Penguin Flagrante: Broadcasting from the Colonies

Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Prelude & Yodel

In case you were wondering where I was, I'm right here! Let's kickstart December with an anniversary.

For 'twas a mere 38 years ago this evening when one of my personal favorite groups made their US debut.

They had been a thing for the better part of the preceding decade, having had their first record on Brian Eno's incredible Obscure label in the mid-1970s.

Something like a traditional Chamber orchestra of eons past, but with an eccentric taste in instruments and a very pronounced sort of Rock energy throughout the repertoire.

They were at first the brainchild of a delightfully strange multi-instrumentalist named Simon Jeffes, but he passed away 25 years ago this week. The remaining folks, plus new ones, still reunite and tour from time to time.

This concert -- as good an introduction to them as any I could think of -- was performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and broadcast over the great WNYC-FM in New York City.

I edited out some of the dead air and tuning, and remastered it a little bit to optimize its eyes and size.

So, without any further ado, here is the first American concert of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

Penguin Cafe Orchestra

Next Wave Festival 

Brooklyn Academy of Music

New York City, NY USA

12.8.1984

01 tuning

02 Air à Danser

03 Music for a Found Harmonium

04 Yodel 1

05 Cutting Branches for a Temporary Shelter

06 Isle of View (Music for Helicopter Pilots)

07 From the Colonies

08 White Mischief

09 Salty Bean Fumble

10 Paul's Dance

11 Numbers 1-4

12 Prelude & Yodel

13 Chartered Flight

14 The Ecstasy of Dancing Fleas

15 band introductions by Simon Jeffes

16 Giles Farnaby's Dream

17 The Toy

Total time: 1:15:00

Simon Jeffes - harmonium, guitars, percussion, bass, violin, ukelele, keyboards, whistle & toy autoharp

Steve Nye - piano

Helen Liebmann - cello

Geoffrey Richardson - viola, bass & percussion

Marcus Beale - violin & percussion

Neal Rennie - ukelele, cuatro & percussion

Gillian McGregor - dancer

master off-air reel of the original WNYC-FM broadcast of the complete USA debut concert of the PCO

remastered, denoised and retracked -- with 4 minutes of tuning & dead air eliminated -- by EN, December 2022
445 MB FLAC/direct link

This is a beautifully captured show all around and, as I said, a perfect introduction to this most unusual little combo.

I've got a trippy holiday season planned for here, with a bunch of posts backloaded in the last two weeks of the year, but don't blow it on the PCO show!--J.

Rest In Penguin
Simon Jeffes
2.19.1949 - 12.11.1997