No one knows who he is, but everyone has hummed his tunes, and many have envied his enigmatic aura. Never seeking the spotlight, he won the praise of Leonard Bernstein, passing in 2013 at age 70.
Such an interesting piece! You've collected so much data and put together such a compelling story of Tandyn's work and life.
A few thoughts. If there's an argument for people having multiple lives, it has to be musicians who seem to know how to play as soon as they come in contact with an instrument, like Tandyn.
Chris Dalla Riva recently did a piece on the whole credit issue, and back then it was much less likely to give credit to the producer (like Curt) but it was already changing, and now everyone and their dog gets credit. So Curt would get credit now most likely and Tandyn would not be able to deny it.
That video with Leonard Bernstein is such a find. I want to watch the entire thing!
I have always loved "Along Comes Mary" and thought it was different and special, and this clinches it. The sixties was like a wild frontier for musical creativity, and that carried to some extent into the following decades, but the music industry and radio consolidations were already having an effect by the early 70s and so many artists and songwriters (Like Tandyn and Sloan) were leaving the business by the mid-70s -- or having to bow to serious commercial pressures. I just keep stumbling on evidence of this and want to write more about it.
But this was a fascinating piece and I'm glad you're documenting these artists who might be forgotten otherwise. A real contribution!
Thanks, Ellen.....glad you appreciate his contributions, and my enjoyment in pasting it all together! You raise come great points about crediting folks, and how that's changed over the decades! That Bernstein vid was remarkable, and so fascinating how truly "into" pop music, and was so motivated to educating kids, from his perspective, on how it was created! Thanks again!
Thanks so much, Bryan! Much appreciated! You're in the right place, because my particular obsession (well, the one that has to do with research and writing, anyway!) of that very same is all what FR&B is about!
FR&B readers and subbies, BTW, would do well to hop on The Bus, and enjoy your learning journey and your stops along the way! Readers may peruse and subscribe to Bryan's creative canon here: https://thebus.substack.com/
As for "how many Tandyns," very few, although I'm glad I found SOMETHING about his cool and unusual name in my web digging! But, for what you REALLY mean, the answer is hundreds and hundreds! And, as you know, Bryan, we've got one here, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE!
Stephen Michael Schwartz! Wonderfully talented, and no less so just because his debut RCA album in '74 didn't quite match Elton's sales figures for the year! We're about to learn, too (and very soon), about Stephen's ultimate successes on Disney's label and beyond, when we hear the story of The Parachute Express trio, and their (and his) popular children's music contributions!
Thanks, Paul! A bucket-list item for about a decade, when I first started to hear about who Tandyn was! I wanted to create a lasting one-stop go-to about him, which I knew was going to be monstrous, and it's over 2500 words!
But, it took perusing funeral parlor sites and sites for birding enthusiasts (the Minetors) to find photos other articles on Tandyn haven't thought to. What a fascinating lad to have known, I'm guessing, and while a bit of a "wasted" talent, we are blessed to have "squoze" a few tunes out of him that his personality/mental challenges seem to have cut short.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: God bless Brian! As for Bernstein, what a monumental talent above and beyond what "we all knew about him"! His SINCERE interest and appreciation of the "kids with their rock music" is HUGE, and proven to be not schtick, by virtue of his learning the songs well enough to play and sing 'em! And, he knew his audience, who had to have been going, "really, that little bit makes a difference?"----The importance of "not quite"! Who knew?😁
Hi, that was very interesting, just want to add that in 1976 David Cassidy wanted to record Tandym Almer's song 'Then I Will Be Someone" for his last RCA album. According to Gerry Beckley (the album's producer) DC resigned bc Mick Ronson didn't like it. We have luck bc DC performed this song once in April 76 on Russell Hardy show. You can find it on YT. I enjoy reading everything you post very much, and I've learnt a lot . Thank you.
Wow, Weronika! What a great add! Thank you! I will do some digging, and I think I smell a new article! Perhaps focusing on that DC album, or just the "one that got away" that you mentioned! Thanks, too, for your loyalty and readership! You've made my week!!!🤗👍
Such an interesting piece! You've collected so much data and put together such a compelling story of Tandyn's work and life.
A few thoughts. If there's an argument for people having multiple lives, it has to be musicians who seem to know how to play as soon as they come in contact with an instrument, like Tandyn.
Chris Dalla Riva recently did a piece on the whole credit issue, and back then it was much less likely to give credit to the producer (like Curt) but it was already changing, and now everyone and their dog gets credit. So Curt would get credit now most likely and Tandyn would not be able to deny it.
That video with Leonard Bernstein is such a find. I want to watch the entire thing!
I have always loved "Along Comes Mary" and thought it was different and special, and this clinches it. The sixties was like a wild frontier for musical creativity, and that carried to some extent into the following decades, but the music industry and radio consolidations were already having an effect by the early 70s and so many artists and songwriters (Like Tandyn and Sloan) were leaving the business by the mid-70s -- or having to bow to serious commercial pressures. I just keep stumbling on evidence of this and want to write more about it.
But this was a fascinating piece and I'm glad you're documenting these artists who might be forgotten otherwise. A real contribution!
Thanks, Ellen.....glad you appreciate his contributions, and my enjoyment in pasting it all together! You raise come great points about crediting folks, and how that's changed over the decades! That Bernstein vid was remarkable, and so fascinating how truly "into" pop music, and was so motivated to educating kids, from his perspective, on how it was created! Thanks again!
Fascinating stuff - I love learning about these sorts of people and their unsung influences! How many other Tandyns are out there?! Brilliant!
Thanks so much, Bryan! Much appreciated! You're in the right place, because my particular obsession (well, the one that has to do with research and writing, anyway!) of that very same is all what FR&B is about!
FR&B readers and subbies, BTW, would do well to hop on The Bus, and enjoy your learning journey and your stops along the way! Readers may peruse and subscribe to Bryan's creative canon here: https://thebus.substack.com/
As for "how many Tandyns," very few, although I'm glad I found SOMETHING about his cool and unusual name in my web digging! But, for what you REALLY mean, the answer is hundreds and hundreds! And, as you know, Bryan, we've got one here, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE!
Stephen Michael Schwartz! Wonderfully talented, and no less so just because his debut RCA album in '74 didn't quite match Elton's sales figures for the year! We're about to learn, too (and very soon), about Stephen's ultimate successes on Disney's label and beyond, when we hear the story of The Parachute Express trio, and their (and his) popular children's music contributions!
I know you'll stay tuned! Thanks again, Bryan!
Interesting stuff, Brad. The Bernstein video is cool. "That 'not quite' is what makes the difference".
Thanks, Paul! A bucket-list item for about a decade, when I first started to hear about who Tandyn was! I wanted to create a lasting one-stop go-to about him, which I knew was going to be monstrous, and it's over 2500 words!
But, it took perusing funeral parlor sites and sites for birding enthusiasts (the Minetors) to find photos other articles on Tandyn haven't thought to. What a fascinating lad to have known, I'm guessing, and while a bit of a "wasted" talent, we are blessed to have "squoze" a few tunes out of him that his personality/mental challenges seem to have cut short.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: God bless Brian! As for Bernstein, what a monumental talent above and beyond what "we all knew about him"! His SINCERE interest and appreciation of the "kids with their rock music" is HUGE, and proven to be not schtick, by virtue of his learning the songs well enough to play and sing 'em! And, he knew his audience, who had to have been going, "really, that little bit makes a difference?"----The importance of "not quite"! Who knew?😁
Hi, that was very interesting, just want to add that in 1976 David Cassidy wanted to record Tandym Almer's song 'Then I Will Be Someone" for his last RCA album. According to Gerry Beckley (the album's producer) DC resigned bc Mick Ronson didn't like it. We have luck bc DC performed this song once in April 76 on Russell Hardy show. You can find it on YT. I enjoy reading everything you post very much, and I've learnt a lot . Thank you.
Wow, Weronika! What a great add! Thank you! I will do some digging, and I think I smell a new article! Perhaps focusing on that DC album, or just the "one that got away" that you mentioned! Thanks, too, for your loyalty and readership! You've made my week!!!🤗👍