Classic Albums - Peter Gabriel - 'So'

Thanks for the heads up John. Great album (and i think i'll finish off tonights listening with it too)

James

Many many thanks for this. I will download soon. I know this album so well yet it has remained fresh.

Yes, one of the classic albums of the 80's  alongside Graceland, Talk Talks Colour of Spring and the Blue Nile's Walk Across the Rooftops. What runs through this album is... passion. I know, sounds a bit cliched and is the title of the album Peter Gabriel recorded after this. Karajan talked of there being a sort of line that runs through a piece of music and passion what runs through this masterpiece.

After Paul Simon's Graceland, So helped put 'world music' in the western mainstream. This album was Youssou N'dour's first exposure to a western audience.

I prefer the original running order on the cassette I bought of this to the current order on remastered CD with In your Eyes at beginning of 'side 2' in LP terms.

I'm suprised that (it seems) no one has commented on how the song 'We do what we're

told' was inspired by psychologist Millgram's electic shock experiments.

Spencer Bright's biography of Peter Gabriel is well written.

Off at a tangent (I'm good at that), what became of the Fairlight synthesiser ?

Good programme , great album, but a year to make? 

I must get a Air gun.

I was in my pit.

Two bloody fat sea gulls sat on my free view mast 3 mins in SO never got to see it.

Stu.

It was on BBC4, it will be on again numerous times over the next month no doubt.

I might catch it then, had family from Australia staying this weekend, 'So' can wait.

It was a good programme and well worth watching - I'm sure it'll be repeated. 

I wonder what would have happened if Dolly Parton had heard of PG and said yes? 

For those of us who didn't see the programme, what exactly did Peter as of Dolly?

Peter Gabriel revealed Dolly Parton was first choice to sing on 'Don't Give Up' and Kate Bush was her replacement when Parton turned his offer down: allegedly because neither she nor her agents had heard of him. However, Peter said he was glad Kate had ended up singing on the track. He said "There's an interesting story about this song, because there was a reference of America roots music in it when I first wrote it, it was suggested that Dolly Parton sing on it .. but Dolly turned it down… and I'm glad she did because what Kate did on it is… brilliant".

Thank goodness it worked out for the best then?

Nnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See Lou Reed and Metalica for an example of mismatching gone mad.

Jono

Some collaborations work surprisingly well when one least expects it - who can forget the Young and Moody Band's Don't Do That? Perhaps Peter & Dolly would have been a hit. 

I thought it was intereting about why the track order on vinyl is different to the CD - apparently it's more diificult to reproduce good bass sounds on vinyl the closer you get to the centre of the record? Never heard of that before - anyway very enjoyable

Yes, that's broadly true. The effective amount of vinyl passing past the stylus per second diminishes as the record gets towards the centre, and that has some impact on bass capability, dynamic range etc. it's unfortunate that many classical works have a noisy conclusion, because that's where vinyl is least able to cope. Having said that, it's often done well!

Great programme, as many of the "Classic Album" programmes are. I love to hear songs dissected and hear the amount of work and passion that goes into them. "The Record Producers" on BBC Radio 6 is a similar (audio only of course) format.

You want to hear So on the 45rpm Classic Records pressing. It's stunning.

I didn't really know PGs stuff and had moved to San Diego. One guy at the beach said he went to his concert in an old decaying theater there.  a walk came outinto the audience and had the audience so mesmerized he'd reach out to them and like an anenome they'd be reaching back for him.  He'd never experienced anything like that shamanism. lol 

Pulled another couple beers out of the cooler and I told him about seeing "The Wall" in LA sports arena...........  at that time I didn't have much money to go see mega stadium shows and certainly don't want to now at 58. I'm getting to be an old fart, I like the LA Philharmonic at  Disney Hall, but I hears some very adventurous things there I enjoy and think it's because I liked adventurous stuff in R&R