Sad news, Pamela Salem passed away last month. She played the character ‘Toos’ in the classic Doctor Who story ‘The Robots of Death’ with Tom Baker. Which is one of my favourites of all time. She then recently reprised the role in the Big Finish story ‘Robots’ with Nicola Walker.
Category: People
This category is about people. Sometimes people I know, sometimes people I’m just interested in.
Laurie Anderson has to be one of the most original people of all time
Over the last day or so I have been listening to Laurie Anderson’s ‘Life of a Dog’. I have listened to it before, but this time around I was struck by it’s deep poetry. I found it incredibly moving. I’m not sure that I had quite appreciated just how powerful it was.
I have been listening to Laurie Anderson’s music for longer than I have not been listening to her. Which is saying something. I have also seen her perform live on more occasions that I can remember and saw her give a Q&A session at a screening of her film ‘heart of a dog’. Whilst I have never met her, she comes across as a very sincere and honest person who cares about what she does.
What she does, she does in the most original and unique way. I think that sometimes it is easy to overlook just how amazing she is as an artist and an individual, and I wanted to say that.
Happy Birthday Tom!
Mr Baker is, without a doubt, the best Doctor Who ever. What is more I am amazed and totally delighted that he is still making new stories. Stories that I love. I am especially looking forward to the next set of stories coming out in March this year. It will be a bit of a departure, but I am sure it will be amazing.
Happy birthday Mr Baker, may you continue for many years to come.
RIP Ian Rawes
I am very sad to say that my friend, Ian Rawes passed away in October. You might know of Ian from his amazing work at the London Sound Survey which he ran as an incredible archive of sounds from around the city.
Ian was a lovely man. He was knowledgeable and passionate about sound and field recording and I came away from talking to him always feeling as though I had learnt something new.
I first heard about Ian in a book called ‘In the field’, which I can thoroughly recommend to anyone who has even a passing interest in field recording. In it there is an interview with Ian which fascinated me and I decided that I had to contact him. That was back in 2016. We met for a drink and I found myself talking to a like minded soul who was generous with his time and knowledge. More than that he was a gentle man, and I miss him.
Ian also wrote, or perhaps more accurately, compiled a book about sound words. ‘Honk, Conk and Squacket’ is a great book to dip into every now and then to locate a word that you’ve probably never heard of before. Again, I can thoroughly recommend this to anyone with even a passing interest in the history of sounds and how we have described them.
I’m glad to say that the last time I saw Ian, back in 2019, I asked him to sign my copy, which I will now always treasure.
You can hear a lot of Ian’s recording at the London Sound Survey, but also his recordings have been released by Persistence of Sound.
You can also find their music on bandcamp. I can thoroughly recommend this record. The recordings are superb and listening to them again recently gave me a great sense of peace about Ian.
I will miss him a great deal, but for me, he lives on in these excellent recordings. His work is his legacy, and those who knew him, those who’s lives he touched, will remember him for many years to come.
Delia Derbyshire
This is the latest edition of Electronic Sound magazine. It comes with a copy of her version of the Doctor Who theme, presented on some very nice looking yellow vinyl. I’m not sure why it’s yellow, but it is.
Now I’ve played it. It’s pretty good. Great to hear that track again. Such a milestone in electronic music history. Such a hugely creative endeavor. Just so impressive.
I haven’t read the magazine as yet, but when I do I might post a few thoughts on their take on Delia. I’m not committing to it right now. We’ll see.
Happy Birthday Tom!
The Paradox Planet 
The Labyrinth of Buda Castle 
Dr Who, Legacy of Death 
Dr Who, Gallery of Ghouls 
Fourth Doctor, The Trouble With Drax 
Doctor Who, The Pursuit Of History 
I can’t believe that Tom Baker is 85. It’s amazing he is just as good as when he was (in my opinion) the best Doctor Who we’ve ever had. It’s fantastic that he’s still doing audio stories with Big Finish, and I’m very much looking forward to giving the latest season a listen.
Laurie Andrerson, Nothing in my Pockets
I was given this book as a present a while ago. I hadn’t heard about the book, or the recordings before this, so it was a very nice surprise.
I’ve just finished reading the book. It’s short. Very short, but very readable, and very engaging indeed. Bits of it made really me smile, and I can thoroughly recommend it if you’re a fan of Laurie Anderson, or if you appreciate her style of music and performance.
It made me think about what an audio diary or audio journal would be, or indeed should be. It raised some interesting questions about what constitutes meaningful and engaging sound. These are all good questions. I don’t have any answers as yet, but they’re definitely on my mind, and, as and when I do have some answers, I’ll let you know.
Yeah, we’re staying on a boat!
There’s a lot to be said for actually checking emails and stuff like that. Just a week or so ago I went away with some friends only to find out at the last minute that we were staying on a boat. I probably should’ve checked emails and the like, but I didn’t, so it was something of a surprise to me.
A good surprise though. The hotel was in Bratislava, on the Danube, and was perfectly adequate.
Goodbye Holger
I found out yesterday that Holger Czukay died on the 5th of this month. It is so sad. I have been listening to his music and collaborations for over 30 years now. Some time ago I went to see him live at the Roundhouse in Camden. It was a great show. He had so much energy. It was such a fun show.
I will be listening to his music over the next few days and enjoying it, remembering what an incredible innovator he was, and how he influenced so many creative people. He’ll be missed by many. He will be missed by me.
I love tape, so I love this …
Deerful, Staying Still
Deerful, Staying Still
Deerful, Staying Still
Deerful, Staying Still
I’m a fan of Deerful’s music so it was good news when she announced a cassette release. It’s a really nice EP too and very well put togeher.
I am Ashley Elsdon 