Wednesday 9 April 2014

Die Tödliche Doris ‎– "Chöre & Soli" (Pure Freude ‎– PF 34 GM) 1983


Never ones to shy away from a conceptual art statement; Doris produced this box set which contained 1 book, 8 miniphon records and 1 battery driven device to play them on. Each disc contains two short tracks;which are very short acappella songs, the German texts of which are printed in the booklet, where they are also parts of a story illustrated with photographs.
The songs have the quality of some long lost childrens programme from 1950's DDR. Producer of such kiddies classics as "The Singing Ringing Tree", which used to haunt my childhood. I still think of that German speaking dwarf with dread!
The device included in this box was exactly the same pink contraption that was in those 'laughing bags' that also haunted my childhood. I still know every note of that horrific laughing sequence! This thing used these same little miniphon records to replay the laughing, and its this playback quality that gives these spooky little recording their weird nostalgic vibe.
Not something you'd want to play over and over again, but really a beautiful piece of conceptual art.

Tracklist:

A1 Untitled
A2 Untitled
B1 Untitled
B2 Untitled
C1 Untitled
C2 Untitled
D1 Untitled
D2 Untitled
E1 Untitled
E2 Untitled
F1 Untitled
F2 Untitled
G1 Untitled
G2 Untitled
H1 Untitled
H2 Untitled

DOWNLOAD Chöre & Soli HERE!

 Believe it or not;there was also a live performance of these works:
 
Die Tödliche Doris ‎– "Chöre & Soli Live Im Delphi-Palast" (1984) 

Lengthier versions of the tracks are performed in front of an obviously amused audience,with some sparse accompaniment.These versions have titles,which, if you are really sad, can match up with the original versions?  

Tracklist

A1 You See We Come As Friends
A2 Mädchenherzen
A3 Die Luft
A4 Die Sonne
A5 2 Witwen
A6 Graue Augen
B1 Denk An Mich
B2 Rosette
B3 Kühn, Tapfer, Mutig, Rebellisch
B4 Kavaliere
B5 Holda's Heiße Tränen
B6 Maria


 

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6 comments:

  1. A. S.10 April 2014 at 09:15

    You are performing an inestimable service with the posting of these recordings!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. bill10 April 2014 at 10:11

    Wot Antz sed. We are very much obliged to you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jonny Zchivago10 April 2014 at 10:50

    And I,in return, am obliged to you both for this rare appreciation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. kevinesse31 January 2019 at 12:28

    hi......all this doris shit is fab....thanks....is Chöre & Soli 6 minutes total?.....just double checking. Thanks for all this

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  5. Jonny Zchivago31 January 2019 at 12:38

    Yeah ain't they just fab?
    6 mins is correct for Chöre & Soli...can't get much on those kiddies toy discs. My laughing bag disc only lasted about 30 seconds back in the 70's....before it got confiscated at school......no fun.

    ReplyDelete
  6. beingupfront20 November 2020 at 21:17

    In April 2019, the Japanese label Suezan Studio reissued this as a set of eight 3" CDs with label colours and contents matching the original mini-records (all recorded off the original records in the device), plus the book. They included titles for the first time. Here they are, in order in the DL:
    Mädchenherzen fliegen durch die Luft
    You see, we come as friends
    Wir bilden Eine Rosette
    Denk an mich - mich doch nicht
    Ich habe noch keinen Ton gesagt
    Die Sonne wirft Strahlen auf uns
    Lichtschwindel, Lichtschwindel
    Wir sind zwei Witwen
    Ein Hölzchen - vier Schnürchen
    Kühn - tapfer - mutig - rebellisch
    Der Musikant reicht dir die Hand
    Holda's heiße Tränen
    Aus dem Hinterhaus
    Wir stehen in einer Pfütze
    Graue Augen himmlisch
    Die Luft ist voll von Licht

    ReplyDelete