The Very Strange Story of
THE VANISHING HITCHHIKER

A New Musical

 

Evolution of a Song

 

This is a page for geeks and geekophiles of whom I consider myself a member in good standing.

Having read the synopsis of the show, you are aware of David's story—which takes place in 1969-70—of a Girl Group from Bayonne, New Jersey called The Bayonnets, who figure into the urban legend of a "Spider In A Beehive" (the beehive in question was a popular female hairdo). As the Bayonnets were a 'one-hit-wonder,' it was necessary to write them their 'hit' song in the style of the period. I imagined a lyric, from a young girl's point of view, addressing the eternal conflict between parent and teenager using the phrase, current at the time, "quit buggin' me."

Here are the first tentative notes Bill wrote to match my initial lyric, "Ma, quit buggin' me" (buggin' me... bugs... spiders... get it? Yeah, you got it). Bill often treated my lyrics with more respect than they deserved.

QUIT BUGGIN' ME - #1 (0:35) 

The music was equal to the lyric, both being equally mundane, yet we persisted and Bill fleshed it out.

QUIT BUGGIN' ME - #2 (1:27) 

MA, QUIT BUGGIN' ME
MA, QUIT BUGGIN' ME
MA, QUIT BUGGIN' ME
YOU'RE ALWAYS BUGGIN' ME

DON'T USE THAT COMMON, VULGAR LANGUAGE ––
QUIT SNAPPIN' ON YOUR BUBBLEGUM ––
SOMETIMES I TELL YOU, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHERE
YOU GOT YOUR BREEDING FROM.

(CHORUS)

'YOU GONNA STYLE YOUR HAIR LIKE THAT, GIRL?
AN' STEP OUT IN THAT TRASHY DRESS?
'YOU GONNA PAINT YOUR FACE UP LIKE A TRAMP?
WELL, GET A SECOND GUESS.

(CHORUS)

I'd like to say the above were 'dummy' lyrics, but I wrote them in all seriousness. I include them here to give others hope. One day, a heavenly choir appeared. It didn't help, but it gave us both a good laugh.

 QUIT BUGGIN' ME - #3 (0:21) 

And so, the song became the elephant in the room neither one of us wanted to admit was there—or wasn't there as the case may be—and it remained unfinished at Bill's passing. As Bill had never failed me, I believed the song would somehow miraculously come together.

Well, miracles happen (especially to people who believe in them) and one day, when I least expected it, the miracle happened. I came across a tape Bill had made labeled: "Unidentified Work In Progress." I was playing it in my car and each time it finished, I hit the rewind button. It was as if I had never heard it before. About the fifth time through, it dawned on me, it was a song slated to be called "Peggy's Nightmare" in the story MaryAnne tells about her great-great-aunt Peggy's adventures in Vermont a century before. Bill had played it for me one morning when I arrived for work. I thought it was interesting but way over the top (even for a nightmare).

UNIDENTIFIED WORK IN PROGRESS (3:43) 

I filed the tape away, suggesting Bill try a variation on his ragtime music that had gotten Peggy into so much trouble in the first place. Bill returned to his keyboard and the next day had composed "A Little Nightmare Music." "Unidentified Work In Progress" or "Peggy's Nightmare" was forgotten. Hearing it again, the thought came to me, this music could work for the Bayonnets. I took the tape to Jeff Rizzo whose usual enthusiasm was infectious. He recorded a simple piano version of the melody from which I wrote lyrics for "Caught In A Web," later re-titled "The Web of Love." When Jeff handed me the lead sheet––which serves as the background for this page––it was as if Bill was reaching out across time and space.

CAUGHT IN A WEB (2:24) 

Next, I took the song to Grant Geissman and asked him to do an arrangement, mentioning that Bill had been a great admirer of Burt Bacharach. A few days later, Grant played his arrangement for Jeff and me and knocked us out with his witty homage to Mr. Bacharach, complete with signature flugelhorn.

THE WEB OF LOVE - #1 (3:00) 

Then came the singer's melody-line recording, so the singers could learn and practice the song. Please feel free to sing along:

THE WEB OF LOVE - #2 (2:47) 

CAUGHT IN A WEB
OF LOVE AND LIES
I FIND IT FOOLISH TO BE WISE
SO I SURRENDER TO THE COMFORT
OF THE WEB OF LOVE.

THE WEB OF LOVE
THAT HOLDS ME FAST,
RIGHT FROM THE FIRST KISS TO THE LAST,
AS IT ENCIRCLES ME AND DRAWS ME
TO MY DESTINY.

AND I AM CAUGHT ––
I AM CAUGHT ––
AND I AM HELD HERE FOREVER MORE
HELD BY YOUR SILKEN WORDS,
IMPRISONED,
IN THE WEB OF LOVE.

THE WEB OF LOVE
HAS CAST ITS SPELL ––
AM I IN HEAVEN OR IN HELL ––
ANOTHER BLISSFUL, WILLING PRISONER
OF THE WEB OF LOVE?

A SPIDER'S WEB,
SILVER, GLISTENING IN THE SUN...
A SILKEN LURE
THAT ENTICES THE UNSUSPECTING HEART.
AND LIKE A FOOL I HURRY IN,
LIKE SO MANY FOOLS HAVE BEFORE,
AND I TAKE MY PLACE IN LINE
AND BECOME
ANOTHER CAPTIVE IN YOUR LAVISH
WEB OF LOVE.

THE WEB OF LOVE
THAT HOLDS ME FAST,
RIGHT FROM THE FIRST KISS TO THE LAST,
AS IT ENCIRCLES ME AND DRAWS ME
TO MY DESTINY.

(MUSIC INTERLUDE)

THE WEB OF LOVE
HAS CAST ITS SPELL ––
AM I IN HEAVEN OR IN HELL ––
ANOTHER BLISSFUL, WILLING PRISONER OF
THE WEB OF LOVE?

THE WEB OF LOVE
THE WEB OF LOVE
THE WEB OF LOVE
THE WEB OF LOVE

Although every recording session we did for the demo CD bordered on playtime rather than work, "The Web Of Love" session was a particularly blissful occasion. With Ramona DuBarry singing lead and Julie Stevens and Marlana Filannino playing back-up singers, it was one of those sessions where everyone kept discovering new delights in the work we were doing. Cases in point: Jeff's discovery and use of Marlana's amazing high note and Grant devilishly doubling, then tripling the back-up singers' tracks.

As we listened to the playback, Grant and Jeff kept repeating, "This could be a hit song. This could be a hit song." To which I chastened them, "Yeah, if it was 1969." I leave it to you to be the judge.

THE WEB OF LOVE - #3 (3:03) 

So there you have it, my "Page O' Geek": a little gift from one geek to another.

May the force (of the music) be with you,

Dennis Tracy Quinn
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