond Scott has “Soothing Sound for Baby”, one of the least soothing albums I’ve ever heard. This electronic minimalist masterpiece would pummel a toddler quickly into insanity with its repetitive ultra-high frequency chirping sounds. In fact, the updated cover of the CD releases show a baby being skewered through the ear by a jagged sound wave. Being impaled through the head - very soothing.
I’ve scientifically tested this album on actual babies and the results can only be classified as highly dubious.
Bruce Haack is another electronic genius who geared the bulk of his work towards kids. He studied at Juliard in the 60’s, then began teaching children’s dance classes in New York with a dance instructor named Esther Nelson. They started Dimension 5 Records and began to put out children’s records starting with “Dance, Sing, and Listen” in 1963.
Bruce’s interaction with the creative and open minds of children gave him the perfect arena to utilize his obsession with building electronic instruments, his eclectic blend of classical, folk, rock, klezmer, tin pan alley and soul music with highly evocative storytelling to create a body of truly unique music. Not to mention his funky homemade vocoders for that special “robot voice” flavor.
Bruce and Esther never talk down to children, but engage them intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. And they manage to keep the whole experience fun. Which is why their music is still so engaging for imaginative adults as well as kids.
Walking Eagle (mp3) from “Captain Entropy” (1973) - could you put out a kids record like this today? “Take a puff from a peace pipe and pass it . . . if you feel it, act out the scene ” Oh, to hear this through the ears of a child, though preferably not the bleeding, punctured ears of the child from “Soothing Sounds”
But Bruce didn’t feel content just jazzin’ up the kiddies. He recorded the amazing psychedelic rock/electronic records “Electric Lucifer”(1970) and “Electric Lucifer Book II” (1978-9?). Incredibly vague metaphysics, somewhat strange biblical references, definitely crazy lyrics . . . these albums have all the trappings of outsider music masterpiece. Throw in a healthy dose of homemade electronics and vocoder and this shit is right up my alley.
After a lifetime of being ignored by the mainstream music industry, Bruce’s mood turned more and more bitter. His last two records got darker and weirder. Increasingly filled with sexual imagery and frustrated yearnings for an acceptance he never found outside of the world of children. Musically, they are some of my favorites. “Haackula” (1978 - never released) and “Bite” (1981) are definitely for mature audiences only.
Track 4 - Haackula (mp3) - Here Bruce let’s the critics know what he thinks - hint, it’s not friendly.
The version of Haackula I have, contains a copy of his last known work, a hip-hop collaboration with Russell Simmons called “Party Machine”.
Party Machine (mp3) - pure old school funk bliss. “Can you just imagine, buttons for eyes, numbers for names, life with no lies?”
Check out the documentary “Haack:King of Techno”. This isn’t the greatest film, but its lots of fun with rare clips of a under appreciated genius, including a clip of him on a very early “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” episode.
