''Contact'' is the second studio album by American band

Silver Apples Silver Apples were an American electronic rock group from New York, active between 1967 and 1970, before reforming in the mid-1990s. It was composed of Simeon (born Simeon Oliver Coxe III, June 4, 1938 – September 8, 2020), who performed ...

, released in 1969 by record label Kapp.

Contact

Bart Bealmear of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote, "Aside from Simeon's use of a banjo on a couple of tracks, the music on ''Contact'' does not differ from that of their debut. One aspect improved upon was the lyrics; many possess the same "cosmic" element found on ''Silver Apples'', but others are full of bitterness, pain, paranoia and confusion. In turn, the lead oscillator is used to greater effect, reflecting this newfound intensity."

Release

''Contact'' was released in 1969 by record label Kapp. The album was re-released in 1997 by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

compiled with the band's first album, ''Silver Apples''. It was also re-released illegally on compact disc and vinyl in 2003 by Radioactive Records in the UK.

Album cover controversy

The front and back cover artwork is infamous for generating a lawsuit from

Pan Am Airlines Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

. The front features the Silver Apples in a Pan Am cockpit, while the back shows the band amongst plane wreckage playing banjos. The resulting lawsuit by Pan Am against Silver Apples led to the breakup of the band.

Legacy

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'' placed ''Contact'' in their list "One Hundred Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)".

Track listing

Personnel

Silver Apples

* Danny Taylor – vocals, drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Simeon – vocals,

oscillators Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...

, banjo

Technical

* Jack Hunt –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Charlie Silver – sleeve photography

References

{{Authority control 1969 albums Silver Apples albums Kapp Records albums MCA Records albums