The Voyager Golden Record was packed off to space with plenty of a cappella, not least this lovely sounding polyphony performed by the Mbuti of the Ituri Rainforest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, circa 1951. I wanted to choose something made solely by human vocal cords, so I picked this minute-and-a-half of goose-bump raising awesome from David Francey.
Author: thejonoscott
Let’s Do It Again
Aliens basking beneath twin suns on some distant shore will need something to kick back to. I propose we give them ‘Let’s Do It Again’ by The Staple Singers.
Il Miserere
Artist Jon Lomberg, one of the Voyager Golden Record’s design/image team, suggested that they include some Mozart on the record. He met resistance from Carl Sagan who apparently thought it too ‘lightweight’. In the end they chose ‘Hell’s Vengeance Boils in my Heart‘ from The Magic Flute as it ticked the Mozart and opera boxes, demonstrated the range of the human soprano, and all in a very short space of time. My opera category is satisfied by the twin-attack of Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones performing ‘Il Miserere’ at the climax of A Night at the Opera.
Anyone Can Make a Mistake
I’ve loved The Wedding Present since hearing ‘Kennedy’ in an indie club in Southend in 1990. However, I’ve finally decided that David Gedge never bested ‘Anyone Can Make a Mistake’. It’s perfect, with stupidly fast strumming, plenty of archetypal Gedgeisms, and a signature extended outro with guitars that chime in different ways depending on your mood. Oh and it has Amelia Fletcher out of Heavenly.
Let’s give aliens the sound of Northern heartbreak.
Why Them, Why Me
The ‘Complete Motown Singles’ compilations were arranged by year. It was while going through Volume 8 that I first heard the 1968 single ‘Why Them, Why Me’ by Abdullah. You could argue it’s quite a meandering song, without any satisfying climax, but it’s certainly beautiful and definitely needs to be sent into space. Don’t you think he sounds a little like Nina Simone?
Jonathan Scott 