Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds

thumb|300px|right|"Cancer - The Moon Child"
The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds was an album released on the Elektra label in August 1967 in the U.K.. It was heavily played by Peel on his Perfumed Garden shows, where he used it as the basis for a competition. (He had been sent a copy by Clive Selwood, then head of Elektra's London office and later to become Peel's manager.) The LP was popular with Perfumed Garden listeners and was mentioned in the lyrics of Geoffrey Prowse's fan tribute to the programme, "The Perfumed Garden Blues, Or John Peel's Lament":
''He played the Mothers of Invention and the Velvet Underground / 
He played some freaky music called the Zodiac Cosmic Sounds..."
The 12-track concept album featured both music and spoken narration on the theme of signs of the zodiac. Based on an initial idea by Elektra chief Jac Holzman, it was a collaborative effort with music written by Mort Garson, words by Jacques Wilson, and narration by Cyrus Faryar. Producer Alex Hassilev had made his name with pop-folk group the Limeliters and had visited Britain, making a guest appearance on the BBC Light Programme's show "Country Meets Folk" in July 1967. The early use of the Moog synthesizer was by Paul Beaver (later to record in the 1970s as one half of the electronic music duo Beaver and Krause).. There was no artist called either The Zodiac or Cosmic Sounds, a fact which confused some buyers of the LP. The back sleeve informed listeners that the record "MUST BE PLAYED IN THE DARK".
In 1994, Peel played the LP again in full over three months on his BBC Radio One shows in a regular spot shortly after the 5.30 news on Saturday afternoons, to follow a similar run through the ‘Astrology Songs’ album of Harvey Sid Fisher.
Peel continued to broadcast selections from the 1967 LP into the 21st century, usually coupled with more contemporary tracks with similar themes. On 13 August 2002, he commented:
“Hasn’t really stood the test of time terribly well, but at the same time, clutches at the heart slightly.”
== Plays ==
;1967
*July 1967 (Radio London): (Peel chatting with Pete Drummond)(JP: 'I'm going to come back a little later in the week and talk about my contest too. Can I do that?')(PD: 'Yes, by all means, come back and talk about your contest. I mean, is it a good contest?')(JP: 'Oh, fantastic yes, my Zodiac Cosmic Sounds Contest.')(PD: 'Is that still on, is it?')(JP: 'It is indeed, yes.')(PD: 'How far have you got in the Zodiac?')(JP: 'Well, we don't go through it in any particular thing, but we'll talk about that later…)
*12 July 1967: (JP: “And if you’re wondering about our Zodiac Cosmic Sounds contest, for which I have had a million – not a million, I exaggerate – but a lot of entries. Some fantastically beautiful and glorious things people have done for me. And letters. It’s amazing. It just makes me feel very wonderful about the whole thing. You wouldn’t believe the letters that I have been receiving and I hope that this trend continues, you know.”)(JP: "Anyway, in case you’re wondering how much longer the Zodiac Cosmic Sounds contest is going to continue – it will be going up until probably the end of the week, just depending on how entries go this week. If I feel like continuing it longer, in my magnanimous way I will do so. We had Capricorn entries during the week from Alan Sutherland of Merythr Tydfil – that’s Welsh Wales, you see, said he with a very bad Welsh accent. And John Twist of Newton Le Willows. And Sue Raingold – which is a nice name, Raingold, I like that – and she lives in Harrow. So those are our Capricorn entries.")(JP: “We had some Sagittarius entries in our Cosmic Sounds contest, from Kieren O’Connor, who doesn’t as you would imagine live in Ireland but actually in Balham. And Pat Woodbridge of West Norwood, Peter Stennit of Stratford, Sally Mimner of Dublin and Mike Gibbs of Clapham. And Sagittarius is called what on this thing? They say, “Sagittarius, the versatile daredevil.” So, all you Sagittarius people, this is what you sound like.”)Sagittarius - The Versatile Daredevil(JP: "I think Bob Dylan would like that, seeing as it was about circuses and things. From the Zodiac Cosmic Sounds on Electra Records. And don’t write and ask me who it’s by, because it’s not actually by anybody. It’s just a bunch of people who got together in a recording studio and decided to develop this idea. That was Sagittarius, the versatile dare-devil.")
*18 July 1967: John announces all the runners up and the 3 winners of the contest, including Geoffrey Prowse who came 3rd.
*20 July 1967: Gemini - The Cool Eye
*14 August 1967: (JP: “This is from the Zodiac Cosmic Sounds LP that brought a lot of happiness in the Perfumed Garden because I got a lot of paintings and things from people and met a lot of people through it.”)Aquarius - The Lover Of Life
;1968
*03 July 1968: Cancer - The Moon Child
;1987
*27 January 1987: Virgo (LP - Cosmic Sounds) Elektra
;1994
*11 June 1994: Aries - The Fire Eater
*18 June 1994: Taurus - The Voluptuary
*02 July 1994 (BFBS): Taurus - The Voluptuary(For all those listeners who wrote "Thank goodness there won't be any more Harvey Sid Fisher records".)
*02 July 1994: Gemini - The Cool Eye
*09 July 1994: (JP: “And I wonder whether there's actually anybody who switches on the radio just after the 5.30 news and says 'I don't want to miss Peel's extract from the Zodiac Cosmic Sounds LP.' I seriously doubt that there is. But if you are that sorry person, this is the moment you've been waiting for. This is Cancer - The Moon Child. And when this LP was first released in 1967 and I used to play it a lot then, this was the track everyone liked best.”)Cancer - The Moon Child
*16 July 1994: (JP: “It seems a little fatuous after that to follow with Zodiac Cosmic Sounds, but a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do – and you can quote me on that.”)Leo - The Lord Of Lights(JP: "It makes you think, doesn’t it? Not much, I have to admit … It’s me next week incidentally, Virgo. I’m sure you can’t wait for that. Sadly really, unlike the Harvey Sid Fisher things, no one has written in to say anything at all about Zodiac Cosmic Sounds, either for or against. But nonetheless, I shall persevere, because that’s the kind of guy I am – rugged and stupid.”)
*23 July 1994: Virgo - The Perpetual Perfectionist
*30 July 1994: Libra – The Flower Child
*06 August 1994: Scorpio - The Passionate Hero
*03 September 1994: Sagittarius - The Versatile Daredevil(JP: “From 1967 – well it would have to be really.”)
*10 September 1994: (JP: “This is Zodiac Cosmic Sounds, fans. This is a particularly gross one too I should tell you.”)Capricorn: The Uncapricious Climber(JP: "An astonishing load of piffle really from Zodiac Cosmic Sounds. As I said, we used to take it terribly seriously when it first came out. Zodiac Cosmic Sounds and Capricorn The Uncapricious Climber. I don’t think there is such a word in English as uncapricious, but I could be wrong about that. I stand to be corrected if necessary.”)
*17 September 1994: Aquarius - The Lover Of Life (LP - Cosmic Sounds) Elektra
*08 October 1994 (BFBS): Pisces - The Peace Piper
*01 October 1994: Pisces - The Peace Piper (LP - Cosmic Sounds) Elektra
;2002
*13 August 2002: (preceded Kosmic Sound by Groop “… which gave me an opportunity, as if I needed it, to play a track from the LP called Zodiac Cosmic Sounds, which came out on Elektra Records in about 1967, which used to be played an enormous amount on the pirate ship Radio London, when I used to do a programme on there called Perfumed Garden. It hasn’t stood the test of time well, as you will hear shortly, and there’s a note on the front of the sleeve that says, or on the record somewhere, which says ‘Must Be Played In The Dark’. Oh boy… Not unreasonably I think, given the season, this is Virgo.”)Virgo - The Perpetual Perfectionist(JP: "As I say, hasn’t really stood the test of time terribly well, but at the same time, clutches at the heart slightly. Because, again, a track from that used to be played on almost every programme that I did on Radio London.”)
;2004
*28 January 2004: Capricorn - The Uncapricious Climber(JP: “This is from an LP I used to play to death on the pirate radio ship Radio London in 1967, but it suited the period. Zodiac Cosmic Sounds was the title of it and that of course was the track ‘Capricorn’, as was the track prior to that which was a white label and only Hermeet knows who it is by …”)
*06 February 2004 (BBC World Service): Capricorn - The Uncapricious Climber
*17 February 2004: Aquarius - The Lover Of Life(JP: "And anybody who sniggered at ‘opal light of Uranus’ cannot go into the chat room, I think it is fair to say, which will be open in about six minutes’ time… That was Zodiac Cosmic Sounds from the late 1960s. Used to play it to death on Radio London on the pirate ship and that was on Elektra Records – still is, I suppose, in a manner of speaking. Before that it was ‘Aquarius’, and I have already got the next one, which is Pisces, which I will be playing sometime next week. Actually, I never know when these zodiac signs begin and end, so what it is at the moment, I really don’t know, and more significantly I think, don’t care either.” [It doesn’t appear that the Pisces track was eventually played.])
*28 April 2004: Aries - The Fire-Fighter(JP: "Only the friction is holier’. There’s something to think about when the rest of the world is partying. That’s Zodiac Cosmic Sounds, from obviously a very long time ago and on Elektra Records, late 1960s. ‘Aries’ that was, preceded by ‘Aries’, 12” by unknown artiste.”)(after the following track: “While that was playing actually, I was packing away the Zodiac Cosmic Sounds record and a postcard fell out of the sleeve, which was send to me back in 1967 when I was playing the record, by Michael Courtauld And he said, “Dear John Peel, The Zodiac LP you are playing is a fantastic record. Is it available in this country? In response to your appeal for zodiac signs, my sign is Virgo. And that was Michael Courtauld of Palmers Green, London N13. I wonder if he still listens to the programme. It would be nice to know. He would probably be rather moved that I have still got his postcard.”)
== See Also ==
*Record Collection: Z
*Record Collection: V&A LPs
== Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Richie Unterberger: Liner notes for The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds (Water label reissue)
Category:Discography
Category:1967
Category:Albums