The Sound of the Sand and Other Songs of the Pedestrian

1981 studio album by David Thomas, & the Pedestrians

Studio album by

David Thomas
& the Pedestrians

Released

October 30, 1981 (1981-10-30)

Recorded

May – June 1981 (1981-06)

Studio

Regent's Park
(London, UK)

Genre

Art rock, experimental rock

Length

37:53

Label

Rough Trade

Producer

Adam Kidron, Peter Walmsley

David Thomas chronology

The Sound of the Sand and Other Songs of the Pedestrian
(1981)

Vocal Performances
(1981)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
Robert Christgau	B^[2]

The Sound of the Sand and Other Songs of the Pedestrian is the debut studio album by experimental singer-songwriter David Thomas. Originally released on October 30, 1981, by Rough Trade Records, the album was remastered in 1997 by Paul Hamann and David Thomas for its inclusion in the Monster anthology box set.^[3]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by David Thomas

Side one
No.	Title	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"The Birds Are a Good Idea"	Moxham, Thomas, Thompson	The Pedestrians	1:58
2.	"Yiki Tiki"	Fier, Thomas, Thompson	The Pedestrians	2:15
3.	"The Crickets in the Flats"	Fier	The Golden Palominos	4:59
4.	"Sound of the Sand"	Moxham, Thomas	The Pedestrians	3:28
5.	"The New Atom Mine"	Fier, Greaves, Thomas, Thompson	The Pedestrians	5:17

Side two
No.	Title	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Big Dreams"	Moxham, Thomas	The Pedestrians	2:22
2.	"Happy to See You"	Thomas	The Trees	3:33
3.	"Crush This Horn Part 2"	Fier, Thomas	The Golden Palominos	1:49
4.	"Confuse Did"	Fier, Thomas	The Pedestrians	2:34
5.	"Sloop John B"	Traditional arr.	The Eggs	5:10
6.	"Man's Best Friend"	Fier, Thomas, Thompson, Thornton	The Pedestrians	4:28

Musicians

Adapted from The Sound of the Sand and Other Songs of the Pedestrian liner notes.^[4]

The Pedestrians (A1, A2, A4, A5, B1, B4, B6)

Anton Fier – drums and percussion
John Greaves – bass guitar (A5, B4)
Philip Moxham – bass guitar
Allen Ravenstine – synthesizer
David Thomas – lead vocals
Richard Thompson – guitar and dulcimer
Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton – trumpet
Mayo Thompson – accordion (B6)

The Golden Palominos (A3, B3)

Anton Fier – drums and percussion
John Greaves – bass guitar, piano
Richard Thompson – guitar and dulcimer
Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton – trumpet

The Trees (B2)

Ralph Carney – saxophone and oboe
Alan Greenblatt – guitar
Paul Hamann – bass guitar
Scott Krauss – drums
Allen Ravenstine – synthesizer

The Eggs (B5)

Chris Cutler – drums
Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton – trumpet

Production and additional personnel

Phil Bodger – assistant engineer
Anne Clarke – assistant producer
Paul Hamann – engineering
Sue Johnson – assistant producer
Adam Kidron – production, engineering, mixing, mastering
Martyn Lambert – design
Mik Mellen – photography
Shirley O'Loughlin – assistant producer
David Thomas – design
Geoff Travis – executive producer
Peter Walmsley – production, design

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United Kingdom	1981	Rough Trade	LP	ROUGH 30
United States	1981	Rough Trade	LP	ROUGH US 18

References

^ Anderson, Rick. "David Thomas & the Pedestrians: Sound of the Sand (And Other Songs of the Pedestrians) > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
^ Christgau, Robert. "David Thomas". Robert Christgau.com. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
^ Grant, Steven; Sheridan, David (2007). "David Thomas". Trouser Press. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
^ The Sound of the Sand and Other Songs of the Pedestrian (sleeve). David Thomas & the Pedestrians. London, United Kingdom: Rough Trade Records. 1981.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)