According to The Hollywood Reporter, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett is among the artists who appear on The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell, a limited-edition album featuring different versions of the same song, the 19th century pop standard “Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)”. Written in 1892, it was a hit song of the time and was later popularized in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which it is sung by the HAL 9000 computer. Other artists set to appear on the CD include preeminent pop parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic, Tyler The Creator, Nick Cave, Katy Perry, DEVO’s Mark Mothersbaugh and ex-OINGO BOINGO mastermind Danny Elfman.
Printed in an extremely limited run of 999 hand-numbered and signed copies on 180-gram red vinyl, The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell is the brainchild of artist Mark Ryden, who got his start in the music business as an album art painter, creating the cover for MICHAEL JACKSON’s “Dangerous”, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS’ “One Hot Minute” and AEROSMITH’s “Love In An Elevator” single.
The proceeds from the record, which will sell for $99.99, will benefit Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit that supports musical education in disadvantaged elementary schools.
Half of the records are being sold at Ryden’s new show, The Gay 90s, which opened this past Saturday, May 3, at the Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles. The other half will be sold on the artist’s web site beginning on May 13.