So much has been written and said already about the infamous and influential BBC Radiophonic Workshop that I start this post at a loss. I mean, they deserve the praise — their legendary status is well-deserved — but with so many articles, a great documentary, and other dissections of their career and influence, I think I’ll take the easy way out and stick to a short obituary of their accomplishments.
If you know only one thing of their work, it would be the theme to Doctor Who, the venerable BBC sci-fi television series. They also did the sound effects. And incidental music. In fact, they were a BBC department that produced all manners of strange noises and sound effects (and theme songs) for over 200 other BBC shows. In doing so, they paved a superhighway of innovation that led electronic music growth for decades, from studio engineering to electronic composition to sound collage to synthesizer technology.
I came across this album in a dilapidated Leeds (UK) record shop for just a couple quid and have held onto it for dear life — BBC Radiophonic Workshop on vinyl doesn’t sell cheap. The standout track for me is easily Vespucci, a funky saunter with a very sampleable cool synth melody. The abstract cover from this 1973 release looks quite a bit like a CD exploding, perhaps another ahead-of-their-time move from these old-timers. And finally, this great closing line from the liner notes:
“The specially created stereo is not an attempt at realism, but is used as a sound object in its own right.”
- Scene & Heard
- Just Love
- Vespucci
- Reg
- Tamariu
- One-Eighty-One
- Fourth Dimension
- Colour Radio
- Take Another Look
- Kaleidoscope
- The Space Between
- Flashback
Artwork:
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