The members were all siblings of the Dedrick family: Chris Dedrick (who wrote most of the songs), sister Sandy Dedrick and brother Bruce Dedrick were the original lineup. Younger sister Ellen Dedrick joined the group later, as did cousin Jeff Dedrick for a brief time, and youngest sister Stefanie joined near the end of their initial career. Their father, Art Dedrick, was a trombonist and music arranger. Their uncle, Rusty Dedrick, was a jazz trumpeter with Claude Thornhill and Red Norvo. They formed the band while living in New York City. Chris has said the group was influenced by vocal groups like The Hi-Los (who performed in Greenwich Village frequently at the time) along with Peter, Paul and Mary and the counterpoint experiments of Benjamin Britten. Their trademark sound involved complex harmonies, jazz-like chord progressions, and off-beat time signatures; all products of Chris's classical training.
The band released six albums from 1967 to 1972, all on Enoch Light's Project 3 label. For the most part, they were accompanied on the albums by studio musicians.
Revival of interest
During their career, The Free Design never gained the commercial success they, and a small fan-base, felt they deserved; a plight they noted in their 1969 song "2002 - A Hit Song", in which they describe how to create a hit, then continue, "there's just one fact that we can't quite shirk/ we did all this last time, but it did not work." They remained in obscurity after disbanding in 1972. Starting in the mid-90's, however, interest in them began to grow as part of a general resurge of interest in easy listening music from the 60's and 70's. In 1994, Japanese musician Cornelius began the revival by re-issuing the Free Design catalog on his "Trattoria" label. In 1997, the band Tomorrow's World covered their song "Kites Are Fun", and in 1998, the Spanish "Siesta" label put out four compilation albums of their music. Stereolab, whose lounge-inspired music clearly showed a Free Design influence, named a 1999 single "The Free Design" (though the song itself had no direct connection to the band). The Free Design song "Bubbles" was covered by Dressy Bessy on the 2000 Powerpuff Girls soundtrack.
Perhaps inspired by this newfound interest, in 2000 the band re-grouped, after a nearly 30-year retirement, to record the song "Endless Harmony" on the Beach Boys tribute album Caroline Now. This experience convinced them to record a new full-length album, 2001's Cosmic Peekaboo, which featured the original lineup minus Ellen Dedrick.
In 2001 the label Cherry Red released a Best of Free Design compilation. Their song "I Found Love" was included on the 2002 Gilmore Girls soundtrack. Another song, 'Love You' featured over the end credits to the Emma Thompson and Will Ferrell film, 'Stranger Than Fiction' in 2006. From 2002 to 2005, the original albums were reissued in the United States by the Light in the Attic label. In 2005, the label put out The Now Sound Redesigned, an album of Free Design remixes from established acts like Stereolab, Super Furry Animals and Peanut Butter Wolf.
The recognizable sound of this influential band can be felt in modern-day acts such as Stereolab, Cornelius, The Pizzicato Five, Beck, The High Llamas, and many others.
Chris Dedrick is now an established film composer, most notably for his Genie-awarded soundtrack for Guy Maddin's "The Saddest Music In The World."
2002
The Free Design Lyrics
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Hello, deejay
We're goin' to sing a whopper
and you're goin to make it pay for us
Hello! Hit, hit, hit
Sure to be a hit, hit
Gonna make a hit
No weakness to hinder the fun
Now sing it with reckless abandon
and go to the bank with your mon, mon, money
It's a hit, hit, hit
Sure to be a hit, hit, hit
Gonna make a hit
You take a little drums
Add a little bass
And let the guitar play
at a teenie bopper's pace
It's gotta be a hit
Hello, teenie bopper,
Hello, deejay
We're goin' to sing a whopper
and you're goin to make it pay for us
Hello! Hit, hit
Sure to be a hit, hit, hit
Gonna make a hit
Promotion will cause a big commotion
So, deejay, teenie bopper answer me this:
How can this hit miss?
We've done it all right and sealed it with a kiss
There's just one fact that we can't quite shirk:
We did all this last time, and it did not work!
But! This time we're sure to have a hit, hit, hit
Sure to be a hit
The Free Design's song "2002" is a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the music industry and the pressure to churn out hit songs. The song opens with the band addressing a "teenie bopper" and a "deejay," stating that they are going to sing a "whopper" of a song that will make money. The band emphasizes the importance of uniqueness in creating a hit song and urges the listener to "sing it with reckless abandon." However, the band acknowledges that despite their efforts to make a hit song, they have failed in the past.
The chorus of the song reiterates the band's goal to create a hit song by repeating "hit, hit, hit, sure to be a hit, hit, hit, gonna make a hit." The second verse acknowledges the role of promotion in making a song popular but also recognizes the unpredictability of success in the music industry. The song ends with the band expressing confidence that this time, they will create a hit.
Line by Line Meaning
Hello, teenie bopper,
Greetings to the young pop music fans,
Hello, deejay
Greetings to the radio DJs who play our songs,
We're goin' to sing a whopper
We will perform a great song that everyone will like,
and you're goin to make it pay for us
And you will help us make money from it by promoting and playing it on the radio,
Hello! Hit, hit, hit
Hey there! This song is going to be a huge success,
Sure to be a hit, hit
We are confident that this song will become very popular,
Gonna make a hit
We are determined to create a successful song,
Uniqueness is rule number one,
We believe that the key to success is to create unique and original songs,
No weakness to hinder the fun
We will not let weaknesses or negative feedback stop us from having fun and making music,
Now sing it with reckless abandon
We encourage everyone to sing and enjoy the song without inhibitions or concerns,
and go to the bank with your mon, mon, money
And we hope that this song will generate a lot of revenue for our careers,
You take a little drums
The rhythm section of a song is very important,
Add a little bass
The bass guitar helps provide the foundation for the song,
And let the guitar play
The lead guitar adds melody and energy to the song,
at a teenie bopper's pace
At a tempo that is appropriate and appealing to young pop music fans,
It's gotta be a hit
With all these elements in place, we are convinced that this song will be a success,
Promotion will cause a big commotion
We anticipate that a lot of attention and hype will be generated around our song through advertising and other promotional efforts,
So, deejay, teenie bopper answer me this:
Radio DJs and young pop music fans, please consider this,
How can this hit miss?
How could a song with all the right elements fail to become popular?
We've done it all right and sealed it with a kiss
We believe we have created the perfect formula for a hit song,
There's just one fact that we can't quite shirk:
There is one truth that we cannot ignore,
We did all this last time, and it did not work!
We have tried this formula before, but our previous song did not become a success,
But! This time we're sure to have a hit, hit, hit
But we are still confident that this new song will become a huge success,
Sure to be a hit
We believe that this song has what it takes to be a popular hit,
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CHRIS DEDRICK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind