Delia Derbyshire was a legend in the world of electronic music. She worked and recorded at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop throughout the 1960s and into the early '70s. She is best known for creating the music for the original Doctor Who in 1963, based on the composition by Ron Grainer, who wanted to give her co-writing credits but the BBC overlords nixed it because they wanted workshop staff to remain anonymous. What a bunch of Daleks.
Additionally, she was part of an electronic studio group called White Noise. The one album she participated on is called An Electric Storm. The final song on the album, "Black Mass: An Electric Storm in Hell", is a bit terrifying to say the least.
Pot Au Feu begins with a tidal wave of noise that leads into a Jaws-like pair of notes. Blurpy bottle boops and piercing synth tones arrive, joined by a number of other percussive sounds and a tense synth melody. It's all very urgent and ominous and amazing.
When I was a kid, the Commodores were popular and Lionel Richie was about to become a superstar. I wasn't a fan of theirs but I recognized that they had some very catchy tunes. They were too sappy for me, more like mom music - "Three Times A Lady", "Still." I mean, no way was I going to sing along with this mushy stuff. Lionel also wrote the Kenny Rogers hit "Lady." Geez, just thinking back to riding in the car with my mom and having to listen to "She Believes In Me" makes me cringe.
The one song I actually liked was "Sail On", a breakup song, one they don't write like anymore. The protagonist's take on the relationship:
The studio version is a slick radio friendly yacht rock ballad, very smooooth. But here in this unbridled live version, the protagonist finds the good time almost immediately. When I first watched this video, I felt overwhelmed by the differences. Like, what is this song? Dang, all the whoos! and heavy drums, guitars, where did this come from? I knew they could rock, I mean, Brick House and Machine Gun are funky hard and all; maybe I should have been prepared for this.
Lionel is impressively energetic and entertaining out front with his many vocal embellishments, but drummer Walter Orange is the power station. The rest of the guys, the sparkly suits, the musicianship, it looks like they all sing too... What a fantastic performance.
Lionel Richie published his autobiography this past year. My library carries it. Hello, is it me that book's looking for? Eh, got too many others to read first, Lionel.
"Hi! My name is Luie Luie, and I'm here to tell you about a new dance called the Touchy." So begins the fifty-three second monologue that introduces the Touchy, simply a way for people to touch, however they care to touch I guess. He made the recording by himself and played all the instruments. This is an example of outsider music, which includes artists like Jandek, Daniel Johnston, Wesley Willis, the Shaggs, and Tiny Tim.
The actual music is about two and a half minutes. It "must have a wild trumpet introduction." What a wonderful mess of a tune. Some wild horns, some wah guitar, moog, drums and percussion. The name of the album is Touchy, and eight of the ten tracks have either Touchy or Touch in the title.
Luie Luie, real name Luis Johnston, toured bars and nightclubs for decades, performing as a one-man band. He was based out of Southern California, and he made his living working as a painter, screenwriter, and nightclub entertainer. He appeared in or had something to do with the Elvis Presley film Change of Habit (which also starred Mary Tyler Moore). He released an album a few years ago called Trumpet of the Last Days. Good to know he's still out there touching people with his music.
Quite possibly the Coolest video ever. The black and white, the smoke, the looks, the way the camera moves. And, I mean, show me a more quietly confident bunch of musicians outside the jazz world. Hank Marvin, well, he may not be the definition of cool here but just look at him, what a sweet smiling face! He is cool by default, being the lead guitarist and all. The bassist is Jet Harris, leather jacket cool that really ties the room together. He takes a puff on his cigarette, blows out the smoke, saves it for later. The drummer is Tony Meehan, and he's spellbound, all dreamy and far away. And the rhythm guitarist is Bruce Welch, fedora tough, fancying a pint or a fight.
Apache is a pretty well-known instrumental. Covered also by The Ventures, Jørgen Ingmann, and of course the "hip hop national anthem" by The Incredible Bongo Band.
The Bears lost to the Rams today, and I'm a bit sad that their season is over. At least we'll always have Apache.
I love the video. This representation of repressed domestic post-war times, when people just went through the motions and feelings were locked away to simmer, to boil until they exploded, and one was left to expire in conflicted oblivion.
The music is very much dream pop. Minor/major keys, reverb, twilight dust mote shadow sounds, kind of a sadder sounding Jonathan Richman. I think I heard this on Vintage Obscura Radio.
2 violas (the women in the middle)
2 violas da gamba (guy and gal to their right)
1 cello (guy across the way there by himself)
1 harpsichord (large red thing)
1 violone (guy behind the two women, just doing what he does)
This is my favorite movement of the Brandenburg Concertos. I love all the intertwining delicate notes, the way the violas dance around each other, sometimes connecting, other times off on their own adventures. It feels like they get to have all the fun while the rest of the instruments are just holding down the fort and sawing away. But not true. As the piece goes on, there are opportunities for the cello to step out a bit, like at 3:45 he seems to be enjoying himself. The viola players move around a lot, I wonder if they were allowed to do that in Bach's day. Were there even women viola players back then? And even if there were, would they have been allowed to be so physically demonstrative? Magic eight ball says "I seriously doubt it." I looked up other performances, and this one is my favorite, I like the tempo.
I also like the Brandenburg concerto with the wicked harpsichord jam at the end, can't think which one that is off the top of my head. Had to look it up: Concerto 5, 1st movement, Allegro, basically the last 3 and a half minutes is crazy solo harpsichord. Bach was just in the mood that day I suppose. Those other musicians have nothing to do but sit there and listen to this guy rock out like he's playing the keyboard solo in Won't Get Fooled Again. My mom would probably say, "Where are Karl Richter's parents? Letting him mess around on the harpsichord like that? Hmmph."
Bach, the man, the myth, the master of disaster:
Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt:
The result was this creepy, haunting two minute piece. I listen to it once in awhile, kind of amazed that this came out during World War II. It sounds both ancient and of its time. Old. Mysterious. Scary. Like the soundtrack for the people who opened King Tut's tomb.
I'm thankful it doesn't go on for twenty minutes; I would probably be hiding under my bed, willing it to go away.
