"Because ignorance of your culture is considered uncool"
Change the names and the circumstances and this could just as easily be almost any recent year as it was this day in 1957. The Middle East; the perennial powder-keg, the threatened flashpoint where the world would be plunged into chaos. The divider between East and West. On this day...
Since we’re rapidly (and thankfully) approaching the end of 2020, the somewhat pained looks back at the year start now. But rather than mull over 2020 here (since everyone else will do a better job anyway), today we’re going to start with the goings-on that shaped 1958. Oddly, a year...
Pale Saints – Live in Nantes, France – February 1, 1990 – RFI FIP – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – Even a little goes a very long way: Become a Patron! Pale Saints tonight. In concert at San Sebastian Escall, Nantes on February 1st 1990 and recorded by Radio France...
Gilbert Becaud – Pauvre Pecheur – March 18, 1955 – Le Voix de Son Maitre For pennies a day you can keep the archive up and running: Become a Patron! The legendary French singer-songwriter/actor Gilbert Becaud, known affectionately as “Monsieur 100,000 Volts”, Gilbert Becaud was one of the most popular...
Another day of drama and upheaval, this December 4th in 1947. Still reeling from the UN partition plan of Palestine, riots were continuing in Jerusalem and all throughout the region. Riots were erupting again in Paris, with Communists taking to the streets. And Paris was again the sight of...
Jimmy Smith Trio – live at Festival de Paris – October 28, 1984 – Radio France Musique – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – The immortal Jimmy Smith in concert this weekend. Recorded at Théåtre de la Ville during the Festival de Paris on October 28, 1984 in this extended excerpt...
As the Cold War grew in intensity, and as the world reacted, news for this November 25th in 1947 was pessimistic and ominous. The Big Four Foreign Ministers Conference wasn’t yielding the results as planned, with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov balking at overtures from the West over the Austrian and...
Ending up our “Rock Without Borders” theme this week – another artist who gives further evidence the French Rock scene is alive and well and kicking ass. Izia (Higelin), daughter of the late and legendary Jacques Higelin and sister of Arthur H. (who I ran a gig from earlier this...
Nikolai Demidenko, piano – Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi And Orchestre National de France – May 3, 2012 – Radio France Musique – Covering familiar territory this weekend with Russian pianist Nikolai Demidenko and Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi leading Orchestre National de France in music of Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovksy. Broadcast live by Radio France Musique...
Further evidence that the Internet is one of the truly most astonishing innovations in recent memory is the amount of access one has to just about every corner and crevasse on the globe, and every musical taste that goes along with it. Case in point – tonight’s Soundbooth features a...
Gordon Skene, two-time Grammy Nominee and archivist runs The Gordon Skene Sound Archive and this website, which is dedicated to preserving and encouraging an interest in history and historic news, events, and cultural aspects of our society. Past Daily is the only place on the Internet where you can hear a Nixon speech, listen to an interview with John Cassavettes or play a broadcast of Charles Munch rehearsing the Boston Symphony in 1950, all in the same place. It's living history and it's timeless.
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