"CD albums were usually made too long, in a weird Darwinian competition inspired by Beethoven and his 9th Symphony"
I've decided that this is why we got stuck with 74mins even though it's sorta kinda maybe been debunked. Simon Garfield's 'Timekeepers: How the World Became Obsessed With Time' goes deep on the whole "Sony's Norio Ohga just wanted to listen to the 9th without having to flip the disc" tale.
Hilariously the earliest CD's didn't actually give the full 74mins promised, and even if they had still wouldn't have been eough time becasue...
Wilhelm Furtwängler's iconic interpretation of Ludwig V's Ninth Symphony, which was recorded on July 29, 1951 at the Bayreuth Festival is a smidge under 75minutes long.
How do you think that would have worked out for the tech guys when Ohga san flopped down to enjoy the full uninterupted shaboodle only to get gipped... you think my boy Norio's a bitch? Exactly!
Ohga would have been forced out of his position as Vice President of Sony if he'd only gotten 97% of the Beethoven he'd been promised... even in the most aggressive of the post-war keiretsu, murdering your entire R&D department was considered a bit much.
Anyway... before anyone beats me up for being a nerd... which definitely NEVER happened at school where I was actually quite popular and cool lets check out Furtwangler's cover band, live and loud at Bayreuth! I think it sounds pretty okay although I reckon Radio Birdman's 'Aloha Steve and Danno' does the whole emotional rollercoaster thing way more efficiently. I can post that too if you're keen?
Okay, right about now I want you get down Bayreuth, we played the Salzburg Festival last night and yeah, they talked some shit about you guys... said their boy Mozart was the real deal and old Wagner was a real L7.... hey we didn't say it, Salzburd did, so prove them wrong, and kick out the jams mother ...
The Beethoven couldn't fit in the end because the Beta video tapes used to master CDs were a bit shorter.
For comparison, here's what Bandcamp says about its file size limits
What’s the maximum upload size?
It starts out at 291MB per track, which is of course the exact size of “Inamorata and Narration by Conrad Roberts” from side 4 of Miles Davis’ Live-Evil (assuming we’re talking 16/44.1, which we always are).
Is that “bandcamp file size = Miles and crew well into their ‘why the fuck are our noses always bleeding’ era groove legit? Or are we flirting… cos I’m a massive nerd so talking how technological advances have affected music is ace… but I also have certain addictions…
Um ...
George, you’re too kind in posting these for free, and I’m too cheap to pay for a full subscription. 🫠
And but you keep writing such interesting, up-my-alley reports that lead to music that’s new to me & that I often really like! Aaaah!
Do you have a Ko-fi account (or whatever it’s called), a fellow could at least toss you a fiver every now & then?
My humble thanks, you sonic guru, you. 🙏🏻
Thanks for the, um, tip! I've added a button at the very bottom. And thanks for reading and enjoying my discoveries.
"CD albums were usually made too long, in a weird Darwinian competition inspired by Beethoven and his 9th Symphony"
I've decided that this is why we got stuck with 74mins even though it's sorta kinda maybe been debunked. Simon Garfield's 'Timekeepers: How the World Became Obsessed With Time' goes deep on the whole "Sony's Norio Ohga just wanted to listen to the 9th without having to flip the disc" tale.
Hilariously the earliest CD's didn't actually give the full 74mins promised, and even if they had still wouldn't have been eough time becasue...
Wilhelm Furtwängler's iconic interpretation of Ludwig V's Ninth Symphony, which was recorded on July 29, 1951 at the Bayreuth Festival is a smidge under 75minutes long.
How do you think that would have worked out for the tech guys when Ohga san flopped down to enjoy the full uninterupted shaboodle only to get gipped... you think my boy Norio's a bitch? Exactly!
Ohga would have been forced out of his position as Vice President of Sony if he'd only gotten 97% of the Beethoven he'd been promised... even in the most aggressive of the post-war keiretsu, murdering your entire R&D department was considered a bit much.
Anyway... before anyone beats me up for being a nerd... which definitely NEVER happened at school where I was actually quite popular and cool lets check out Furtwangler's cover band, live and loud at Bayreuth! I think it sounds pretty okay although I reckon Radio Birdman's 'Aloha Steve and Danno' does the whole emotional rollercoaster thing way more efficiently. I can post that too if you're keen?
Okay, right about now I want you get down Bayreuth, we played the Salzburg Festival last night and yeah, they talked some shit about you guys... said their boy Mozart was the real deal and old Wagner was a real L7.... hey we didn't say it, Salzburd did, so prove them wrong, and kick out the jams mother ...
..sorry, got carried away a little...
Bye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHDXdbSWu0E&list=RDdHDXdbSWu0E&start_radio=1
The Beethoven couldn't fit in the end because the Beta video tapes used to master CDs were a bit shorter.
For comparison, here's what Bandcamp says about its file size limits
What’s the maximum upload size?
It starts out at 291MB per track, which is of course the exact size of “Inamorata and Narration by Conrad Roberts” from side 4 of Miles Davis’ Live-Evil (assuming we’re talking 16/44.1, which we always are).
Is that “bandcamp file size = Miles and crew well into their ‘why the fuck are our noses always bleeding’ era groove legit? Or are we flirting… cos I’m a massive nerd so talking how technological advances have affected music is ace… but I also have certain addictions…
"interstellar gothic"?
that was the and band lol
Ha ha Jungian slip
https://web.archive.org/web/20050204225235/http://thelazylane.com/llreviews.html