I wrote about the plate-spinning song the other day -- Sabre Dance by Khachaturian.This song is only good for two things. Apparently sabre dancing, whatever that is. And especially plate-spinning. That's what I've heard it used for over the years on TV. If you ever came out -- let's say you picked this for your theme song -- and they saw you didn't have a few plates to spin they'd boo you off the stage.
How precisely they're able to spin plates on the top of a big wavering stick, I never have been able to figure it out. Maybe there's an entry at Wikihow, how to spin plates. I think I won't look and maintain at least that shred of mystery in my life. I believe if I ever tried it, I wouldn't get far before they'd be smashed all over the place.
I'm writing about this because I got an album -- an LP record -- at Goodwill a couple days ago that also has this song, Sabre Dance. I didn't notice it there when I was buying it. I only bought it because it was cheap, looked to be in good condition, and looked interesting. The extra bonus is that now I have an additional version of this great plate-spinning song.
The album is by a group called Ekseption, who look to be fairly famous. I looked them up at All Music and they have an extensive list of albums. They're known for progressive rock. I've heard the name over the years, just by looking at records all the time probably. But I don't remember ever having anything by them. This is their first album, and I think it's from 1968. All Music doesn't have kind things to say about it, saying it's dated and basically nothing worth remembering.
The cover of the LP is different than the one shown at All Music. Maybe the explanation for that is that Ekseption was from Holland and this is a U.S. pressing of the album. So I would guess the artwork was switched for foreign copies. I think it's very boring artwork. The back is the same as the front except it's B&W and there's a group photo spliced in the stage area.
I wish I hadn't seen the bad review, 1½ stars, at All Music. That prejudiced me. But I listened to the first song, a version of Beethoven's 5th symphony called The 5th. It does sound hackneyed. Of course it starts with an orchestral version of the opening of the 5th, then melds into a jazzy/rock interpretation. And of course I listened to part of Sabre Dance. It doesn't get right into the plate-spinning stuff at the first, but comes to it in good time. Of the two tracks I've heard, this is the best one. Mostly for sentimental reasons. Beethoven, bah.
