21 March 1943: Vivian Stanshall narrates “The Intro and the Outro” with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Featuring “the Count Basie Orchestra on triangle”. Simultaneously brilliant and stupid.
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21 March 1949: Classic footage of Solomon Burke singing “None of us are Free” with the Blind Boys of Alabama as backing singers. I recall Charlie Gillett , who died this week, playing his music on his radio show and commenting how Jerry Wexler, the producer, favoured him more than any of the other great soul singers.
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25 March 1942: Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin at her peak singing “I Say a little Prayer”.
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21 March 1902: Eddie James “Son” House was a key Delta Blues figure, still influential on contemporary bands like The White Stripes who covered this song, "Death Letter Blues".
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22 March 1937: Composer Angelo Badalamenti wrote the haunting theme tune to David Lynch's strange and beautiful TV series Twin Peaks.
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25 March 1881: Bela Bartok borrowed from gypsy music to create his Romanaian Folk Dances music – here modern gypsy group Taraf de Haidouks borrow it back. After two minutes or so on the video.
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23 March 1944: Michael Nyman’s setting of Celan’s “Corona” sung by Ute Lemper.
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22 March 1930: Stephen Sondheim in action, teaching a student at the Guildhall how to sing “Later” from A Little Night Music. Listen to theartsdesk’s 80th birthday special on Sondheim.
