Kites Are Fun [Import] [Limited Edition]

1. Kites Are Fun

2. Make The Madness Stop

3. When Love Is Young

4. The Proper Ornaments

5. My Brother Woody

6. 59th Street Bridge Song(Feelin' Groovy)

7. Kites Are Fun(Single Version)

8. Don't Turn Away

9. Umbrellas

10. Michelle

11. Never Tell The World

12. A Man And A Woman

13. Stay Another Season

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Japanese exclusive reissue of 1967 album that's unavailable domestically. Packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. Includes the bonus track 'Kites Are Fun' (single version).

Tracks:

Kites Are Fun
I Found Love
Bubbles
My Brother Woody
2002-A Hit Song
Stay Another Season
Felt So Good
Kije's Ouija
My Very Own Angel
Never Tell The World
A Man & A Woman
Love You
Howdjadoo (Fly Me Down)
You Could Be Born Again
Now Is The Time
You Are My Lover

Customer Reviews:

Never Thought I Would See This Album Again !.......2005-06-11

I had this particular album on 8-track tape !! I believe that the Free Design originated in Buffalo, N.Y. I was ecstatic to find this album. It brings back so many wonderful memories. I was always very fond of "Kites are Fun" and "My Brother Woody" I have ordered the album and cant wait to get it !!

The Free Design, very unique.......2003-10-13

I don't have this album but came across "Kites are Fun" on a compilation album with other artists and I've heard the song many times along with, My Brother Woody and the 59th Street Bridge Song. All I have to say is they have a style all their own, much emphasis on the vocal harmonies but with a trendy '67ish backbeat to their songs. It amazes me that in such a turbulent time a group tried to chart hits with some of these, well, odd songs. No other time in history before or after the 60's would anyone attempt that musically.

FREE DESIGN are sugar playground fun!.......2002-05-26

Hard to believe this band came out of such a violent period with frothy tunes about flying kites,but yes indeed.I heard the song "Kites are fun" on a cd comp of 60s pop.I couldn't believe what I was hearing!Heavens!I liked it,though,so I bought this compilation.As I listened,visions of Stereolab danced in my head.Good golly!FREE DESIGN were so far ahead of their time.Excellent music and lyrics(either tongue in cheek or sincere(gulp)

The New Seekers on prozac become born again christians.......2001-05-24

I bought this C.D. in hopes of finding something new. Well,I did. The groups vocal arrangements are very well done, and the sound quality is great. But........The songs themselves are wayyyyy tooo sweet. Like phoney sweet not like real surgar but like sweet & low sweet. When I finished listening I spent two days trying to figure out how someone could of come up with such bizzarely innocently happy lyrics. They made The 1910 Fruit Gum Co. sound like Black Sabbath.

Free Design are Fun!!.......2001-04-25

On the flipside of the 60's guitar-and-noise excess, you had the sharp, clear harmonies of groups like the Free Design. They we're arranging baroque-pop (like Bacharach and the Beach Boys) with Mama's and the Papa's like choral verses about simple, childlike topics (kites, Ouija boards). Hopelessly square - the music is much more at home in the 21st century where groups like Stereolab have muted jazz-pop into experimental ambient-pop (listen to "Dots and Loops" for obvious influences!)

Tracks:

Kites Are Fun
Make The Madness Stop
When Love Is Young
The Proper Ornaments
My Brother Woody
59th Street Bridge Song
Don't Turn Away
Umbrellas
Michelle
Never Tell The World
A Man And A Woman
Stay Another Season
The Proper Ornaments (Mono Version)
Kites Are Fun (Single Version)

Album Description

To this day, The Free Design remain one of the true masters of all things soft-pop-psych! Hailing from New York, The Free Design were a late '60s/early '70s family pop group, releasing seven brilliant albums and influencing countless musicians (Beck, Belle & Sebastian, Cornelius, Stereolab...). Fans of The Beach Boys and The Association take note. Originally released in 1967, this is their debut album (first time on CD in the U.S.), 24-bit remastered with 14 tracks including 2 bonus tracks 'The Proper Ornaments' (mono version) & 'Kites Are Fun' (single version). Includes 16 page color booklet w/liner notes by Cornelius & Michael White. Light In The Attic. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

Carefree, sometimes melancholy, always delightful.......2007-05-17

Here's a lovely musical treasure from a very specific slice of time, one that was unfairly dismissed as too poppy & lightweight. Yet it holds up far better than many "serious" offerings from the same time, and has since become an inspiration for contemporary indie-fave artists such as Stereolab.

The gorgeous harmonies, the intricate arrangements, the irresistibly catchy songs -- this is the Free Design! From the joyful summer afternoon of the title track, to the lush, soaring chorale of "Stay Another Season," this is pop music at its best. And while much of the music is boppy & upbeat, the lyrics often offer a poignant, thoughtful counterpoint. There's more going on here than initially meets the ear! Like so many songs from this time, there's often a subtle note of melancholy running just below the surface of the happiest songs. Loss & shaded memories figure just as strongly as wonder & delight.

It's also fascinating to see how they remake the hit songs of others ... for instance, "Michelle" becomes a delicate Renaissance ballad, while "The 59th Street Bridge Song" indeed slows down to a lazy, almost jazzy stroll. A very mixed bag, for all the exquisitely glossy production!

You won't find music this sweetly sincere being made these days, and the more jaded listener will probably pass it by without a second thought. But for those who want to experience another, more idyllic time, this is undeniably the perfect soundtrack. Most highly & happily recommended!

Kites Are Fun..........2004-10-14

Picture a weird commercial from 1967 - the men wearing turtleneck sweaters, the women with long blonde hair. Perhaps the ad is set in a ski lodge. The sun is impossibly bright, the music impossibly sweat and pure. Around the fire, their eyes would glow as they smiled with perfect teeth. This is a memory that is on the verge of disappearing - or perhaps, for you, it's what Clark Ashton Smith called "the nostalgia of the unknown."

The Free Design opens the gates into this long-ago time - now as dead to us as ancient Rome. Will you go there and greet the men and women at that ski lodge? Why not? It's the perfect soundtrack to a half-remembered dream, or an evocation for a vanished world.

Average customer rating:

Kites Are Fun Import Release
No jewel case!
The best of 1960s pop harmony
The best of 1960s pop harmony

Kites Are Fun
The Free Design
Manufacturer: Jvc Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music

Baroque Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Pop | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000065ECQ
Release Date: 2002-05-22

Tracks:

Kites Are Fun
Make the Madness Stop
When Love Is Young
Proper Ornaments
My Brother Woody
59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
Don't Turn Away
Umbrellas
Michelle
Never Tell the World
Man and a Woman [From A Man and a Woman]
Stay Another Season
Kites Are Fun [Single Version]

Album Description

Japanese exclusive reissue of 1967 album that's unavailable domestically. Packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. Includes the bonus track 'Kites Are Fun' (single version).

Album Details

Japanese Limited Edition in an LP-STYLE Slipcase.

Customer Reviews:

Kites Are Fun Import Release.......2005-02-25

If you are a Free Design Fan, you'll definitely like the CD, especially if you have not heard the material for a number of years. Where the disc falls short is in the re-mixing. I have the original vinyl and I heard distict differences in the CD. I don't know if they had the original masters in Japan, but not only are the mixes different, but the first note of the bass solo in the beginning of Kites Are Fun is distorted. It sounds like someone was riding the levels and brought down the volume on the bass by the third note.

All that being said; the disc does sound good overall.

No jewel case!.......2004-07-14

For the price I would have expected the CD to come with a jewel case at the very least!

The best of 1960s pop harmony.......2002-07-29

I grew up with this album on LP (it was my parents') and to this day I am still haunted by the music, the arrangements and lyrics on it. Chris Dedrick is a wonderful composer, not to mention an incredible vocal arranger, and with his siblings has presented a debut album that is brimming with artistry and an evident pure love of what vocal harmonies can do. As a founder and vocal arranger of my own vocal group, I have turned to my "Kites Are Fun" album for inspiration. Even their covers of well-known tunes (my favorite being "59th Street Bridge Song") are re-presented in a whole new fresh light. I'm glad to know that they have recently reunited, recorded and released a new CD (which sounds great). Along with "The Singers Unlimited" and very early "The Manhattan Transfer", "The Free Design" must go in the vocal group hall of fame.

The best of 1960s pop harmony.......2002-07-29

Average customer rating:

Kites Are Fun (+1 Bonus Track)
Free Design
Manufacturer: Vivid
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B00003Q44O
Release Date: 1999-11-23

Album Details

Japanese Best of featuring Tracks Collected from their Six Releases plus a Bonus Track 'you Are My Lover'.

Rock Music:

Rock Music