Tuesday, January 20, 2009

It's in the Voice

The death of David Vine was announced last week and it was particularly sad - if not surprising- as it seems to come on the heels of losing another great voice that of Oliver Postgate who left us late last year.

The thing about both of these peole is that they are both very much part of my youth, and to me partners in shaping my world with me. The reason they feel that close, I think, is the magical power of their voices. In both cases the voices are distinctive, and in many ways not the classical BBC voice of their era. But each had a distinctive quality that was well matched with what they were doing. Postgate had that wonderfully grandfather like quality that spoke of comfort and friendship and whimsy, whilst Vine was able to invest even the most mundane sports with vigour vim and passion.

It took only the briefest snatch of listening to them to be transported away to nicer places. Happily recordings of the remain, so for me it is possible to experience that again, but importantly for me it is a reminder of how powerful the human voice is and why TESCAPE is so passionate about it.

We have also lost Tony Hart and I mourn his passing for entirely different reasons.....

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