Countdown to 2020. Day 358

“The reasoning behind the Winter Trance Party? Commemorating the Winter Dance Party which ended in tragedy for a children's storybook app which I would write and illustrate. I don't know about you but I the last thing that I usually look at before I go to bed is my phone so I think it would be really cool to have a creepy phone app bedtime story about three kids who got bored during winter recess and decided to have a seance to contact The Notorious B.I. G. and instead they tapped got The Big Bopper who schooled them on early rock and roll."

"The Big Bopper is the ghost that sings this song, stuck as he is in a frozen Iowa cornfield and without the directions to get to Rock and Roll Heaven proper. When the town finds out these kids can conjure up dead rocks stars, they all band together and organize a big rock concert. No, of course, they do not. They call grief counselors to meet with the kids and then the military gets wind of this and wants the kids to resurrect dead soldiers so they can fight even more wars for their country. What kid wouldn't wanna read that?"

I wanted to sell the app for $2.99 but give the songs away with it but the logistics of the app and the nightmare of putting it on iTunes (and what they allow and won't allow) plus clearances for samples and using real names of real people ensured the WInter Trance Party app didn’t happen. I rewrote the story with fictional names but then the iPhone changed its dimensions, rendering the illustrations I' d already done the wrong size. One day it just may all surface and this music will make more sense. Or less."

There there's a bit in the middle about sipping hot Dr. Pepper and lemon. Dr. Pepper used to be a sponsor of American Bandstand and I used to see that all the time. It always seemed like some sort of forbidden delicacy or forgotten delicacy so I stuck that in there. And you could see that there were some references to Big Bopper songs including “Pink Petticoats” and “Running Bear.” In fact, I sample “Pink Petticoats” for ‘Heartbreaking Machine’ which turns up later on the WTP album, also sung by Big Bopper who doesn’t have his telephone for some reason and can’t work without it."

Song that this most closely rips off:
"There is sample of the opening drums of “Oh Woman Oh Why” by Paul McCartney. In my mind, I was writing a Tommy James and the Shondells song like “Ball of Fire” or “Crimson and Clover.” But only in my mind."