Blast IT

[caseyjo]

Whats the last song, Tv Vid, or on-line tune you listened to?..If you cant remember, what do you feel like listening to & if you dont feel like listening to anything, what is one of your all time favorite tunes?..Take your pic.....It's Blast it  time in the old TBd music room tonight.... So hit it peeps This is what I just listened to......It's actually on my profile right now.

[Snagg]

[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, May 17th:

1866: Erik Satie b. Honfleur, France.

One of those classical musicians whom everybody recognizes the song but can't name the composer - the best example being "Gymnopedie" - but his crowning glory (or evil masterstroke) was "Vexations" - a piece composed in 1893, after a traumatic break-up with the only romantic relationship he ever had, and then he apparently hid the piece, remaining undiscovered until twenty years after his death.

No one even attempted to play it, until fellow eccentric music theorist John Cage staged a performance in 1963 - an endurance relay which lasted 18 hours and 40 minutes. A simple, half-sheet notation which, by Satie's instruction required a minimum of 840 repetitions, the piece is legendarily fiendish in that, for some unknown reason and despite it's simplicity, it can't be memorized; Listeners have reported that, even after hours of close attention, they can't play it or hum it by ear. Pianists insist that they have to sight read it, even more than halfway into a performance - Which suits it's vaguely sinister, unsettling melody. (Some keyboardists have even reported experiencing unpleasant hallucinations while playing it - But there are reports that some blind pianists can perform it.)  

Glacially slow, as unrelenting as it uninviting, it's either the most malignant musical joke in history, or a cry of the damned.

(There are rumors that, after Cage and his stable of pianists completed the last note, somebody in the back of the performance hall stood up and screamed "ENCORE !")

[Angharad]

Erik Satie--evil genius or wackadoodle? I can imagine why his relationship with Suzanne Valadon only lasted a few months. I think I may get why no one can memorize this phrase. It doesn't have any pattern that's recognizable in any genre of music I know. It's kind of chilling. 

[Snagg]

[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, May 18th:

1911: Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner comes outta the chute stompin', howlin', bellowin' and spreadin' the good-time vibe, Kansas City, MO

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[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, May 19th:

1945: Peter Dennis Blanford Townshend b. Chiswick, Greater London, England; Pete writes "My Generation" on his 20th birthday - on the back of an envelope, in a cab, on his way to a recording session for The Who; Townshend claims that the song was partly inspired by his 1935 Packard hearse, The Who's touring vehicle, being towed away from its parking spot in front of his house on Chesham Place, the road between Clarence House and Buckingham Palace.

So says, Townshend, "I returned one day and it was gone. Turns out the Queen Mother had it removed because her husband had been buried in a similar vehicle, and seeing mine reminded her of him. I went to collect it, and they wanted 250 quid. I'd only paid 30 quid for it in the first place."

[Snagg]

[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, May 20th:

1851: Emile Berliner, inventor of the flat phonograph record (the "gramophone") and acoustic tile, b. Hanover, Kingdom of Hanover (now Germany)

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[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, May 21st:

1955: Chuck Berry saunters into Chess Records with 6 demos under his arm, and records his first song: "Maybellene" - originally an adaptation of the old western swing tune "Ida Red", but it got new lyrics to go along with it's new title. ("Maybellene" was the name of a cow in a poem that Berry heard in 3rd grade.)
To help promote the song, Alan Freed played it for two straight hours on his radio show.

[Snagg]