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Tim Smith & Hans Rott

When Stratton asked Richie if he knew of a 20th Century composer whose music was reviled at first, but whose reputation is enjoying a reappraisal, he answered immediately, “Tim Smith, leader of the Cardiacs”. As luck would have it, Stratton claimed not to know Tim Smith’s name; nor had he ever heard of the Cardiacs. Richie sent him some files.

Entering Music 2026
Latest Episodes
  • When a listener begins to concentrate on a single composer’s works, they often listen for the piece in which the composer has found his or her own voice, a voice that from then on will mark the music they write as their own.
  • The tale of the careers of two of the most famous women in the 19thcentury is now portrayed as a narrative of suppression and even oppression.
  • Richie invites Stratton to listen to something he has actively avoided for 50 years – PUNK. There’s no telling how he’ll react…
  • Stratton and Richie become aware that even sweet, joyful music-making can hide a suspicious, even outraged, personality.
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Music claims that the term "virtuoso " is from Italian and means “exceptional performer.” By the late 18th century, it changed.
  • At the turn of the 20th century, celebrity was invented as a substitute for genius, while the steady rise of the middle class meant the beginning of mass marketing and the establishment of “popular” music.
  • Stratton asked Richie if he was ready to talk about the most vilified musician living in the 20thcentury. Richie asked Stratton if he meant Michael Jackson. “No,” Stratton replied.
  • Stratton and Richie don’t generally talk about politics, but when Richie said he wanted to talk about “progressives,” Stratton, the old history major, got excited.
  • After talking about Shostakovich, who often lived and worked as though there was a gun to his head, Richie and I wanted to talk about another composer who went silent for a long time.
  • While watching an old film, Roberta, a 1934 musical comedy starring Irene Dunne and Joel McCrea with music by Jerome Kern, Stratton heard a great tune called “I Won’t Dance,” with lyrics by Dorothy Fields.