‘The Cyborg Drummer’ Documentary About A Man With a Robotic Prosthetic Allowing Him To Play The Drums Again
In 2012, drummer Jason Barnes was cleaning an exhaust duct when he was electrocuted by 22,000 volts of electricity. He lost his right hand and believed his days as a musician were done. That’s when Gil Weinberg, professor of musical technology at Georgia Tech, stepped in with a robotic hand that gave Barnes his drumming abilities back. In this Atlantic documentary, we explore this particular juncture of music and technology—what it has meant for Barnes and what it could mean for the future of music in the age of artificial intelligence.
Bill Nye: “5 Things You Need to Know About Climate Change”
Bill Nye boils down the basic facts surrounding climate change, and why the rate at which our planet is changing is so important.
Molly Ringwald makes us all feel better about growing old.
Are you comfortable with your age now?
Molly Ringwald: Well, when you’ve been in a movie called Sixteen Candles, there’s really no point in lying about your age. People have grown up with me. I’m comfortable with who I am. I mean, there are days when I think, Where did my 20s go? or Where did my 30s go? But there are other days where I feel like, wow, I like the person that I’ve become. I also feel like I have an intellectual confidence that I don’t think that I had when I was younger; that you can’t really have—or you shouldn’t necessarily have—when you’re younger, because you haven’t really experienced enough.
John Lydon talks about his heroes, who include Bettie Page and Mahatma Gandhi
John Lydon (once known as Johnny Rotten) formed Public Image Ltd when The Sex Pistols disbanded in 1978. By that time, being in the Pistols had given Lydon, a self-described “shy person,” a platform for expression, and he’d become an important cultural figure.
Public Image Ltd went on hiatus in 1993, but the band re-formed in 2009. Today, Lydon joins World Cafe to share music from PiL’s new album, What The World Needs Now…, and talk about some of his heroes, who include Bettie Page and Mahatma Gandhi.
Via NPR
That time in 1974 when John Lennon narrated Ringo’s new album. Ringo then did voiceover for John’s new album.
A television commercial for Ringo Starr’s 1974 album Goodnight Vienna, which featured a voiceover from John Lennon, depicted the cover’s flying saucer (with Starr) over Los Angeles-landing on the roof of the Capitol Records building in Hollywood,
Starr returned the favour and did the voiceover for the commercial for Lennon’s Walls and Bridges album.
Paul McCartney Statement On George Martin
Sir George Martin, producer of the Beatles and the man Sir Paul McCartney described as a “second father”, has died aged 90. Sir Paul McCartney paid tribute to a “great man”, saying “He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George.” Read his statement below.
I’m so sad to hear the news of the passing of dear George Martin. I have so many wonderful memories of this great man that will be with me forever. He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George. From the day that he gave The Beatles our first recording contract, to the last time I saw him, he was the most generous, intelligent and musical person I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.
It’s hard to choose favourite memories of my time with George, there are so many but one that comes to mind was the time I brought the song ‘Yesterday’ to a recording session and the guys in the band suggested that I sang it solo and accompany myself on guitar. After I had done this George Martin said to me, “Paul I have an idea of putting a string quartet on the record”. I said, “Oh no George, we are a rock and roll band and I don’t think it’s a good idea”. With the gentle bedside manner of a great producer he said to me, “Let us try it and if it doesn’t work we won’t use it and we’ll go with your solo version”. I agreed to this and went round to his house the next day to work on the arrangement.
He took my chords that I showed him and spread the notes out across the piano, putting the cello in the low octave and the first violin in a high octave and gave me my first lesson in how strings were voiced for a quartet. When we recorded the string quartet at Abbey Road, it was so thrilling to know his idea was so correct that I went round telling people about it for weeks. His idea obviously worked because the song subsequently became one of the most recorded songs ever with versions by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and thousands more.
This is just one of the many memories I have of George who went on to help me with arrangements on ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘Live and Let Die’ and many other songs of mine.
I am proud to have known such a fine gentleman with such a keen sense of humour, who had the ability to poke fun at himself. Even when he was Knighted by the Queen there was never the slightest trace of snobbery about him.
My family and I, to whom he was a dear friend, will miss him greatly and send our love to his wife Judy and their kids Giles and Lucy, and the grandkids.
The world has lost a truly great man who left an indelible mark on my soul and the history of British music.
God bless you George and all who sail in you!
Paul