No geek is an island » song

Christmas number 1

Will — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:19:43 +0000

Oh yes, I have a blog, don’t I? So I should probably take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and direct you to my new song on the subject of what should be this year’s Christmas number 1 (warning: contains a swear).

And, for balance, here’s Tim Minchin’s White Wine in the Sun, which, should you wish, you can buy from iTunes here.

Barry Letts

Will — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:11:47 +0000

I was sad to hear yesterday that Barry Letts, erstwhile producer of 70s Doctor Who, has died at the age of 84. I met him once, at a convention in 1994, when he appeared on stage with Terence Dicks, the other half of their regular double act. He seemed a lovely man and was a great ambassador for the show. R.I.P., Barry – this song’s for you. I’m sorry it’s out of focus but I recorded it as live.

You can also watch it on YouTube and read the lyrics online here. You’ll notice I forgot to mention Sarah Jane Smith. Barry Letts was producer when she became the Doctor’s companion – without him, there would be no Sarah Jane Adventures.

The Please Invite Me To Google Wave Song

Will — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:08:28 +0000

This week my satirical eye noticed lots of people on the twitter asking for Google Wave invites, so here’s a song about it – also known as “How many words can Will think of that rhyme with Wave and how many of those can he shoehorn into a song?”

I sang along a bit too much in a club last night so I’m afraid I’m a bit hoarse. I think you get the point anyway.

If you have a YouTube account, do subscribe to my YouTube channel here and, if you like it, rate, favourite and comment on the song here.

Large Hadron Collider song remixed

Will — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:21:58 +0000

I couldn’t let it lie. Having recorded my Large Hadron Collider Song the other day, I wondered if I could take advantage of my lovely Zoom H2recorder to up the production values a bit. Separating singing and playing the ukulele also meant I could do the latter marginally better – my inability to multitask different rhythms is why I could never be a pianist.

So, with nothing better to do this morning, I re-recorded the song with a more syncopated ukulele track. I added in some vocals – 12 rather than 40 voices – and then decided to fill the music out a bit with a guitar line (actually two tracks in the end). The guitar and the uke tuning weren’t quite together so I ended up lowering the pitch of the ukulele track by a semitone. What a cheat.

In case you can’t make out the words, I’ve published a Google Doc with the lyrics and chords.

Anyhoo, for your listening pleasure…

Passenger announcement

Will — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:19:13 +0000

Yet another video for you. Here’s a short song I wrote today about travelling on the London Underground. Not Safe For Work if your workplace doesn’t like a bit of swearing.

Three Former Doctor Whos

Will — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:09:17 +0000

This is what happens when I take a break from work: I make silly things and put them online.

Into my head the other day pops the phrase “Three former Doctor Whos are we.” No idea where that morsel came from, but within 24 hours I’ve recorded a song. Then I remembered Jason’s great Doctor Who cartoons and within another day had made a video.

Non-fans will find the lyrics a bit obscure, I’m afraid, but here it is anyway for your viewing pleasure:

The best musical meme of 2009

Will — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:49:18 +0000

On Friday, I didn’t clean the flat. Then I made a short video about it.

Marvellously, that wasn’t the end of it. A second verse in Exhibit A:

A third verse in Exhibit B:

Dino Ron in Exhibit C:

A special guitar in Exhibit D:

And a synth pop remix with new fourth verse in Exhibit E:

To join in with the most exciting musical meme of 2009 (so far), make a video, upload it to YouTube, and post it as a video response to the original video.

I didn’t clean the flat

Will — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:03:22 +0000

I was supposed to clean the flat today. I didn’t; I went shopping instead. If I had then written a very short song about it, it might go a little like this:

The audio synching is slightly out. This is something YouTube’s done rather than my ventriloquism skilz.