I got hooked on them with that summer replacement show in the 70s - absolutely hooked. There just has never been anything like them. Superb musicians, sharp as sharp can get, and the music incredibly inventive.
I really love this group, they can do anything they set their minds to do. I really loved this song among others. Even to this day they still got it !! Thanks for posting
What I love about Manhattan Transfer is that any vocal group could have just stood there and sang, but MT actually ACTED! They theatrically gave a SHOW! Just look up any live concert and you'll see that they actually got into costume and in some cases character to give a performance! That's what I love about them the most!
@Vidgirl8 - May the Music of the Spheres bless you for that. I read a comment once wherein the party complained that they were such fine musicians that they should just stand there and sing. They can do that in the studio for the album. This person hated the costumes and choreography and had apparently never noted that, depending upon the era of the music on the album they were promoting on tour, they kept the costumes in line with the mood of the numbers chosen and the choreography was usually similar to that used onstage by the singers of the period being sung when they were doing a show or on tour. At times it can be jarring when they are in the portion of their show where they are doing some of their own TMT hits from the past that don't quite fit with the costumes chosen for that album's period or locale. But virtually at all times the costuming and the choreography add to the total performance art of each piece and give it depth. What they do makes it a show for the audience and reveals their love of the work.
I had the good fortune to hear them live in a concert tour some years ago. I do not regret the cost of the ticket, parking, or the aspirin for staying up too late that night and getting up too early to the throb of a headache the next day. They put on a truly awesome show.
Heard this on the radio this morning - BBC R2- for the first time since Spring 1980. Had a few seconds of it on a tape cassette...couldn't find it on youtube as I din't know who sang it, or what it was called. Thanks for posting this great song...great memories too.
Here's what I remember: this was recorded at the Park West in Chicago and was broadcast on WTTW on the show "Soundstage". I had a videotape of the broadcast for many years. Does anyone know if the entire program exists anywhere? It is a remarkable piece of vocal jazz history!
I remember seeing this as a kid on PBS circa 1980 (?) - and loving the entire show - wish they would release it on DVD - their Extensions era was so cool! #CooCooU
This song blows me the fuck away. I have never heard anything like this from my era. I can only imagine what it must have been like to run into this in 1980...
Esto es una de las razones por las que 1979 fué un año lleno de encanto, creatividad y música cautivante en la antesala a esa gran década de los 80s. Profesionalismo y verdaderos cantantes.
Era chico y esta Twilight Zone de Manhattan Transfer se escuchaba por Radio y veía el video por TV. Eran los tiempos pre Mtv, así que hablamos de la era Disco. Pero no era convencional. Era medio futurista ciencia ficción al inicio y super barroca en la producción en estudio... Yo era chico y no entendía mayor cosa, pero si me preguntaba cómo la tocaban en vivo, pues lo 'techno' con Gary Numan o Devo, no aparecía todavía. Supuse que usaban pista de la música. Claro que las voces no iban a tener ningún problema en vivo, son de los más grandes ensambles de voces que se ha conocido en la música jazz y también en el género popular... Después con RUclips ya pude ver cómo tocaban los músicos en esa época cuando Twilight Zone fue éxito en las discos y emisoras... Es canción difícil para tocarla. Al inicio si hay algo de cinta en ese tiempo, para la intro futurista. Pero de ahí ya es en vivo que tocaban sus músicos. El video que se veía por tv era también muy producido y claro, no con las voces o instrumentos en directo... Cosas curiosas de Manhattan Transfer, que dijeron que hicieron esta canción por que les pareció excelente música. Pero que no buscaron más canciones como para una Disco, por que prefirieron tener una excelente y que se recuerda mucho y muy bien, a tener otras que no iban a tener esa misma sustancia ... Para 1979 era futurista esta Twilight Zone y un poco techno... Gary Numan y Devo ya iban a aparecer con lo techno sintetizado. Pero esto está como Disco, entonces fue con batería y bajo análogos. Se escucha piano eléctrico... Es una mega canción ahí con solo rock de guitarra... Bajo super funky disco, pero es denso no ligero .... Las voces y la actuación escénica ... Ay yay yay... Gente así no aparecen por arte de magia.... Es algo que se ve quizá una o dos veces en una vida
I like the radio release version much better,It's got the twin lead solo And a much fuller sound altogether. Plus the Vocals are much much better! The Studio Version is probally on my space
Edith Prickley meets Barbra Striesand in a good way.. here in The Twilight Zone.....There's a sign post up ahead...your next stop.....Golden Earring's version of......The Twilight Zone...
The glories of RUclips. There's a clip of "Nightingale" in these costumes/hairstyles from WTTW - does anyone know where to get that tape or DVD? Just such fun!
@euronick61 "but i do agree a bit about the guitar solo..it never seemed quite the right key" If you practice a little music (100 years?) you will find a fitting chord for this called minor with major seven. You will find it often in tensive moments. But not at Justin Bieber's
The title is actually "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone", so both parties are almost right... I remember to have watched it written like this in Billboard's Hot 100
@Othaepia I think that listening back on this, even Manhattan Transfer would acknowledge that some of the notes are not 'spot on.' (For example, around 2:09). That being said, this is the exception, not the rule with them.
The solo on the album is the Producer Jay Graydon. He is a beast!! Also my hero the late Jeff Porcaro from Toto layed the drums on the album version!
Janis Seagal has always had a fantastic singing voice.
I love Janis! She is such an amazing singer and preformer! Love the group, but can't get enough of Ms. Siegal.
"Unpretentious girl from Memphis saw the future through her third eye"
Now that's some dandy original songwriting!
One of my favorite bands. Every record sounded different and four great vocalists. Cant stand todays artists. These are proper singers.
I got hooked on them with that summer replacement show in the 70s - absolutely hooked. There just has never been anything like them. Superb musicians, sharp as sharp can get, and the music incredibly inventive.
thank you manhattan transfer for giving us very good music. today's artists are unbelievably unfascinating!
When this came out...wow...went ballistic along with Birdland vocals! 1980...
the solo on the record is one of the best guitar solo i ever heard
안녕하세요 반갑습니다 노래 잘들었습니다 즐겁고 아름다운 나날되세요 감사합니다
🙆♂️😍😘🌈📸👍⚘⚘⚘💜💜💜💋
I really love this group, they can do anything they set their minds to do. I really loved this song among others. Even to this day they still got it !! Thanks for posting
What an absolutely great tune &
singer,etc.
janis seigal wow you smashed it totaly never to be equaled
What I love about Manhattan Transfer is that any vocal group could have just stood there and sang, but MT actually ACTED! They theatrically gave a SHOW! Just look up any live concert and you'll see that they actually got into costume and in some cases character to give a performance! That's what I love about them the most!
Another one they would always get dressed up for was That's Killer Joe. Tim always cracked me up with his multi colored zoot suit!! lol
@@texaspchcmonkeespodcast4586 I will miss his Eldorado Caddy persona almost as much as I miss Tim's fabulous performances.
@Vidgirl8 - May the Music of the Spheres bless you for that. I read a comment once wherein the party complained that they were such fine musicians that they should just stand there and sing. They can do that in the studio for the album. This person hated the costumes and choreography and had apparently never noted that, depending upon the era of the music on the album they were promoting on tour, they kept the costumes in line with the mood of the numbers chosen and the choreography was usually similar to that used onstage by the singers of the period being sung when they were doing a show or on tour. At times it can be jarring when they are in the portion of their show where they are doing some of their own TMT hits from the past that don't quite fit with the costumes chosen for that album's period or locale. But virtually at all times the costuming and the choreography add to the total performance art of each piece and give it depth. What they do makes it a show for the audience and reveals their love of the work.
I had the good fortune to hear them live in a concert tour some years ago. I do not regret the cost of the ticket, parking, or the aspirin for staying up too late that night and getting up too early to the throb of a headache the next day. They put on a truly awesome show.
Heard this on the radio this morning - BBC R2- for the first time since Spring 1980. Had a few seconds of it on a tape cassette...couldn't find it on youtube as I din't know who sang it, or what it was called. Thanks for posting this great song...great memories too.
Here's what I remember: this was recorded at the Park West in Chicago and was broadcast on WTTW on the show "Soundstage". I had a videotape of the broadcast for many years. Does anyone know if the entire program exists anywhere? It is a remarkable piece of vocal jazz history!
Bought this 45 when I was 13 and played the heck out of it. Great song.
I just head this for the first time and I’m hooked on this song!
Her act-outs of the lyrics and interacting with the audience is super-cute. I love it :-)
Excellent singers NO AUTOTUNE!
Man... this song was POPULAR back in the day!
I remember seeing this as a kid on PBS circa 1980 (?) - and loving the entire show - wish they would release it on DVD - their Extensions era was so cool! #CooCooU
Judging from the costumes, it must have been soon after EXTENSIONS was released, which would make it late '79/early '80.
Good old days of GREAT MUSIC!
Wow, grew up listining to MT and they were always mindblowing and they still sound the same, I wish they still made music like this today.
This song blows me the fuck away. I have never heard anything like this from my era. I can only imagine what it must have been like to run into this in 1980...
Excelente grupo, eran todo un espectáculo; seguirán tocando?
MT hit #30 in Billboard, 6-14-80. God bless ya, for postin' it. Thanx!
Exciting! The best vocal group of all time! Thank you so much for sharing something so old and valuable. Congratulations!
This is great modern Jazz/pop fusion at its best. See Birdland, Boy From New York City.
This is one of my ABSOLUTE favorites!
I think I almost played a hole right through that album!
Love this song. It had a little disco, A little new wave and a little punk.
ok i might not have been even thought of during the 70's but i think they are an amazing group. where have good singers like them gone
For me this song is one of the best of MT and the guitar work is really good
Man that little girl and whale !! The whole group is great ! I hope they are still touring
Brings back memories. :-)
Thanks for posting this one!
Minha adolescência adorava eles
Wow. Yes This was One of Chicago House Music Plays , Manhattan Transfer 👄💋
Esto es una de las razones por las que 1979 fué un año lleno de encanto, creatividad y música cautivante en la antesala a esa gran década de los 80s. Profesionalismo y verdaderos cantantes.
the best song!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I Iove MT When they mention Mr Miller had a red light light. i think of my grandfather. Mr Miller
The guy who spoke the monlogue at the beginning looks exactly like Rod Serling, the original one who spoke those classic lines in the tv show ....
Love this rendition !
fantastic, extraordinary document!
SAW YOIU AT "THE BOTTOM LINE" LOVE YA!
RIP, Tim Hauser.
Aside from ABBA,
Manhattan Transfer are very versatile group singers,they can do both jazz and groovy songs!!!!
Amazing!!!! She kills it!!!!!!
@Othaepia
wow....how's the weather up on your pedestal?
I loved listening to the Manhattan Transfer.
Era chico y esta Twilight Zone de Manhattan Transfer se escuchaba por Radio y veía el video por TV. Eran los tiempos pre Mtv, así que hablamos de la era Disco. Pero no era convencional. Era medio futurista ciencia ficción al inicio y super barroca en la producción en estudio... Yo era chico y no entendía mayor cosa, pero si me preguntaba cómo la tocaban en vivo, pues lo 'techno' con Gary Numan o Devo, no aparecía todavía. Supuse que usaban pista de la música. Claro que las voces no iban a tener ningún problema en vivo, son de los más grandes ensambles de voces que se ha conocido en la música jazz y también en el género popular... Después con RUclips ya pude ver cómo tocaban los músicos en esa época cuando Twilight Zone fue éxito en las discos y emisoras... Es canción difícil para tocarla. Al inicio si hay algo de cinta en ese tiempo, para la intro futurista. Pero de ahí ya es en vivo que tocaban sus músicos. El video que se veía por tv era también muy producido y claro, no con las voces o instrumentos en directo... Cosas curiosas de Manhattan Transfer, que dijeron que hicieron esta canción por que les pareció excelente música. Pero que no buscaron más canciones como para una Disco, por que prefirieron tener una excelente y que se recuerda mucho y muy bien, a tener otras que no iban a tener esa misma sustancia ... Para 1979 era futurista esta Twilight Zone y un poco techno... Gary Numan y Devo ya iban a aparecer con lo techno sintetizado. Pero esto está como Disco, entonces fue con batería y bajo análogos. Se escucha piano eléctrico... Es una mega canción ahí con solo rock de guitarra... Bajo super funky disco, pero es denso no ligero .... Las voces y la actuación escénica ... Ay yay yay... Gente así no aparecen por arte de magia.... Es algo que se ve quizá una o dos veces en una vida
Que musicazos que tenían xd... Que nivel... Después de la intro como locutada, la manera como entran ... Eso fue de una Frank Zappa precisión ❤
Ese no es Mike Stern en la guitarra 🎸?
Wonderful performance. Bravo!!!
Why does this remind me of Klaus Nomi's Total Eclipse.
I saw MT twice in the early eighties. Brilliant.
GREAT performance..I LOVE you Janis!!
Hhahhahaha what a happy night: i've been searching for this song and author for 14,5 years and now i finally know!!!
Jay Graydon played the solo on the album version....
I like the radio release version much better,It's got the twin lead solo And a much fuller sound altogether. Plus the Vocals are much much better! The Studio Version is probally on my space
If memory serves me...this song was on the "B" side of "Boy from New York City"......I have it (somewhere) on 45rpm record (Atlantic Records Label)...
@wch1tv Birdland! A Nightengale Sang In Berekley Square! Operator! Tuxedo Junction! GREAT songs for their rspective genres..
True live are always the best!
Edith Prickley meets Barbra Striesand in a good way.. here in The Twilight Zone.....There's a sign post up ahead...your next stop.....Golden Earring's version of......The Twilight Zone...
Is that Pops Popplewell laying down the groove on bass??
well done sounds great ,play some more?
Good
The glories of RUclips. There's a clip of "Nightingale" in these costumes/hairstyles from WTTW - does anyone know where to get that tape or DVD? Just such fun!
Thank you! Look at the album credit folks. "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone"
最高だ。この上ない最高。
she looks like the chick from My Big Fat Wedding. :) Love this song!
It's Wayne Johnson on guitar. He toured with them for many years.
And what a head of hair on him back then!! lol
His note choices aren't 100% bad, but his tone choices are awful.!!
@euronick61 "but i do agree a bit about the guitar solo..it never seemed quite the right key"
If you practice a little music (100 years?) you will find a fitting chord for this called minor with major seven.
You will find it often in tensive moments. But not at Justin Bieber's
superbly awsome!!!
Did Lee Sklar played the Bass on this song?
Just discovered this sound lol
2/23/2023
They are so cool!
@LegendOfJuniit odantoro is right. we're singing this at school. it's called Twilight Tone.
Gawd, I love Manhattan Transfer...more than I like ABBA...and that's saying alot.
Is that Buzzy Feiten on electric guitar??
This was just as the group moved to LA, & Cheryl Bentyne joined MT, for good.
Que lindo!!!
every body did a disco song back in the day
The title is actually "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone", so both parties are almost right... I remember to have watched it written like this in Billboard's Hot 100
Let me share.
I like hearing the subtle imperfections, because you shouldn'tt hear studio recordings at a concert.
Same here. Thought I was the only one
I'm always in a twilight zone...
W.O.W. - AWESOME !
@Othaepia I think that listening back on this, even Manhattan Transfer would acknowledge that some of the notes are not 'spot on.' (For example, around 2:09). That being said, this is the exception, not the rule with them.
Has anyone got the original video for this? I haven't seen it in years.
@odantoro actually it's "Twilight Zone / Twilight Tone"
@SoreBakka That's Mike Stern on the Telecaster
That's Wayne Johnson, not Mike Stern
Is this at the Park West?
Is this when they were on Midnight Special?
Lovethis!
Actually, it's called "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone"
Greatest hits record I have says song is called Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone.
The song is called Twilight Tone, not Zone. :)
@odantoro Actually , you wrong... the title is "TWILIGHT ZONE/ TWILIGHT TONE"
@odantoro
Actually its 'Twilight Zone', just saying, correcting your correction of the correct title!
Sho Funky
i think they did a great job
Actually the full title(According to my CD sleeve) is Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone. So technically both titles are right.