Tomorrow is August already! And singer-songwriter Margo Guryan has something to say about it…
(Thank you, Lia!)
Category: Music
An Electronic Heart of Glass
A month ago I mentioned it was Debbie Harry’s 65th birthday, and played Hanging on the Telephone. A much more technically advanced recording from Blondie’s album Parallel Lines is Heart of Glass. Here’s an explanation of how it was put together. I don’t know know yet who made this video, but it seems to be from England, and it’s excellent. Thanks go to David Barsalou for pointing it out.
Postcards not from the edge
Recommended — Ringo’s Postcards from the Boys. Hover over the picture to see who wished Ringo were also at the Capitol Records building.
Hate doesn’t rate
As a middle-aged, Protestant, straight husband and father, I’ll let England’s Lily Allen express my opinion of the Westboro Baptist Church.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2010/JUL/FU.flv 640 360]
Top Pop Gear
One of Bismo’s favourite programmes (note British spelling) is Top Gear, the show for automotive enthusiasts on BBC America. But long before Top Gear, there was Pop Gear, a 1965 movie featuring a bunch of British music acts, introduced by BBC TV personality Jimmy (now Sir Jimmy) Savile.
Last night, the season opener of Mad Men ended with Tobacco Road by the Nashville Teens, which you’ll find in part 5 of Pop Gear, compliments of YouTube user nyrainbow2.
Whose theme is Who?
Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
I’ve been trying to get back to Dave Dexter, Jr. and the Beatles, but I got distracted by a renewed interest in the fascinating history of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and Ron Grainer’s Doctor Who theme. This is Delia Derbyshire’s stunning, shimmering production, which includes the famous sound effects for the show.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2010/JUL/DoctorWho1963.mp3]Snippets of sounds and music by Derbyshire and the workshop have been collected by the BBC into a Flash player that you’ll find at this link. It’s all too easy to make the sounds overlap, so be quick with the stop button, and watch out for the clips that loop. Here is Murray Gold’s fantastic, powerful arrangement and orchestration for the new Doctor series in 2005.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2010/JUL/DoctorWho2005.mp3]If this subject is of any interest I’ll let you find the same sites I’ve been looking at, but one favor I should do for you is assemble the pieces of a 2003 BBC documentary on the Radiophonic Workshop, called The Alchemists of Sound.