One World One Voice

Do you remember seeing a television programme back in 1990 called 'One World One Voice', a nearly one hour-long visual album of world music conceived and directed by Kevin Godley? I do and I bought the cassette when it came out on Virgin records.

I distinctly remember watching it on my little portable telly and remember four sections in particular: Robbie Robertson (why not Buffy Sainte-Marie?) quoting Chief Seattle at the start, the 'One Voice' section, the Dave Stewart section in a Hindu temple (nice to see you've all got your shoes off people) and the Kodo Drummers backed by an orchestra at the end. There are many more memorable bits but those are the ones that stick in my memory.

I found my cassette of the music yesterday and, today, I found the actual programme on YouTube. It's 52 minutes long so you'll need to set aside some time to watch it but it's worth it. A lot of it is a continuous loop of music with changing themes and emphases and then, every now and then, a new theme or song is introduced.



It includes great musicians from all around the works, most of whom I don't know. But I do know Peter Gabriel, Sting, Andy Summers, Joe Strummer, Suzanne Vega, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Eddie Grant, The Kodo Drummers, Dave Stewart, Shakespear's Sister, Bob Geldoff and, of course, Kevin Godley. There are lots more in there if you care to look.

I suspect the reason this has never been repeated is due to licensing and other 'biz' issues but it deserves to be seen again. Or for someone to remake it for the 21st Century?