Since my edit of Dubya's "Night Before Christmas" got included in this month's Download Dinner Bell, I thought I'd point out a site where listeners can download plenty more political edit pieces: the "Truthful Translations" section of DIYmedia.net, which has collected more than 400 audio collages of not just the current occupant of the White House, but of plenty of other politicians. You'll find corrections of the speeches of Bill Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Nixon, Tony Blair, and of course Ronald Reagan, who is the subject of two of the best cut-up pieces you can find on the site: Doug Kahn's "Reagan Speaks For Himself" and Cliff Roth's "The Reagans Speak Out on Drugs" (an excerpt of the video is available for downloading). Kenny G linked to the Reagan MP3s back in February, but there's so many more politicians to explore.
Don't neglect the other areas of the DIYmedia site, though. They've been keeping tabs on the FCC's crackdowns on unlicensed radio broadcasters and the struggles of low-powered FM stations. Check out the site's homepage for their news archives, as well as links to the other collage-laden sections of the site.
My personal favorite political cut-up of the moment, not currently on the DIYmedia site, would be Jonathan Coulton's "W's Duty", which I first heard on Irwin's program. An MP3 of the song is downloadable from Jonathan's site. Also of note for Reaganologists: Ken's Reagan memorial broadcast from last year, which featured more Reagan-themed songs than you can shake a can of poisoned meat at.
I've been looking for that Doug Kahn piece for 20 years, although I didn't know its title or who did it. Thank you, WFMU! Nothing like the joy of drinking poisoned meat from a container that hasn't heated up....
Posted by: ralph | December 10, 2005 at 06:35 PM