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Keepsake for My Lover

If you only had a minute to say something, what would you say? Janine H Jones explores the 'voice recording booth'. From 2016.

'Like talking on the phone but a thousand times more thrilling,' voice recording booths invite you to 'hear yourself as others hear you' by entering a weird machine to cut a record.

Once a technological novelty, these recordings leave a unique legacy and a wonderful world of audio peculiarities, which serve as a vital reminder for how we communicate today.

Once a staple of seaside resorts and arcades, famously used in the films Brighton Rock and Badlands, they returned to prominence when Jack White restored a booth, on which Neil Young recorded his 2014 album.

While the discs speak for themselves, the booths ask questions about us and how we choose to present ourselves to the world.

Janine H Jones crosses the Atlantic, to meet the people who have restored these booths, to find out what鈥檚 the value of putting our money where our mouth is and speaking out loud. Recording personally and for posterity, why are people in their droves returning to make a permanent record, instead of the infinitely editable yet intangible digital recordings offered by the technology in our pocket?

Contributors:

* Bill Bollman (Record booth restorer)
* Alisha Edmonson (Songbyrd Cafe)
* Will Prentice (British Library)
* Digby Fairweather (jazz musician)
* Ben Blackwell (Third Man Records)

With special thanks to:

* The British Library
* The Imperial War Museum
* Jason Spellman, Ben Soundhog and Mike Hale for donating their discs to the project,
* Cai Strachan for digitising the donated discs and donating the first disc that sparked the whole idea

Producer: Hannah Loy

First broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio 4 in October 2016.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Wed 15 May 2024 00:30

Music Played

  • KRIS RESNICK

    The Record (Baby I Love You)

    Composer: YOUNG. Performer: Ben E. King.
    • Rhino/Atlantic.
    • n/a.
  • KRIS RESNICK

    The Record (Baby I Love You)

    Composer: YOUNG. Performer: Ben E. King.
    • Rhino/Atlantic.
    • n/a.
  • KRIS RESNICK

    The Record (Baby I Love You)

    Composer: YOUNG. Performer: Ben E. King.
    • Rhino/Atlantic.
    • n/a.
  • Bob Dylan

    THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN

    Performer: Wanda Jackson.
    • Third Man.
    • 82876876062-NA.
  • Larry Coryell

    Interlude

    Performer: Charlie Byrd.
    • Five Four.
    • FIVE FOUR 2.
  • Larry Coryell

    Interlude

    Performer: Charlie Byrd.
    • Five Four.
    • FIVE FOUR 2.
  • Larry Coryell

    Interlude

    Performer: Charlie Byrd.
    • Five Four.
    • FIVE FOUR 2.
  • Karen Elson

    100 years from now

    Performer: Karen Elson.
    • XL.
    • B003FVCZ90.
  • Karen Elson

    100 years from now

    Performer: Karen Elson.
    • XL.
    • B003FVCZ90.
  • Digby Fairweather

    Run Rabbit Run

    Music Arranger: Denny Wright. Music Arranger: Digby Fairweather.
    • Black Lion.
    • B005W9QN50.
  • Tony Sperry

    Record Hop Blues

    Performer: The Quarter Notes. Performer: Tony Sperry.
    • Ace Records.
    • B000TGC73I.
  • Tony Sperry

    Record Hop Blues

    Performer: The Quarter Notes. Performer: Tony Sperry.
    • Ace Records.
    • B000TGC73I.
  • Robert Johnson

    Phonograph Blues

    • CBS.
    • 467-2462.
  • The Playmates

    While the Record Goes Around

    • Collectables.
    • COL-CD-5418.
  • John Paul Lawler

    Record Player

    Performer: Inchinchilla.
    • Coney Island Discs.
    • B009E03MH0.
  • John Paul Lawler

    Record Player

    Performer: Inchinchilla.
    • Coney Island Discs.
    • B009E03MH0.
  • John Paul Lawler

    Record Player

    Performer: Inchinchilla.
    • Coney Island Discs.
    • B009E03MH0.
  • LIGHTFOOT

    IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND

    Music Arranger: N/A. Performer: Neil Young.
    • Third Man Records/Reprise.
    • TMR-245..
  • David Mysterious

    Keepsake for my Lover

    Performer: David Mysterious. Performer: Hannah Loy.

Broadcasts

  • Thu 27 Oct 2016 11:30
  • Tue 14 May 2024 10:30
  • Tue 14 May 2024 16:30
  • Wed 15 May 2024 00:30

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