Music Video of the Day: Doctorin’ The Tardis by The Timelords (1988, directed by ????)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adk1ujjmguo

Today’s music video is for the song that Melody Maker called “”pure, unadulterated agony!”

Recorded in 1988, Doctorin’ The Tardis was produced by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, who would later be better known as The KLF.  The song is a mash-up of the Doctor Who theme music, Gary Glitter’s Rock and Roll (Part Two), Sweet’s Blockbuster, Steve Walsh’s Let Get Together, and the famous Dalek war cry.  The song was Drummond and Cauty’s attempt to write a number one hit single, as opposed to the more esoteric and socially conscious work for which they were better known.

As Drummond explained it,  “We went into the studio on a Monday, thinking we were going to make a house track, a regular underground dance house track using the Doctor Who theme tune… [but] we [then] realised it was in triplet time and you can’t have house tracks in triplet time. The only beat that would work with it was the Glitter beat. By Tuesday evening we realised we had a number one and we just went totally for the lowest common denominator.”  Drummond also later said that Doctorin’ The Tardis was, “the most nauseating record of all time.”

While the critics may have agreed with Drummond, the music-buying public loved the song and Doctorin’ The Tardis spent a week as number one on the UK pop charts.  Drummond and Cauty responded by writing a book called The Manual (How To Have A Number One The Easy Way), which was advertised as being a guide to how to have a number one hit record without having any musical talent whatsoever.  Among The Manual‘s advise: Be on the dole and, if you’re already a musician, stop playing your instrument and sell it.  The Manual also warned that all of its advice will be obsolete within twelve months.

The video, which cost £8,000 to make, was filmed in Wiltshire and features Cauty’s 1968 Ford Galaxie police car being pursued by some poorly constructed Daleks.

Exterminate!

This is what a real Dalek looks like, son.

 

Song of the Day: Carry On Wayward Son (by Kansas)


Kansas

If there was ever a song that’s become synonymous with a TV series (and there’s been a lot of them) then I would say that the latest “Song of the Day” would be at the top of this particular mountain. This particular song became the signature song of the series. I am talking about that classic song from 70’s progressive rock group Kansas, “Carry On Wayward Song”.

The song was released as part of the band’s Leftoverture full-length album. The single for the song was released around 1976 and became one of the band’s biggest hits. “Carry On Wayward Son” is just one of those songs which instantly hooks you and won’t let go. From the acapella intro followed up by a prolonged progressive section that leads up to vocals accompanied by some subtle percussions and keyboards.

Then there’s lead guitarist and founding member Kerry Livgren starting, bridging then ending the song with guitar solos that were all different from each other. One usually will see two solos, but three in and in three different instances tend to be the exception to the rule.

In the long run this song will stick to your mind once it catches a hold of you and you’ll be happy to sing-along whenever it comes on. For Supernatural fans this song has become an anthem for their favorite show and definitely will send Wincest fans of the two brothers in the show into a-twitter.

Carry On Wayward Son

Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

(guitar solo)

Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion
I was soaring ever higher
But I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a madman
I hear the voices when I’m dreaming
I can hear them say

Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

(guitar solo)

Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man
It surely means that I don’t know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I’m like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune
But I hear the voices say

Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life’s no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you

Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

(guitar solo)

Great Guitar Solos Series