The War Room

Introduction

My friend Matthew Fromm just published a story on Vocal that made me think of "The War Room" by Public Service Broadcasting which you can read here:

I have used the pieces from "The War Room" in a few of my poems and stories such as this:

and this:

J. Willgoose, Esq. and Wrigglesworth sample old public information films and archive material and set them to new music. Live, the films are screened simultaneously as laptops are fiddled with, drums are pounded, theremins are wafted at, guitars are bashed and banjos furiously plucked. Teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future.

I thought it was time that I gave it (and its related tunes) a full review, so here it comes:

"The War Room" by Public Service Broadcasting

The first four tracks on the EP featured each use samples from a different British World War II propaganda film these were If War Should Come (1939), London Can Take It! (1940), The First of the Few (1942) and Dig for Victory (1941).

These are available on YouTube, but only in part.

"If War Should Come"

This is the opening song from the EP, and the introductory descriptions sum it up perfectly. This was then, but with what's happening in Ukraine and the Middle East, I hope this does not happen again.

The first track from The War Room EP, If War Should Come sets the (sombre) scene for the approach of conflict on the continent.

"London Can Take It"

This analogises London to a boxer or fighter who always gets up when it is knocked down.

"London Can Take It" is adapted from a 1941 film filed by an American war correspondent, Quentin Reynolds, about the Blitz.

I showed it to a Nigerian bloke I work with. When I told him the footage was real, he was horrified. He had no idea that London, where he'd lived for ages, had been that badly damaged in the war. He told me that he would have to show this to the rest of his family, as an education.

"Spitfire"

Ironically, this is a perfect piece of motorik, a musical form developed by the German band Neu!, and it eulogises the Spitfire. This fighter effectively won the Battle of Britain.

Video by PSB collaborator and all-round talented chap Owain Rich.

Footage from 'The First of the Few' is (c) BFI National Archive / COI and used with kind permission.

As a proud American, I have unlimited admiration of Great Britain and it's people who stood alone against Nazis while other countries including the USA just wrote them off. If England had fallen, the whole free world would have been in very dire straits. But the Brits with two great airplanes the Spitfire and the workhorse Hurricane gave The Nazis their first real bloody nose and saved our asses.

"Dig for Victory"

This song praises the "army" that worked the land to feed the nation during the Second World War. Food is just as important a weapon as guns.

I'm Polish, 24 and a fan of WWII military literature, history, art and design. I emigrated to England and currently live in London when I was 18 to live, work and study. Let me tell you - these videos and this music makes my heart shake and not once I had to wipe a tear or two. There is a reason those people were called the Greatest Generation.

"Waltz for George"

This is the final song from the record about the evacuation from Dunkirk.

Footage from 'Listen to Britain' is (c) BFI National Archive / COI and used with kind permission.

Having been born in Plymouth in 1940 I can very relate to this and, of course, am moved to tears by it. During my teens I remember taking the Dartmouth ferry and similar seaside boats, with each proudly displaying a plaque indicating it had saved lives at Dunkirk

"Lit Up"

This was not part of "The War Room" EP but featured on "Inform, Educate, Entertain" and is a magical, slightly inebriated narration of ships at night. This could have rounded off the EP, but it didn't, but it is still a great piece.

Love these two quotes from the video:

No magician who ever could have waved his wand could have waved it with more acumen than he had at the present moment......... Fabulous Britishness

Thomas Woodruff RN - very heavily refreshed when making the commentary. This is real, not a joke - it was actually broadcast on the BBC. Only in Britain could this sort of pissed genius occur. superb.