"Because ignorance of your culture is considered uncool"
August 5, 1990 – ABC Information Network News – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – August 5, 1990 – unsettling news this day. The ongoing attempted overthrow in Liberia of the government of President Samuel Doe and the outbreak of Civil War, prompted President Bush to order the evacuation of all...
Another tribute this week. Word came out last night of the death of co-founder and Punk pioneer Alan Vega, the driving force behind Suicide and a noted visual artist, had died at the age of 78. Together with Martin Rev, Alan Vega established Suicide as one of the seminal projects...
July 15, 1996 – CBS World News Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – News for this July 15, 1996 had to do with bad manners, mixed signals and no-shows. Russia’s Boris Yeltsin abruptly cancelled a planned meeting with vice-President Al Gore, with Kremlin officials stammering and making awkward excuses....
Killing Joke in concert tonight. From the 1986 Reading Festival, a one-hour set by the pioneers of Industrial Rock. Killing Joke were a very influential band in the 80s. Their mix of Electronica, Goth, and Synth Pop paved the way for a number of bands to follow suit – notably,...
Part 1 Part 2 Back to Suntory Hall in Tokyo this week for another concert by the NHK Symphony, guest conducted by Fabio Luisi and featuring the legendary Rudolf Buchbinder in music of Mozart, Schubert and Bruckner. Recorded by the venerable NHK-FM live on January 7, 2016, the concert...
On July 12, 1966 – With the Vietnam War pulling us deeper and deeper into the conflict-with-no-end, and Red China showing increasing antagonism toward the U.S. – and now that they had the Atomic Bomb – the balance of power in Southeast Asia was looking precarious, at least to our...
Camel in session at Electric Ladyland Studios – November 19, 1974 – Camel was one of the first of the Progressive bands to become a bigger hit in the U.S. than they were in their native UK. By 1974, the band had already released their second album, Mirage via their...
Randy Weston this weekend, recorded by the CBC in Canada at the Bamboo Club in Toronto. This 1985 solo gig spotlights the highly distinctive style that has made Weston such a highly regarded figure in Jazz. Characterized by critics as a “Griot of Jazz and its African roots”, Randy Weston...
When news surfaced, some three years ago, that Kevin Ayers had died, it was one of those shocking and sad occasions that instantly recalled all those contributions he had made over the decades and how much had gone unnoticed. Ayers was a founding member of the iconic Soft Machine, whose...
The Vapors in concert from Guildford and recorded by BBC Radio 1 on February 11, 1981. Sadly, The Vapors, like many bands from the beginnings of Rock n’ Roll, were often relegated to “one-hit wonder” status – it certainly wasn’t their fault. As is evidenced by this concert, The Vapors...
