"Lost tapes of the Doctor Who composer"

Whoa.

A hidden hoard of recordings made by the electronic music pioneer behind the Doctor Who theme has been revealed - including a dance track 20 years ahead of its time.

Delia Derbyshire was working in the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop in 1963 when she was given the score for a theme tune to a new science fiction series.

She turned those dots on a page into the swirling, shimmering Doctor Who title music - although it is the score's author, Ron Grainer, who is credited as the composer.

from BBC News Includes samples of her work.

Edited to add: Whoa squared; there was a link to this article about the founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the sidebar:

Almost un-noticed by the wider world, one of the pioneers of electronic music has died. Without Daphne Oram, we may never have known what the Tardis sounded like.

Electronic music - as much a part of today's life as whistling a tune to yourself - grew up amid milk bottles, gravel, keys, and yards of magnetic tape and wires.

These were the sort of "tools" typically scattered around the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop in the 1950s and 60s, when they were used to generate wonderful and ethereal sounds for the airwaves.

The mother of this great legacy was Daphne Oram. Aged 18, and armed with a passionate interest in sound, music and electronics, she started work at the BBC in 1943 as a sound engineer.

linkness

Fie

There's a touring show of Avenue Q! Yay!

They have west coast dates in Seattle and Portland! Yay!

... which were last month. Boo.

Bad life choices...

... include putting "Teardrop" by Massive Attack on repeat on a gray and rainy day. :D

(Wednesday) Okay, add "Losing It" by Rush, after one has realized that one's piano playing and disc golfing hobbies are pretty much hosed... gads, this fourth decade of life isn't for wimps.

Too picky for our own good

... or, the Adventures of Geriatric Jesus and Rock and Roll Judas

Mr E got us tickets for Tuesday night's touring company performance of Jesus Christ Superstar because Corey Glover (former lead singer of Living Colour) was cast as Judas. Ted Neeley, who had played Jesus in the 1973 film version of JC Superstar, was reprising his role, which had me a little concerned...

Concern got deeper during the Overture, when the seemingly requisite encounter between apostles and Roman soldiers took place in bullet time. Oh, and the costume designer had gone for a late-medieval / early MC Hammer look, so the soldiers had halberds and some of the apostles had baggy pants. But then Mr. Glover pretty much nailed "Heaven on Their Minds", though his vocal style was, perhaps predictably, much more rock 'n' roll than Broadway, and I got a little happier.

Then Jesus made his entrance. And my disbelief landed with an almighty whump.... he just sounded too old. Oh, and he sang the consonants, not the vowels. And he would extend phrases until he was at least a measure behind the "orchestra". Later on, the actors portraying both Herod and Pilate did the same thing, so I can only think that somebody in charge thought it was a good idea.

... graah, there's such a thing as knowing too much, especially at $56 bucks a ticket plus handling fees.

On the other paw, Mr. Glover, the young woman playing Mary Magdalene, and the chorus all nailed it. Still left the performance bitching, though.