Exponential

Music from the Analog Age

Original songs and instrumentals by Sam and his stepbrother John from the 1970s and 1980s. Scroll down for recordings.

Sam Savage (left) and John Pearce in the early 1980s in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Liner Notes

In the early 1970s, after I had abandoned traditional Management Science but before I had discovered spreadsheets, I tried unsuccessfully to be a folksinger in Chicago.

There were two things that dissuaded me from a career in music. First, there were a lot of people who were a lot better than I was, and second, they weren’t making it either. During this period I did some recording with my stepbrother John Pearce on a Sony 4-track reel-to-reel tape deck.

I found the decades old tapes in my garage in 1999, and discovered to my amazement that there were still magnetic signals on them. All the recordings are between 15 and 20 years old. Some pieces, like the patient who has been frozen in liquid nitrogen until a cure is found for his disease, awoke to a world in which they could be substantially improved. The tempo of the Exponential track, for example, was sped up digitally without changing the pitch.

After I had abandoned folk music but still before I had discovered spreadsheets, I got into the jigsaw puzzle business, but that’s another story.

- Sam Savage

Music

The Avoidance Trilogy

Excerpts from a seventeen-hour piece composed in graduate school.

Excerpts from a work in progress since 1975.

Excerpts from an eight-hour piece composed in a cubicle.

Rhythm guitar, vocals - John Pearce
Background vocals, lead guitar - Sam Savage

You’re such a fool to settle on down
Yeah life is a maze but you try you can settle on down
You’re so afraid of losing sight of your dreams
That by choosing a course, you lose all the rest, yes I know that’s the way it seems
Nobody said it was easy
Nobody said it was easy
So trust yourself and don’t be afraid
If you want life you’ve got to go grab it or it might slip away
And fall in love, the image complete
‘Cause if you’re loving and you’re working and you’re growing in both then you’ve got everything you need
Nobody said it was easy
Nobody said it was easy
Nobody said it was easy

Rhythm guitar, vocals - Sam Savage
Background vocals, lead guitar - John Pearce

This tune was around for a lifetime with nothing to do
This tune was a sound without title or words until you
The more I love you, the more I love you
We’ve been climbing up mountains and walking down beaches as two
We’ve been riding the clouds just to catch the incredible view
The more I love you, the more I love you
When love is essential it shows
When love’s exponential it grows the more it grows
The more I love you, the more I love you.

Rhythm guitar, vocals - Sam Savage
Background vocals, lead guitar – Sam Savage
Base – Tom Shader

There’s just the two of me
One can feel and one can see
There’s just the two of me yeah
One for sun and one for cloudy weather
Sweet delusion won’t you lead us on
Sweet desire won’t you fill a song
One is down at work on the rhythm
One is up at work on the smile
One plays hide and seek with the other
The other plays make believe all the while
There’s just the two of me
We’ll be with you when we’re free
There’s just the two of me yeah
Sometimes maybe more like three
Sweet delusion won’t you lead us on
Sweet desire won’t you fill a song