ArtistInfo

Cardinal
Congraduations

Album US 1993 on TC Records Inc. label
Rock and Pop

Cardinal was, for this release, P.J. Cardinal (born January 13, 1963 in Hicksville, N.Y.) on lead vocals and keyboards, K.C. (not the Sunshine Band leader) on drums and vocals, Angus McEachern on bass and vocals, and Paul McManus on guitar. All songs written by P.J. Cardinal except "Pomp and Circumstance" (Sir Edward Elgar). Voice of 'Tonya': Lucinda Cardinal Cheerleaders on "The Closer I Get": Denise Casinover, Colleen Cuozzo, Christine Harrison, Jessica McManus, Jean Mullane, Diane Ricci and Lauren Rizzi. Art direction: DAZU and Michael Cardinal Liner notes: "Sometimes the road seems to go on forever. You drive through the canyons and the valleys and the monolithic superstructures of NEW YORK CITY. From the East coast to the West coast the message all remains the same: 1) We all are born. 2) We all will die. 3) In between we all just try to stay alive. So pay your taxes, suffer your pain and enjoy the special things that always just seem to smack you in the face, when you need them the most. Did you ever notice that the really special Fortune Cookie came when you felt the worst? Eat some Oriental food... You'll feel much better...GET IT?" Interview with Dave O'Connell, 2000: Dave: How did the first incarnation of the band come together? P.J.: After graduating from college, I joined a Long Island cover band like all good little Long Island musicians do. They were called Full House (and still are, for that matter) and they were good musicians (and still are, for that matter). I borrowed the members of that band for the first lineup, since they were the best people I knew for that job, as well as being good friends. There was, actually, an earlier incarnation of the band, called The Passengers, that played much of that material around the Manhattan area when I was in college (1981-1985) but that band sort of sucked. It was made up of old high school friends and we really didn't know what we were doing. For a while, though, it did include Michael Panes (who recently appeared on Aimee Mann's "Bachelor No. 2." I knew him from Columbia University. D: What inspired you to write "Please Don't Grow Up So Fast" and what are your thoughts/personal experiences regarding the subject of innocence? P.J.: This is so embarrassing. I wrote that song when I was sitting at the piano and looking out the window and I saw a girl from the neighborhood walk by. She was about 16 then, but I hadn't seen her since she was 8 or 9, when I used to hang out with her older sisters. I wrote the song as a goof, but I'm sure a strict Freudian wouldn't let me off so easily. Innocence is one of my favorite subjects, and I find myself fighting to cling to mine. The line I used in "Have A Nice Life" (off 1997's "Ora et Labora") about selling off your innocence to buy your greed is still very much how I see it. Not that I see maintaining your innocence as such great shakes; for me, it's a judgement call everyone has to make for themselves. But I've been pretty good at dragging mine out. By they way, my sister may very well accuse me of substituting the word "innocence" for "improvidence", so take me with a grain of salt. D: How closely have your experiences in the working world mirrored those of the narrator in "Same Old Grind"? P.J.: Oh, this one is fun. A few weeks ago, I offered to help my girlfriend update her resume, telling her I was pretty good at them. Her answer to me was, "But baby, you don't have any corporate experience." And she's right, I don't. I have managed to completely avoid the world I described in "Same Old Grind" by supporting myself as a musician and a composer. And that is the thing of which I am most proud.

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