Well all of the shops now have just about done all their Christmas windows.
Marks and Spencer's have done a great job with one of their window displays. It features a table groaning under the weight of food. Something that M&S is famous for.
But I was more interested in the two mannikins that have been posed in a romantic clinch, complete with mistletoe. Their blank faces make them look like robots. Maybe the window designer had been listening to Kraftwerk's Computer Love.
The first time that I came across a synthesiser was at school in London in about 1975. It was during a music lesson, when our teacher switched on this strange looking black box with lots of flashing lights. He then played a simple tune and all sorts of weird noises came out. There was also a lot of plugs that he changed by unplugging them and putting them into other holes and some even stranger noises came out.
I was amazed about what it could do, and have been in love with such music ever since. The first musician that I got into was Jean Michel Jarre and his 1976 album Oxygene. Then came along Tangerine Dream, Mike Oldfield, Vangelis and Kraftwerk.
So I was excited to see this Moog Voyager synth at the studio in Mansfield yesterday. Sadly it wasn't used in the songs that were demoed by the Disco Prophets, although they do have a keyboard player in the band called Richard, who has a couple of keyboards himself, but neither of them are Moogs.
Here's one of my arty shots that I like to create every so often; as the mood takes me, or think the scene would make a good one.
This one for instance. The keyboard player from the Disco Prophets. I decided to focus in on the keyboard itself, rather than the musician. Partly because I find it more interesting, and partly because it was quite a crowded stage and I counldn't get a clear view of him.
Also I like keyboards and synths. Not that I can play one. I did try once and could just about play the theme tune to Wallace & Gromit; but very slowly. I do enjoy the sounds that they make. Some keyboard wizards that I like are Vangelis, Rick Wakeman, Jean Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream. Kraftwerk are OK too, but prefer the more melodic stuff from their German counterparts.
To hear what I mean, here's a one of TD's shorter melodies; as a lot of their tunes cover one side of an album. This one is from the crime movie Thief, which starred James Caan.
