posted 3/14/2008 1:54:13 PM

Tamam Shud and Evolution

by EM Records

As Paul Witzig's eagerly awaited follow-up to THE HOT GENERATION, EVOLUTION was a further development of the same theme in both surfing and music. Again, it showcased the "home movie" style of its maker, an aspect of Witzig's productions that made them easily accessible. The lack of any narration also added to the "grass roots" homeliness of the 80 minute cinematic yarn.

Chosen to supply the music score was Tamam Shud, the new name adopted by The Sunsets in their attempt to overcome any preconceived image that the earlier group name may have still conjured up for many. However, not only had the group name changed, but so too had their sound.

Lindsay Bjerre was still out front wailing away on lead vocals, yet there now seemed to be more depth to their music. The other group members of "The Shud" were drummer Dannie Davidson, guitarist Zac Zytnik and a new bass player Peter Barron (replacing Eric Connell).

"EVOLUTION was really a very successful film at the time," explained Witzig, "and was definitely the first surfing film where narration was dispensed with altogether and it just became a visual and musical experience. This of course made the music a lot more important and gave it greater prominence.

"Once again I worked with Lindsay Bjerre," confirmed Witzig, "because I did have a good working relationship with him and the group (now called Tamam Shud). He was certainly pleasant to be with and easy to communicate with and I liked his music a lot."

The sessions for the EVOLUTION soundtrack were recorded at United Sound in Pyrmont (Sydney) at Witzig's expense. It was the same arrangement as his previous work with The Sunsets.

"The way we recorded that soundtrack," revealed Witzig, "was also very interesting because essentially what we did was to project the film onto the studio wall and just go for it. It was very loose, free and very creative. I certainly never did another soundtrack like that again. And in that way I think it was very unique.

"I remember the actual recording session very well. It was done at Pyrmont and the engineer was Spencer Lee. He was really getting off on the session."

Also present at the session were Richard Lockwood and Michael Carlos two members of the group Tully.

"They joined the group for the recording session and that added a lot to the soundtrack," noted Witzig. "There was a lot of depth there that Tamam Shud (and The Sunsets) had been unable to get before. They didn't have the instruments or the range of talent to produce a sound like that on their own."

"The movie music was stretched out and a few extra things thrown in," explained Shud bass player Peter Barron. "We were making up sounds to match the film being shown, just to get the right mood.
"We'd put down a bit of mood music and then when the surfing got a bit uptempo, we'd break into a song."

The end product was a mixture of rock and jazz, a fusion that was sometimes dry, yet brightened by the occasional vocal. Unlike THE HOT GENERATION, the entire soundtrack to EVOLUTION comprised material by Bjerre and his compatriots. However, not all of this material found its way onto the soundtrack album that eventually surfaced on CBS Records. The material that did, according to the musicians involved, was subsequently re-recorded at a different session.

Indeed, they are quite different in sound and performance.

"We started to do the album at Pyrmont," explained Barron. "We were doing it on the cheap, sort of the midnight to dawn shift and it was just going too slow. By the time we all got set up and got ready to put something down, it tended to fall apart. This happened about three or four nights in a row and everyone was getting quite sick and tired of it.

"So it was Spencer Lee who eventually came up with the idea to record live in the studio. He just said, 'Look, you're a live band, so why not do a live session.' Therefore, one night we just set up all the gear at one end of the studio and from that came the material for the album."

As explained on the liner notes accompanying the subsequent "soundtrack" longplayer, the tracks included in the collection that were not featured in the film were nonetheless developed from the EVOLUTION idea. All (including the actual soundtrack material) were Bjerre originals.

"We did two sessions," confirmed Lindsay Bjerre. "One with Richard Lockwood and Michael Carlos (which produced the actual soundtrack) and then we went in later and did one session live; straight onto tape for the record. Both sessions were done at the same studio."

Unfortunately, the results from this hastily recorded second session was a muted performance by the group, largely due to a fault in Bjerre's amplifier (through which his vocals were fed instead of through the recording console). This caused the power and excitement of the actual group's live sound to be dissipated. As undisciplined as the actual soundtrack recordings were, they ended up as the better of the two recordings.

On both occasions, the overall recording procedure was a joint production by the band. Spencer Lee handled the technical side while the group themselves made the necessary creative decisions.
"The soundtrack for EVOLUTION sold very well," revealed Witzig, "and I think the group did financially far better out of that film than any of the others.

"The film itself also went on to be successful here and in the USA. It probably broke away from the accepted formula for surfing film soundtracks and the music was great."

"By producing the album ourselves," added Peter Barron, "we ended up getting more money for it. Instead of two and a half per cent, we got five!

"CBS virtually bought the finished product off us. We had the artwork done, the album cut and so we just handed it to them."
The EVOLUTION longplayer was issued on the CBS record label, but not marketed as a soundtrack longplayer as such. Lady Sunshine and Evolution were lifted as the single and although airplay was limited, the longplayer sold exceedingly well and helped establish Tamam Shud's blossoming reputation.

Unlike THE HOT GENERATION (which featured a narration by 2UW disc jockey John Thompson) and Witzig's cinematic debut A LIFE IN THE SUN, there was no narration in EVOLUTION. Instead, it was decided to let the music and the visuals tell the story.

EVOLUTION was to be the archetype for many surfing films to follow.

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