Album Notes

We were trying to put together a live radio broadcast concert with George Graham at WVIA in Pittston, PA (near the Pocono's) as we had a while back. By the time I followed-up with George, all of the summer time slots had been filled. Summer was the only time we had available as Tori and Tim were home from school. So, George suggested that we do a recorded-live performance for a future broadcast as he had time slots available that suited our schedule. We were not certain as to what to expect. Tom and I only knew that our previous live broadcast performance was especially exhilarating. Nonetheless, we were thrilled to get back to WVIA.

The Moon Unit hopped into my truck on a beautiful summer evening for our trip to Pa. We encountered no traffic on I-80. We also enjoyed a beautiful respite from the Interstate driving on a local road through the Delaware Water Gap. After a brief refreshment stop, we continued on our way.

We arrived a few minutes before George's evening radio program's scheduled end. By the time we loaded-in our equipment, George was available to provide us with his full attention. We chatted as we set-up in a large storage room complete with Fry Babies and wonderful electronic stuff just outside the control room. The acoustics of the room were similar to that of a large club or dance hall. We were ready to play.

We warmed-up. George set-up the mics, sound levels and equalization. A wonderful vibe transcended upon us. As we are playing, each of us felt as if we were not playing, but listening to our music as if it was already recorded. We thoroughly immersed and enjoyed ourselves that evening.

We had made the choice early in the summer to totally strip the band down to its basic beat level. We felt that it was most important that every member of the band be focused on the songs and not to add casual players to the mix just to satisfy the expected line up of a band. The solid core of the Beatniks represented by this recording constitutes what we refer to as the Moon Unit, a term coined by our friend and one time bass player, Alex Quinlan, to signify the heart and soul of a band's essential members. It is particularly significant a title for this release due to the role that space plays in these recordings.

The experience of our performance that night in Pennsylvania provided us with the boost of confidence that made our trip to the heartland so much fun.

George Graham did such a great job capturing the sound that defines the Bossa Nova Beatniks, that we had to press the recordings into a CD that was released on 11/11/2000. Of course, we called the CD, 'The Moon Unit.' We would like to thank NASA for making the CD graphics available to us. I do not know what else to say, so, to quote our friend George Graham, "the group creates clever, rhythmically infectious music that defies ready categorization." That being said, (thanks George) why not give it a listen, and let us know what you think.