The recent column on the musical tastes of Bangkok's taxi drivers prompted quite a few comments from readers relating assorted cab rides featuring the joyful strains of Cliff Richard, Boney M and even Pavarotti. However, Elvis remains the favourite amongst the veteran cabbies.
Perhaps the most interesting tale came from a reader getting into a cab on Silom Road one night and much to his amazement finding the cabbie was listening to Alexander Borodin's 2nd Symphony. The taxi driver politely asked his passenger if he minded listening to it. Being quite partial to the Russian composer's works, the reader said "not at all" and proceeded to enjoy the long journey to Bang Na absorbed in the music, forgetting all about the traffic. He says at times he felt he was almost travelling through the steppes of Siberia, one of Borodin's favourite inspirations.
Being bit of a dinosaur when it comes to classical music, out of curiosity I listened to the Borodin piece on YouTube this week and I would be quite happy if any taxi driver put that on. Mind you, when you are stuck in the sweaty gridlock on Sukhumvit Road it requires considerable imagination to feel like you are on the cool grassy plains of Russia.
l had a brief introduction to classical music on a school trip to the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall back in 1964. The programme was Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and at the helm of the orchestra was Leopold Stokowski, one of the most respected conductors in the world. It was a most enjoyable experience, even the tuning up. I still can picture an over-enthusiastic audience member almost falling out of his box while cheering the 82-year-old Stokowski at the end of the performance.
When we returned to our coach parked down Kensington Road, it was a case of back to reality as someone turned on the radio and the Beach Boys came blasting through with I Get Around, a big hit at the time. It is scary to think that was over 50 years ago.
Magic mushrooms
In those days, the Albert Hall was notorious for its poor acoustics, blamed on its concave dome which created an echo, prompting a confusing swirl of sound not appreciated by musicians or audiences. There was a running joke that the Albert Hall was the only place composers could hear their works twice in one sitting.
The presence of the echo was actually discovered on the very first day the Albert Hall opened, back in 1871. Reporting on the opening speech by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) The Times noted: "… the reading was somewhat marred by an echo … which repeated the words with a mocking emphasis, which at another time would have been amusing."
In the late 1960s, to improve the sound, 135 metal acoustic buffers were installed in the dome and because of their shape resembling a common edible fungi, they soon became known as ''the mushrooms". They worked too, and the echo disappeared.
Electric shock
Some years later I was to hear Pictures at an Exhibition in a very different format, played by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, remember them? Their interpretation reached No.3 in the British album charts in 1971. However, not everybody appreciated ELP "dismantling" the classics, some critics describing them as pretentious and overbearing, a common complaint about "prog rock" groups. Iconic DJ, John Peel, called them "a tragic waste of talent and electricity."
On the ropes
While the Albert Hall is normally associated with concerts, over the years it has also played host to assorted non-musical events including boxing. Some of Britain's best pugilists have fought there including heavyweights Henry Cooper, Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis, while Muhammad Ali made his final boxing appearance there with exhibition bouts in 1979.
One of the more bizarre boxing nights at the hall took place on December 11, 1951, when London's most notorious gangsters, the Kray Twins -- Ronnie and Reggie -- and their elder brother Charlie, all fought on the same bill. For the curious, Reggie won his bout, Charlie lost on points and Ronnie was disqualified for "unsportsmanlike behaviour", the nature of which I will leave to your imagination.
A couple of weeks later, the twins were guilty of more "unsportsmanlike behaviour", this time not in the ring but out in the street when they were involved in a bloody brawl outside a nightclub, after which their boxing licences were withdrawn. They went on to bigger things which often involved the use of the fists, but definitely not according to the Queensbury Rules.
Full of holes
No column featuring the Albert Hall would be complete without a mention of that Beatles song, A Day in the Life, and the line "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall".
No one really knew what it meant, including John Lennon who wrote it. It is well known the earlier part of the verse concerning "4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire" was inspired by a Daily Mail report concerning the wretched state of the Lancashire town's roads.
But the reference to the Albert Hall was just Lennon having a bit of fun with his lyrics.
Nonetheless, Lennon helped put Blackburn back on the map and even gave the Albert Hall a certain mystique.
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