The Joy of Silence and the Music of Being

Why Silence is Golden

The road to Gairloch, leading to one of the most tranquil places I have ever had the joy of visiting in 2013. Image taken by Shearings Holidays (2014), who introduced me to this part of the world (Creative Commons License – Some Rights Reserved).

I am probably the last person on Earth to be associated with silence. In nearly ten years of running East of the M60, my online life has multiplied. Firstly, my first online experience was via college, since 1996. This was in The Good Old Days of Netscape 2.0, when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser was a mere upstart. We chatted to distant friends by email. As for our friends closer to home, we used to go to the pub.

A 1969 Space Oddity: David Frost’s Moon Party

Ground control to Major Frost?

• Broadcasted: 1700 hours, 20 July 1969 – 0300 hours, 21 July 1969 (ITV);
• Presenter: David Frost;
• Showbiz guests: Sammy Davis Junior, Cliff Richard, Lulu, Englebert Humperdinck, Peter Cook, Mary Hopkin, Hattie Jacques, Eric Sykes;
• Interviewed guests: Ray Bradbury (walked out before interview), A.J.P. Taylor, Dame Sybil Thorndike, Desmond Morris;
• Produced by: London Weekend Television;
• Further information: original VT long deleted.

Just over 45 years ago, rolling news meant correctly folding today’s copy of The Daily Telegraph. The thought of broadcasting for 10 continuous hours was unheard of in 1969. Television used to finish an hour or so after the public houses did. Sky News wouldn’t surface till twenty years later, and Rupert Murdoch was only months away from taking over The Sun from the Daily Mirror‘s owners.