Nick Cave, Kirk Hammett Sing Daisy Bell

Nick Cave and Kirk Hammett of Metallica are just two of the artists who sing the kids track ‘Daisy Bell’ over and over on a new album.

In the world of strange music releases, we may have a new contender for the top ten.

Mark Ryden, the artist known as the “Godfather of Pop Surrealism”, has opened an exhibit of his work based around a theme of “The Gay 90’s” at the Kohn Gallery in Hollywood and as a tie-in with the show, will release a limited edition (999 copies) album called The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell.

The album will include a number of different artists, old and new, performing their versions of the same song, Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built For Two), written by Harry Dacre in 1892. Over the years, the song was a hit on a number of occasions and holds the distinction of being the first tune sung by a computer, an IBM 704 in Bell Labs (1961). That fact was used by Arthur C. Clarke in his book 2001: A Space Odyssey as the villain computer HAL sings the tune as he shuts down.

Those performing their renditions of Daisy Bell on the album include Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Nick Cave, Stan Ridgeway of Wall of Voodoo, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Danny Elfman, Weird Al Yankovic, Tyler the Creator, whose album Wolf had a Ryden work on the cover of the Deluxe Edition, and Katy Perry, whose likeness in one of the artist’s paintings is in the Gay 90’s exhibition.

The album, pressed in red vinyl, costs $99 with half of the 999 copies sold at the gallery and half sold via Reardon’s website.

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