Fee Fi Fo Fum on a Summer's Day

Fee Fi Fo Fum "These are the Days"

This is a band I got to see live in a downtown Minneapolis Park one summer afternoon in 1988. I remember steel drums--If they didn't have them, they still evoked that summer tropical sound.

The band broke up long ago. I'm not sure they ever released an "official" album. They were selling tapes (remember cassette tapes?) in that park that day with hand-colored liner notes. The illustrations were kind of like mud-cloth doodles--electric stick figures. I bought one and gifted it to my friend, J--but not before making a copy for myself. ;-)

On the B-side, I taped Johnny Clegg and Savuka. To me, Fee Fi Fo Fum had a similar dance-able, happy tropical rhythm.

Well, I had that tape for 15 years. It was also some of the music my son liked, too, after he came along. The tape lived in his room when he was small. Until one day, he decided to see how cassette tapes worked--and he pulled out the tape--irrevocably. It was ruined.

Of course, Oliver (at 2-3 years old) had no idea what he'd done. I was heartbroken--that tape was irreplaceable -- even in this Internet Age where you can supposedly buy anything on eBay. 1) It had minimal distribution to begin with
2) J no longer had the original tape
3) It was long out of print
4) It pre-dated the Internet

So I listened to Johnny Clegg and tried to remember Fee Fi Fo Fum, their music and lyrics.

One day a year or two ago, my sweet, thoughtful husband CL (I don't get diamond rings from him -- I get these kinds of really thoughtful, meaningful gifts out of the blue) told me he'd been in contact with one of the original band members via email. This guy (Javier?) still had some of the old (reel to reel?) tapes and promised to make us a copy ... That never quite happened---but it does look like he posted a few vids to You Tube. This discovery today made my day! I'll keep looking for MP3s of their tunes.

A few of their other songs :
Rosalee
Safe as Milk
Where the Pieces Fall
Stay with You

As video goes, it's not much to look at--but I still love the tunes and sentiments of the lyrics. Turn 'em on in the background and go do something else. Enjoy!

If the band sees this post--You still have fans in the Midwest!