V03-T12a (excerpt Dead London)

.....Spoken word interstitials can be like peanuts sometimes...

Volume 3: A KINDER, GENTLER ZERO TOLERANCE, track 12a

• 00:17 (excerpt DEAD LONDON) (H.G. Wells, adapted by Jeff Wayne)
• performed by Richard Burton
• original source: 2LP THE WAR OF THE WORLDS Columbia PC2 35290 (US) 6/78
• and my source: 2CD THE WAR OF THE WORLDS Columbia C2K 35290 (US?) 1986?

.....According to the novel, the line I wanted to use was, "...slain, after all man's devices had failed, by the humblest things that God, in his wisdom, has put upon this earth.", or the nearest equivalent from the George Pal movie adaption. At the time I was putting this compilation together I was using a versatile analog receiver that could juggle input from multiple sources in multiple formats and I wanted to take advantage of the fact that that included using the audio portion of VHS recordings (this was pre-DVR), especially as I was developing a thread of film-related music. I was nearing the end of that side of the cassette and wanted to switch gears slightly one more time and needed a bridge/interstitial. I had recently recorded the George Pal adaption of "War Of The Worlds"(1953) but couldn't find the VHS tape, but remembered having the Jeff Wayne project on CD. Better known as a producer, Wayne took three years to construct a musical adaption of the 1898 novel using artists he had worked with, including Justin Hayward (of the Moody Blues), Phil Lynott (of Thin Lizzy) and others. The full story came to light in 2005 with the release of the 6CD/1DVD collector's edition, Columbia/Legacy CECD96000 (aka C7H 94427 1 2 or UPC#8 27969 44276 0). Had it existed at the time, I could have used the expanded box as a source for the paraphrased recording of the above passage. The three discs of outtakes includes all of the spoken material without music. As it happened, I wasn't able to isolate the phrase I wanted from the musical bedding and other dialogue. Seconds later, at the very end of a track called "DEAD LONDON", I found the excerpt I eventually used bookended with the second's pause I needed to fade in and out without jarring the listener. The exact phrase I used was, "Directly the invaders arrived and drank and fed, our microscopic allies attacked them. From that moment, they were doomed." It actually seemed like a more fitting link from a "Rocky Horror" spin-off (since Frank and company were alien invaders) to our next track.