slapp Happy “half way there”
from: Acnalbasac Noom (1974)
“He’s only half-way there
He’s only half-way there
Told me my fortune was enough for me
That I would rather be
Lying lonely in the houses
Than stand along the river-side
Wearing nothing but the ruby
Bequeathed to me by him when he died
He’s only half-way there
He’s only half-way there
If I hadn’t disappeared
In spring that year
I’d have sent him home again
He’s only half-way there
He’s only half-way there
A large courtege of mourners all agree
That it was really he
Huddled in a blanket
Chewing on a ball-point pen
They stood him up against the wall
& set him off again
Around the karmic wheel big deal
You can’t get me that way
I read between the lines
Of the notice in the Times
& this is what they say
He’s only half-way there
He’s only half-way there
Half-way there”
One of the joys of doing radio in the early 80's, pre-internet, was exploring WCUW’s vast vinyl library in preparation for the 3-hour morning radio show, The Alternative Alarmclock. Often the hours of exploration far exceeded the actual time on the air. Among my many discoveries was the group Slapp Happy with the swooping light-as-air vocals of Dagmar Kraus. Everything they did spoke to me; it's difficult to pick just one. Slapp Happy is no more, nor is Henry Cow or the Art Bears (two other groups Dagmar was in at the time), but Dagmar continues to share her vocal talents (and her love and coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler) with us.
-Val Sampson-
Slapp Happy vocalist Dagmar Krause