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Sunday, October 21, 2007

More on *Wheelie*

As I finalize Ghost Notes and Songs from Memory over the next few months, I’m going to blog regularly on the Refreshments.

Someone asked about the cover of Wheelie, which makes me want to talk about the entire package, which is probably more than anyone wants to know but, hey, it’s my blog.

The title of Wheelie came from “Pop a wheelie,” a line Roger came up with and quickly edited down to “wheelie.” We all liked that it evoked something from childhood, and that it sounded cool and fun.

Of course, we had to completely undercut the title with the album art. Brian wanted something that looked the opposite of “wheelie.” We settled on some kind of jalopy wreck, preferably one of those doomed, multi-winged planes that crashed on its first attempt at flight.

We liked the juxtaposition of calling our CD Wheelie and having some kind of bad wreck on the cover. That’s the kind of stuff that made us laugh, and undercutted any attempt by people--especially ourselves--to take the Refreshments seriously. That was the key in those early days.

It became my job to find a crashed plane, and I spent all day at the Tempe Library flipping through books. I eventually found what became the cover, which wasn’t a jalopy at all but a normal-looking little plane crashing, but it was all we had. CHUD Graphics helped us turn it into a cover, and we were set to go.

Of course, every CD needs a band picture, and we had no idea how to go about getting one. Someone got the idea to have our photo done at Sears--phony pose, funky back-drop and all--and we all thought that was perfect. We went to the Goodwill, bought some snazzy clothes, and all piled into Roger’s Landcruiser for the trip up to the Pleasant Valley Sears.

The result, with Rog and me sitting on the table in front of Dusty and Brian, was the epitome of what the band was in 1994: clever, spontaneous, silly, and at all costs unpretentious, exactly the opposite of what every band in the universe was trying to bring across. After that picture, nothing could stop us.

Throw in some artwork of an inebriated hotdog and a bomb flag, and you’ve got Wheelie.

All this gives me an idea for a new trivia question: which Refreshments member was responsible for coming up with which album title? The album titles are:

Lo, Our Much Praised Yet Not Altogether Satisfactory Lady

Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy

The Bottle and Fresh Horses

(Hint: Roger, Brian and I each came up with one of the above.)

Take a whack at it in the comments section. I'll reveal the answers next week.

Art

11 comments:

John-Realtor said...

Art,
Thanks for posting these blogs... i look forward to them.

I am going with the following;
Lo- Art (you)
FFBB-Brian
Bottles-Roger

Unknown said...

I love your blogs! Here is my guess:

Lo-Roger
FFBB-Brian
Bottles-You

Kevin J. Guhl said...

I'm thinking....

Lo - Roger
FFBB - Brian
Bottles - Art

Michelle already said that, but I agree.

As I own but a CD-R copy of Wheelie, I've never seen its album art. I'd especially love to see the Sears portrait. Any chance of scanning those in and posting them?

Art Edwards said...

I'm gonna have to make that happen, Kevin.

Art

Mark Ord said...

Lo - Roger
Fizzy - Buddy
The Bottle - Brian

Kinda hard, definitely feel like Lo would have been Roger though.

Is the Sears photo the one with Dusty's arm around Brian that gets posted on the Peacemakers BB from time to time? If so, I never realized that came from Wheelie.

Art Edwards said...

More on Wheelie, including the image, next week.

Art

Anonymous said...

Art,

Wheelie was the best money ever spent. Well, it cost me a whole 1.99 at the check out counter at Zia. A few years ago my car was broken into and it was stolen with a few other CD's. I was devastated that the took my wheelie CD infact I told the police that all I want is my CD back. Well I can say in my travels I always stop in used CD stores looking to find one somewhere is this world.

Best Wishes and thanks for reminiscing with us. It reminds me of so many good times.
Tiffany

Kevin J. Guhl said...

Art, thanks (in advance) for posting the cover art!

Anonymous said...

Considering Roger once said that Brian's first words after coming out his most recent coma were FFB&B, I'm torn...did Roger suggest that title for the album, or did Brian? I'm going to go with:

Lo ~ Art
FFB&B ~ Roger
TB&FH ~ Brian

I, too only have a CD-R copy of "Wheelie" which I've burned and shared with other fans countless times so no artwork for me either. I'm anxious to see it! ~ K

Anonymous said...

from what i guess
lo is buddy
ffbb is brian
botle is roger


chole

AZ Music Man said...

I'm surprised that I don't know this.
Art, I can bring my copy into work and scan it for you if you'd like.

My Guesses,

Lo - Roger
FFBB - Brian
Bottles - Art