Ghost Echoes is a music history podcast with secret rules. It begins in 1970 and it will proceed up to the present day, discussing one musical recording per episode. Some of them are famous and acclaimed, others utterly obscure. Some are classical, most are pop. The list of recordings that Ghost Echoes will focus on throughout its run is already decided and set in stone, having been chosen in accordance with the podcast’s non-negotiable rules, of which there are three: 1. REDACTED, 2. REDACTED, and 3. The first two rules are secret.
These rules lead Ghost Echoes down countless historical side streets and blind alleys where it departs from music entirely and passes by Victorian booze palaces, angry Ontarian proletariats, inscrutable paintings about the space race, demolished movie theatres, drunk people, exceedingly large oval rugs, unlikely origin stories of venerable educational institutions, Charlie Brown cartoons, and conspiracy theories about extrajudicial assassinations by MI5.
Ghost Echoes is the story of music -- and everything else
We are an optimistic species. Even in our stories about the end of the world, the world doesn’t actually end. In reality, it will. In the season one finale of Ghost Echoes, we study the apocalypse. Ragnarök. The Great Tribulation. The End. Alas, we're not alone -- we're with Nico. Follow onFacebook|Twitter|Podchaser Music and Sound Notes: -- This episode contains excerpts from “Femme Fatale,” by the Velvet Underground, and “These Days", “Eulogy to Lenny Bruce”, “Frozen Warnings”, “Nibelungen”, “You Forget to Answer”, “The End”, “Das Lied der Deutschen,” and “Win a Few", all by Nico. Further reading, listening: --For biographical information on Nico, see the documentary Nico: Icon and this Guardian story by Simon Reynolds. This episode also contains clips from Susanna Nicchiarelli’s excellent biopic Nico, 1988. --For more on the 1910 Halley’s comet panic, read Matt Simon in Wired. And for more on the UFO cult Chen Tao, see Encyclopaedia Britannica.
June Campbell Cramer, known to all as Lady June, was one of the greatest party hosts of her day. She was the connective tissue that held whole musical scene together. She was the counterculture’s landlady. And she was also an artist in her own right. On this episode of Ghost Echoes, we crash a house party and do a bit of psychedelic people watching. Follow on Facebook | Twitter | Podchaser Music and Sound Notes: --This episode contains excerpts of three tracks from Lady June’s Linguistic Leprosy: “Some Day Silly Twenty Three,” “To Whom It May Not Concern,” and “Am I.” Further reading, listening: --Details on Lady June’s life were gathered from Marcus O’Dair’s Robert Wyatt biography Different Every Time, as well as various online sources. These include her obituary in the Independent, an interview in Facelift Magazine, this feature on a fansite for Canterbury music, these reminiscences from June’s fellow Deia residents, the AllMusic review of Linguistic Leprosy, and Lady ...
Roxy Music and King Crimson shared a label. They nearly shared a lead singer. And Crimson’s lyricist produced Roxy’s debut album. In this deleted scene from the second episode of Ghost Echoes, we compare and contrast two bands that ought to have been more similar than they were.
On May 28, 1974, the worst orchestra in the world performed at the Royal Albert Hall. That’s not so unusual. The Albert Hall isn’t Carnegie Hall. It’s not an exclusive, prestigious venue where only the greatest may perform. It is simply London’s most historic gathering place. Many strange and marvelous things have happened there, including militant political rallies, beat poetry, and appearances by celebrity ghosts. In this episode of Ghost Echoes, we present you five extraordinary evenings at the Albert Hall. Follow on Facebook | Twitter | Podchaser Music and Sound Notes: -- The episode opens with the Portsmouth Sinfonia’s performance of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. The section on the opening concert of the RAH features the final chorus from Arthur Sullivan’s cantata On Shore and Sea, performed by the soloists, chorus and orchestra of the Imperial Opera, conducted by Michael Withers. The final section on the RAH in the 60s contains snippets from Cream’s perf...
After leaving the Velvet Underground, John Cale split his time between state-of-the-art experimental music and sweet symphonic pop. On his fourth solo album, 1974's Fear, those two sides finally converged. In the seventh episode of Ghost Echoes, we learn how and stumble into a revelation involving Velvet Underground's catalogue. Follow on Facebook | Twitter | Podchaser
Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters, Hawkwind singer Robert Calvert's 1974 solo debut, has two stories to tell. One of them is about what became of the German air force after World War II. The other is about a young boy who wanted to be a pilot, but ended up a poet instead. In the sixth episode of Ghost Echoes, we receive two postcards from mid-century Europe. Follow on Facebook | Twitter | Podchaser Music and Sound Notes: -- The Hawkwind tracks heard here are “Seeing it as You Really Are” from their self-titled debut, “Silver Machine” from In Search of Space, and Calvert’s recitation “10 Seconds of Forever” from the Space Ritual live album. -- Songs and sketches excerpted from Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters include “Franz Josef Strauss, Defence Minister, Reviews the Luftwaffe in 1958. "Finding It Somewhat Lacking in Image Potential”, “Aircraft Salesman (A Door in the Foot)”, “Bier Garten”, “The Widow Maker”, “Interview”, and “Catch a Falling Starfighter”...
The Portsmouth Sinfonia billed themselves as “indisputably, the worst orchestra in the world.” They have brought joy into the lives of millions. In the fifth episode of Ghost Echoes, we learn about the importance and healing effects of failure. Music and Sound Notes: -- The recording of Vivaldi’s Concerto for two trumpets heard here is NOT Matthew Parsons and his colleague Glenn Skelton. It is in fact Michel Rondeau (presumably double tracked) and organist Alaine Letendre, sourced from Musopen. -- Here’s Chi-Chi Nwanoku’s BBC performance of Failing by Tom Johnson. -- The snippets heard shortly after are from “It Never Entered My Mind” performed by the Miles Davis Quartet, the third movement of Bach’s Italian Concerto performed by Glenn Gould, the first movement of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto performed by Patricia Kopatchinskaja with Teodor Currentzis conducting MusicaEterna, and Hans Abrahamsen’s let me tell you as sung by Barbara Hannigan with Andris Nelsons conducting...
It’s a story we’ve been telling for centuries, in spite of the damage it’s caused. The story of the sculptor Pygmalion and his statue Galatea crops up everywhere from Broadway musicals to glam rock records to computer programming. In the fourth episode of Ghost Echoes, we take inventory of Galateas. Music and Sound Notes: -- “In Every Dream Home a Heartache” can obviously be found on Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure. -- The recording of the doll song from Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann is performed by Joan Sutherland with Richard Bonynge conducting l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. -- The excerpts from the My Fair Lady film soundtrack are “Wouldn’t it be Loverly” performed by Marni Nixon and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to her Face” performed by Rex Harrison. -- Kate Bush’s “Misty” is on her album 50 Words for Snow. Further reading, listening, etc.: -- Ovid’s Metamorphoses has been translated into English by many, including A.D. Melville. Information on Project Borghild and...
In the third episode of Ghost Echoes, the secret rules direct us towards a reluctant radical in Robert Wyatt. The eclectic English musician is in good company, though, and you'll find out why as we twist and turn through a number of historical similarities and coincidences. Along the way, we'll also learn that a revolution is not a dinner party. Music and Sound Notes: - The music in the first section about Robert Wyatt includes “Marchides” by Matching Mole, and “Alifib” by Robert Wyatt. - The following section about Cornelius Cardew includes the first movement from Haydn's String Quartet Op. 54, No. 1 performed by Marlburo Music. - “Brandy As In Benj” by Matching Mole starts the next section about Wyatt. Three more songs from Little Red Record close out the section: “Righteous Rhumba,” “Gloria Gloom,” and “Starting in the Middle of the Day We Can Drink Our Politics Away.” - The next Cardew section contains "Paragraph 7" of The Great Learning performed by the Scratch Orch...
The first Roxy Music album brings together a patchwork of inspirations and influences from across the decades. In the second episode of Ghost Echoes, we stroll spontaneously into the movie theatre of the mind and examine a few of them. Here’s looking at you, kid. Music and Sound Notes: - All of the Roxy Music tracks heard here for illustrative purposes are from their debut album. They include: “Re-Make/Re-Model”, “Virginia Plain”, “Bitters End”, “Chance Meeting", and “2HB”. - The recording of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto near the start is by an anonymous soloist and symphony orchestra, from Musopen. The excerpt from Brief Encounter itself features a recording of the same concerto by Eileen Joyce with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Muir Matheson. The Noël Coward song heard shortly after is “The Party’s Over Now,” from the musical Words and Music. - The segment on pop art features excerpts from Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” and David Bowie’s “Andy ...