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For those who care the picture credit reads: 'Daphne Oram blowing a Mijwiz, an Arabic reed pipe, while Richard Bird records the sound on a tape machine. BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Maida Vale, 1958.'
'Mijwiz' is now part of my secret scrabble lexicon..
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© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~17~RS~)
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You'll never get away with this. Mijwiz in Cajun is something entirely different.
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Didn't Richard Bird have some input into the original Who tune? It was far better than the current one.
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Hi TJS... According to the interwebs, Bird died in 1963 the year the theme was composed, so it seems unlikely he was involved.
PM's own Nigel Wrench did some reporting around the creation of the Dr Who theme which is well worth reading, and it has some great sound clips too
http://snipurl.com/9f652
And more here
http://www.delia-derbyshire.org/
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Chris. Thanks for that. Amazing what can be done with dots on a page. I seem to remember that the original and thought provoking theme was issued on a 45 and did quite well. It was certainly progressive for its day and I suspect Pink Floyd borrowed some of the technology a few years later. Two tracks that spring to mind are 'On the Run' from Dark Side of the Moon and 'Welcome to the Machine' from Wish You Were Here.
I don't much enjoy Who these days, I'm an old reactionary, but I like the jingle, which is very similar, but not identical, to the original. I suspect its been reworked quite a few times. But the woman responsible certainly knew her stuff. If I didn't know better I would have attributed it to Piper.
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nb I couldn't believe that Daphne Oram was her real name. I tried 'gramophone' and By Jove! it is a smidgin away.
But there were quite a few rumours around in the 50's. You should launch an investigation.
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1. The symphonic;
2. The axe-guitar;
3. The sci-fi "who-hooww";
It's that first bar, isn't it? 2 notes - just 2 pedantic, liberating, notes. Russell's a genius, but too humble-by-half: the Doctor was nonsense, until he saw its potential.
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Sylvester McCoy.
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Colin Baker.
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Peter Davidson.
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And now the lead singer of The Cure!
Exactly right.
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4. I recommend to anyone who has not already done so, to listen to the original offering of the Who theme, the new one, and the two Floyd tracks suggested, through headphones.
5. Who was sleeping on the job? The Beeb or Daphne?
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Hi all
just wanted to suggest a story. Probably a bit controversial but I have heard from several quarters ? both personal and social networking - about a growing opposition to the Thought For The Day slot on the Today programme.
Essentially, I and many other, think the inclusion of this slot for superstitious nonsense in what is Britain's leading news programme is highly inappropriate and frankly misleading. By doing so it suggests validation as factual the chosen pantheon of religions - all of which are mutually exclusive, so cannot all be correct, even if one accepted their ?invisible friends? central premise.
I have no problem with religious radio shows, but they should be kept well separated from those that deal with facts.
If this slot must be retained, at least, please, let it be balanced by occasional rational voices: atheist; humanist; or the just not quite so credulous.
After all, many children listen to the show over breakfast. Isn?t it enough that so many get indoctrinated both at school and at home; must they be fed extra god-bother along with their toast?
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Cool4cads. There's always a useful thought for the day on the PM banner. It would take about 5 seconds to read out and they could fill up the slot with more racing selections.
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Cool4cads. Thanks for the suggestion. We discussed it at the editorial meeting this morning, and it's something we're looking at.
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"The Secret Diary of the Holocaust" (BBC1, 10.35pm, 5th January 2009) - a beautifully edited and painfully moving story of the Holocaust. One simply wonders whether, at some future time, similar testimonies of children now living in the Gaza Ghetto may come to light, and how they may be received.
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I too am bothered about the persistent lack of input into the Today Programme "Thought for the Day" slot by non religious contributors.
I am a regular listener to Radio 4, and particularly the Today Programme, as it is the channel from which I attempt to gain authoritative and topical news.
I have written to the show on several occasions before but have not had the benefit of a reply.
The editorial policy on this slot appears to fly in the face of the editorial guidelines in several ways;
"we strive to reflect a wide range of opinion and explore a range and conflict of views so that no significant strand of thought is knowingly unreflected or under represented"
How wide a range of thought is it to present a morality exclusively based on theistic dogma ? What about Humanism, Secularism, Brights, Science, or any other non-theistic viewpoint ? Excluding this segment of the population is discriminatory and knowingly under representing your listeners.
"We can explore... a specific aspect of an issue or provide an opportunity for a single view to be expressed,... but opposing views...may also require a right of reply"
Where is that then ? Where can anyone who holds a non theistic viewpoint reply to assertions made by theists from their dogma on TFTD ? How can the listeners gain meaningful thoughts about the world from people of no faith.
"We must ensure we avoid bias or an imbalance of views on controversial subjects"
By definition the existence of a God, any God is controversial, not only between Theists and Atheists, but between the different types of Theists, all of whom hold different religious viewpoints on their Gods.
There is a huge bias daily on TFTD. We all get given the dogma whether we like it or not, the impression is that a moral code can only be constructed by theists for our benefit. This is, as you will realise, both biased and imbalanced.
I am getting increasingly disappointed and frustrated by the apparent intransigence and bias of the BBC in this matter ( and indeed in the matter on the "Pause for thought" slot on Radio 2).
The Today programme is often using the phrase " in this increasingly secular world" during interviews with theists. OK then , if it is increasingly secular, then give the secularists their equal opportunity on the TFTD slot.
The BBC appears to be ignoring one massive section of the population, and are starting to appear both arcane and archaic in refusing to accept this reality.
It is a deep disappointment to me that an organisation so willing and able to pursue political correctness has a blind spot so huge in this regard.
It would be a better position that TFTD was removed from the schedule altogether. It is an anachronism sitting in the schedule of the flagship news and current affairs programme. What a relief it was to have no TFTD when Jarvis Cocker was the guest editor ! Suddenly the programme felt cohesive.
If the editors wish to cling on to some slot with a moral content, then separate the moral message from theistic dogma, and become more inclusive in terms of the contributors.
This situation has gone on for too long, it is a ridiculous standpoint to be taking in todays world, and feels like the situation Canute found himself in when the waters were lapping against his chair.
So stop disregarding your Editorial Guidelines BBC, and start showing some balance and impartiality.
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I think you mean ' metaphysical ad break allowing listeners to make a cup of tea without missing anything of substance for the day'.
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Cool4cads - the idea of a thoughtful 3 mins a day is great; it's just that it comes across as comfort-food delivered by established Abramic apparatchiks.
There's no guarantee that it would be any different if it were given to atheists/humanists/secularists.
Whatever their stripe, if the author seems to be asking questions re his/her own uncertainty, then ToD is doing well - if not, then not.
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I support the addition of pagans - iccans, druids etc to T4TD. Religious programming from Manchester regularly uses people like Emma Restall-Orr in their Sunday slot. why not the Today programme? We are the fastest growing religion in the UK after all.
Wicked Witch of Wimbledon
http:\\lizzievee.co.uk
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The BBC is refusing to apologise for some of the most blatant homophobia I have ever heared.
I am disgusted that it is allowing a bunch of childish men to denigrate another human being so publically purely because of her sexuality.
The BBC needs to learn that lesbians are not a legitimate target for hate and apologise now.
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I too would welcome the inclusion of contributions from a broader spectrum of contributors, whether they be religious believers or otherwise.
There is one particular gripe that I do have about T4TD; contributors (one in particular) who start with a seemingly useful, interesting and valid observation and then make a sudden and wholly unjustified leap to a strict religious justification for their commentary. That behaviour just turns my stomach.
Perhaps T4TD is meant to be about expanding your thinking, but it surely has to be constrained to some reality?
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Thought for tomorrow, and indeed every day should be the establishment of an Earth government. Please see earthgovernment.net. The UN is failing at the moment, especially in its handling of the current middle east crisis. Both sides are as bad as each other. People / children are dying needlessly. Within the structure of an an Earth government no individual national government would have access to military infrastructure. There would be an Earth Defence Force which would protect all people.
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i was driving home today listening to all the interest rate speculation and the unhappiness of savers and this idea for saving the economy emerged.
to address personal debt the government could offer consolidation loans at 1.5% over lengthy periods similar to mortgages. the repayments could be collected through the paye system.
this would remove a lot of the bad debt anxiety from the big lenders, it would put the dodgy lenders who exploit sub prime people out of business, it would give the government an additional secure funding stream with which to finance public works that would soften the unemployment situation.
the removal of personal debt stress would leave people free again to start saving and investing and the competition for these funds would provide better returns for those saving.
as long as the banks are seriously regulated and not allowed to recklessly speculate with our money we are off and running again.
win, win,win
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Over on the Beach (PM Blog) a jocular discussion is taking place around listening to the football results and the memories it evokes.
Howzabout iPM does an item on this? I have particularly vivid memories of Saturday afternoons just before tea time, checking the football pools with my father (sadly dead some several years), and I'd imagine that many other listeners have similar childhood memories. Is it worth a spin? It's the club names that do it, you know... Partick Thistle, Queen of the South, Forfar, etc., etc.
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My mind tunes out any religious messages or thoughts, must have been my catholic upbringing has vaccinated me against simple-minded wittering. I have always found Lionel Bloom the most infuriatingly fatuous. Why should any of us be subjected to a sermon without our consent. Ditch it.
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The increase in measles cases due to the lower rate of immunisation has been in the news today. The lower rate of immunisation is attributed to the concerns that parents had about the MMR vaccine causing autism.
Given that we now have a population of unvaccinated children, has any research been done to test whether the rates of autism in those children are different to those in the vaccinated children? This would end once and for all any concerns. If the research was taken further to consider the children's health in more general terms (due to the damage that can be done by measles, mumps and rubella), you could get a measure of the overall risk for and against vaccination.
Any chance of iPM looking at this?
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I do not think it right that the BBC spread religion to people who want nothing to do with it. If I wanted to hear a sermon I would go to church.
I want to hear the news in the morning, not religious nonsense. Proselytisers may feel great telling me about God; I cannot stand their drivel.
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The current dire state of the housing market could be helped by NOT introducing the HIPs. I would like to move nearer to my grandchildren and were it not for the necessity to have a HIP, I would probably put my house on the market to see if there was a possible buyer. This would then galvanise me into looking for a suitable property - fate would have interveniened! As it is, I'm not prepared to shell out however much it is to have a worthless HIP. There must be lots of people in my situation and it might help to mobilize the market if we oldies all got on the move.
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My suggestion for a story.
What do other nations of the World truly believe to be the British way of life? What does 'being British' mean to an Iranian national, or the person walking down the street in central Bejiing? I would be interested as I'm not really sure what 'being British' is myself, a British subject!
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An idea has been niggling at me for sometime now and I would like to see if it is of interest to anyone else....
Political reformation is a tricky business, but I felt that the last major political reform was carried out by Oliver Cromwell with some serious tinkering at the beginning of the 20th century when women won the vote...
Confidence in our system seems to me, to be ebbing away as more and more people feel dissociated from their politicians, particularly as their ?self monitoring? system appears not to work very well at all. Too many ?cash for honours? scandals as well as disturbing ?John Lewis Accounts? along with jobs for the boys, that leave people skeptical and distrustful of those sent to Westminster to represent them. Government of the the people, by the people for the people, has descended into a great quagmire of apathy. Few people vote as most do not believe that politicians are really there for their benefit.
MP?s today, are in the very first instance ?self selecting?.... They put themselves forward for the job. This alone makes them very special and unusual. The vast majority are very committed and hard working but are they truly representative of the public?
My thought would be to create a third political house.... One that acts as a jury to those in power. They would be truly representative of the people by being drawn from the population according to their age, sex, income, race, educational standard etc., on a ratio of say 1:100,000. They would not be elected but drafted in for a four year term on a part time basis. This would mean there would be a ?house? of about 609 jurors which would be available to adjudicate our politicians when necessary. So should an MP be caught misappropriating funds a mechanism would be in place where he would have to answer to the people. Should the government be deemed to have taken us on an illegal war, there would be a mechanism where they would have to answer for their action.
This third house, would actually make an interesting television program. To actually put together a body of people that actually represented the population as it is.... and then be able to comment on political decisions and policies of the day. The feed back on government by a body of representative people before an election would be very stimulating.
The perfect setting for such a group would be Westminster Hall, where leading figures and government have had to answer for themselves before....
Government of the people, by the people, for the people, and answerable to the people...
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12. cool4cads began the Thought for the Day debate here with a number of loaded prejudicial words and phrases against all religions, woven into his argument: "slot for superstitious"; "nonsense"; "misleading"; "invisiblefriends"; "credulous"; "indoctrinated"; "god-bother".
That iPM chose to set the tone for a so-called 'discussion' on an important subject on the foundations on this half-literate and insulting squib accounts for the way in which this matter quickly descended to the level of a bar-room slanging match.
Discussion of controversial topics is only helpful when they have been thoughtfully proposed and sensitively begun, with an introduction that sets an appropriate tone.
Maybe atheists find it difficult to adopt anything different than a haranguing tone, I don't know; but this much is clear, a bar room brawl arranged by the BBC - that has spilled over into other parts of this iPM blog - is no more civilised than a bar room brawl that occurs spontaneously. The latter can be easily avoided by our choosing sensible social surroundings; the former invites our dismay and questions should be asked about how our licence fee is being spent.
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GarethTh: your use of language is equally negative ("slanging-match", "bar-room brawl", "half-literate").
We rationalists have had to put up with your vitriol for millenia - proof positive that while religious people may be nice, proselytisers rarely are.
As for the licence fee - we ALL chip in, and we ALL get something out.
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