Tape Recorder
In high school many young people have the idea to start a band. Michael Cooper, Ivar Hillesland and Richard Powelson not only had the idea to create a band, but to record the songs. Being young and spontaneous, they grabbed what they had around them: a guitar, a keyboard and hand drums. The three gathered close.
Perhaps the most important thing that was grabbed, which enabled them to accomplish their end goal, was the tape recorder
. This innocuous black box, trimmed in silver with buttons to push like play, rewind, fast-forward, eject, stop, pause and most significant, record. By pushing the button with the red circle on it, the three young men were able to put down on tape (for better or worse) their songs. Huddled together, they recorded both sides of a tape they found laying about, Frank Zappa's We're Only in it for the Money, leaving room for brief Zappa interludes.
After the recording session was done, play was pushed and ultimately eject. The black cassette tape had a white label; Zappa's name was scratched out and We Sound Good to Drunk People replaced it. The tape was dubbed, taken in cars and played in tape decks. The album was roundly panned by audiences and critics alike for being absurd, but they were determined to continue.