Scott Walker 30 Century Man Worth Watching
Late last night I decided to watch something instantly on my computer - amazing technology - Is it black magic? - and found the 2005 Scott Walker documentary.
To most American music fans, Scott Walker and his band The Walker Brothers, are not household names, but in 1960s England, The Walker Brothers band was as big as it gets - for a while. After releasing a series of huge hits in 1965-66, I think, Scott left the band to go solo and put out four remarkable records in the space of three years - Scott 1-4.
As sampled in the doumentary, they sound like nothing that has come before or since.
Folks like David Bowie, Brian Eno, Jarvis Cocker and Radiohead all cite Walker as a prime influence. Surprising, really, that we know so little about him here.
Antony must have listened to him alot as well....
I learned a ton from the film, but when it was over wanted to know more. It doesn't do a great job of laying down the facts, but instead explores his creative struggles - probably more interesting anyway. You can find his bio online. But they do cover the basics: for starters, his name was NOT Walker, they were NOT brothers and he was NOT British - he was American. What the documentary does not tell you, is that he started his music career with Walker Brothers in England because he was dodging the draft.
Listening to his music last night, I was struck by how contemporary much of it still sounds.
For more on the film:
http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2008/12/long-overdue-scott-walker-documentary.html
To most American music fans, Scott Walker and his band The Walker Brothers, are not household names, but in 1960s England, The Walker Brothers band was as big as it gets - for a while. After releasing a series of huge hits in 1965-66, I think, Scott left the band to go solo and put out four remarkable records in the space of three years - Scott 1-4.
As sampled in the doumentary, they sound like nothing that has come before or since.
Folks like David Bowie, Brian Eno, Jarvis Cocker and Radiohead all cite Walker as a prime influence. Surprising, really, that we know so little about him here.
Antony must have listened to him alot as well....
I learned a ton from the film, but when it was over wanted to know more. It doesn't do a great job of laying down the facts, but instead explores his creative struggles - probably more interesting anyway. You can find his bio online. But they do cover the basics: for starters, his name was NOT Walker, they were NOT brothers and he was NOT British - he was American. What the documentary does not tell you, is that he started his music career with Walker Brothers in England because he was dodging the draft.
Listening to his music last night, I was struck by how contemporary much of it still sounds.
For more on the film:
http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2008/12/long-overdue-scott-walker-documentary.html
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