Cabel.Cabel.

Sonseed: The Full Album

If you love the internet like I do, you've probably come across this amazing YouTube video, yeah?


Dougsploitation was the discoverer of this gem, a truly cornball religiouska masterwork purportedly by the band Sonseed. But something about the video seemed so totally awesome — so pitch-perfect goodbad™ — that, in this age of big-budget viral fakes (a little color temperature adjustment here, a little VHS video noise there, and, hey presto, the DORITOS EXTREME SONSEED campaign is ready to roll!), it quickly generated a bit of controversy. It also inspired a serious-business inter-office betting pool

I could only think of one way to win the "fake or not" bet: find a copy of Sonseed's actual 1983 record album. So I did.


And, Sonseed's First Fruit is now ready for you — just click the image above to download it. Enjoy. It's the real deal: an album full of, well, religious 80's music, and, uh, that's pretty much it, leaving little doubt as to the band's legitimacy. If you're an internet completist, you'll probably get a kick out of it. But please note: you've already heard the best song! (Although, to be fair, "Say Yes" is only a few musical degrees away from a Ringo Starr Beatles B-Side.)

55 Comments:

Oh. My. Sweet. Jesus. He is like a Bounty? He always gets his man? And he'll Zap you any way he can?!? Zap! I can't stop laughing...
Blogger Meegan Blue 9/16/2008 4:41 PM  
i do feel complete. its almost as if this was a prophetic video telling us just how bad contemporary christian music was going to be in the future.
Blogger bucky 9/16/2008 4:42 PM  
This is lulzy. I'm still not entirely convinced it's either fake or real, but that's some well-made music.
Blogger Eric 9/16/2008 4:53 PM  
*Mountie*, Meegan! *Mountie*
Blogger Charlie Park 9/16/2008 5:01 PM  
FSM ftw!! <hands extended in devil signs, bobs head uncontrollably>
Anonymous iveexa 9/16/2008 5:02 PM  
If I unzip this only to discover that I've been Rickrolled I will NOT be happy. But assuming you've actually found it, the interwebs owes you one. Bigtime.
OpenID closethipster 9/16/2008 5:34 PM  
That was amazing! Fantastic find!
Blogger Matt James 9/16/2008 5:39 PM  
Is the lead singer related to Ben Stiller?
Blogger Jennifer 9/16/2008 6:33 PM  
Mountie? Are they Canadian?

-atomicjo.com
Anonymous Anonymous 9/16/2008 6:41 PM  
This is the best thing ever. Well, perhaps a close second to Jimmy Dean Sausages and Pancake on a Stick (blueberry version please). God bless you, cabel!
Anonymous Anonymous 9/16/2008 7:30 PM  
I'm a better person for having seen this.
Anonymous will 9/16/2008 7:31 PM  
Well, whoever still thinks this is all real, please read http://syniphas.drx.pl/sonseed.html

But don't think I'm trying to convince you it's fake, believe what you want, this is just a "facts gathering", and shows my conclusion to it.
Blogger Eric 9/16/2008 7:32 PM  
Certainly an amazing find... where did you locate this rarest of albums?
Anonymous Anonymous 9/16/2008 7:45 PM  
Eric: I genuinely like that you're holding on to the conspiracy theory. There's something admirable to that. :) All I can tell you is that this is totally the complete Sonseed album! :)
Blogger Cabel 9/16/2008 8:27 PM  
I have had Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine running through my head ever since I saw that video and I kept thinking "Please someone post the album". Thank you thank you thank you. You Rock!
Blogger pup don 9/16/2008 11:03 PM  
Thankyou! Now I don't need earphones to have a head full of joyous, catchy music! Oh so very, very catchy...

Make it stop!
Blogger Jake Messenger 9/17/2008 1:42 AM  
From: http://www.metafilter.com/74832/Jesus-came-and-touched-me-down-inside#2255266

"Ok, I thought that was a fun piece of music and was sure it was authentic. Curiosity got the better of me, looked up the lead singer on WhitePages and gave him a call. Sal Polichetti, a lovely guy. Told him there was a controversy about whether Sonseed existed or not, about this post. He was totally friendly and likable. Turns out he works in NYC, a couple of blocks from where I live.

I asked him if I could take notes as we spoke and said ok. This is what he said:

When the song came out on YouTube and he got all these random emails and calls, the first thing he looked for his copyright and he has it, registered it in 1981.

The band got together around 1979/1980, kind of an accident through a friend, Joseph, connected with Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, they all met, played for Pentecost Sunday. They kept in touch, met, prayed for an hour, all Catholic. It was quite innovative at that time, no Catholic rock music then. How he wrote the songs, the band members took hymnals, added guitar solos and drum solos, ended up doing local concerts at churches and schools, never took a dime. 18 to 20 rotating performers at one time.

Recording studio in Brooklyn, 9 original songs. Sold record at cost, gave records away. Somebody sent the record to NBC and it was played on a show, The First Estate, Channel 4. They lipsynched. The people who ran that show thought Jesus Is a Friend was “catchy and snappy”.

The band, Sonseed, sold 1100 tickets at a concert and gave the money away to charities, like to soup kitchens.

The band lasted to “late ‘83”. The keyboard player was his first wife.

He got an email from a blogger in California who had showed the videotape to friends over the years and Doug heard about it.

Sal has a video of their last concert, their drummer passed away 15 years ago.

Father Joseph Ciccone, a band member, (now a priest) then worked for an advertising agency, he designed the logo and the album cover.

And that's it. He was a total gentleman. And real."
Blogger David 9/17/2008 2:38 AM  
cabel, thanks for posting this.

david, thanks for sharing your phone call.

word.
Blogger deWeb 9/17/2008 7:10 AM  
Just to be clear, that wasn't my phone call, but that of "nickyskye" from the URL at the top of my post.
Blogger David 9/17/2008 8:01 AM  
If anyone still doubts this was a real religious show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAB19Jyp1BA
Anonymous Anonymous 9/17/2008 9:42 AM  
Cabel, it should probably be mentioned that you don't actually know for certain that the record you posted is authentic -- you've got a burned copy sent to you by a guy who had a copy of the record for sale. It's certainly possible that the album you've posted is merely a compilation of songs from various artists from around the same period. And it *IS* suspicious that the ripped-from-the-record version and the ripped-from-VHS version are exactly the same.

It should also be mentioned that I'm one of the guys who has $5 riding on this, so obviously I want it to be fake.

Also, the flag was totally waving, and I don't care what anyone says, Neil Armstrong has shifty eyes.
Blogger Tim 9/17/2008 11:09 AM  
Here's a nice remix - Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snLnP0ASE3U&watch_response
Anonymous Anonymous 9/17/2008 12:21 PM  
thanks for tracking this down..
the pain must be spread.... even if its generic ska beats make your ass move unintentionally...
Anonymous erisian 9/17/2008 2:32 PM  
Are - YOU - he who nabbed this from Vinyl Rehab ? ? ?
Blogger Princess Petunia 9/17/2008 5:59 PM  
"Cabel is my friend" for sharing this!!!
Blogger The Hamzinger 9/17/2008 9:14 PM  
WHOA! That dude with the orange guitar is really getting into it. He better calm down before he starts a mosh!
Anonymous Anonymous 9/18/2008 11:07 AM  
Great Post!
Anonymous Internet Money Services 9/18/2008 11:24 AM  
I have been looking for the chords/tabs for "Jesus Is a Friend of Mine". Does anyone know of any sites that have them? Download the zip file, the rest of the songs are just as corny as the one we all know and love.
Blogger charles 9/18/2008 8:49 PM  
Thanks a lot...i'm a french guy and i've just watched video clip "jesus is my friend" on french tv this morning on the channel "france2" and the show is "telematin".
Friendly,
Thierry
rebeccashow.com
Anonymous thierry 9/19/2008 12:37 AM  
http://www.cafepress.com/sonseed
Blogger Bellman 9/19/2008 11:30 AM  
That's terrific! THank you very much! Beautiful beautiful!
Anonymous Anonymous 9/19/2008 7:58 PM  
Thanks, i'm linking to you from my site!

http://www.JesusIsMyFriend.Info

http://www.cafepress.com/JesusIsMyFriend

you da man!
Anonymous Jeff 9/19/2008 9:35 PM  
Hi!
Do you have an attorney?
I do.
You may be hearing from someone soon.
Thanks for all the attention but no one from Sonseed (especially me) has authorized any of this. I can't speak for everyone but I know most of the copyrights of these songs are held by the group members that wrote them.

Sal from Sonseed
Anonymous Anonymous 9/20/2008 1:08 PM  
Hey Sal! Yes, I have an attorney. As far as I know, this album has been out of print (for decades?), and note that I'm making no profit with this blog (no advertisements, etc.) But, just send me an e-mail if you'd like me to take this down, and I will. It's the gentlemanly thing to do. That said, I only hope you then release it on your own, otherwise nobody gets to hear these songs! Thanks, man! -Cabel
Blogger Cabel 9/20/2008 2:41 PM  
...if you look carefully, you will notice the drummer is non other than the father from the Brady Bunch!!
Anonymous Anonymous 9/21/2008 5:45 AM  
http://www.speedyshare.com/361756948.html

it took me about two minutes to do this chords, by the way - the song is awesome
Blogger Marcin 9/22/2008 11:11 AM  
http://www.theway.org/Current/Mar07/Mar07Flash4.htm
Anonymous Anonymous 9/23/2008 11:22 AM  
http://lccn.loc.gov/95783928

The album has a Library of Congress entry from 1981, with the same tracklisting as this album.

That pretty much settles it.

UNLESS THE GOVERNMENT IS IN ON THE CONSPIRACY!
Anonymous Anonymous 9/24/2008 4:36 PM  
I just wanted to point out that at least 2 of the songs on this album (The Gospel Ship and Sail On) are songs previously recorded by The Imperials, another gospel ground that was around a lot longer than Sonseed, so I'm sure the copyright on those songs belongs to them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imperials
Blogger Kyle 10/02/2008 10:41 PM  
*holds up a sign that says "YOU WIN!"
OpenID soupwiththefork 10/04/2008 10:29 AM  
Checked the tracks from the album, and here are two indicators that the album appears to be genuine:

although sals voice is on none of the other tracks (and "Jesus is My Friend" appears to be a very special one on this album, although the musical range has quite some variety), the drum track appears to come from the same set. all tracks on the album share the same snare sound.

secondly, and more important, if this is a fake, it is a very well made one, because this is clearly a vinyl rip. vinyls, maxi and especially LP, tend to lose frequency range and quality towards the inner rim of the disc, because one rotation traverses a much shorter range of length, and thus information has to be compressed a lot more.

e.g. if you compare the quality of the last track of the album, you will notice that it sounds far more distorted than the first track, which is a typical vinyl effect and also a primary reason why vinyl is dead ;)
Blogger paniq 10/07/2008 1:50 AM  
For those of you who are still doubting the authenticity of Sonseed/First Fruit, here is the official copyright info for the album.
Blogger Brian 10/09/2008 2:15 PM  
Did you know that the guitarist in Sonseed later went on to become bassist in The Hives, under the pseudonym "Dr. Matt Destruction"?
Blogger Rikki 10/10/2008 7:14 AM  
truth be told, when I was a wee lad, my mother used to take me to see sonseed perform in church basements on Friday nights back in the early 80s. I absolutely loved this stuff when I was 7 years old. We had the record and I still know every word.

Believe me, this is a real band and had quite a following back in the day.

Thank you for finding this...It rocks !
Anonymous Anonymous 10/11/2008 2:52 PM  
any body up for some purple kool-aid?!
Anonymous Anonymous 10/25/2008 6:38 PM  
Thanks a mil for posting this album - awesome!
Anonymous Anonymous 11/11/2008 10:25 AM  
i was a bit cautious at first, but considering it's "jesus music" i just gotta have faith that it doesn't spam up my computer. thanks for finding it!!!
Anonymous Anonymous 11/15/2008 10:55 PM  
Adam Sandler stole this guys musical delivery...watch the similarities in singing style!
Anonymous Anonymous 11/19/2008 2:00 PM  
gorgeous song, i am loving it! check Marilyn Manson music vid to it ;)
Anonymous Anonymous 4/26/2009 4:05 PM  
What a pity it isn't at 320kbps :p However, you're my friend now for sharing this, big thanks!
Anonymous Wirone 1/20/2010 11:40 AM  
I RAPE MY SISTER
Anonymous Anonymous 3/24/2010 7:01 PM  
WHY THE FUCK DID YOU REMOVE MY COMMENT!
I RAPE MY SISTER!
Anonymous Harry Dickson-Balls 3/25/2010 8:12 PM  
PENIS
Anonymous Anonymous 3/30/2010 8:33 PM  
I RAPE MY SISTER TO THIS TUNE!
Anonymous TerryWrist 4/20/2010 3:56 AM  

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Name:Cabel Maxfield Sasser
Job:Co-Founder, Panic Inc.
Location:Portland, OR
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