Secret Life

I Saw You

Ruth Barnes explores the life, loves and music of the singer-songwriter Judee Sill.

"...a prime example of radio doing what it does best: shining a light on the shadowy corners of human experience. It was about playing songs and telling stories. It was a revelation." - The Independent 11.09.14

First broadcast on 9th September 2014 BBC Radio 4
Presented by Ruth Barnes
Produced by Eleanor McDowall


The Lost Genius of Judee Sill

Organs are very public instruments, huge examples found in churches and theatres. But once Hammond invented their electronic version in the thirties, the organ found a place in the home.

Electronic organs became enormously popular; as affordable as pianos, featured on TV game
shows, and often bought by people with no musical experience. By the 1970s there were dozens of
manufacturers, organ societies in most UK towns, and thousands of models hidden away in average homes. The technology advanced to provide easy-to-play features and a whole palette of tones. Fashion designer Wayne Hemingway is fascinated by this secret world of exotic sounds swirling around British living rooms of the 60s, 70s and 80s.

The easy-play electronic keyboard or organ has often been ridiculed (memorably by Not the Nine O'Clock News). Comedian Graham Fellows, aka John Shuttleworth, explains why he finds it so funny.

The scene largely died in the 1980s, leaving countless organs behind - now nearly free on
Ebay. But a few organ societies still exist and we meet Brett Wales, a young superstar of the scene whose instrument sounds like a full orchestra. And then there's 79 year old Tom Baker who finds near-daily solace in his Technics 5000.

They are easy to dismiss as kitsch, naff and only for ironic enjoyment, but the home organ was, for many, home entertainment which brought people together in a way TV and ipads don't.

The programme also includes James Taylor of the James Taylor Quartet and Nigel Ogden, presenter of Radio 2's The Organist Entertains.

First broadcast on 10th June 2014 BBC Radio 4
Presented by Wayne Hemingway
Produced by Peregrine Andrews

Wayne's Secret World Of The Organ

a collection of songs made in the wake of the death of my best friend and partner who forever changed my life

Freedom is knocking at my door

Take it from me

As part of the Vocal Chords series, Iarla and recordist Michael Gallen travelled to Sinead O’Connor’s home to talk to her about singing and what the voice means to her. Sinead is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest vocal talents and has a strong global following, her success in the late 80’s and early 90’s included the iconic cover of “Nothing compares 2 u” by Prince, and a grammy winning album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got”. Vocal Chords is the intellectual property of Athena Media Ltd and no production use can be made of the podcasts without the direct consent of the producers. www.vocalchords.ie

Vocal Chords - Episode 7 - In Conversation with Sinead O'Connor

\ \ \

It's water to me
(all under)

/ / / 

[thank you to Hannah and Chris
for making the moment]

\ \ \

Brücke

“Making sense of sound is a biological triumph,” says Nina Kraus, professor at Northwestern University and a specialist in the biology of auditory learning. “What’s auditory learning?” you may well ask Nina. Well, you could boil it down to a simple question: how is it that we humans are able to make sense of sound and all the noise? This episode of Bang & Olufsen’s Sound Matters podcast goes for a deep sonic dive into evolution, music, language and the whirlpool of noise we are immersed in every moment of our days – all to find out just how we manage to separate signal from noise.

29 – The Sounds Inside Your Brain

ART IS SPIRITUALITY. It absolves suffering. And, not only can it re-organize the future, it has the mind-bending power to alter the past.

Take it from me

skyonart