This man’s work is amazing, astounding and simply awesome. When I think of one word to best describe his writing overall, it is genius. When I think of Stephen Sondheim, I come to phrases and descriptions like this: an American Treasure, an Icon and Legend of the musical theatre and one of the most important composers of the twentieth century. What a show! I had heard of and already sang some of Sondheim before doing “Sweeney,” but it was during that run that I came to the Stephen Sondheim party. I had the privilege of being in the chorus of a very good community theatre production of “Sweeney” in the early 90’s. It was a toss up between it and “Sweeney Todd.” Either one would have been a solid choice, “Sweeney” is my favorite, but oh how I love “Company” as well. Truth be told, I was going to do “Company” as my Sondheim solo selection even before the news of Elaine Stritch. There was never a doubt in my mind that Stephen Sondheim would be done twice. I can see repeating a conductor and perhaps a jazz musician that might have played on someone else’s record. There will be a few, that I suspect, whose work with a group I will do and then something from their solo careers. Very few people are being featured twice in my year long project. I was sad when I heard of her passing and knew that I would be doing “Company” the next day. If you are not watching this program then start this week.
#STEPHEN SONDHEIM OK COMPUTER RADIOHEAD TV#
Not too long ago, I caught the piece CBS Sunday Morning did on her (Sidebar: one of the best shows on TV is CBS Sunday Morning. Instead, the 199th album of the 365 that I am doing this year is dedicated to the late, great Elaine Stritch. If I hadn’t already done my AOTD, I would have paid tribute then. To date ‘OK Computer’ has sold more than four-and-a-half million copies.The entertainment world, particularly the theatre Broadway and the West End, lost a true legend yesterday. In NME‘s original album review, we gave it 10/10 and called it “a landmark record of the 1990s”. Over here it was held off by those pesky Hanson kids for a week before topping the charts.Ģ0. The album entered the Billboard 200 at 21, the same week the Prodigy crashed in at No.1 with ‘Fat Of The Land’. We think they probably made the right decision. The “rain down’ section of ‘Paranoid Android’ was originally going to be a 10-minute organ outro. Vampire Weekend’s deck-shoed singer Ezra Koenig says ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’ was the first Radiohead song that floated his boat.ġ8. Album opener ‘Airbag’ was originally titled ‘Last Night An Airbag Saved My Life’, a line that stayed in the lyric.ġ7. Not sure if it was the good bit (‘Krafty’).ġ6. The Cure “laid down” ‘Wild Mood Swings’ there, and New Order recorded a bit of ‘Waiting For The Sirens’ Call’ at the house too. Most of the album was recorded at St Catherine’s Court, near Bath, a manor house owned by British actress Jane Seymour. ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’ bears deliberate echoes of Johnny Cash’s ‘Prison Tapes’ in its dark bluesy opening strum.ġ5. Someone spilt a drink on her and – according to the terrified Yorke – she turned into a demon.ġ4. That “kicking and screaming Gucci little piggy” in ‘Paranoid Android’ was a woman Yorke encountered in a bar, off her box on the old Columbian. Once more on ‘Lucky’, shiny-domed arbiter of ambience Brian Eno – who commissioned the track for Warchild – said it was “the most beautiful song I’ve heard for a long, long time”.ġ3. Well, it was never going to be S Club 7 levels of arm-linking joy, was it?ġ2. ‘Lucky’ did what it said on the tin – expressed thanks for the position the band were in after ‘The Bends’ and celebrated all being in it together, everything clicking, albeit on the edge of the abyss. Well, you’d need a lot of time on your hands.ġ1. A “source close to” Thom Yorke said how surprised he was at how long it took everyone to work this out. The method is, largely, to alternate between the albums, and the tracks are said to merge into one another. The album is apparently designed to be played in tandem with ‘In Rainbows’, released 10 years later. Those 1s and 0s have bled into many theories, such as…ġ0. A working title for the album was ‘Your Home May Be At Risk If You Do Not Keep Up Payments’.ĩ. It’s Fred Cooper, the synthesized voice from Apple Macintosh’s SimpleText application, whose roboticized tones also give Professor Hawking the power of speech.Ĩ. ‘Fitter Happier’ is not recited by Stephen Hawking – but it might as well be. A (one) drink-fuelled binge turned into a jam session that ended with three songs being stitched together to form the post-prog ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ we all sway, headbang and raise lighters aloft to.ħ. Colin Greenwood says the band drank vodka and orange before they recorded ‘Paranoid Android’.