1. Joined
    11 Oct '04
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    5344
    06 Dec '14 13:585 edits
    The animation of Raymond Briggs 'The Snowman' has become something of an annual tradition here in the UK since it was first aired in 1982. It has been voted as one of the 100 top UK TV programmes of all time.

    Here is the full version:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE9KpobX9J8

    However, that is not what prompted this entry. A while back, I was helping my mum clear out some old video cassettes. She had kept some programme of hers for years, but at the end of it was a Spitting Image Christmas Special that I had recorded. Spitting Image was a satirical series featuring latex puppets.

    Anyway, it included this short spoof of The Snowman. I remember it because there were news stories at the time that parents (unwisely) had allowed their young kids to watch the Special and apparently this bit had caused a number of them to burst into tears.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z7rVVugq6sQ

    It's silly, but it still makes me laugh.
  2. Subscribersonhouse
    Fast and Curious
    slatington, pa, usa
    Joined
    28 Dec '04
    Moves
    53223
    07 Dec '14 16:092 edits
    Originally posted by Rank outsider
    The animation of Raymond Briggs 'The Snowman' has become something of an annual tradition here in the UK since it was first aired in 1982. It has been voted as one of the 100 top UK TV programmes of all time.

    Here is the full version:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE9KpobX9J8

    However, that is not what prompted this entry. A while back, I was ...[text shortened]... tears.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z7rVVugq6sQ

    It's silly, but it still makes me laugh.
    The piano was done, composed and played, by my buddy George Winston.

    Watching it again for the umteeth time, now I think maybe the producers gave George the piano part to play, the music is really complex and the main sound of the whole thing. Great music!

    Strange, all this time i thought George did the piano, but he was not in the credits. I would have thought if he participated, he would be credited. Maybe I got it all wrong, but I seem to remember the original VCR tape touting George. Oh well.
  3. Subscribersonhouse
    Fast and Curious
    slatington, pa, usa
    Joined
    28 Dec '04
    Moves
    53223
    07 Dec '14 17:11
    Originally posted by sonhouse
    The piano was done, composed and played, by my buddy George Winston.

    Watching it again for the umteeth time, now I think maybe the producers gave George the piano part to play, the music is really complex and the main sound of the whole thing. Great music!

    Strange, all this time i thought George did the piano, but he was not in the credits. I would ha ...[text shortened]... Maybe I got it all wrong, but I seem to remember the original VCR tape touting George. Oh well.
    I get it now. He did that song on his record Forest:

    ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Lc0rACmVs
  4. Joined
    11 Oct '04
    Moves
    5344
    07 Dec '14 17:152 edits
    Originally posted by sonhouse
    The piano was done, composed and played, by my buddy George Winston.

    Watching it again for the umteeth time, now I think maybe the producers gave George the piano part to play, the music is really complex and the main sound of the whole thing. Great music!

    Strange, all this time i thought George did the piano, but he was not in the credits. I would ha ...[text shortened]... Maybe I got it all wrong, but I seem to remember the original VCR tape touting George. Oh well.
    There could be any number of reasons.

    A lot of people think the boy singer was Aled Jones (I certainly did) but apparently it was Peter Auty, who didn't even get credited on the original release (though this was corrected later). It says that this was because the release was very rushed, so maybe the crediting was not as thorough as it should have been.

    Edit : I see you have found the answer.
  5. Subscribersonhouse
    Fast and Curious
    slatington, pa, usa
    Joined
    28 Dec '04
    Moves
    53223
    07 Dec '14 17:20
    Originally posted by Rank outsider
    There could be any number of reasons.

    A lot of people think the boy singer was Aled Jones (I certainly did) but apparently it was Peter Auty, who didn't even get credited on the original release (though this was corrected later). It says that this was because the release was very rushed, so maybe the crediting as not as thorough as it should have been.

    Edit : I see you have found the answer.
    I also found this: Howard Blake himself doing his Walking on Air:!

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/9729655/Watch-The-Snowman-composer-Howard-Blake-play-Walking-in-the-Air.html

    I see some differences in Georges performances, besides the fact that George is a better pianist🙂 Howard flubbed it a couple of times. It is a great piece of music.

    I often wonder what 20th or 21st century piano pieces like this would have sounded to Mozart and what would he have done to this theme?
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