Tuning and Studio Chatter

FZ: Alright, honey. Are you in tune, Tom?

Tom: Let me check.

FZ: Alright, check his tuning . . . wouldn't crack under this pressure. Johnny Guerin wouldn't crack under this pressure. Larry Bunker wouldn't crack under this pressure. Jimmy Carl Black would just drink beer under this pressure.

?: Only Ruth would [...] . . .

FZ: Ruth wouldn't crack under this pressure. We have to apply other pressure to crack Ruth. Ladies and gentlemen, crack Ruth.

We're getting a— Yeah, we've got a fuzz tone out of the keyboards again. Do that chord, George . . .

?: Do that same chord at night . . .

FZ: Do the chord again. George, the chord of mystery again, please . . . Okay . . .

I can't tell. We're trying to get that noise out of the piano. George, give me the tuning note and lemme check it . . . Tuning note . . . Weird to me, it's wobbly . . . Put your phones on, listen to him, and see if you can hear the beat . . . What do you shank? He-he-he.

?: Pardon me?

FZ: Same as those, only they work faster . . . Peak level . . . Well, you can't tell whether you're getting peak distortion at that level. Alright, who? To tune up the band? What a great job. Hey, I just thought of another job for Charlie.

?: What?

FZ: I'll tell you later. No. Can he count good? Yeah, but does he have a good beat? He does. I was just thinking that maybe he'd be interested in running the lights . . . Yeah? Oh, he is? Oh, I see, well, then we'll just have to forget about it.

?: No, no!

FZ: No, no, I'm sorry I brought it up. Okay. Are we in tune yet, Tom? Okay, good. Before Ruth peaks under pressure. Ladies and gentlemen, go back to the break. Ready? One, two, three, four . . .

Recordings

• The Roxy Performances

Note

• Quotes Echidna's Arf (Of You)