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BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Fourth Dimension

(How has Dinosaur Gardens managed to avoid all references to the legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop until this post? Surprising…)

So much has been written and said already about the infamous and influential BBC Radiophonic Workshop that I start this post at a loss. I mean, they deserve the praise — their legendary status is well-deserved — but with so many articles, a great documentary, and other dissections of their career and influence, I think I’ll take the easy way out and stick to a short obituary of their accomplishments.

If you know only one thing of their work, it would be the theme to Doctor Who, the venerable BBC sci-fi television series. They also did the sound effects. And incidental music. In fact, they were a BBC department that produced all manners of strange noises and sound effects (and theme songs) for over 200 other BBC shows. In doing so, they paved a superhighway of innovation that led electronic music growth for decades, from studio engineering to electronic composition to sound collage to synthesizer technology.

I came across this album in a dilapidated Leeds (UK) record shop for just a couple quid and have held onto it for dear life — BBC Radiophonic Workshop on vinyl doesn’t sell cheap. The standout track for me is easily Vespucci, a funky saunter with a very sampleable cool synth melody. The abstract cover from this 1973 release looks quite a bit like a CD exploding, perhaps another ahead-of-their-time move from these old-timers. And finally, this great closing line from the liner notes:

“The specially created stereo is not an attempt at realism, but is used as a sound object in its own right.”

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[...] BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Fourth Dimension [...]

[...] I came across this album in a dilapidated Leeds (UK) record shop for just a couple euros and have held onto it for dear life — BBC Radiophonic Workshop on vinyl doesn’t sell cheap. The standout track for me is easily Vespucci, a funky saunter with a very sampleable cool synth melody. The abstract cover from this 1973 release looks quite a bit like a CD exploding, perhaps another ahead-of-their-time move from these old-timers. BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Fourth Dimension [...]

[...] your listening pleasure: the Forth Dimension a collection of groovy 70s synth music from the BBC. I came across this album in a dilapidated [...]

[...] you want to hear what I mean, then, simply take a trip to Dinosaur Gardens where their intrepid hosts (what me worry about the legal-beagles?) have ripped an entire BBC [...]

[...] Dinosaur Gardens » BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Fourth Dimension TradeMark Gunderson kindly ripped an out-of-print LP from 1973 by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, called Fourth Dimension. (tags: music download bbc) Posted by Richard@Home Filed in Uncategorized [...]

[...] 5, 2008 · No Comments Retro-Futuristic I guess this post is a little out of place but what it refers to is a little awesome. An Album from [...]

[...] Dinosaur Gardens » BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Fourth Dimension (tags: music radio retro mp3 sci-fi sound post synth download workshop sounds radiophonic electronic) [...]

[...] that I have taken with my camera, so I stuck them alltogether with a soundtrack from the old BBC Radiophonic Workshop (a groovy sixties track called Vespucci); so, if you have forgotten what the Rundell family look [...]

[...] Dinosaur Gardens ” BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Fourth Dimension [...]

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