6. Perform A Hit Spoken Word Record
Decca RecordsIn 1960s New York, songwriter Dion McGregor finally achieved his dream of having his material recorded for release to the paying public. The only problem was, the material in question was nothing to do with his music. Like many of us, McGregor had a habit of talking in his sleep. Unlike many of us, he would apparently narrate his dreams, which would frequently be disturbing, even terrifying. Taking on various characters, and often performing the narration in a flippantly arch and risqué manner, McGregors sleeptalking was recorded by his roommate and songwriting partner for several years during the 1960s in the hope that some lyrical gems would fall from his tongue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65fxTO65CEE Eventually, the right people heard his bizarre storytelling, and a release of ten of the recordings came out on the Decca label in 1964, with a book of further transcriptions following. The releases were commercial failures, but had enough of a cult following that, following McGregors death in 1994, further posthumous records were produced of dreams that were considered a little too racy for the mid-sixties. This month sees the release of the fourth collection of recordings of Dion McGregors unique nocturnal narratives, two decades after his passing. For a man whose previous career high watermark was a recording of one of his songs by Streisand in 1965, thats a pretty fine legacy. Hats off, Mr. McGregor.