Here's Barry Gray, creator of music for Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, UFO and Space: 1999, telling kids how to make 'electronic music' with their tape recorders - what fun! It's from the TV Century 21 annual, 1965. It wouldn't have been easy to find someone to 'play a weird chord' on the piano, though, unless your family were musical.
One of my earliest memories is of the old piano in our house being carried outside and smashed to pieces - that's how musical my family were. They were so avant-garde that traditional instruments were to be destroyed and my father bought a synthesizer as soon as Robert Moog's machine was available. What a racket he made! There was I trying to watch Thunderbirds whilst Mum read the latest Catherine Cookson so we'd both scream 'SHUT UP!' None of that's true, of course, except the smashing of the piano...and Mum reading Catherine Cookson.
So not only were kids being presented visions of the future courtesy of Gerry Anderson but they were also encouraged to splice tape together and make their own space age music - wonderful! Don't forget, if you borrowed the tape recorder don't forget to return it as you found it...
No comments:
Post a Comment