BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Work is very...slow... today, so I'm watching documentaries and I want to share this one with you. It's an hour long and worth your time.

Wikipedia sez:

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware Road, London, growing outwards from the then-legendary Room 13. The innovative music and techniques used by the Workshop made it one of the most significant influences on electronic music today.

And I would argue that is just the straight up truth. Bill Bailey got it wrong; it's not that the BBC News theme sounds like an apocalyptic rave, it's that rave music sounded like the BBC News (He was right about the 60s Belgian Jazz, however).

It's a fascinating story that helped shape an entire generation of sound.