Shave the Monkey – Good Luck Mr Gorsky

Original folking posting date – 17-May-2001

When Apollo Mission Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” statement but followed it by several remarks, whilst communicating between him, the other astronauts and Mission Control. Just before he re-entered the lander, however, he made the enigmatic remark “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.”

Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky” statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.

On July 5, 1995 (in Tampa Bay, FL) while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had finally died and so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question.

When he was a kid, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit a fly ball which landed in the front of his neighbor’s bedroom windows. His neighbors were Mr. & Mrs. Gorsky.

As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, “Oral sex! You want oral sex?! You’ll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!”

While Shave the Monkey are still fundamentally a folk rock band, their latest album also reflects their musical interests outside the folk world. The fourth album “Good Luck Mr Gorsky” is an exploration of Jazz-funk, techno and pop, together with some tracks nearer to the “Euro folk” style of their previous albums. Yet the album is unmistakably Shave. The band says that they are not deserting their folk fans, just flexing their muscles.

Track Analysis:

ON THE EDGE, Irish-American folk rock.
PERFECT MATCH, a pop love song.
BROKEN ROCK, haunting vocals.
BEYOND THE PADDINGTON SLIP, a high-energy Flemish tune
MOVING SOFTLY, a fine duet.
LAAYOUNE, bouncy, meaty and fun.
SCARED explores the stresses of modern life.
ANOTHER DAY, written after a nightmare.
SCORCHIO, an instrumental that leaves a blazing trail behind it.
STRANGERS LAND, misadventure on the high seas.
LAST GOODBYE, an up-beat ghost story.
HYPOCHONDRIAC/COBRA, as near as Shave get to a full on techno track.

Reviewers Name – The Folkmaster


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