Release Date: April 20, 2003
© 2003 Jesse Mank BMI
Out of print

Late 19th century inventor Cecil Shepard enjoyed a great deal of success with his famous singing robots. The robots captured the hearts of Americans, first through their popular Edison Rolls and later in one of the longest running vaudeville shows in the Lowe's circuit: Shepard's Roboshop Quartet! But the popularity of the robots would come to a screeching halt in the spring of 1901 when one of the robots over heated, setting a Buffalo theatre on fire and killing nineteen people including the inventor himself. Among those who perished in the fire was child vaudeville sensation Tiny Tapping Tommy, best known for popularizing the song "Kiss Me When I'm Older." The tragedy shook the nation, their grief fueled by many highly editorialized news pieces that insinuated foul play on behalf of the deceased inventor. The source of these rumors is thought to have stemmed from the fact that Shepard owed a great deal of money to Buffalo business investor Richard V. Hoffman who loaned Shepard the money to build the robots. Hoffman also happened to own many of the newspapers along the East coast. A journalist writing for one of Hoffman's papers began calling for the destruction of Shepard's laboratory, the surviving robots, and all robot memorabilia. This idea became extremely popular amongst the inconsolable public - an idea so popular that it came to fruition on July 13, 1901, when all evidence of Shepard and his robots were destroyed in a series of bonfires across the United States.

Over the years much has been written (and speculated) about the inventor and his robots, but little evidence has surfaced. During a recent excavation of Buffalo's Canal District, a safe was found, thought to belong to Shepard's mistress and Hoffman's wife Anna Gregor. (Hoffman owned a printing press in the Canal District that Gregor curiously kept an office in. Cecil Shepard frequented the press, stating business purposes.). Amazingly, the safe contained blueprints for three of Shepard's robots. The Hussalonia staff acquired these blue prints had the robots assembled to their original specifications. Since all of the original sheet music and Edison Rolls were destroyed in the bonfires, seven new compositions were written (based on the journal writings of Shepard) as well as two traditionals, thought to be the inventor's favorites.

"There is a peculiar sense of comedy and tragedy prevalent throughout this disc. Hearing these expressionless confessions does strange things to a human ear. When sincerity is uncertain, we assign irony to it. But what to do when a robot, incapable of delivering irony, tells us of his desire to be an owl and the suit of brown feathers he's constructed? Why is this simultaneously funny and heartbreaking?"
Bernard Fenton, Elusive Songwriter Magazine

"The robots are like children in their lack of subtle expression, their innocent longings challenged by their synthetic voices, but they express complex adult themes such as love, death and possession."
George Ritter, author of Robots in Time

"Excellent production...(the songs) are complimented by well composed instrumental passages, orchestral in nature."
Steve Grange, Reclusive Producer Magazine

"It's comical, novel, bleak, funny, heartbreaking, sparse, expansive, dense, layered, sad, and humorous"
Josh Anomaly, Abandoned Arts

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