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."
Listen
The Free Design Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Never knowing who is there inside
Showing traces
Faces to hide the fear of me
Wanting you always here
Seeing, being
Ever faithful to the unspoken law
Listen, your heart is free of me
Wanting you always here
Hear
The lyrics to The Free Design's song "Listen" attempt to explore the complexities of human emotions and the way in which they manifest in our relationships with others. The song's opening lines, "hearing, feeling / never knowing who is there inside," suggest that we are often unable to fully understand the people we encounter in our lives, even when we are close to them. This theme is further explored in the following line, "showing traces / faces to hide the fear of me," which implies that we often hide our true selves out of a fear of being rejected or misunderstood.
The chorus of the song, which repeats the phrase "wanting you always here" several times, suggests that even when we feel disconnected from others, there is still a strong desire for intimacy and connection. The second verse of the song introduces the idea of an "unspoken law," which seems to refer to the unwritten rules that govern our relationships with others. The following line, "making distance," suggests that sometimes we may intentionally push people away in order to maintain these unspoken rules.
Line by Line Meaning
Hearing, feeling
Experiencing various sensory experiences
Never knowing who is there inside
Being uncertain of one's true self
Showing traces
Presenting hints or signs
Faces to hide the fear of me
Putting on a facade to conceal the fear of being oneself
Wanting you always here
Yearning for constant companionship
Seeing, being
Perceiving and existing
Ever faithful to the unspoken law
Consistently upholding unwritten principles
Making distance
Creating space or separation
Listen, your heart is free of me
Pay attention, your emotions are not dependent on me
Wanting you always here
Desiring constant presence
Hear
Listen attentively
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Christopher Dedrick
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind