"Ditzy Scene" is a song by English rock band Cardiacs. It was planned as the opening track and lead single from the band's unfinished sixth album, LSD. It was released on Org Records, and was the band's last single to be released in frontman Tim Smith's lifetime, as well as their most recent to be composed of entirely new material.[3]

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for music. (August 2021)

"Ditzy Scene"
Single by Cardiacs
from the album LSD
B-side	"Gen" "Made All Up"
Released	5 November 2007[lower-alpha 1]
Recorded	Autumn 2007
Studio	Apollo 8 (Chessington)[2]
Length	6:38
Label	Org Records Alphabet Business Concern
Songwriter(s)	Tim Smith Kavus Torabi
Producer(s)	Tim Smith
Cardiacs singles chronology
"Signs" (1999) "Ditzy Scene" (2007) "Vermin Mangle" (2020)
Alternative cover
Org Records limited edition CD single

"Ditzy Scene" was included in Prog's list of Knifeworld frontman Kavus Torabi's Guide to Cardiacs. In 2018, the Alphabet Business Concern rereleased the song on Bandcamp.

Writing and recording

"Ditzy Scene" was the first of several songs written following a Cardiacs' line-up change in 2004. Singer and guitarist Kavus Torabi wrote the lyrics after beginning to record their unreleased sixth album, provisionally titled LSD, in 2005.[4] He said it was planned to be remixed for the album:

I'm not mad on the mix of it, so the plan would've been to remix it for the LSD album that never happened. I love the tune. It was the first thing that we did with that new line-up and it was a new thing.[5]

The band recorded "Ditzy Scene" at Smith's own recording studio Apollo 8 in Autumn 2007, shortly before the last Cardiacs tour.[5][6][7] Torabi wrote the lyrics to Smith's arrangement, as well as playing the guitar solo for the intro.[5] The intro, according to Torabi, was extremely hard to play, requiring complete concentration from the band. They recorded the song with tapes.[5] Along with Smith, vocals were provided by Torabi, bass player Jim Smith, Claire Lemmon and "special guest star" Suzanne Kirby.[8]

"Ditzy Scene"

Sample of "Ditzy Scene" from Cardiacs' unreleased album LSD. The sample illustrates the change in dynamics from intro to chorus.[9]

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In an interview with Prog, Torabi described his first reaction to the song's structure whilst recording: "When we started recording it was like 'Fucking hell ... here we go!' When those girl vocals came in at the start, going 'Aaah aaah!' it was a real goosebump moment and I thought 'Okay, we've really got something here ...' It's just brilliant."[5]

Release and reception

On November 5, it had a limited edition press release on Org Records,[10] with only 1000 copies made.[11][lower-alpha 1] The song charted at number 72 on the Spanish iTunes Chart on 11 October 2020.[12]

Formats and track listing

Personnel

• Tim Smith – guitar, vocals
• Cathy Harabaras – tube bell, drums, percussion
• Jim Smith – bass guitar, vocals
• Kavus Torabi – guitar, vocals
• Melanie Woods – vocals
• Bob Leith – drums
• Dawn Staple – tube bell, drums, percussion
• Claire Lemmon – vocals
• Suzanne Kirby – guest vocals

Notes

References

External links

• "Ditzy Scene" at Discogs (list of releases)
• "Ditzy Scene" at MusicBrainz (list of releases)