Giving Edison the needle

You talkin' to me?

Thomas A. Edison was granted a patent on the phonograph on this day in 1878.

"Dear Mr. Edison: I am astonished and terrified at the results of this evening's experiment. Astonished at the wonderful form you have developed and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music will be put on records forever." -- Sir Arthur Sullivan.

...The band was to start at eleven, for some reason. Maybe he’d hang around, listen to some music for a change. Although he had to say, most of what passed for music today left him cold. No lyrics or melodies. Say what you would about some of the shit he’d grown up listening to, at least you could find a tune in there somewhere, usually. But now…what had happened?

   What had happened to him, maybe that was it. Was he that old, that the music had totally changed, as if it were from some other world, far in the future? Or rather, that he was from some other world, far in the past?   --  The Misforgotten, Chapter 31.

Giving Edison the needle

Thomas A. Edison was granted a patent on the phonograph on this day in 1878.

"Dear Mr. Edison: I am astonished and terrified at the results of this evening's experiment. Astonished at the wonderful form you have developed and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music will be put on records forever." -- Sir Arthur Sullivan.

Or when he is disposed

Violinist Itzhak Perlman was born on this day in 1945.


"When a man is not disposed to hear musick, there is not a more disagreeable Sound in Harmony than that of a violin." -- Richard Steele.

Still the kings

Paul McCartney was born on this day in 1942.

"The Beatles are not merely awful...They are so unbelievably horrible, so appallingly unmusical, so dogmatically insensitive to the magic of the art, that they qualify as crowned heads of anti-music." -- William F. Buckley.

"Well, you know, a lot of Americans are unbalanced." -- Paul McCartney.

...Maybe he’d hang around, listen to some music for a change. Although he had to say, most of what passed for music today left him cold. No lyrics or melodies. Say what you would about some of the shit he’d grown up listening to, at least you could find a tune in there somewhere, usually. But now…what had happened?


What had happened to him, maybe that was it. Was he that old, that the music had totally changed, as if it were from some other world, far in the future? Or rather, that he was from some other world, far in the past?

Maybe the fact was simply that he’d lost interest in music altogether. He thought he ought to be interested in music, sometimes, but he wasn’t. That was one of the things he liked about the Hi-Note. No jukebox. --  Chapter 31, The Misforgotten.

He should have had a sitcom

German composer Richard Wagner was born today in 1813.

"Wagner had some wonderful moments but awful half hours." -- Rossini.

Kicking him right in his well-tempered clavicle

This is the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach, born in 1685.

"Classical music is the kind we keep hoping will turn into a tune." -- Kin Hubbard.

Giving Edison the needle

Thomas A. Edison was granted a patent on the phonograph on this day in 1878.

"Dear Mr. Edison: I am astonished and terrified at the results of this evening's experiment. Astonished at the wonderful form you have developed and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music will be put on records forever." -- Sir Arthur Sullivan.

   Returning to his stool he relit his cigar, which had gone out. Eight o’clock, and the place was dead. They must have known it was my birthday, he thought ruefully. The band was to start at eleven, for some reason. Maybe he’d hang around, listen to some music for a change. Although he had to say, most of what passed for music today left him cold. No lyrics or melodies. Say what you would about some of the shit he’d grown up listening to, at least you could find a tune in there somewhere, usually. But now…what had happened?  --  Chapter 31, The Misforgotten.

Britney Spears, are you listening?

The first broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry was today in 1925.

"Music is essentially useless, as life is." -- George Santayana.
 
Maybe he’d hang around, listen to some music for a change. Although he had to say, most of what passed for music today left him cold. No lyrics or melodies. Say what you would about some of the shit he’d grown up listening to, at least you could find a tune in there somewhere, usually. But now…what had happened?


What had happened to him, maybe that was it. Was he that old, that the music had totally changed, as if it were from some other world, far in the future? Or rather, that he was from some other world, far in the past?  --  Chapter 31, The Misforgotten.

Birthday of Paul McCartney, born in 1942.

"The Beatles are not merely awful...They are so unbelievably horrible, so appallingly unmusical, so dogmatically insensitive to the meaning of the art, that they qualify as crowned heads of anti-music." -- William F. Buckley.

"Well, you know, a lot of Americans are unbalanced." -- Paul McCartney.

The band was to start at eleven, for some reason. Maybe he’d hang around, listen to some music for a change. Although he had to say, most of what passed for music today left him cold. No lyrics or melodies. Say what you would about some of the shit he’d grown up listening to, at least you could find a tune in there somewhere, usually. But now…what had happened?
What had happened to him, maybe that was it. Was he that old, that the music had totally changed, as if it were from some other world, far in the future? Or rather, that he was from some other world, far in the past? -- The Misforgotten, Chapter 31.