Dieter Wachtel - Take the Time / Help Me Girl

Location: Salt Lake City
Year: 1979
Label: Yellowstone Records
Catalog Number: N/A

Style: Folk, Soft Rock, Light Psych

I met Dieter after he responded to my classified ad i posted calling out to locals for recorded media. We planned to meet, and he turned out to be a wealth of knowledge on local music. He was very generous in turning over his dead stock pressings and CD’s to me to distribute. He released two 45’s in the late 70’s and early 80’s as well as many, many CD’s since then.

This particular 45 has a special B-side called “Help Me Girl.” It seems to be the song in his discography that gets the most interest. Dieter told me that he went up to Ogden’s Mountain Meadow Studios where he had been given some inexpensive studio time. He recorded the A side and ran out time for a B, so he pulled some prerecorded material to fill space. I’m glad it worked out that way.

It’s the classic tale of a girl who tore his heart out in a breakup. You only hear him and his keyboard, which ads to the lonely vibe he may have been feeling at the time. 

Dieter is still performing today and questioning how artists like Kanye and Taylor Swift made it big.