I was back out in the country again stranded from civilization. Oddly though, this doesn't mean from digital TV, which seems to have a greater reach out there than the old fashioned analog broadcasts. No DISH though.
It is strange to channel surf through several KXAN's, KVUE's and PBS's. I settled on a special about Custer and the Black Hills, having a new found interest after reading Simmons' 'Black Hills'.
But on some other PBS channel there was some weird video game scenes set to music special. The information button kept alluding to an upcoming special, War of the Worlds, so I endured endless minutes of inanity to get to this special.
War of the Worlds starts, and I am not shocked to see a stage, props and a large music section. After all, I've seen Lord of the Rings done similarly, we've grown up with Jesus Christ Superstar and most recently for me, a Billy Joel musical here in Austin. I've even seen Les Miserable and Cats, in New York. Oh! my tear stained red tie back in the 80's.
As the special continued I began to snicker at the sheer Cheese of the music style. I was thinking a cross between Abba and Broadway. Nonetheless, cheese can be camp as Flash Gordon has impremented upon our collective cultural psyche. So I adapted and continued on.
One of the props was a massive narrating head of a young man with a full head of hair gazing down at the audience in cadaverously Orwellian fashion. I presume that was supposed to be Orson Wells. I found myself totally absorbed with this large capital prop. While the lips moved, the forehead never swayed from side to side. I theorized it was an animation, expertly lip synched, but then the eyebrows lifted up. The skin above the lips flexed too well to be an animation.
Occasionally we were presented with a movie like clips of what was going on.
Then what looked like a Moody Blue's band member sauntered out on stage singing forlornly about flying with birds and so on. Eerily I found myself comparing this whole score to the 1970's and was rewarded to find out in a PBS commercial break that indeed this was the case.
Apparently, somebody composed this thing around 1978. It took decades to back and produce and started out in Europe, where I was told, it has enjoyed some popularity, and is just now coming to the U.S.
The narrating Orson Wells head, I was told, was a hologram. I can't figure that one out, but will probably look it up someday.
For any of you who grew up or survived the 1970's, you will be able to appreciate the 1970's vibe and angst in this new unheard music you had to live with and through.
I for one am just glad I survived my trip to the country relatively bug bite and snake bite free.
It is strange to channel surf through several KXAN's, KVUE's and PBS's. I settled on a special about Custer and the Black Hills, having a new found interest after reading Simmons' 'Black Hills'.
But on some other PBS channel there was some weird video game scenes set to music special. The information button kept alluding to an upcoming special, War of the Worlds, so I endured endless minutes of inanity to get to this special.
War of the Worlds starts, and I am not shocked to see a stage, props and a large music section. After all, I've seen Lord of the Rings done similarly, we've grown up with Jesus Christ Superstar and most recently for me, a Billy Joel musical here in Austin. I've even seen Les Miserable and Cats, in New York. Oh! my tear stained red tie back in the 80's.
As the special continued I began to snicker at the sheer Cheese of the music style. I was thinking a cross between Abba and Broadway. Nonetheless, cheese can be camp as Flash Gordon has impremented upon our collective cultural psyche. So I adapted and continued on.
One of the props was a massive narrating head of a young man with a full head of hair gazing down at the audience in cadaverously Orwellian fashion. I presume that was supposed to be Orson Wells. I found myself totally absorbed with this large capital prop. While the lips moved, the forehead never swayed from side to side. I theorized it was an animation, expertly lip synched, but then the eyebrows lifted up. The skin above the lips flexed too well to be an animation.
Occasionally we were presented with a movie like clips of what was going on.
Then what looked like a Moody Blue's band member sauntered out on stage singing forlornly about flying with birds and so on. Eerily I found myself comparing this whole score to the 1970's and was rewarded to find out in a PBS commercial break that indeed this was the case.
Apparently, somebody composed this thing around 1978. It took decades to back and produce and started out in Europe, where I was told, it has enjoyed some popularity, and is just now coming to the U.S.
The narrating Orson Wells head, I was told, was a hologram. I can't figure that one out, but will probably look it up someday.
For any of you who grew up or survived the 1970's, you will be able to appreciate the 1970's vibe and angst in this new unheard music you had to live with and through.
I for one am just glad I survived my trip to the country relatively bug bite and snake bite free.
