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 on a primitive synthesizer of his own devising; and, until his death in 2005, drummer Danny Taylor. The duo were among the first to employ electronic music techniques outside of academia , applying them to 1960s rock and pop styles.
28-430: As part of New York's underground music scene, the band released two albums— Silver Apples (1968) and Contact (1969)—to poor sales. They began recording a third album before a lawsuit by Pan Am , owing to the use of their logo in the artwork of Contact , forced the end of the group and its label Kapp in 1970. In the 1990s, German bootleg recordings of the band's albums raised their profile, and Simeon reformed
56-686: A collaboration with Cluster frontman Hans-Joachim Roedelius , in ATP I'll Be Your Mirror Festival in Asbury Park, NJ. On the same festival the following day, Simeon was invited onstage by Portishead to perform "We Carry On", Portishead's homage to Silver Apples. Simeon toured the UK, Europe and the US in mid to late 2016. 2016 also marked the release of the first new Silver Apples studio album, Clinging To A Dream , in 19 years. Simeon died on September 8, 2020, at
84-585: A multitude of bands that kept heavy metal music alive and where it spread in the underground scene during the period of the mid 70's to the early 80's. Some underground styles eventually became mainstream, commercialized pop styles, such as the underground hip hop style of the early 1980s. In the 2000s, the increasing availability of the Internet and digital music technologies has made underground music easier to distribute using streaming audio and podcasts. Some experts in cultural studies now argue that "there
112-576: A poem, "MJ", to music as "Seagreen Serenades". Inspired by Simeon's interest, in the next few months Warren wrote the remaining six songs used on the Silver Apples album. Another song, "Gypsy Love", was used on the Silver Apples' second album, Contact . In latter-day performances, Simeon still played some of his and Warren's works from the early days of Silver Apples. The following year, they released their second LP, Contact , and toured
140-408: A system of telegraph keys and pedals to control tonality and chord changes, and reportedly never learned to play traditional piano -styled keyboards or synthesizers. They were signed to Kapp Records and released their first record, Silver Apples , in 1968, and from that released a single, "Oscillations", a song that Simeon has cited as the first song he had written. On the debut album, seven of
168-414: Is an example of what was an important New York City underground music venue in the 1960s and 1970s. CBGB was another famous New York City underground music venue claiming to be "Home of Underground Rock since 1973". There are examples of underground music that are particularly difficult to encounter, such as the underground rock scenes in the pre- Mikhail Gorbachev Soviet Union , which have amassed
196-539: Is free media", because by working "independently, you can say anything in your music" and be free of corporate censorship . The genre of post-punk is often considered a "catchall category for underground, indie , or lo-fi guitar rock" bands which "initially avoided major record labels in the pursuit of artistic freedom, and out of an 'us against them' stance towards the corporate rock world", spreading "west over college station airwaves, small clubs, fanzines , and independent record stores." Underground music of this type
224-732: Is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground styles lack the commercial success of popular music movements, and may involve the use of avant-garde or abrasive approaches. Underground music may be perceived as expressing sincerity and creative freedom in opposition to those practices deemed formulaic or market-driven. Notions of individuality and non-conformity are also commonly deployed. The term has been applied to artists in styles such as psychedelia , punk , alternative rock , electronica , industrial music , and wider strains of experimental music . The term "underground music" has been applied to various artistic movements, for instance
252-597: Is no underground" because the Internet has made what was underground music accessible to everyone at the click of a mouse. A current example of an underground internet music genre is Vaporwave . One expert, Martin Raymond, of London-based company The Future Laboratory, commented in an article in The Independent , saying trends in music, art, and politics are: ... now transmitted laterally and collaboratively via
280-517: Is often promoted through word-of-mouth or by community radio DJs. In the early underground scenes, such as the Grateful Dead jam band fan scenes or the 1970s punk scenes, crude home-made tapes were traded (in the case of Deadheads ) or sold from the stage or from the trunk of a car (in the punk scene). In the 2000s, underground music became easier to distribute, using streaming audio and podcasts . The NWOBHM movement emerged which created
308-478: The Synth-punk duo Suicide listed Silver Apples as one of the inspirations to form his group. Sean Lennon has also informed Simeon that John Lennon was a fan of his music and recommended them by saying, "Watch out for a band called Silver Apples, they are the next thing." Portishead 's Geoff Barrow stated that "for people like us, they are the perfect band [...] They should definitely be up there with
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#1732772594578336-428: The extreme metal is considered underground music for its extreme nature. Gothic and industrial music are two other types of underground music originating in the late 1970s and mid-1990s with gothic rock centering around vampires , black magic and the occult and industrial music using primarily computer generated sounds and hard driving beats. In a CounterPunch article, Twiin argues that "Underground music
364-626: The psychedelic music movement of the mid-1960s, but the term has in more recent decades come to be defined by any musicians who tend to avoid the trappings of the mainstream commercial music industry . Frank Zappa attempted to define "underground" by noting that the "mainstream comes to you, but you have to go to the underground." In the 1960s, the term "underground" was associated with hippie counterculture and psychedelic drugs , and applied to journalism and film as well as music, as they sought to communicate psychedelic experiences and free love ideals. The Fugs have been described as "arguably
392-557: The German label TRC released a bootleg CD of both records. In 1996 the British label Enraptured released a tribute album called "Electronic Evocations - A Tribute To The Silver Apples", featuring bands like Windy & Carl, Flowchart, The Third Eye Foundation, Alpha Stone, Amp, among others. The interest provoked by this release prompted Simeon to reform the Silver Apples in 1996. The first two records were re-released as official records from
420-452: The Pan Am logo. However, the backside of the record featured a photograph of a plane crash. This led to a lawsuit and the record was pulled from stores. A third album was recorded in 1970, but Kapp was folded into MCA Records , leaving the album unreleased, and the group defunct. Simeon elaborates on the other reasons for Silver Apples disbanding and the record label's demise online. In 1994,
448-539: The United States. During the time of the recording of their second album, they shared a studio room with Jimi Hendrix . Both of them decided to jam together and recorded their version of the Star Spangled Banner for their special Fourth of July shows. The band had struck a deal with the airline Pan Am to shoot the front photo of the album's artwork in an airliner cockpit, in exchange for including
476-641: The age of 82. Silver Apples are regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music , electronica , synth-pop , electro and electronic rock for their experimentation with electronic music in a rock/pop context and innovative work in melding psychedelic rock with home-made oscillators and synthesizers. The band's pulsing rhythms and electronic melodies would predate several contemporary artists, including Wendy Carlos , Kraftwerk , White Noise and Can , as well as later artists including Suicide , Stereolab , and Laika . AllMusic 's Jason Ankeny called them "a surreal, almost unprecedented duo". Alan Vega from
504-430: The first underground rock group of all time". The Velvet Underground and Mothers of Invention later followed suit and are also regarded as the earliest underground rock groups. In modern popular music, the term "underground" refers to performers or bands ranging from artists that do DIY guerrilla concerts and self-recorded shows to those that are signed to small independent labels . In some musical styles,
532-469: The group with other musicians and released new music. In 1998, he reconnected with Taylor, and the two completed their original third LP The Garden (1998). After Taylor's death, Simeon continued releasing Silver Apples projects using samples of Taylor's drumming. The group formed out of a traditional rock band called The Overland Stage Electric Band, working regularly in the East Village . Simeon
560-403: The internet. You once had a series of gatekeepers in the adoption of a trend: the innovator, the early adopter, the late adopter, the early mainstream, the late mainstream, and finally the conservative. But now it goes straight from the innovator to the mainstream. A music underground can also refer to the culture of underground music in a city and its accompanying performance venues. The Kitchen
588-425: The master tapes, and Simeon began a tour of the United States with a new Silver Apples band featuring Xian Hawkins (alias Sybarite ) and Michael Lerner. In the ensuing years the Silver Apples released two albums of new material featuring this line-up: Decatur and Beacon . Eventually, "after much searching", Danny Taylor was located, and a handful of reunion shows of the original lineup were performed. Taylor also had
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#1732772594578616-1324: The name Sybarite . Danny Taylor died on March 10, 2005, in Kingston, New York . In September 2007 Simeon went on tour for the first time in years, performing as a solo version of the Silver Apples. Silver Apples / Simeon performed at, among others, All Tomorrow's Parties (Minehead, UK, December 2007); Electric Picnic , Stradbally, Ireland (September 2008); All Tomorrow's Parties, Australia (January 2009), The Unit, Tokyo, (July 2009); Oscillations Music + Arts Festival, Belfast, Northern Ireland (September 2009); Austin Psych Fest 3, TX (April 2010); Albuquerque Experimental, Albuquerque, NM (October 2010), Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (May 2011), London, England iTunes Festival (July 2011), RecBeat festival, in Recife, Brazil (February 2012) and Incubate , Netherlands (September, 2012), Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit, Asheville, NC (October, 2013), Audioscope 14 in Oxford, UK (November 2014). Stereo Glasgow, UK (November 2014) In October 2011, Simeon performed as Silver-Qluster,
644-628: The nine songs had lyrics by Stanley Warren (not Warren Stanley as incorrectly credited on the re-release of the 1997 MCA CD), including the group's signature song "Oscillations". Warren, who subsequently became a published poet, met Simeon and Taylor at the Fifth Annual Avant Garde Arts Festival in 1967 in New York City, organized by Charlotte Moorman , who was famous as the "topless cellist". Soon after, Simeon became acquainted with Warren's early work, and set
672-420: The pioneers of electronic music." Other groups and artists that were influenced by Silver Apples include Stereolab, Spiritualized , Beck , Beastie Boys and Moby . The song "Lovefingers" was used in the 2024 film Civil War from A24 Films. Studio albums Box set Compilation albums Remix albums Live album Extended play Singles Underground music Underground music
700-582: The tape of the unreleased third record, The Garden , in a box in his attic, and the record was finally released in 1998, featuring completed tracks from the original sessions plus tracks of Taylor's drumming from the time mixed with Simeon's new additions. On July 5, 1998, Silver Apples played with Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon from Blur at the Meltdown Festival at the London Royal Festival Hall. In 1998 their tour van
728-423: The term "underground" is used to assert that the content of the music is illegal or controversial, as in the case of early 1990s death metal bands in the US such as Cannibal Corpse for their gory cover art and lyrical themes. Black metal is also an underground form of music and its Norwegian scene is notorious for its association with church burnings , the occult , murders and Anti-Christian views . All of
756-516: Was forced off the road by an unknown driver, breaking Simeon's neck. Plans for new recordings and further touring by the reunited duo were put on hold. As of 2004, Simeon was much recovered, but he was unable to play his instrument in the way he used to. Following the accident, Silver Apples' activity diminished. Simeon spent his time making new music, recuperating, and boating on the Gulf of Mexico . Xian Hawkins released four albums of solo material under
784-680: Was the singer, but began to incorporate a 1940s vintage audio oscillator into the show, which alienated the other band members to the extent that the group was eventually reduced to the duo of Simeon and Taylor, at which point they renamed themselves The Silver Apples, after the William Butler Yeats poem " The Song of Wandering Aengus ". The arsenal of oscillators eventually grew (according to their first LP liner notes) to include "nine audio oscillators piled on top of each other and eighty-six manual controls to control lead, rhythm and bass pulses with hands, feet and elbows". Simeon devised
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