Friday, 1 June 2007

Sgt Pepper's Inner Groove

40 years ago today saw the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, probably the most famous Beatles record and one to appear always at the top of the charts when somebody does a "greatest album" list.

On of the most remarkable "songs" on the album is not a real song. It is the end of "A Day in the Life" (where the sound of fading piano chords were electronically prolonged to create an abnormal sustain) and that runs over in a 15 kilohertz tone that was designed to "freak your dog out" as John Lennon put it. Complete with laughter and gibberish, the "song" was then put in the inner groove of the record (only on UK LP's) so that the song would loop on and on unless you had an automatic needle return on your record player.

When Sgt Pepper's was first re-released on vinyl, they had actually great difficulty recreating an "inner groove", and the first pressing of the CD didn't have the ending at all.

Future pressings do have an artificial inner groove, where the end of the song is repeated a couple of times to create the idea of a "loop".

Wednesday, 21 December 2005

2005 NME Awards

At the 2005 annual New Musical Express Awards, Paul McCartney won a nice award

2005


Best Track: Franz Ferdinan - 'Take Me Out'
Best Album: Franz Ferdinand - 'Franz Ferdinand'
Best Solo Artist: Graham Coxon
Best Live Band: Muse
Best Radio Show: Zane Lowe
Philip Hall Radar Winner: Kaiser Chiefs
Best International Band: The Killers
Best New Band: Razorlight
Best TV Show: 'Little Britain'
Best Event: Paul McCartney at Glastonbury
John Peel Award For Musical Innovation: The Others
Special Award For Lifelong Service To New Music: John Peel
Best Video: Green Day - 'American Idiot'
Best Music DVD: Oasis - 'Definitely Maybe'
Godlike Genius Award: New Order
Best Film: 'Shaun Of The Dead'
Best British Band: The Libertines
Sexiest Man: Brandon Flowers
Sexiest Woman: Gwen Stefani
Hero Of The Year: John Peel
Villain Of The Year: George Bush
Worst Album: Busted - 'A Present For Everyone'
Worst Band: Busted
Worst Dressed: Britney Spears
Best Website: NME.COM
Best Dressed: Brandon Flowers