Toes On The Line - Ready, Steady, Go!

[tracy]

dont worry about it that must have been when tom did bt that when people rung up and heard toms recorded voice they could change some think to make tom say all sorts i think im sure .but if you google type in tom baker bt you shuld hear tom singing the you really got me and a few other songs

[Moderator]

Dear Ladies -

Yes, the YouTube video you gals are speaking of was made by a very clever fellow who took a BT message that Tom "delivered" to a friend, and then made a recording from it. This was all done during the months Tom was the voice for British Telephone. Rest assured the voice is Tom's, but his messages were all electronically put together from "ing" and "ed" and "and" and "but" and "or" and phrases like: "This is Tom Baker." Actually Tom spent 11 days recording every sound in the English language or, the equivalent of 11,953 phrases which covered every single sound in the English language in each of their different contexts. These were then broken down into combinations of sounds that could be separated and reassembled by computer to make new words following the rules of English pronunciation.

This all happened from the first Friday in February 2006, running for the next three months. During that time people were texting his voice all over Britain. Tom became the official voice of BT Text as, "a new service which lets people send and receive text messages on their home phone." Every text message sent to a landline was delivered as a spoken message by Tom. Here is a quote of Tom's I found from that time:

"I'll be bringing good news to people - whether it's a cheeky message, a birthday greeting or just a quick hello."

Hope this has helped clear things up. Or has served to muddy the waters even further.

Best,
Dirk

[MCH]

Tracy, it was from the BT SMS. (Smacks forehead)
Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed, lol.

Thanks Dirk ! "mummble mummble" dense as a thicket, lol.

Pattie Anne,
I wish to join you in wishing Mr. Tom and Lady Sue a very pleasant anniversary. ***CHEERS***

MCH

[Moderator]

Dear MCH -

No problem. Glad I could help.

And hoping not to confuse you further, in December of 2006, Tom allowed a recording called "You Really Got Me," for charity.

BT offered it as a remixed, download-only version of the 1960s Kinks hit of the same name.

Most of the proceeds went to the British homeless children organization.

Best,
Dirk

PS: And don't worry MCH, we all have days like that.

D. G.

2PS: And thank you ma'am, for the earlier comment. I do like to do dramatic and humourous readings, on the odd occasion; but of course, I am not in any context in the same league as Tom.

D.

[tracy]

thats it thats how i was trying to descibe it you got it dirk thanks for explaining better then me and thats the song ive got as my ring tone with tom singing it

[MCH]

WooHoo !!!

I really enjoyed Mr. Tom's latest answers. Especially since I had just watched an audio interview online and I had just "heard" with my own little ears Tom talk about some things he put in his answers. It makes my toes wiggle with pleasure! Indeed it does.

That interview I listened to was long and I was enthralled to hear him speak about some things in his autobiography. It made a difference in how i imagine the sceene. For example when he talked about a bus load of kids surounding him, and Dimitri's comment. It seemed so much more " real" to hear him say it. I could understand better the conversation between Tom and Dimitri where when I read it in the book I was a bit confused. Furthermore, I could really hear his sense of humor shine through like never before. I fancied that I almost heard a giddy giggle once.

And these new answers are so lively and casual it warms the cockles of my heart. Yep, my cockles are burnin' baby. He seemed very happy and jolly and I saw it all and I thought it was good! Maybe it's because it's his and Lady Sue's Anniversery? Happy happy joy joy!

Mr. Tom said in that interview that he liked garden gnomes and hares. and that he enjoyed old musicals especially with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. AND, dunt dunt daaaaa! TOM BAKER SANG! yes sang, a very short bit of God Bless America. At least I think it was that. Anyway, I heard him sing for real this time! Does a happy dance. Doesn't take much to entertain me, eh?

And the interviewer showed Tom his, Tom's, action figure and one of davros. Tom seemed to have fun looking at them. Do any of his fans out there sculpt in marble? Tom said he would like to be sculpted in marble. And for it to be pointing his sonic screw driver. I think, towards passers by. It could have a motion sensor on it and as someone passed by it would shoot a jelly baby at them. And a recording of Tom's voice could say, "Have a jelly baby." maybe the jelly babies could be made of sunflower paste so the birds would gobble them off the ground.

And, he asked, why there is so much talking on todays tv productions? I think, There isn't always talking in the new shows but there IS always background music and or sound effects. I think that we have grown accustomed to sensory overload. In the franetic pace of our times every moment must be filled with something. So naturally, so is our entertainment.

And Tom mentioned that he heard about how a new Doctor had a kissing scene. But Tom Dear, it wasn't the Doctor doing the kissing. The Doctor, Matt Smith's incarnation, was frantically trying to get away from the over zealous companion. It was sooo funny watching him squirm and dodge and his voice even nearly shrieked when he tried to explain to Amy Pond that he was over 900 years old. The scene was brilliant!

Their was another great scene where the Doctor was wearing a red fez. " fezes are cool" he'd say. He also wore bow ties which he also said were cool. His " future wife" saw the hat and was not impressed. The Doctors companion, Amy Pond, grabbed the hat off his head, flung it into the air and his " future wife, River Song blasted it to bits. It was awesome! Although the Doctor was shocked by losing his new found fezzy love, he knew he could just pop somewhere and get a new one.

And the episode were the Doctor meets Vincent Van Gogh and takes him into the future to see his work in a world famous art gallery was incredibly moving.

But I digress. And Dirk, I think Tom danced around a bit in regards to your question. He didn't say if he would do a cd in which he sang, lol. I think it'd be great actually. what I heard of his singing voice in the interview I liked very much. Mr. Tom, what about "singing in the rain!" for us? Lol

Btw, if "you" want to "tube" the interview, just "search" for "Tom Baker interview." There's a nice one there from good ol' Doc Who online.

Whew, I'm hittin' the hay. Pleasant dreams!


MCH

[tracy]

yes ive just been reading toms answers from last night so he is about to start on the 22 cds that will keep me quite for a bit when they are out on sale cant wait to be able to hear them .loved toms answer to dirks question

[Moderator]

Dear Ladies and Gents -

I too was very pleased with Tom's answers, not only to my question, but to all of them. Tom was in top form.

Tom also gave us quite a bit of background RE Pattie Anne's "Bomber" question too. Sadly, at least to my knowledge, as "Bomber" came out on audio cassette, it is no longer available, unless one is lucky enough to find one in an old book shop, or out on the net, on places like ebay. As technology dies so fast these days, many worthwhile things are being lost to it, and the powers that be, just do not re-record everything.

Best,
Dirk

[pattie anne]

dear "buoys" n "gulls" -

couldn't agree 'moore' with mr dirk. "Our Mister TOM" was in splendid form.

about the only thing HE didn't mention about the "Bomber," audio adventure, was that it included first person interviews with pilots and crew members, from both sides of the conflict. so even as a historic piece, as well as a most entertaining one, it certainly would be worth the effort of at least trying to get a copy for yourself from some place. if you PM me, maybe we could put our heads together, and come up with something. or perhaps, maybe, BBC Radio could be convinced to replay/rerun "Bomber" at some future TIME AND (in their) SPACE.

love,
pattie anne

ps: dear MCH - TOM also "sang" in HIS and liz sladen's audio dr who - "dr who and the pescatons." (once available on LP record and audio cassette.)

p. a.

[tracy]

yes if you dont have the pescatons its a must for any tom fan as its great stuff to listion to