(2:29) A mashup of "At The Hop" by Danny and the Juniors with a version in German recorded by Ralf Bendix. The fact that the German version is pitched lower creates some unintentional harmonizing. It's a mess but the incredible energy of this fantastic song seems to be unaffected. Some things are just inspiring to work with.
(Google Translate tells us that "At The Hop" in German would be "am Hopfen." "Auf der Hop" translates as "On the Hop." Which seems more appropriate.)
The noise here has been articulated a little. It's a recording of a shortwave broadcast. One version is reverbed-up, the other is split into two independent channels, for an attempt at stereo weirdness. The original track by the Doors is also in there. I actually put a little work into it, but it might be an Audio Fractal: too much like itself to be anything else. It happens from time to time. You might hear more on headphones.
Even after a lifetime of spotting these characters, a routine dip into archival television can yield one or two faces, still unnamed, recognizable on the fringes but barely acknowledged- up to now.
I was watching Billy Wilder's The Fortune Cookie for maybe the tenth time, and realized I'd seen that TV director before-
Maybe some flash of recognition, from him being cranky? Have I seen
this guy getting mad? Maybe even playing a TV or movie director? Being
really irate at somebody?
Well, yes-
Herb Ellis, as the irate movie director in Blake Edwards The Party. A look at Mr Ellis's resume
made me surprised I hadn't caught his name before, in the last 60-some
years; he started in 1950 and was regularly on the programs I watched
from infancy.
I think it's because he belongs to a special class of Old TV Guys, who possess a mastery of obscurity. A few weeks ago, I discussed Tony Regan, the silent bystander in scores, hundreds of productions. Mr Regan is an exemplar of the craft, but the industry is full of actors who could modulate their sparkle down to a dull glow, and pass basically unrecognized for their entire careers.
It's not quite the same group of actors who, while also playing secondary (or lower) characters, stand out and sometimes rise into full-fledged celebrity- the Burt Mustins and Katie Freemans, instantly recognizable, adeptly playing the same character each time.
This group is almost as anonymous as the ones who never speak. It's their faces that stand out, and a director who casts for faces will usually find interesting ones for these jobs- interesting to us because of where else we might have seen them,
Another Blake Edwards' film of that era, A Shot in the Dark, has a few of these guys, who turn up, farther in the background, in James Bond films. (Of all places.)
Cato (Burt Kwouk)
The Butler
is also in Goldfinger, Mr Solo of Chicago-
And the desk clerk at the nudist colony
is some sort of government expert in Thunderball.
Also, the second butler is in an Avengers
episode, but now that's really getting obscure. My point is, I've seen
all these films many times. It might seem like there's no surprises.
But these are all recognitions I've caught only in the last few years.
There's always, it seems, more to be made. Keep watching the Shows.
This week's post is another bit which was pulled off the site when I thought a collection was upcoming on Bandcamp. (The first one is here.) I don't know how many of these Ken Nordine "Ding!" filmstrip records there are, but rest assured. we will remain watchful.
(16:30) Happy Solstice. When I was getting today's picture from the Internet, it was accompanied by discussions of what it "means", if you see faces or a vase. As a symbol of solstice, the two faces pointed in opposite directions are good enough, but the additional commentary, seeking meaning in the merest accident of light and dark, lends the image a poignancy we find in our questions at this time of year- drawn as we are through the needle's eye of the shortest, darkest day.
This week's piece is an old-fashioned audio collage incorporating Samuel Beckett's "Text For Nothing" with whatever seemed appropriate. It was originally made four years ago, when I was doing podcasts on this site, and has been brought back by popular demand-- mainly, mine!
It's kind of an inconclusive, rambling piece, like the text at its core. The other bit I was looking at for today was a lot shorter and snappier; I'm thinking that might be the general rule here, if we can. But these longer collages are also part of the audio scene, and will be popping up from time to time.
