More than 15 years ago I heard a radio broadcast with the above title… I have been keeping my eye out for it for some time, for the chance to listen again. All I had was a title, or what I remembered as the key phrase, which did turn out to be the title. Some time back a good friend tracked it down for me with his mad-library-science-skilz. The artist was Sheila Davies.
Although I had the information I sought, I had other financial priorities at that point, and didnt make the purchase. Now, as I’ve been delving into the obscure and interesting artifacts of my memory and decided to look it up… and it’s out of stock. Have any of you heard the work?
Sometimes it is important to trace lineage… or to search in one’s self and ask how you got where you are, and what influenced you. I was influenced early on by exposure to the history of radio broadcasts largely through the deep knowledge of a family friend, Rick Hall, who worked in Radio. He had quite the collection of vintage broadcasts and I feel so fortunate to have listened to such classics as The Shadow and a plethora of others programs, I won’t even attempt to recall.
In the realm of sports and media, there is the oft-repeated theme of the magic of the radio broadcast… the experience of the nation. We all can’t be there in person. The radio opens the minds eye when the broadcasting voice is creatively gifted. And as our mind’s eye is opened it weaves tapestries and this weaving is what matters.
I think it was a gift to be exposd to Radio in this way. Even if it was much after the original broadcasts. To listen in the dark of night to these stories. They set a fairly high bar for the art of the story. One I always aspired to, but one I recognize as quite the challenge. It established a taste for this art… and later in discovering the work of Ken Nordine and other such radio artists later in college, was really opened wide. Written and Spoken word with layers of sound and narrative. This mindscape was a source of comfort and curiousity through many a night. Finding the right radio station willing to offer history and the avant-garde was always on my mind when traveling to new cities.
With the Internet and the growth of Indy Media I expect that we have so much opportunity for experience and experiments once more. Take a moment… a dark moment, shut yourself off from the multiple channels of connectivity and stimulation. Your eyes may be open or closed in this darkness, but open your ear.
I’m posting this link for future reference to Women Composers & Sound Artists:
http://nseq.blogspot.com/1990_03_01_nseq_archive.html