Today’s plan calls for a cold bike ride out to the pool to complete a 3200m swim followed by another cold bike ride home again and, hopefully, a bowl of warm soup courtesy of CRAVE LOCAL FRESH. That gives me approximately an hour until I have to skedaddle so I’m also accomplishing this quick core workout on my mat first with the newest edition to my Cornball collection, something I found while Goodwill Hunting in Fort Erie yesterday, the ‘Joy‘ album by Apollo 100.
First of all, let’s be straight: I bought this $1.00 album solely for the cover alone.
I mean, just look at it.
Having said that, upon a bit further research when I got home I learned that Apollo 100 was a short-lived British instrumental studio-based group that had a Top 10 hit with the Johann Sebastian Bach-inspired single ‘Joy‘ in 1972 (my birth year no less), which just happens to be featured on this album. It has appeared in such films as ‘Boogie Nights’, ‘One Day in September’, and ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’.
Score?
We’ll see.
Apollo 100 is largely the work of one Tom Parker, apparently an “accomplished” arranger responsible for most of the successful arrangements from the Young Blood catalogue, such as the Top 20 American hit ‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep‘.
An instant classic no doubt.
Move over Led Zeppelin.
Anyway, after ‘Joy‘ became a hit single, Parker and his merry band of studio musicians found themselves having to make the required album (this one). Thus, we have another Bach arrangement (an equally cheesy version of ‘Air for the G String‘) as well as some other classical pieces. In addition, there are some of his originals and a Leroy Anderson piece.
All of it is well done, and the production is quite crisp for the period I suppose. The real issue is this sounds like something that is about seven years too late, even in 1972. It fits perfectly with mid-60’s light jazz and easy listening but, save for the title track, it is rather out of place for the early 70’s.
However, in the context of today’s intended cheesy Cornball mat routine, it’s an instant classic.
Score?
Absolutely.
