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Happy Rhodes

Collective Heart

A fan site

   

Happy does not maintain a web presence herself.


Who's this then?

 Happy Rhodes (her real name) is an American musician from eastern upstate New York. She's a songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player. She released 11 albums in her career, starting in 1986. Her last and 11th album, Find Me, was released in September 2007. Happy lives on a beautiful farm in central upstate New York with her husband, musician and businessman Bob Muller. She has a day job building pro audio equipment for Dangerous Music, cares for stray, sick and unwanted cats, and lives her life, content.

She appreciates people who listen to her music, and thanks all the fans who have supported her over the years, and welcomes new fans who have just discovered her.





ECTOTROPHIA

Ectotrophia

A compilation from Numero Group is to be released on June 29, 2018, called Ectotrophia. It will have songs from Happy's first four albums, 1986-1987 (Rhodes Vol. I, Rhodes Vol. II, Rearmament and Ecto, often referred to as the "1st4" by long-time fans) plus "When the Rain Came Down" released as a bonus track in 1992 when the 1st4, previously only available on hand-made cassettes, were re-released on CD. Ectotrophia will be available on CD and, a first for Happy's music, LP.

The track listing and the albums they came from:

Oh The Drears - Rhodes I
I Cannot Go On - Ecto
Would That I Could - Ecto
Where Do I Go - Rhodes II
For We Believe - Rearmament
When The Rain Came Down - Ecto CD bonus track
If Love Is A Game, I Win - Ecto
I'm Not Awake, I'm Not Asleep - Rhodes I
Baby Don't Go - Rearmament
Come Here - Rhodes II
Don't Want To Hear It - Ecto
If So - Ecto
I'll Let You Go - Rhodes I
Because I Learn - Rearmament
I Am A Legend - Rearmament
Perfect Irony - Rearmament
Many Nights - Rhodes II
To Be E. Mortal - Ecto

"When the Rain Came Down" and "Oh The Drears" have been released as singles by Numero Group on Bandcamp.

As wonderful as the track listing of Ectotrophia is, it shouldn't be perceived as a "Best Of" compilation of songs from Happy's 1st4 albums. Many MANY great songs were left off due to time.

Here's a new Facebook Page for Ectotrophia fans.

Some people who pre-ordered early have received their orders already. Thank you to John Sutton and Eric Fenner for these photos.

Ectotrophia LP

Ectotrophia CD

Ectotrophia LP




Bandcamp article (as Artist of the Week June 25, 2018)
The Beautiful Monsters of Happy Rhodes's Art-Pop by Jes Skolnik.

PopMatters interview
Happy Rhodes: "My Whole Thing Is the Quest for Genius" by Jedd Beaudoin.



SECURITY PROJECT

Happy at Shank Hall 2017

In 2016 Happy came out of retirement and started singing with Security Project, a Peter Gabriel appreciation band consisting of Jerry Marotta, Trey Gunn, Michael Cozzi and David Jameson. She sang lead for 11 live shows in 2016, and 19 shows in 2017. 8 more shows were performed in Spring 2018. A list of the shows can be found at RhodeShows.

Security Project's FiveSecurity Project's Contact

A live 5-song EP ("Five") and a full-length live CD ("Contact") with Happy on vocals have been released. They can be found at Security Project's Bandcamp page.





Happy at Kenosha House Concert



Happy Rhodes? For real?


Yes, it's her real, legal name. When she was born (as Kimberley Tyler Rhodes), one of Happy's brothers nicknamed her "Happy" before she even came home from the hospital, and it's all she's ever been called. She legally changed her name to Happy when she was 16 so people would quit calling her Kimberley.


Who's that guy?


One of the most common questions (after "Is that her real name?)" is "Who's that guy singing with Happy?" That's Happy singing with Happy! That astonishing range is all her and it's not done with studio trickery.

This video explores her Vocal Range.



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Happy



ALBUM DISCOGRAPHY



Go here for lyrics. (It's a mirror)

Listen to all 11 albums at YouTube

All of Happy's albums 1986-2007 are out of print. To buy remaining stock, digital versions, or new copies of Ectotrophia, try these places:

Ectotrophia at Numero Group
International fans should check with their local shops or distributors. Numero has Distribution partnerships all over the world.

Happy Rhodes at Bandcamp (7d Media)

Happy at Bandcamp (Numero Group)

Happy at CD Baby

Happy at iTunes

Happy at amazon.com
International fans should check at their region's amazon

Happy at The Artist Shop


Find Me

Find Me (2007)

1. One And Many (4:36)
2. Little Brother (4:35)
3. Find Me (5:13)
4. She Won't Go (3:56)
5. Here And Hereafter (4:18)
6. Charlie (4:01)
7. Can't Let Go (5:28)
8. Queen (4:34)
9. Treehouse (6:25)
10. Chosen One (3:45)
11. Fall

Many Worlds Are Born Tonight

Many Worlds Are Born Tonight (1998)

1. 100 Years (5:25)
2. Many Worlds Are Born Tonight (4:52)
3. The Chariot (5:22)
4. Ra Is A Busy God (6:21)
5. If Wishes Were Horses, How Beggars Would Ride (5:02)
6. Roy (Back From The Offworld) (5:33)
7. Tragic (6:09)
8. Proof (4:22)
9. Looking Over Cliffs (4:57)
10. Winter (3:58)
11. Serenading Genius (6:37)

The Keep

The Keep (1995)

A compilation of acoustic tracks and rarities.
1. Temporary And Eternal (5:33)
2. Life On Mars (3:20)
3. Collective Heart (4:45)
4. The Yes Medley (6:05)
5. Save Our Souls (6:00)
6. Flash Me Up (2:14)
7. For We Believe (2:34)
8. Summer (3:28)
9. Oh Holy Night (3:27)
10. Look For The Child (4:20)
11. Hold Me (3:25)
12. Bye Moon (2:07)
13. Prey Of The Strange (3:36)
14. Oh Hand Of Mine (3:49)

Building The Colossus

Building The Colossus (1994)

1. Hold Me (4:40)
2. Just Like Tivoli (6:04)
3. Dying (5:44)
4. Collective Heart (4:43)
5. Building the Colossus (4:18)
6. Omar (4:47)
7. Pride (2:39)
8. You Never Told Me (5:03)
9. If I Ever See the Girl Again (5:33)
10. Down, Down (6:15)
11. Big Dreams, Big Life (2:31)
12. Glory (6:00)

Equipoise

Equipoise (1993)

1. Runners (6:00)
2. He Will Come (4:08)
3. The Flight (4:52)
4. Out Like A Lamb (6:48)
5. Save Our Souls (6:16)
6. Closer (5:05)
7. Temporary And Eternal (4:51)
8. Cohabitants (5:41)
9. Play The Game (6:28)
10. Mother Sea (5:24)
11. I Say (5:39)

RhodeSongs

RhodeSongs (1993)

A compilation including live versions and rarities.
1. Feed The Fire (album version, from Warpaint)
2. The Wretches Gone Awry (album version, from Rhodes I)
3. Ode (album version, from Ecto)
4. I Say (album version, from Equipoise)
5. Save Our Souls (acoustic version)
6. The Revelation (album version, from Rhodes II)
7. Because I Learn (album version, from Rearmament)
8. If So (album version, from Ecto)
9. Given In (for "World Cafe", 1991)
10. In Hiding (acoustic version)
11. I Have A Heart (album version, from Rearmament)
12. Ashes to Ashes (Acoustic cover)
13. Let Me Know, Love (album version, from Rhodes II)
14. Temporary and Eternal (album version, from Equipoise)
15. Summer (previously unreleased)
16. Feed The Fire (acoustic Tribute version)
17. Buggy Track

Warpaint

Warpaint (1991)

1. Waking Up (4:06)
2. Feed The Fire (4:33)
3. Murder (4:55)
4. To Live In Your World (3:33)
5. Phobos (5:13)
6. Wrong Century (4:25)
7. Lay Me Down (3:51)
8. Terra Incognita (4:33)
9. All Things (Mia ia io) (4:48)
10. Words Weren't Made For Cowards (5:22)
11. Warpaint (6:15)
12. In Hiding (3:12)

Ecto

Ecto (1987)

1. I'm Going Back (4:18)
2. If Love Is A Game, I Win (5:32)
3. Would That I Could (4:11)
4. Off From Out From Under Me (3:53)
5. Project 499 (2:13)
6. I Won't Break Down (3:28)
7. If So (3:36)
8. Ecto (4:40)
9. I Cannot Go On (4:07)
10. Ode (4:10)
11. Don't Want To Hear It (4:56)
12. Poetic Justice (2:59)
13. To Be E. Mortal (8:15)
14. Look For The Child (5:54) (CD bonus track, previously unreleased)
15. When The Rain Came Down (5:44) (CD bonus track, previously unreleased)

Rearmament

Rearmament (1986)

1. The Perfect Irony (4:02)
2. For We Believe (2:50)
3. I Am A Legend (4:09)
4. 'Til The Dawn Breaks (5:57)
5. The Issue Is (3:24)
6. Friend You'll Be (3:39)
7. Dreams Are (5:45)
8. Box H.A.P. (3:05)
9. I Have a Heart (4:44)
10. Crystal Orbs (3:44)
11. Because I Learn (3:43)
12. Baby Don't Go (4:13)
3. Rhodes Waltz (2:40)
14. Ally Ally Oxenfree (3:43)
15. Be Careful What you Say (5:37) (a Bartlett/Rhodes* song) (CD bonus track, previously unreleased)

Rhodes II

Rhodes II (1986)

1. Come Here (3:55)
2. The Revelation (3:01)
3. Many Nights (2:50)
4. Under And Over The Brink (2:36)
5. Let Me Know, Love (3:23)
6. Where Do I Go? (3:25)
7. Not For Me (2:49)
8. One Alien (3:26)
9. No One Here (4:13)
10. To The Funny Farm (2:10)
11. Asylum Master (3:18)
12. Beat it Out (3:33)
13. The Chase (4:19)
14. Take Me With You (5:45) (CD bonus track, previously unreleased)
15. Under And Over The Brink (2:32) ("barely salvaged from the vault") (CD bonus track, previously unreleased)

Rhodes I

Rhodes I (1986)

1. Rainkeeper (2:24)
2. Oh The Drears (3:17)
3. Given In (4:14)
4. He's Alive (4:22)
5. Possessed (2:55)
6. I'll Let You Go (3:59)
7. Number One (2:49)
8. Case of Glass (3:39)
9. Moonbeam Friends (2:49)
10. I'm Not Awake, I'm Not Asleep (3:23)
11. The First to Cry (3:00)
12. Step Inside (3:46)
13. The Wretches Gone Awry (2:36)
14. The Flaming Threshold (4:39) (CD bonus track, previously unreleased)
15. Suicide Song (2:24) (CD bonus track, previously unreleased)



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Happy



Why monsters?



She loves monsters. They were her friends while growing up (see the He's Alive video and read the full description) and she loves painting them. When she needed covers for her early cassette-only albums she took paintings she'd already done as a teenager and used them. She refused to change the artwork when they were released on CD in 1992 (though they were changed slightly), and good for her. The Rhodes I monster was originally painted on the saddlebag of a motorcycle that's probably long since been trashed or painted over. I (Vickie) now own the original painting that was used for Rhodes II. Here are some other Happy monsters.

Happy monster

Untitled

Happy monster

Tirk

Happy monster

Nightmare In Pastel

Happy monster

Untitled

RhodeWays Cover Issue 08

Alice

Happy monster

Meesh

Happy monster

Ecto logo (never used)

Happy monster

Title unknown



Don't try to tell me there's no
Reason for any moment in time
Every memory of mine
Those years are lines of
Color on my face
My past is warpaint
The past is warpaint



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VIDEOS

A few Happy YouTube videos

Note: Happy has never made an official video for any of her songs

. There are hundreds of fan-uploaded concert and audio-only videos on YouTube.

"When the Rain Came Down"

This song was released as a bonus track (on Ecto) in 1992 when her 1st4 albums, previously only available on hand-made cassettes, were re-released on CD. This live audience recording was shot May 9, 1996 at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia, PA, with Kevin Bartlett on guitar and Carl Adami on bass.



These are screenshots, with links to YouTube

"Temporary and Eternal"

Recorded live in John Diliberto's living room, this was part of the Echoes Living Room Concert Series. Recorded on May 16, 1995, this exact version was later released on Happy's album The Keep. The original version of the song is on her album Equipoise. With Kevin Bartlett on guitar and Carl Adami on bass.

"Space Oddity"

This cover of David Bowie's song was only ever performed live. This video was recorded at the late, great Tin Angel in Philadelphia, on October 12, 1996, during the 2nd show of the evening. The entire concert is on YouTube and is linked below. With Kevin Bartlett on guitar, Carl Adami on bass and Kelly Bird on backing vocals.

"If Wishes Were Horses, How Beggars Would Ride"

Performed at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia, PA June 24, 1999. With Bon Lozaga on guitar, Bob Muller on drums/percussion and Carl Adami on bass.

"Lily Of The Valley/Possessed"

This cover of Queen's song and Happy's own song "Possessed" is from May 10, 1996, the 2nd show of the evening, and the 4th of 4 shows in 2 nights. Recorded at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia, PA. With Kevin Bartlett on guitar and Carl Adami on bass.

"Ra Is A Busy God"

With musician (and now-husband) Bob Muller at meth&woj's House Concert in New Haven, CT, on April 6, 2003.

"Mercy Street"

With Bon Lozaga (PMG, Gongzilla, Project Lo, Soften The Glare, Tiny Boxes, among others) at Tin Angel in Philadelphia, PA on July 24, 1999.



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Full-length concerts

Be kind to our mistakes. These are fan-shot audience recordings. We're grateful they were captured for posterity, so please forgive the occasional shakiness.

Oct. 12, 1996
Tin Angel - Philadelphia, PA

May 9, 1996
Tin Angel - Philadelphia, PA

May 10, 1996
Tin Angel - Philadelphia, PA

March 15, 1997
Tin Angel - Philadelphia, PA

November 9, 2003
House Concert - Toledo, OH



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BIOGRAPHY

This Biography is from Happy's old web site auntiesocialmusic.com. That site doesn't exist anymore. The link goes to a mirror. The biography is used with permission.


  HAPPY RHODES is an enigma. This is according to the Music Industry, which has never been able to pigeon-hole her into any category. Her music is otherworldly yet substantial and her 4-octave voice has a haunting familiarity to it.

Happy Most listeners find her work difficult to describe and yet she incites an almost unheard of devotion among her fans. She goes from Kate Bush highs to David Bowie lows and you find yourself being beckoned to follow her into her multilayered worlds.

She was born on August 9th, 1965 and named Kimberley Tyler Rhodes. Three days after her birth, while still in the hospital, her brother Mark called her "Happy-baby" because she was so smiley and he couldn't pronounce Kimberley. It seemed so fitting that it stuck. The family never knew her as Kimberley and so when she was 16, she made Happy her legal name.

Happy's youth wasn't easy. She lived in poor neighborhoods, in a poor family and experienced a never-ending onslaught of peer rejection and abandonment. Despite the truly bad odds, she was driven. Music was an early inclination, as were dance and art. Her father, Vernon H. Rhodes Jr., exposed Happy to his very eclectic musical tastes early on. She would sit on the floor in front of his console stereo and listen to Switched-On-Bach until she could sing along with every note. "I remember some Saturday mornings I'd wake up to Bagpipe music BLARING through the house and that meant that he'd be listening to his whole collection all day...... I loved walking around the house, singing along with every record or reel-to-reel tape." When Happy was 11, she got her first guitar. She had no desire to learn the instrument the way everyone else was doing it. She simply wanted to begin writing immediately. Creating was always the main objective for her, not excelling at any one particular instrument. It became instantly clear that Happy's path would not be one of virtuosity. But by the time she was 14, she was already performing her original songs in school shows.

As time went on though, she became increasingly removed from the outer world. High School became a place of alienation for her because she was already driven for a musical future and depression was slowly becoming part of her everyday existence. She knew she needed to do something or she would explode. At age 16, Happy left school and got her G.E.D.

Happy For the next two years, she wrote and made some Open Mic Night appearances at a legendary cafe called Cafe Lena in Saratoga, NY. During this time, she met up with Pat Tessitore, a co-owner of Cathedral Sound Studios in Rensselaer, NY. She approached him with the idea of becoming an intern of sorts, just so she could learn the basics of audio recording. "I knew I wanted to be a professional musician, but didn't really know where to start. So I decided I'd learn how to MAKE records first, get my foot in the door and then figure the rest out later."

Happy never really got the full recording education she was looking for because as soon as Tessitore heard her sing, he insisted on recording everything she'd written up to that point. "She played and it absolutely blew me away. And I had heard a lot of voices in my day", recalls Tessitore. "She brought tears to my eyes."

Soon, Happy met up with another musician and mutual friend of Tessitore's, Kevin Bartlett. Bartlett had been writing his own instrumental music for years and had a small, cassette-only label, called Aural Gratification. He heard Happy's work and asked if she'd like to release her music to the public on his label. She accepted. One of these cassettes made its way to a woman named Vickie Mapes, who at that time, was doing an all-female-artist radio show in Kansas City. She began to play Happy's tapes and circulating samplers to unsuspecting music-lovers. From her efforts, a small fan-base was forming. They organized themselves into what is now known as ECTO, a Happy Rhodes Mailing List. This is a forum through which, music lovers can discuss Happy's work, as well as other "Ectophilic" artists.

Happy Happy released approximately 9 CD's on the Aural Gratification label. In 1997 however, Happy decided that it was time to seek out a different kind of record label. A good friend recommended her to a newly forming label called, Samson Music. Founded by Norm Waitt Jr.(co-founder of the Gateway Computer company), this was a label that Happy felt would take her music to the next level. She signed with them and released "Many Worlds Are Born Tonight" in August of 1998. "I went through a lot of darkness to make that album. It was also the most fun I've ever had making a record." Happy and Samson Music parted ways in early 2000.

Happy lives on a farm in upstate New York with her husband, musician Bob Muller. She currently spends her days building pro-audio equipment for Dangerous Music, a job she likes and finds very satisfying, and taking care of a slew of cats.

She self-released her 11th album, Find Me, in September 2007.

== End auntiesocialmusic.com mirror biography ==



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I am transparent
An open book
There's no choice in the matter
But the breath from my mind
Is living air
And the notes from my heart
Are what I share

Words weren't made for cowards
There's not much to hide behind
We can see for a mile
Without our eyes
I can see through a smile
To any lie

Happy live at Painted Bride, Philadelphia 1998. Taken by C.K. Coney 1998



If you feel suddenly cool while lying in bed
Open your eyes, I'll be over your head
Now don't be afraid, don't reach out
Just be glad that I exist

I'll be here, I'll be ecto
I'll be here, but I'll be ecto

Happy drew this for an Ecto fanzine that never materialized


Ecto Happy was the inspiration for the creation of the ecto mailing list and the Ectophiles Guide To Good Music. Ecto the mailing list has been going strong since June 1991 (born from a Kate Bush mailing list) and, while still a marginal home for Happy's fans, it mainly encourages discussion of other arists, especially female artists (male artists are NOT excluded).

Back when ecto first started we designated the term "Ecto music" as a genre to encompass people like Kate Bush, Happy Rhodes, Jane Siberry, Peter Gabriel and others who didn't quite fit into the Rock/Pop/Alternative/whatever categories. It never really caught on.





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Visit the Happy Rhodes and fans Photo Gallery
T-Bone



Website by Vickie. Updated June 25, 2018

Disclaimer: I'm not Happy Rhodes, but I am in contact with her. Everything I do is done with her permission and blessings. She's a very wonderful person. I discovered her music in 1988, and I love it as much now as I did when I first heard it. I'm so happy when other people discover her amazing voice and music. We are lucky. - Vickie

Happy and Me
Happy and me (Vickie) outside of Shank Hall in Milwaukee, WI, prior to a Security Project show. October 21, 2016.
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