"Ditzy Scene" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Cardiacs Cardiacs are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (Cardiacs), Tim Smith (guitar and lead vocals) and his brother Jim Smith (bassist), Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. One ...

. It was planned as the opening track and lead single from the band's unfinished sixth album, ''

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

''. It was released on

Org Records ''Organ'' is a British independent magazine covering music, art and underculture. Based in London, the magazine was founded in 1986 as a handmade fanzine and has evolved many times over the years. It has covered a variety of punk, alternative, ...

, and was the band's last single to be released in frontman Tim Smith's lifetime, as well as their most recent to be composed of entirely new material. "Ditzy Scene" was included in '' Progs list of

Knifeworld Knifeworld was a British-based psychedelic rock band led by Kavus Torabi. Originally a Torabi solo project, it became a full band in summer 2009. Knifeworld had connections with various English musical projects both inside and outside the rock ...

frontman

Kavus Torabi Kavus Torabi (born 5 December 1971) is a British-Iranian musician, composer, record label owner and radio broadcaster. A multi-instrumentalist, he is known for his work in the psychedelic, avant-garde rock field (primarily as a guitarist). Tora ...

's Guide to Cardiacs. In 2018, the Alphabet Business Concern rereleased the song on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

Writing and recording

"Ditzy Scene" was written by Tim Smith and

. It was the first of several songs written following a Cardiacs' line-up change in 2004. Torabi wrote the lyrics after beginning to record their unreleased sixth album, provisionally titled ''LSD'', in 2005. He said it was planned to be remixed for the album: The band recorded "Ditzy Scene" at Smith's own

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

Apollo 8 in Autumn 2007, shortly before the last Cardiacs tour. Torabi wrote the lyrics to Smith's arrangement, as well as playing the guitar solo for the intro. The intro, according to Torabi, was extremely hard to play, requiring complete concentration from the band. They recorded the song with tapes. Along with Smith, vocals were provided by Torabi, bass player Jim Smith, Claire Lemmon and "special guest star" Suzanne Kirby. In an interview with ''Prog'', Torabi described his first reaction to the song's structure whilst recording: "When we started recording it was like 'Fucking hell ... here we go!' When those girl vocals came in at the start, going 'Aaah aaah!' it was a real goosebump moment and I thought 'Okay, we've really got something here ...' It's just brilliant."

Release and reception

The "Ditzy Scene" single, backed with two other tracks "Gen" and "Made All Up", was due for release just prior to the start of Cardiacs' first full UK tour since 2000. On November 5, it had a limited edition press release on Org Records, with only 1000 copies made. Cardiacs planned to release their first studio album since ''

Guns A gun is a device that propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be ...

'' (1999) early the following year. The song charted at number 72 on the Spanish iTunes Chart on 11 October 2020.

Formats and track listings

All lyrics are written by Cardiacs (noted); all music is composed by Tim Smith. CD single # "Ditzy Scene" (Kavus Torabi) – 6:38 # "Gen" (Smith) – 3:42 # "Made All Up" (Torabi) – 5:04 CDr promo # "Ditzy Scene" – 6:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of "Ditzy Scene". * Tim Smith – guitar, loud voice * Cathy Harabaras – tube bell, big drum, percussions * Jim Smith – bass guitar, voice *

– guitar, voice * Melanie Woods – voice * Bob Leith – many drums and some

cymbals A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

* Dawn Staple – tube bell, big drum, percussions * Claire Lemmon – voice with: * Suzanne Kirby – voice

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Cardiacs 2007 singles Cardiacs songs Songs written by Tim Smith (Cardiacs)