I’m a big music geek, among other geekish behaviors, and I’m always trying to keep my kids involved. My youngest are at that age where The Wiggles are considered hip, but I continue trying to subvert them. And I have a seven year old daughter I’m trying to steer away from Britney, Justin et al before they can take hold. Reaching back to my past, I’ve discovered the perfect stealth weapon: a musical mummy.
Mummies are cool, right? Kids love them. And a mummy that wears sunglasses and sings while playing an electric violin (held like a guitar)? Really difficult to top. Meet Nash The Slash, a performer who survived the 80s here in Canada, and has since gone on to an eclectic career scoring silent movies- all while dressed in his trademark mummy bandages and wielding an electric violin or mandolin. For further geek cred (not just music geek), Nash was a member of Canadian progressive rock band FM, whose 1978 release Black Noise included song titles such as “Slaughter in Robot Village,” “Aldebaran” and the classic “Phasors On Stun.” Really, “Phasors on Stun” is highly recommended if you can find it –it’s a good song. The kids like it too, especially when reminded that the mummy is playing on it.
Nash has been known to play some even less traditional instruments as part of his live performances –an electric grinder, for example. As if that weren’t enough, he has his own comic book, The Simultaneous Man, which ships with an included “Read Along With Nash” musical score on CD. A true Geek.
Here’s a somewhat “pop” FM video from 1985 that showcases Nash The Slash- wait until about the 3:10 marker for the full rockin’ mummy effect. The woman in the video sufffers from horrendously big 80s hair and there’s some unfortunate Miami Vice and Rambo looks going on with the rest of the band, but it’s certainly tamer than any video Britney ever released… And it has a mummy.
