Blue Man album a real group effort

Can blue men sing the whites?

That question was posed satirically by the Bonzo Dog Band back in 1968. But the azure-dipped dons of today -- the principals of the Blue Man Group -- don’t sing, or even speak at all, at least not while in character.

So they got Dave Matthews to sing for them.

Matthews is the best-known guest on the group’s upcoming album, “The Complex,” which will be released April 22 through a new deal for the Blue Man enterprise with Lava Records. Also singing on the album are Tracy Bonham, Josh Haden, Esthero and Venus Hum’s Annette Strean, with Spalding Gray contributing a spoken element to one song.

Others helping out are Dan the Automator, who served as a sort of consulting producer on some tracks, and turntable artist Rob Swift, along with regular Blue Man musicians who back the three main performers’ exploits on percussion instruments, many of their own invention made from PVC tubing.

Along with original songs, the album sports versions of the Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” (an audience sing-along in the group’s theater productions) and a churning take on the Donna Summer disco hit “I Feel Love”

After a decade of growth from a New York street performance-art entity to an internationally successful network of elaborate productions with homes in New York, Atlanta, Las Vegas and other cities, the group dipped its blue toes into the rock world with its 2000 instrumental album “Audio.” “The Complex,” though, represents a full move into music, with the group designing a concert presentation for a tour starting in the spring.

“The Blue Man was telling us he was ready to take a look at rock ‘n’ roll,” says Chris Wink, who with partners Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton created the inquisitive, innocent Blue Man character. “We started thinking about the rock concert, the Blue Man’s take on the rock concert. We take [rock concert conventions] and turn them on their head, make them almost mechanical.”

One of the things they most want to turn on its head is the notion of a rock star. It’s a natural, given the Blue Man characters’ lack of individual identity (the participants refer to them as one collective Blue Man). Besides having others supply the vocals, Wink and Stanton say, the performers in their concerts will not always be the three founders, but sometimes others who have been playing the character in the various theater productions.

“It’s not going to be the same Blue Man every time,” Wink says. “People have to buy into the idea that they’re going to see the Blue Man and not the cult of personality.... The different people playing the Blue Man character is something we want to do right out of the gate. If this works, it could be the first time a character becomes a rock star.”

That came as a bit of a surprise to Lava President Jason Flom (who went to high school with Wink and Goldman in Riverdale, N.Y.), but he says he fully supports the no-star aesthetic and has plenty of plans in the works to promote the record, including television appearances and the prominent placement of a song in a major movie.

“The Blue Men are both anonymous and ubiquitous,” Flom says, noting the success he’s had with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a star-less ensemble that has mounted strong album sales. “It’s an experience that’s not star-specific. Blue Man is a fascinating concept and, [fans] get a show and experience that’s not dependent on who’s underneath the paint. And to the best of my knowledge, they’ve never failed with anything.”

Radio staffers branch out

While some question the propriety of public radio station KCRW-FM (89.9) having turned into a mill for film and television music supervisors, with many of its on-air music staff having taken such roles, their success was evident in the recent Grammy nominations.

Gary Calamar and partner Thomas Golubic got a compilation soundtrack nomination for their collection tied to the HBO series “Six Feet Under,” while Liza Richardson is up for her “Y Tu Mama Tambien” set. They follow in the footsteps of former station music director Chris Douridas, honored with a 1999 nomination for his soundtrack to “American Beauty.”

Over at rival listener-sponsored station KPFK-FM (90.7), Barry Smolin, host of the Grateful Dead-and-related showcase “The Music Never Stops” (Fridays at 9 p.m.) is at work on an album himself, but of his own music. The project is being produced by Stew of L.A. band the Negro Problem and features support from other Negro Problem members, plus the band Double Naught Spy Car and Probyn Gregory of Brian Wilson’s band and the Wondermints. Despite his Dead orientation, Smolin describes his music as straddling the line between Tin Pan Alley and the avant-garde.

Small faces

Soozie Tyrell, who joined Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band as violinist and backup vocalist for “The Rising” and the current tour, has recorded her debut solo album after 25 years of playing. “White Lines” features the Boss himself playing guitar on the title track and singing background on another. Fellow E Streeter (and Springsteen’s wife) Patty Scialfa sings on two songs, with guitarist Larry Campbell and bassist Tony Garnier (both of Bob Dylan’s road band) among the contributing musicians. The album is due April 8 on indie Treasure Records.

In addition to reviving the band Toad the Wet Sprocket, which kicks off a tour Feb. 4 at the Grove in Anaheim and Feb. 5 at the West Hollywood House of Blues, singer Glen Phillips is keeping himself busy. He’s teamed with “newgrass” band Nickel Creek as the Mutual Admiration Society for an album due from Sugar Hill Records in the spring, is collaborating on new material with Texas singer-songwriter David Garza and has a live album of his own (recorded in October at Largo) due simultaneously with the start of the upcoming tour.