William English

Here are a few of the Wavelength shows broadcast by William English on Resonance 104.4fm from October 2005 to date.

2005 October 10th Perpetual Motion
Alan Bridges (alias Hugh de la Cruz) attempts to describe his perpetual motion machine. Hugh is an inventor of unfinished projects including a motorcycle that doesn’t fall over and a trousercoat illustrated in “What did you eat today? Number One; Hugh de la Cruz” 16mm film by William English and Sandra Cross.

2005 November 6th Regent's Park Tennis club
Several tennis games superimposed. Recorded by William English on a Sony ‘Professional’ Walkman cassette recorder. One of the tennis players caught sight of the microphone which was fixed to a wire fence and commented on being spied upon. Whenever a tennis ball struck the fence an interesting reverberation resulted.

2005 November 20th Canadian Artist Bill Burns
Interview with Canadian Artist Bill Burns, director of the Museum of Safety Gear for Small Animals.

2006 June 4th Percussion tracks
Edgard Varese; Ionisation (1931) for 3 bass drums, 2 side drums, 2 snare drums, tarole, 2 bongos, tambourine, tambour militaire, crash cymbal, suspended cymbals, 3 tam tams, gong, 2 anvils, 2 triangles, sleigh bells, chimes, celesta, piano, Chinese blocks, claves, maracas, castanets, slapstick, guiro, high and low sirens, lion's roar (Nonesuch 1974). Bow Gamelan Ensemble; Black Betty/Pyrotechnics 'Offshore Rig'. From the vinyl LP Great Noises that fill the Air (Klinker Zoundz 8804 1988). Musique Akara. Tambours de bois. From Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinee (Ocora OCR 86). Luis Agudo; Agudu from the LP Afrosamba (Red Record VPA 172). Kip Hanrahan/Jack Bruce: You can tell a guy by his anger, from Exotica 1992.

2006 July 2nd piano/creaking floor/piledrivers
Art Terry tunes a piano/creaking floor/piledrivers. One of the prizes for a Resonance fund raising auction was to have a piano tuned by Art Terry, presenter of Is Black Music on Resonance104.4fm. I don’t have a piano but placed a winning bid and asked Art if I could film him tuning a piano which he agreed to. This is the soundtrack of that video film recorded on a mini dv camera superimposed on a recording made at Marcus Campbell Art Books 43 Holland Street, London SE1, of a creaking floor and demolition of the building opposite.

2006 July 16th Maurice LeMaitre
Maurice LeMaitre vinyl EP "Maurice Lemaitre presente Le Lettrisme" ESRF 1171 1958; a very rare record by the maker of Le Film est deja Commence? and numerous Lettriste tracts and videos. Plus tracks by Isidore Isou and Jean Dubuffet.

2006 July 30th Congestion charge, Film editing equipment sent down a rubbish chute
Congestion charge telephone call. Film editing equipment is sent down a rubbish chute from the 14th floor, Ground Zero (Otomo Yoshihide) Standards: A better tomorrow/I say a little prayer. Recording of an automated answering machine for registering for a congestion charge in London. Followed by the sounds of film editing equipment; heavy rewind handles, metal spools, film cans and other items which were sent down a rubbish chute from the 14th floor of a block of flats in EC1 London. Sony ‘Professional’ Walkman cassette recorder, microphone placed inside the rubbish chute.

2006 August 13th You're a winner or you're a sinner
"You're a winner or you're a sinner". Evangelist lay preacher recorded at Piccadilly Circus + "Flak" by David Jackman. This lay preacher was a fixture at Oxford Circus for many years, relentlessly preaching to the crowds through a portable megaphone. His mantra was “You’re a winner or you’re a sinner” along with other rhymes. This recording on a Walkman cassette recorder was made at his later site on Piccadilly Circus. I haven’t seen him at either location for at least one year. “Flak” ten inch vinyl record by David Jackman

2006 August 27th Short Tracks
Short Tracks: This started as an attempt to find tracks less than one minute in length but expanded slightly at times: Aram Saroyan, Chris Burden, Wild Man Fischer, Muslimgauze, Buckethead, Peterson, Yoko Ono, Augusto de Campos, Handsome Family, Henry Flynt, John Wynne, Conlon Nancarrow, Moondog, Wolfgang Fuchs, Peter Brotzmann, Rodney Graham.

2006 October 6th Anatomy of Vision
Anatomy of Vision by Vitamin B12 from the double LP "badges" the fifth album by the vitamin b12 edition of 300 copies, followed by Adagio, section 5 from An Angel Moves too fast to See by Rhys Chatham.

2006 October 27th Mecha Orga, David Jackman, Volcano the Bear, Jack Smith, Handsome Family.
Mecha/Orga (Yiorgis Sakellariou) "from a piner" “Flak” ten inch vinyl record by David Jackman Volcano the Bear; Oslo Top from Volseptor recorded live 19.6.98 Earthquake Orgy from Tony Conrad's soundtrack for Jack Smith's film Flaming Creatures. Recorded early 1962, from the CD Jack Smith; Les Evening Gowns Damnees, Audio Artkive 01 Natalie Wood by The Handsome Family from the CD Smothered and Covered, a personal gathering of rarities including odd covers, bathroom demos and orphaned songs www.handsomefamily.com

2006 November 3rd Interview with Yiorgis Sakellariou
Interview with Yiorgis Sakellariou (Mecha Orga). Recorded live in Denmark Street studio for Wavelength hosted by William English.

2006 November 10th Artist Pavel Buchler
Artist Pavel Buchler: "Live"; applause gathered from his collection of live recordings. Pavel Buchler assembled these recordings of applause from his own collection of 351 albums of ‘live’ recordings of jazz concerts and other musical events and re-released them on a vinyl LP in a limited edition of 351 copies.

2006 November 17th Peter Reiling, Bob Cobbing, Edwin Schlossberg, Art and Language, Henri Chopin.
Peter Reiling "So!" from a CDR sent in to the programme by Peter.
Birdyak: Bob Cobbing, Ma-Lou Bangerter and Hugh Metcalfe; Make perhaps this out sense of can you from the LP aberration (KZ8801 1988).
Edwin Schlossberg; Vibrations/Metaphors from Revolutions per Minute (The Art Record) (1982 Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc).
Art and Language and The Red Crayola; It's an Illusion from the 1976 LP Corrected Slogans.
Henri Chopin; Le Fond de la Gorge (ou Throat Power) 1974, Ingatestone GB from the CD accompanying Licences 1999 No.0.

2006 December 1st

Fluxus Artist Ben Patterson: Early Works. "A Simple Opera" 15'51"and "Pond" 5'24" (Alga Marghen). Ben Patterson: "This is not only my first CD, but also the first recordings of these works available to the general public".

2006 December 8th Train to Kettering
Train to Kettering, adjusting a clock in Syston. Sten Hanson from the LP The Sonosopher Retrospective (Alga Marghen). Train to Leicester, broke down in Kettering, various announcements and then changed trains after some confusion. The clock in Syston was a prize for long distance running awarded to William Cross, Sandra’s grandfather, in Corby some time in the 1930s. The clock is now in a house in Syston, Leicestershire and needs rewinding frequently as we all do. This clock's chiming has been the occasional signature tune for Wavelength.

2006 December 15th Nuclear and other wars
The Ballad of the Green Berets, from Songs of Our Fighting Men "The Green Berets" by Sergeant Barry Sadler U.S. Army Special Forces (RCA Victor 1966).
Good Morning Vietnam, recorded in Vietnam by Claude Johner (Folkways Records FD 5445 1972).
Last Poets; What Will You Do? from Oh, My People (CELL 6108).
Conrad Atkinson; The Louis XIV Deterrent, from Revolutions per Minute (The Art Record) (1982 Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc).
Nuclear War by Sun Ra. Recorded NY 1982 (RA1).
Low Flying Aircraft by Paul Burwell and Anne Bean, small edition vinyl single (1990?).

2006 December 22nd Wavelength Christmas Party Wavelength Christmas Party including Meeuw Muzak singles.

2007 June 1st Captain Maurice Seddon
Captain Maurice Seddon Royal Signal Corps (retired) shows Sandra Cross his thrombosis. Sandra by a fountain in a garden near to London Wall. Jonathan Kane from the CD "February" 2005 (Table of the Elements).

2007 June 8th Clive Graham
Clive Graham host of the long standing Resonance104.4fm programme Sound Poets Exposed brings in a new release on the Paradigm label: I.D. ART 2 (PD23) Paradigm Discs 2007.

2007 June 15th Explorer and bon viveur
Explorer and bon viveur James Tregaskis speculates on his forthcoming motorcycle journey to Alaska

2007 June 22nd Finally a good connection
Finally a good connection to Captain Maurice Seddon demonstrating his idiosyncratic telephone apparatus. Captain Maurice Seddon, Royal Signals (retired), now in his 80s, inventor of electrically heated clothing. Maurice’s telephone operates on a one-way basis making interruption impossible and conversation frustrating.

2007 June 29th Miscellaneous tracks
2007 June 29th Miscellaneous tracks Miscellaneous tracks

2007 July 6th William phones Weaverville California
William phones Weaverville California and gets an insight into thrift shops from James Tregaskis. Recorded before he became Professor.

2007 October 5th Tracks
Pamelia Kurstin; Eschschloraque, from Thinking Out Loud (Tzadik 2007).
Iron and Wine; Resurrection Fern, from The Shepherd's Dog (Transgressive 2007).
Camberwell Now; Ghost Trade, from All's Well (ReCDec 1015).
The Handsome Family; There's a City, from Smothered and Covered (2002), a personal gathering of rarities including odd covers, bathroom demos and orphaned songs.

2007 October 12th Reto Scheiber
Interview with St. Martin's graduate Reto Scheiber. Reto Schreiber admitted to having suffered from depression but after embracing religion and using this in his Art his state of mind improved. After leaving St Martin’s he took a job in East London but quickly decided to return to his Alpine homeland. Recorded in the studio on Borough High Street.

2007 October 26th Mix

2007 November 2nd Dogs in Datchet
Telephone interview with Captain Maurice Seddon who describes his unique telephone apparatus and his ongoing legal battle with his local council and neighbour to retain his dogs. Maurice lives in humble circumstances in Datchet at the end of the Heathrow flight path. Planes fly directly overhead every 90 seconds. The large garden, surrounded by a high but dilapidated wooden fence contains all manner of unwanted and outdated electrical goods, motorcycles, refrigerators, tarpaulins, a small caravan and a pack of 18 mongrels which live wild and occasionally start to bark in unison. Maurice has lived here for 50 years. A neighbour who moved in a few years ago has complained consistently about the noise of the dogs resulting in a series of eccentric court cases. At time of writing the dogs remain in situ.

2007 November 9th La Monte Young and Terry Riley
La Monte Young and Terry Riley 1960 "Concert for Two Pianos and Five Tape Recorders" (1960) With La Monte Young, recorded live 11 May 1960, Nam June Paik Works 1958.1979.
Text of Light by Lee Ranaldo, Christian Marclay, Alan Licht, Uli Krieger, DJ Olive (Table of the Elements 2004).

2007 November 23rd London Artists Book Fair at the ICA Wandering round the Artists’ Book Fair asking various book artists for a definition of what an Artist’s Book is and getting a variety of answers.

2007 November 30th The Red Suede Jacket
"The Red Suede Jacket": Bob Hughes remembers the 1960s in Leicester. Cut into the interview is a rare track by The Farinas later to become Family, and also Country Line Special by Cyril Davies and his Rhythm and Blues All Stars (1963). The red suede jacket became a fixation for me; worn in the 1960s by John Nixon otherwise known as Jelly for reasons unknown, the jacket became emblematic of that period. Bob Hughes recalls some of the events, recorded in The Modena Café in Leicester which has hardly changed since the early 1960s. The Farinas were a Leicester group who later became Family . The track played here is their first and only single apart from an incredibly rare demo disc and features the harmonica playing of James King. My elder brother Jack took me to see The Farinas at The Pit which was a club underneath the notorious Bond Street Caff in Leicester City Centre. I was probably eleven years old, still in short trousers. The Farinas were playing rhythm and blues and memorably a track about a train, with harmonica by Jim King.

2007 December 7th Christie's Auction
Recording from a Christie's Auction, King Street London + Georg Baselitz lecture "The Painters' Equipment" A lecture at the Royal Academy of Arts 1987. (Audio Arts LP, recorded by William Furlong and William Archer)

2007 December 14th Inaugural 'concert' by Benghazi
Inaugural 'concert' by Benghazi: Gwenda Jones on paper cup, James Tregaskis on balloons and vomiting and Mtebe Noginga on piledriver and toys. Recorded live in the studio on Borough High Street. Naturally these highly strung individuals came to loggerheads shortly after this event and went their own separate ways only to reform the following day. Tregaskis’s distinctive vomiting technique spawned numerous clones, Noginga gained a reputation for extracting the most from a wind up tin toy but little of merit can be said about Gwenda Jones’s lacklustre performance which prompted the acrimonious break-up. A classic.

2007 December 21st Christmas Mix
"Had to take Christmas in my overalls" from 3 different versions of Sitting on top of the World + Meeuw Muzak singles and country singer Jim White; Christmas Day from Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus (Luaka Bop 2005)

2008 January 11th Interview with Bill Burns
Interview with Bill Burns, director of The Museum of Safety Gear for Small Animals on the eve of his exhibition at the ICA London which incorporates Bird Radio and the Flora and Fauna information service.

2008 January 18th Terry Fox, Typewriter Music, Bagpipes, Flynt and others.
Terry Fox; Internal Sound (excerpt) 1979, followed by Typewriter in D by David Smyth, both from Revolutions per Minute (The Art Record) 1982 Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc.
Trachea by David Watson with Shelley Hirsch and Makigami Koichi from the CD Throats 2002.
Henry Flynt; Back Porch Hillbilly Blues Volume 2 Unidentified track.

2008 January 25th Bill Burns part 2
Bill Burns Bird Radio part 2.

2008 February 1st Francis Picabia
Francis Picabia: La Nourrice Americaine (The American Nurse).
Slow Version (19.57) So far as is known, Picabia composed just one piece of music, an antagonistic piece performed for the first, and seemingly last, time in 1920; "three notes repeated to infinity" (LTMCD 2509).

2008 February 8th Clive Graham
Guest Clive Graham introduces the latest release on his Paradigm label; Machine by Trevor Wishart.

2008 February 15th Marcel Duchamp, Ivor Cutler
Marcel Duchamp talks about Ready-Mades + tracks from Ivor Cutler's A Flat Man.

2008 February 22nd Benghazi re-form
Benghazi re-form to discuss and enact Misery. Not for those of a nervous disposition. This includes a duet by James Tregaskis and myself singing “Misery” (Lennon/McCartney). This is the only known recording of me singing and is not recommended.

2008 February 29th Marcel Duchamp's Erratum
Marcel Duchamp's Erratum 'framed' by both sides of a 'found' record by Bob and Roberta Smith. The single "Knock 3 times on the ceiling if you want me" is appropriated by Bob and Roberta Smith by sticking a new label on the record and calling it a signed limited edition entitled "Lame" and the B side "Worse".

2008 March 7th Terry Fox, Jim Nollman
Animal music including Terry Fox, Jim Nollman from the LP Playing Music with Animals; the interspecies communication of Jim Nollman with 300 Turkeys, 12 Wolves, 20 Orca Whales, Bepler (Cremaster 5) and others.

2008 March 14th Funk Probideo/Baile Funk
Funk Probideo/Baile Funk with filmmaker Yann Beauvais co-founder of Light Cone in Paris and artist Edson Barrus talking via a poor (skype) phone connection from Paris. Several anonymous tracks from a CDR provided by Yann and Edson featuring gunshots and references to bazookas.

2008 March 28th Hell Hounds
Captain Maurice Seddon Part 2: Hell Hounds. The continuing saga of Maurice and the local council who are threatening to remove his dogs. Maurice has lost 3 consecutive court cases and is now considering taking the case to Strasbourg.

2008 April 4th Yiorgis Sakellariou
Yiorgis Sakellariou returns to introduce sounds by Mecha Orga (Athens). Recorded in a bookshop with a mini dv camera.

2008 April 11th Patrick Sutherland
Guest Patrick Sutherland discusses music from the Spiti region of North West India.

2008 April 18th Gerry Smith
Belgium and the Belgians. Analysis and discussion with Richard Thomas; Resonance station manager whose father once played football for Bruges or was it Ghent? Gerry Smith, artist and Belgian ambassador for Stoke Newington and William English who travelled through Belgium once on a train.

2008 April 25th Henri Chopin, Alexis Korner, Charles Hayward
Henri Chopin; Les Souffles from the LP La Plaine des Respirs (Tochnit Aleph 073 2007)
Herbie's Tune by Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated from the CD Red Hot From Alex (CMRCD 293 2001/1964).
Charles Hayward; Sweetheart, from Switch on War (SUB CD017-40 1991).

2008 May 2nd Adrian Mitchell, Art and Language, Joseph Beuys, Cornelius Cardew and Fredric Rzewski
Adrian Mitchell; Ode on the assassination of President Johnson; To whom it may concern, from the LP A Laugh, A Song, A Hand-Grenade (Transatlantic Records 1968).
Art and Language and the Red Crayola; Corrected Slogans 1976; An Harangue; Organisation.
Joseph Beuys; Excerpt from Cooper Union Dialogue 1980.
Cornelius Cardew; Smash the Social Contract, from We Only Want the Earth (2001 musicnow).
Fredric Rzewski; excerpt (finale) from The People United Will Never Be Defeated! 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. Ursula Oppens, piano (Vanguard 1978).

2008 May 9th Ian Bone + anonymous 14 year old
Guest Ian Bone talks about Class War + an anonymous 14 year old representative of the Class War Youth Death Squad

2008 May 16th Reich
William English Invites Professor James Tregaskis to discuss the word "Reich" and play some audio he brought along. Wilhelm Reich, Steve Reich, Third Reich are all given short shrift in this exhaustive analysis of JT’s thought processes.

2008 May 23rd Metronome
Soundtracks from a CD attached to issue No 7 of "Metronome" magazine, published 2001 - this may cause offence. Metronome Number 7 Edited by Clementine Deliss; The Bastard, Magnetic Speech

2008 May 30th Cough-In
William invites guests to phone in sick with studio guest and living legend Hugh de la Cruz who plays a virtuoso performance on the plastic inhaler

2008 June 23rd Ed Baxter Part 1
Interview with Ed Baxter supremo of Resonance 104.4fm (part 1)

2008 July 4th Ed Baxter Part 2
Interview with Ed Baxter supremo of Resonance 104.4fm (part 2)

2008 July 11th Ed Baxter Part 3
Interview with Ed Baxter supremo of Resonance 104.4fm (part 3)

2008 July 25th Ed Baxter Part 4
Interview with Ed Baxter supremo of Resonance 104.4fm (part 4)

2008 August 1st Interview with Alan and Steve Freeman
Interview with Alan and Steve Freeman, proprietors of Leicester shop: Ultima Thule, legendary outlet for recordings of 'Spacy' electronic music, Krautrock, experimental and progressive music including local outfits such as Volcano the Bear and Black Carrot. Alan and Steve also perform their own music in a variety of identities.

2008 August 8th Publish and be Damned
Recorded at 'Publish and be Damned' on Sunday 3rd August; brief interviews, incoherent snatches of sound + tracks from a CD on the Ole label bought at the event.

2008 August 15th
Border Dissolve in Audiospace (1970) by Liam O’Gallagher from the LP 10+2:12 American Text Sound Pieces 1750 Arch Records. His Eyes, Her Eyes by Paul Dutton from Oralizations. Duke by Mouthus and Yellow Swans “Live on Conan Island” No-Fi 2008.

2008 September 5th
National Express coach to Derby. A message from our sponsors: Fotheringay and Braithwaite's organic home made ferret flavoured chutney. Maurice Seddon takes a trip on the Thames to Runnymede, and remembers friends with ferrets.

2008 September 12th
A message from our sponsors: Fotheringay and Braithwaite's organic home made ferret flavoured chutney. Instructions for the correct pronunciation of Jonas Mekas from the man himself. One minute track by Otomo Yoshihide from Ground Zero Live (1992). Jim White relates a story "the wrong man", recorded live at Rough Trade in 2007 followed by "a perfect day for chasing tornadoes". Masonna/Yamazaki "Masao" Takushi: "Spectrum Ripper (part I-II-III)" (1996-1997) 3.33. More Mekas.

2008 September 19th James Tregaskis Holds The Fort
James Tregaskis stands in for William English: How not to listen to the radio by James Tregaskis, Sexton Ming live at the Shunt Lounge; 2 poems and a song, Robert Lyall Patterson and his two seater 1950 engine Ford special recorded at Sturgis 2007, “Things to do before you die” with John from Birmingham and lastly, The Golding Institute: The Final Relaxation

2008 September 26th MM's Bar
Recordings by Sandra Cross over one year (2006) as part of her ongoing project "What did you eat today?" The recordings were made on the train between Leicester and London, featuring announcements about the MM's Bar (Midland Mainline refreshments bar).

2008 October 3rd
Tribute to Henri Chopin. In advance of the Cubitt Gallery exhibition 10.10.08 to 9.11.08, a selection of Lettriste sound poems.
"Poeme pour broyer le cafard" by Isidore Isou (1950).
"Megapneumies" by Gil J. Wolman (1950).
"Marche des Barbares Blancs" by Maurice LeMaitre from the EP issued in 1958 called Maurice LeMaitre presente Le Lettrisme. "Five Poemes Lettristes" by Jacques Spacagna (1964) released on L'Autonomatopek 1 which accompanied the international magazine OPUS number 40/41 1973.
"Turn back nightingale" by Jean Louis Brau from the same OPUS EP.
"Rouge" by Henri Chopin (1956) extract.

2008 October 10th
I just need to remember what the show was... where was I? Yes, Clive Graham didn't turn up because he was waiting for a plumber. Stocks crashed again, the streets were full of people crying, pulling their hair out and screaming "my savings!! my pension!!" Flames were licking around the Bank of England as thousands of disaffected employees started Bonfire night early. Double decker buses were turned over and used as barricades. Financiers and hedge fund managers were being lined up and shot. Apart from that nothing happened.
Henri Chopin: "Les Souffles des Tempetes" and "La Digestion" from Les
Mirifliques Tundras et Compagnie (Alga Marghen 1997)

2008 October 24th
St. Paul to St. Paul's. (St. Paul de Vence to St. Paul's London). Wavelength signatures. Chirping birds in Menton. Automatic searching of French radio stations. Trains on Nice station before departing to London.

2008 October 31st
Raga Electric Experimental Music 1963-1971: "Central Park Transverse Vocal 1-4 (1963)" Locust Music, followed by an interview with Henry Flynt recorded in London on October 20th in which he speaks mostly about Abstract Film. "White Lightening" from Back Porch Hillbilly Blues volume 2, Locust Music 2002. http://www.henryflynt.org

2008 November 7th
"Richard Nixon" by Rodd, Terri and The MSR Singers from Beat of the Traps MSR Madness Volume 1 (1971) "Little Ghetto Boy" by Donny Hathaway Live at the Bitter End NY (1972) "Things have got to change" by Archie Shepp (1971) featuring the voice of Joe Lee Wilson and electronic music by Romulus Franceschini.

2008 November 14th
Edited extracts of an interview with Jonas Mekas by William English and Richard Thomas in July 2008.

2008 November 21st
Nick Rochford talking about how he started up the legendary Compendium Bookshop in London's Camden Town. Recorded at the Conway Hall in Summer 2008.