We're celebrating here in Bloomington: http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iu/2014/01/william-s-burroughs-century.shtml
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brandon Burke
Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 2:14 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] William S. Burroughs Centenary
Semi-cute piece about is latter years in Lawrence, KS where I lived for most of the 90s. It wasn't uncommon to see William shopping for canned goods or whatever at my local grocery store during those years, to say nothing for scheduled readings at The Raven, etc.
http://www.npr.org/2014/02/05/271873749/author-william-burroughs-called-kansas-home
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Brandon Burke
Archivist for Recorded Sound Collections Hoover Institution Archives Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-6010
vox: 650.724.9711
fax: 650.725.3445
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----- Original Message -----
From: "David Lewis" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, February 4, 2014 10:57:03 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] William S. Burroughs Centenary
Today is the 100th birthday of author William S. Burroughs. One technique that he pioneered was the audio tape "cut up;" a random collection of spoken word bits achieved by turning on and turning off a tape machine at random intervals during newscasts. His efforts towards this end occurred years before anyone else worked in this way, and it would later become a major component in industrial music, particularly in the 80s.
This is one of the few early examples of such work ever to be published. I have long wanted to truly date it, as "Early 1960s" is as close as anyone ever got to a date, and I'm sure Bill had no idea himself. The source appears to be New York City radio, flipping across the dial. WINS is mentioned at one point.
Of course, fragments are fragments, and the aim was to achieve combinations of fragments that would tend to transcend the meaning of what was spoken and to create new meaning. But as close as I can get to a date for this is late April, early May 1965, owing to references to snipers in the Dominican Republic during the Civil War there.
Can anyone else get closer, or am I on the wrong track?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6N2PZbkxzk
David N. Lewis
Lebanon, OH
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