BBC Radiophonic Workshop preview – 07/10/14 – CANCELLED

UPDATE: this show has been rescheduled for Saturday October 18th. Original tickets still valid.

SJM Concerts Presents… The Radiophonic Workshop.

The Radiophonic Workshop was the BBC’s innovative electronic sound production unit, best known for its work for television in the 1960s. Described by NME as ‘The British Kraftwerk’, there are some obvious parallels between the Radiophonic Workshop and the facially expressionless German duo. For one, both were instrumental (excuse the pun) in bringing avant-garde electronic music to the mainstream.

With minimal resources the Workshop managed to define the sound of television and radio for generations, using magnetic tape, found sound and electronic oscillators. In many ways the Workshop artists were mavericks, left largely to their own devices, unwinding strips of tape around the corridors of Maida Vale and beaming otherworldly electronic sounds into the living rooms of the British public at teatime. At its peak the Workshop created soundtracks, sound effects and soundscapes for almost 150 television and radio programmes a year. Famously it was also responsible for creating the blood-curdling roar of Dr Who’s yeti… by slowing down the sound of a toilet flushing.

It was this spirit of playful experimentation that led to the creation of some of the most distinctive compositions ever to have aired on British television for some of the BBC’s most celebrated programmes, including Quatermass, Horizon, Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Blake’s 7 and, of course, Delia Derybshire’s enduringly iconic Dr Who theme tune.

The artists of the Radiophonic Workshop were the forerunners of British electronic music and their effect on popular music has been huge. From The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, through to many of today’s electronic producers and DJs, the Workshop’s legacy is still growing as new generations of musicians discover their rich back catalogue.

Reconvening with original members Peter Howell, Roger Limb, Dr Dick Mills, Paddy Kingsland and archivist Mark Ayres, this Radiophonic Workshop show offers the chance to catch some of the original pioneers perform material that has had a profound influence on British music.