By Ray Bennett
After I posted on Facebook the image above, which I took on a visit to Auschwitz, Argentinian composer Daniel Tarrab, a friend of mine, sent me a note that read, ‘I’ve seen your post today. It really moved me.’
He noted that his Jewish ancestors were expelled from Spain in 1492 and said, ‘That means I should be Spanish instead of Argentinian.’
The stark image I published on Holocaust Memorial Day brought to mind the extraordinary documentaries that Steven Spielberg sponsored to mark the tenth anniversary of his Oscar-winning picture ‘Schindler’s List’. Continue reading
Memory Lane: The time before everything was streamed
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Living, as I do, in turn-of-the-century London, it’s easy to become nostalgic for the long-ago 1900s. I know we’re just a few weeks into 2000 but it seems like forever.
I recall the first single I ever bought – Little Richard’s ‘Long Tall Sally’ on 78 rpm. And the first album – the soundtrack to Doris Day’s ‘Love Me or Leave Me’. A ten-inch vinyl on 33⅓ rpm. The first twelve-inch – Johnny Cash’s ‘Now There Was a Song’. The first 45 rpm – Elvis Presley’s ‘Don’t Be Cruel’. I had eclectic tastes even then. Continue reading →