Day 24 -30 Day Movie Music Challenge

Music from an operatic film (rock opera, operetta, whatever)

First heard this album that led to the film, on the Tommy Vance Friday Rock Show and I was completely gobsmacked! I used the same track in my response to day five of the 30 Day Song Challenge (see A song from your teens/childhood) and you can read my trip down memory lane there.

Here's a clip from the film this time:

The film isn't as good as the album... but it's still pretty stunning.

Day 05 – A song from your teens/childhood

30 Day Song Challenge
Day 05 - A song from your teens/childhood

A song from my childhood should probably be Puppet On A String from Sandie Shaw. As a child I claimed I was in love with her. (As were, somewhat bizarrely, The Smiths!)

By my early teens though, I had been introduced to Rock music. It was at the time of the rise in home taping (which was going to kill music) and I used the family's music centre (anyone else remember those?) to tape stuff off the radio. In particular, I would come in from the BB on a Friday night and listen to the Friday Rock Show with Tommy Vance on Radio 1 until I had to go to bed - at which point, I'd put in a C120 and record the rest of the show.

One Friday, I came home to hear him playing all (or at least I think it was all) the tracks off a new double album from Pink Floyd. In between the tracks he was talking to someone from the band (Roger Waters I assume) about how the album had been put together. (Update:It was Roger Waters and I found a transcript.) I'd missed a few tracks but the cassette went in and I got most of the show taped. Goodness knows where that tape is now, or if it would still be playable but at the time it was hugely exciting. Not only could I listen to an amazing new album but I got a real insight into how it was created. For example, I remember my surprise as Roger described some of the last minute changes to the running order that they made. The order the tracks appear seem so right it was odd to think it had not always been that way.

Here then is Pink Floyd's hit single from The Wall and a song that takes me right back to my teenage years.


We don't need no education.

Pink Floyd Wins?

You may have noticed that last week, Pink Floyd won the right in the High Court to prevent EM from selling individual downloads from their albums. (See for example The Guardian and the BBC).

gavel
Originally uploaded by bloomsberries

Artist rights
I think it's good that an artist is able to retain control of what they have created. Pink Floyd successfully argued that their concept albums were designed to be listened to as a whole and shouldn't be unbundled just because it suits the record company.

Generation gap?
I have some sympathy with this as I generally like to listen to listen to music an album at a time. I like hearing the whole work - whether it is designed as a concept album or not. Apart from anything else, there are some tracks I disliked on first hearing but are now among my favourites (for instance Darkness by Peter Gabriel from the Up album comes to mind). If I didn't listen to the whole album, I could skip tracks like that and miss out on some great music. This may be a generational thing though, since my daughter listens to her iPod almost permanently on shuffle!

Smart or stupid?
Having said all that, can't help but think Floyd are being a bit foolish. For instance, they were happy enough to get a Christmas number one from The Wall in the shape of Another Brick In The Wall. And did they go to court to punish the Scissor Sisters for destroying Comfortably Numb a wee while ago? No! So they seem happy to unbundle tracks some times but not others.

At least one of the news reports hinted that it is all down to money, saying that artists get more for album downloads compared to individual track downloads. That sounds like stuff and nonsense to me. Even if they get proportionally less per individual download, my guess is you'll sell more individual tracks so you'll end up ahead of the game anyway.

So, although I'm pleased that the artist has won the right to say how their music will be distributed, I can't help but think Pink Floyd are cutting its analogue nose off to spite its digital face!

Questions
What do you think? Good move on the part of the Floyd or daft move by a Mr Pink who hasn't kept up with the changing music market?