Album Notes

Some artists toil in relative obscurity for years before getting their
due. Sometimes it just takes some perseverance and a little luck.
While David Yazbek was busy releasing three critically acclaimed pop
albums in the late 90's, Broadway's higher ups were quietly watching.
They knew of his whipsmart lyrics and bouncy piano driven melodies and
tapped him to write the music for the smash Broadway hit, "The Full
Monty". He was promptly nominated for a Tony. Driven from his
success, Yazbek took the bull by the horns and conceived the music for
the more recent hit, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Bingo, nominated for
another Tony.

That's how it works in the music business. Once, a beleaguered
alternative rocker, Yazbek is now a successful renaissance man. To
celebrate his new found fame as the toast of Broadway, Yazbek will
release "Tape Recorder: Collected Works", a fascinating new collection
of his best songs, on August 2, 2005, on What Are Records.

Collected Works captures the spirit of David's work on the
aforementioned hit Broadway musicals, but framed within a modern pop
context, think Stephin Merritt meets XTC. It's no coincidence then,
that David collaborated on "Mississippi Honeymoon" with XTC's Andy
Partridge, on one of Collected Works' best tracks. David's self
deprecation and quick wit is charming and it's in every note, every
song, making tracks like "Schmuck In a Vacuum" and "Cowgirls Go To
Santo Domingo" simply irresistible. "Strange Warm Day" could easily
slide in on a playlist next to Joe Jackson or Ben Folds. It's twisted
and intelligent, something pop seems to lack.

Not bad for a native New Yorker who started his career as a writer for the Letterman show. That gig, inevitably led to a period of
writing jingles for everything from beer to vaginal spray. Really.
And then he wrote the theme to Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?
Really! But lost in there, was his solo career. His little
masterpieces written to make the whole world sing. That's what
Collected Works is about.