Original Twitter Upload Date: October 18, 2022.
[Evening. The Tetrad are at the Grime/Griswold household at the Redfeather commune, in the living room. Gilda sits at the piano, Margo sits on the couch with some bongos and pots for makeshift drums, and Wendy and April stand, the former with a guitar and April with a bass]
Gilda: “Alright, girls, from the top.” [Gilda prepares her fingers to play a D-chord] “And remember, it’s D major. Not D sharp, not E flat, just regular old D.”
Wendy: “Gilda, D sharp and E flat are the same note.”
Gilda: “Yes, I know, I was testing you by being funny. You passed.” [waits for the rest of the Tetrad to prepare their instruments, then sets the metronome on top of the piano to 157 BPM before letting it sound. She waits for a few seconds…] “Uno, due, tre, quattro!” […and then starts playing. The rest of the Tetrad follows on their instruments as Gilda starts singing]
Gilda: 🎵 Been running so long, I’ve nearly lost all track of time / In every direction, I couldn’t see the warning signs / I must be losing it, ’cause my mind plays tricks on me / It looked so easy, but you know, looks sometimes deceive 🎵
[Wendy and April start doing kick-dances and flick their tails back and forth as they go to the next verse of the song]
Gilda: 🎵 Been running so fast, right from the starting line / No more connections, I don’t need any more advice / One hand’s just reaching out, and one’s just hangin’ on / It seems my weaknesses just keep going strong 🎵 “Harmony section!”
[Wendy and April walk closer to the piano and Margo leans toward it, as the four begin singing in harmony]
Tetrad: 🎵 Head over heels, where should I go? / Can’t stop myself, out of control / Head over heels, no time to think / Looks like the whole world’s out of sync 🎵
[the Tetrad plays for a few more seconds before stopping. Gilda silences the metronome before speaking]
Gilda: “Alright, that was good, that was good. We got something good going with that harmony. A few notes. Margo, you’re good as you are as a drummer, but you’re also Angus Hynde’s granddaughter, and I know for a fact he’s taken inspiration from Neil Peart. I’ve seen him say so in interviews. I want to hear it in there.”
Margo: “I, uh, I can do that.”
Gilda: “And April, sing a little louder. You’ve got a Tracy Chapman voice, own it.” [April nods. Sharon and Jessica peek their heads into the room, and Gilda notices] “Oh, hi, grandma and mom.”
Jessica: “That was a nice rendition, girls. You’re doing good. Um… but I thought your thing was 1960s throwback, not 1980s.”
Sharon: “They do all kinds of music, Jess. They just perform it in a style like the 60s, even the 80s stuff. Like that band what’re-they-called. The one that sings ‘Rock Lobster’ and ‘Love Shack’.”
Gilda: “The B-52s.”
Sharon: “Oh, right, them.”
Gilda: “And small correction, ‘Rock Lobster’ is from 1978. 1979 if you want to go by the release of their debut album. How do I know more about the 70s than you do?”
Sharon: [half-jokingly] “Excuse me?”
Gilda: “Well, if you do know more than me, how many albums did the Talking Heads release during the decade?”
Sharon: “Three.”
Gilda: “Name them.”
Sharon: “Talking Heads: 77, More Songs About Buildings and Food, and Afraid of Music.”
Gilda: “Wrong!” [goes to the record shelf and pulls out an LP of…] “Fear of Music.” [Sharon rolls her eyes as Margo, Wendy, and April laugh. Gilda points to the word ‘fear’ on the LP as the reactions play out]
Jessica: “I guess she does know more than you, mom.”
Sharon: “Well, to be fair, Talking Heads was your father’s music, not mine.”
Jessica: “Now that you say it, he was always the one putting Talking Heads on, wasn’t he?”
Sharon: “I liked the girl groups, and disco once that became a thing. And then MTV happened, and… well, that’s where my knowledge of popular music starts to dwindle. I liked and still like what the guys from the 60s and 70s put out then, then there was the synth-rock and new wave that Garry liked, then the grunge that you liked. And then I know almost nothing after whatever it was that the Backstreet Boys were.” [beat] “Are they still a thing?
Gilda: “Well, technically yeah, they still perform together. But if you mean ‘still a thing’ like they’re still popular and putting out hits…” [chuckles] “…no.” [beat, as Gilda puts away the Talking Heads album] “Wait a minute, MTV came out in 1981. So doesn’t that mean your knowledge of popular music starts declining about two, three years before?”
Sharon: “Your grandpa didn’t discover Talking Heads until he saw the ‘Once in a Lifetime’ video on MTV. Then he bought Remain in the Light –“
Gilda: “Remain in Light, there’s no ‘the’.”
Sharon: [grunts] “He bought Remain in Light, said it blew his mind. Then he bought their first three albums, said they blew his mind again, all three of them. And then he found the Cars and Devo, and a bunch of other new wave bands, and kept me up to date with all of them, as long as new wave was a thing.”
Margo: “Was he into Myxoma?”
Sharon: “Yes he was, Margo. But Talking Heads was his favorite.”
Gilda: “The Talking Heads was grandpa Garry’s favorite new wave band?”
Sharon: “His favorite band, period. He was even in the audience for Stop Making Sense, remember?”
Wendy, Gilda: “What?!“
Gilda: “Grandpa was in Stop Making Sense?!”
Sharon: “What? I… I thought I told you that before. Or that your mother did.” [to Jessica] “Jess, you never told Gilda your father was in that movie?”
Jessica: “I thought I did. She wouldn’t just tune something like that out.”
Gilda: “Well, I’m remembering it now. Girls, apparently my grandfather was in Stop Making Sense.”
Margo: “That’s cool.”
Wendy: “I’m jealous.”
April: “Yer gramps wis in the pre’ence o’ Scotterland’s grehtest musical expaht.”
Wendy: “Oh, right, I keep forgetting Byrne’s a Scot.”
Gilda: “Actually, hold up. This gives me the perfect bit of inspiration.”
Margo: “What do you mean?”
[Gilda smiles slyly and sets the metronome to 119 BPM]
Margo, Wendy, April: “Oh.” [all nod]
[the Tetrad gets back into position and Gilda prepares her fingers for an A-chord]
Gilda: “This is a speccy’s song, so only fitting that I sing lead, even though I’m a mezzo. Uno, due, tre, quattro!”
[the Tetrad begin playing a SMS-styled rendition of ‘Take Me to the River’. Margo sets her drumsticks down and plays a rhythm of bongos and clapping before the other instruments come in, followed by her, Wendy and April’s singing]
Margo, Wendy, April: 🎵 Take me to the river / Drop me in the water / Take me to the river / Drop me in the water, water 🎵
Gilda: 🎵 I don’t know why, I love her like I do / All the trouble you put me through / Take my money, my cigarettes / I haven’t seen the worst of it yet / I want to know / That you’ll tell me / I love to stay / Oh, take me to the river 🎵
[Sharon smiles as the Tetrad continues singing]
Sharon: “She and your father would’ve gotten along so well.”
Jessica: “She definitely got her vibe from our side of the family.”
Aaaaand now for a 2022 holdover piece that I wrote a ficlet (thanks for that term, @BrendanPoepple1 of Twitter) for. Shortly after switching art styles to the anime-inspired one I use for OTOG, I decided to draw remakes of the artworks featuring the Tetrad as 1960s-style girl group singers, because those outfits are adorable. I’ve explored the idea before of the Tetrad, when the situation or event calls for it, dressing in outfits that match in structure but differ in color, similar to the Powerpuff Girls or the Winx club. And among those events would be when they perform together as musicians. As I’ve stated before, people often overlook how big the overlap between 1960s and 1980s pop culture is; the truth of the matter is, the Venn diagram looks like a pair of parenthesis around an oval. Disregarding how many 60s artists and songs had second waves of recognition during the 80s, the Go-Go’s were the 1980s’ first big take on a girl group (even being named after one of the most iconic elements of 1960s fashion), before the likes of the Bangles and Vixen would show up later in the decade with a much more rock-heavy sound, the latter being full-out hair metal. And the Stop Making Sense version of “Take Me to the River” has the prominent backup singers commonly associated with music of the 1960s. Hence their inclusion in the ficlet!
Also, yes, I finally settled on a name for Gilda’s mother. Her name isn’t ‘Gretchen’ anymore, it’s Jessica. Full name Jessica Lois Grime, née Griswold. Her name in-universe is inspired by Garry’s love of sci-fi and Sharon’s love of fantasy fiction; ‘Jessica’ coming from Dune‘s Lady Jessica, and ‘Lois’ coming from Narnia author CS Lewis.
And that’s all for this one. Sorry if there’s not a lot to say, but… I’ve got more ficlets to write. Including one for the 14th. Until next time, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, remember you’re not worthless just because and if you’re single, and have a good one.
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Grunvale/OTOG is owned by me. You’re free to draw fanart of it, as long as you credit me as the creator of the series.
“Head Over Heels” was written by Charlotte Caffey and Kathy Valentine for the Go-Go’s’ album Talk Show, owned by Universal Music Group through IRS Records.
“Take Me to the River” was written by Al Green and Mabon Hodges for the album Al Green Explores Your Mind, owned by Fat Possum Records through Hi Records; the version depicted is based on the Talking Heads’ version recorded for the concert film Stop Making Sense, owned by Palm Pictures, with soundtrack owned by Sire Records.
This artwork is a combination of four, made at a resolution of 2160×2160 (aspect ratio 1:1) and combined into a 4320×4320 (also aspect ratio 1:1) canvas.
The Gallery of Stormy Adler 