Who is the girl?
Desperate Straights is a 1975 album by Slapp Happy made in collaboration with Henry Cow (as opposed to In Praise of Learning of the same year which is a Henry Cow album made with some contribution by Slapp Happy).
It shifts more towards avant-prog while still remaining a mostly pop album. It sold quite fairly for such an unpopulist band and was one of the factors driving Slapp Happy and Henry Cow together to form "Happy Cow" (an unofficial name).
Some tracks about hats, owls, worms, tigers, apes, giants etc.:
- "Some Questions About Hats" (1:49)
- "The Owl" (2:14)
- "A Worm Is at Work" (1:52)
- "Bad Alchemy" (3:06)
- "Europa" (2:48)
- "Desperate Straights" (4:14)
- "Riding Tigers" (1:43)
- "Apes in Capes" (2:14)
- "Strayed" (1:53)
- "Giants" (1:57)
- "Excerpt from The Messiah" (1:48)
- "In the Sickbay" (2:08)
- "Caucasian Lullaby" (8:20)
Happy Cow or Slapp Henry:
- Dagmar Krause (credited as "Dagmar") – voice, Wurlitzer ("In the Sickbay")
- Peter Blegvad – guitar, voice
- Anthony Moore – piano
- Tim Hodgkinson – clarinet, piano ("Caucasian Lullaby")
- Fred Frith – guitar, violin
- John Greaves – bass guitar, piano ("Bad Alchemy")
- Chris Cutler – drums.
Desperate Tropes"
- Alliterative Title: "A Worm Is at Work".
- Ambient: "Caucasian Lullaby" is essentially this, before Brian Eno. To be exact this track (unlike most here) is credited to Moore and Chris Cutler from Henry Cow, so the style was pioneered by both bands.
- Continuity Nod: The third track "A Worm is at Work" references the first track:And as for those "Hats" -
They're a bore
Not amusing anymore - Epic Rocking: Averted with the last instrumental track, "Causasian Lullaby", which while lasting 8:20 is by no means rocking in sound but rather minimalistic.
- Empty Eyes: In "Riding Tigers":Pencil thin, we're near done in, we're
Masticating maize. An empty gaze
Sitting like that for days - Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The track "Some Questions about Hats" starts with:Can one wear uncanny hats?
Can one weather hats? Can
One wear feather hats?
Concentrate on irate hats
Radiate from hats. When
Sated, vacate hats - Face on the Cover: Dagmar Krause drawn by Peter Blegvad.
- Fun with Homophones: "Europa" has two pairs of near-homophones in one verse:The occidental Accident
Concerning Reason's acts
Of treason- Also "Apes in Capes".
- Miniscule Rocking: Five tracks are under two minutes. The shortest of these, "Riding Tigers", is arguably the most memorable track (perhaps bar for the opener) on the album.
- Rock Me, Amadeus!: "Excerpt from The Messiah" is Blegvad's take on the work by Handel.
- Shout-Out: "A Worm is at Work" references the song "War" off In Praise of Learning, the other collaboration where Henry Cow authored most of the material. The opener, "War", is uncharasteristically penned by Moore/Blegvad and recorded during the same session as this album.
- Title Track: The penultimate track on side 1.
- Uncommon Time: "Bad Alchemy", which has bars in 3/4, 6/8, 2/4, 4/4, 9/8, 7/8 and 10/8.
- Word Salad Lyrics: An omnipresent trope here.
