Category: Blog

I waffled for a week as to whether I’d invite Charles Stella to do one of his awesome dub mixes for this song.  It is, after all, not in any way Reggae or even Ska, this is a Rock song with a capital R.  Can we do dub mixes of Rock? Oh why yes, Catalonia, we can, as evidenced by the result. I like how the EP flows with the single, then the dub, then the instrumental version (which is simply my original mix with the vocals muted).

I similarly waffled about asking Shannon to draw a cover for this one. Because I had absolutely no idea what it might be.  And I had a bit of dread about what it could be, and I wouldn’t want to waste Mr. Wheeler’s time.  The song is about a rock star on top of the world having a grand time and their fans are happy and they are happy and everything is great. I didn’t want the cover to be a picture of that, exactly. There had to be a twist.

That was a few weeks ago, and Shannon was, at first, similarly stumped as to what to draw.  I made it clear – we don’t have to do this one – I have a perfectly good temporary cover and I can just keep that, but if you have an idea….

Well, I’m very glad I asked him, because a few days later, arrives in my inbox: a cat in a top hat smoking a bubble-pipe on top of an apparently flat-ish earth on the shoulders of charming elephants dancing on a mighty turtle. Whaaaat!? I cheered out loud.

On Top Of The World was done, boom.  Myles Boisen mastered the audio for my mixes, Charles mastered his mix, I put the pieces together here and voila.  A Berkeley Cat Record.

As of today it’s live in aaaaaaall of the streaming services; Here’s a widget with links to a few of the more popular ones:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/ericdin/on-top-of-the-world-ep

And here it is in our beloved Bandcamp, long may they camp:

Turtles, turtles, all the way down.

Hey! Wow! New single. Dropped this morning. From a tree. Next to a marmot. And Charlotte.

Waving at the neighbors “Hi!” as the waves crash in,
They look at me and don’t know why, like “Hi, whatever,”
No one talks anymore, no one walks in this town,
Hardly notice myself when I take a look ’round,
Chasing my lost angels through the smog and glory,
Elvis and The Runaways gaze from the HOLLYWOOD sign

And on the gridlock freeway,
Tuning in to float away

Never never never never never sleep, never, never never slow down,
Got a bridge back home to sell ya, and the moon as well
No one talks anymore, no one walks in this town,
Hardly notice my shoes when I look at the ground,
All of these lost angels are gone forever,
Never lookin’ back again, no never never,

And on the zombie freeway,
Casting directors casting doubt,
I’ll never be in your spillway,
I’m not in your secret club,

As I walk in the mall, with my eyes lookin’ down,
Staring at the glowing, gleaming showing,
Now I know the way, following what it say,
Never need to wonder, everything’s easy,
These machines will preen and vent spleen for me,
Waving at my hologram now, the neighbors smile,

And on the scarlet carpet,
Margot Robbie strides away,
And in the garden, Charlotte
Watches a charming marmot play,
And in the garden, Charlotte,
Margot Robbie strides away

——

Guitarscape, Fender P-Bass, Vocals – Eric Din
1965 Ludwig Drums – Michael Urbano
Recorded by Michael Rosen at East Bay Recorders
2nd Engineer – Austin James Hicks
Produced and mixed by Eric Din for Berkeley Cat Records
Mastered by Michael Romanowski at Coast Mastering
Artwork by Shannon Wheeler

© 2023 Eric Roy Dinwiddie
King Roy Music, BMI