Another 10 Incredible Recordings
Published on December 16, 2007 - 63 Comments
WARNING: This list contains sounds which may offend some listeners] I have struggled long and hard over a second list of incredible recordings but I have finally managed to find 10 that I think are worthy of being here. If you are new to the site you might want to hear some of the original recordings - you can find them on the Top 10 Incredible Recordings list.
10. Alessandro Moreschi The Last Castrato
The recording of Moreschi was extremely popular on the original list so I have found a second song by him. In this recording of Domine Salvum Fac we hear the typical “sobbing” style from the time. Here we also have Moreschi backed by a choir and singing some of his finer high notes recorded. Moreschi was the last recorded castrato (a man who had had his testicles removed as a child to prevent his voice from breaking as he grew older). We have his recordings thanks to the foresight of Pope Leo XIII who had an interest in the “modern” recording devices being invented at the time. You can read more about Moreschi and Castrati in general at the Gnokr article Castrati: The Lost Tradition.
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9. Ted Bundy Confession Tapes
[WARNING: This recording contains graphic descriptions of violence] Ted Bundy - the infamous serial killer - confessed to his crimes on tape. The tapes were eventually released uncensored in to the world. The clip above contains a portion of the confession in which Bundy describes burning the skull of one of his victims.
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8. Albert Einstein E = MC2
In this historic recording we hear Albert Einstein announcing and explaining E = MC2.
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7. Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle
Dylan Thomas was a Welsh poet. He is regarded by many as one of the 20th Century’s most influential poets. “Do not go gentle into that good night” is one of his most famous poems and in this recording we hear him reading it. The poem was first published in 1951. Thomas addresses wise men, good men, wild men, and grave, or serious, somber men all with the same message to pursue their passions even in the face of their mortality and impending death. This is a truly inspiring poem by a great writer.
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6. The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel
I included this as a footnote on the first list of recordings but did not say much about it. It is now taking its rightful place on a list. This is the authentic and full recording of the exorcism that took place in Germany leading to the famous trial upon which the movie “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” is based. The girl being exorcized was called Anneliese Michel and in the process of the exorcism she died. You can see a rather gruesome photograph of Anneliese after the exorcism here.
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5. Neville Chamberlain Declaration of War on Germany
After Germany invaded Poland, Great Britain declared war. Here we hear the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announcing the state of war.
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4. King Edward VIII The abdication
Only months into his reign, Edward forced a constitutional crisis by proposing marriage to the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Although legally Edward could have married Mrs. Simpson and remained king, his various prime ministers opposed the marriage, arguing that the people would never accept her as queen. This is the first recording broadcast by the ex-King after his abdication.
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3. Thomas Edison The first human recording
This is the first recording of a human voice in history - made in 1877. In the recording we hear Edison recite Mary had a Little Lamb. The recording is surprisingly clear.
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2. Georgia Brown The world’s highest sung note
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Georgia Brown has sung the highest notes recorded of a human voice. In the video clip above you get to hear them all. I don’t think I could honestly say I like it - but it is historically valuable. Georgia’s range spans 8 octaves, from G2-G10.
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1. Adolf Hitler Threatens Jewish Extermination
There have been some debates in comments from certain people who deny the Holocaust truly happened. Despite showing images which give evidence that it did, some still don’t believe it. This recording is a very important one because it is the recording in which Hitler clearly states that if they go to war, the Jews of Europe will be exterminated. This is a translation of what he is saying:
And one more thing I would like now to state on this day memorable perhaps not only for us Germans. I have often been a prophet in my life and was generally laughed at. During my struggle for power, the Jews primarily received with laughter my prophecies that I would someday assume the leadership of the state and thereby of the entire nation and then, among many other things, achieve a solution of the Jewish problem. I suppose that meanwhile the laughter of Jewry in Germany that resounded then is probably already choking in their throats. [applause; Hitler coughs]
Today I want to be a prophet again. If international finance Jewry within Europe and abroad should succeed once more in plunging the peoples into a world war, then the consequence will be not the Bolshevization of the world and therewith a victory of Jewry, but on the contrary, the destruction of the Jewish race in Europe. [applause]
The recording was made on January 30, 1939, the sixth anniversary of Hitler’s rise to power.
Download / Play this recording
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1. Jack - December 16th, 2007 at 11:01 am
#2 is not so great
2. andrew - December 16th, 2007 at 11:06 am
not a great song, maybe. but hell, do you hear those high notes! that’s inhuman.
3. andrew - December 16th, 2007 at 11:08 am
ok, the song is pretty good (it’s My Favorite Things performed by OutKast) but her singing kinda wrecks it. but still, high notes!
4. jfrater - December 16th, 2007 at 11:29 am
She is definitely not a great singer - but she really can sing high!
5. Juggz - December 16th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Ugh at #2 i will never be able to hear again.
6. Samiam - December 16th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
I like this list a lot more than the first one. With the exception of Georgia Brown…
7. Dana - December 16th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
#2 kinda puts a damper on Mariah Carey’s supposed 8 octave range.
8. Russ - December 16th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I can’t get to the Hitler recording. Busted link?
9. Palo - December 16th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I think #2 isn’t that bad, considering the singing sounds a bit like someone created the notes electronically…
10. Cnorman - December 16th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Another nice recording list!The exorcism picture is rather disturbing. Btw i just added the listverse facebook application, its a great app!
11. jfrater - December 16th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Russ: try again - it is actually hosted on amazon.com which is where I host all the big data so you should not have problems even if this site goes down. I just tried it and it works.
Samian: I felt obliged to add Georgia because she is in the guiness book and I falsely claimed that Maddo Robin had the highest note on the first list. I agree it seems less quality than the rest - if only she sang opera!
Dana: so true!
Cnorman: I guess you meant the “after” photo? It is horrific - I didn’t expect it when I searched for her.
12. jen - December 16th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Wow…did Hitler literally think he was a prophet? Talk about deranged.
13. AnotherEngine - December 16th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Some of the Ted Bundy confessions were used as “samples” on the Jane’s Addicition song about him “Ted, Just Admit It.”
14. BrotherMan - December 16th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
That Georgia Brown clip was quite bizarre! The song is really annoying and she looks weird doing that screaming stuff!
15. CrimsonChrissi - December 16th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I love that Dylan Thomas poem, but Thorton Melon from ‘Back to School’ did a better reading :O)
16. Jacooob - December 16th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Nice list
17. Mikerodz - December 16th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
This list are cool jf.
18. Bryce - December 16th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
i dont think you can count number two as singing. its more of a screeching manner. dogs everywhere are howling at the noise.
19. Martin L - December 16th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Jamie: just so you know, I get the playback module for Hitler, but no audio. I’m taking that as a sign, however, that I don’t need to leak that kind of negative energy into the house. I used to know someone who would occasionally spout Hitler speeches in the original German as sort of a party trick; I don’t think anyone else in the room was history-savvy enough to know what he was doing, but I did. I think the guy was a bit of a closet Nazi, to be honest.
20. jfrater - December 16th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
martinl - it is definitely working for me so maybe you are right to consider it a sign!
21. jfrater - December 16th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
mikerodz - thanks
Bryce - so mean and yet so true
22. Fallenangel - December 16th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Awesome list, loved the first one too. (still won’t listen to the Jonestown one) I didn’t like #2 either, it was annoying no matter how “high” it got. Congrats she sounds like a screeching monnkey. I’ve heard better notes from a cat being hit by a tuba.
Thanks for the list.
23. Kelsi - December 16th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Interesting list! The exorcism one does on for a long time. I was so glad to see this list topic again! I really like listening to Langston Hughes read his poems, and there exists a recording of my favorite poem of all time, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot.
24. Kelsi - December 16th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
PS– (I would have edited my comment but it’s not letting me) The Hitler one is just…silence for me? The page loads and the little slider bar moves but no sound. =/
25. JohnLeonard - December 16th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
yes yes yes thank you so much, there’s never enough of this. I’ve been awaiting part 2 for weeks. Keep up the good work man
26. Mav - December 16th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
@ #2: Just because she can screech like a Banshee doesnt make it music and/or beautiful.
Its just an annoying noise.
27. kittym - December 16th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Fallenangel: Your “cat being hit by a tuba” reference had me laughing hysterically. What a visual!
… Not that I condone animal abuse, of course.
28. el duderino - December 16th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
I was on the subway the other day and this old man was telling these silly riddles. As I was getting off the subway he asked “What looks like a street walker and sounds like a tea kettle?” The doors closed so I never heard the answer, but now, thanks to your list, I know the answer: Georgia Brown. It’s not that funny though.
29. Blogball - December 16th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Wow that lady singing These are a Few of my Favorite Things? “NOT”
I thought for sure she would sing “Sweet Georgia Brown”
Hey maybe the Globe Trotters could hire her for their half time shows and she could sing that and shatter the backboards at the same time.
I guess you could say recording # 2 kind of sounded like # 2.
30. Yikkity - December 17th, 2007 at 12:09 am
I would never in my life want to hear that Georgia Brown again.
31. Kristin Holt - December 17th, 2007 at 4:11 am
Hello…Man i just love your blog, keep the cool posts comin..holy Monday
32. AndyB123 - December 17th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Georgia Brown doesn’t bother me. I knew a guy once who thought he could sing. He couldn’t - now, that’s torture.
Speaking of torture, Anneliese Michel was in the hands of these idiots for eleven months before she died. She clearly needed some psyhiatric treatment, instead of their help plummeting further into the mythology that screwed her up. That photograph of her in bed is just so incredibly sad.
33. Angie - December 17th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
I’ve extracted the sound from the youtube videos and uploaded them to MediaFire as mp3s, in case anyone is interested.
Ted Bundy: http://www.mediafire.com/?5zjh3s2sxvb
Georgia Brown: http://www.mediafire.com/?bbteymwpmct
34. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Angie: thanks - that is very kind of you.
35. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I have downloaded them and when the site is receiving a little less traffic I will update this list with pointers to the audio (which I host on Amazon) instead of youtube.
36. Phil - December 17th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
finally the second list!
that georgia brown song didn’t bother me, in fact i liked it (the music was house genre).
37. Kelso358 - December 17th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I clicked on the picture of Anneliese Michel after she died. I wish I hadn’t…
38. The Lucifer Principle - December 17th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
The holocaust deniers don’t deny anything that’s in the picture. Get with the times or leave the topic.
39. Sharki - December 17th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I liked the Chamberlain. He sounded so broken, so defeated. It actually made me feel sorry for him.
40. Phil - December 17th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
the lucifer principle: lol you best be trollin
sharki: i agree. he tried appeasing hitler to avoid another world war and obviously he realized too late war was the only option.
41. Phil - December 17th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
add this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pg9pa0zwezI
42. jfrater - December 18th, 2007 at 3:37 am
Thanks to Angie I have now been able to update this list. The Ted Bundy and Georgia Brown audio is now presented as mp3s. I will try to convert the Hitler recording so it works for everyone.
43. jfrater - December 18th, 2007 at 3:40 am
Okay - Hitler is fixed too.
44. Hannah - December 19th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Jamie, that’s a funny comment if taken out of context… BTW, I just added the List Universe application of Facebook too!
45. s. - December 20th, 2007 at 1:06 am
georgia brown’s highest recorded note is at the end of this video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uRClw495tIs
46. Snowkid32 - January 2nd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Russ was right.
“I can’t get to the Hitler recording. Busted link?”
47. jfrater - January 2nd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I just tested it again and the Hitler recording is still working for me - it downloads and is a .wma file which works on Mac and Windows (it is a Windows Media audio file). If the problem persists I will try to convert it to mp3.
48. ambah - January 7th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
#2… Gah. Made my throat hurt just hearing it.
49. WildWest - January 7th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I believe in God and Jesus and even demons, but Anneliese Michel really did need psychiatric help…the exorcisms worsened her condition
50. Zero - January 11th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Nice list
Good work!
51. muslimah - January 29th, 2008 at 12:12 am
i wish i didnt click on anns pic, thats just awful, its 2 in the morning and i dont wanna sleep
52. satori - January 31st, 2008 at 12:33 am
*REGARDING ANNELIESE MICHEL*
I think that the priests in annelieses case were really inexperienced and in over their heads-and the family was at the mercy of the church as they were just extremely faithful and trusting. They blamed the “evil” over taking her because she went off to school in a big city and was vulnerable. They didn’t want her to go in the first place.
Not much could have been done for her as the field of psychology/psychiatry when treating mental illness were very new-the treatments they DID try didn’t take any affect- (they weren’t really given much of a chance to as she was taken off them soon after she started them)-she was obviously dillusional and had demencia
-there are two pharmacological families of anti-psychotic drugs-the “old” family (which she would have been treated with as the new family didn’t exist at that time), could well have CAUSED the seizures she was having (a rare side effect)-also, the “Old” family was not always effective in treating the demecia aspect, and sometimes it only worked as a heavy sedative.
Some cases, these drugs even when off them have a permanent effect where side effects are concerned-sometimes, the drugs (even when no longer taken) just make things worse. They didn’t know enough about the drugs and a lot of people unfortunately became guinea pigs. Medicine is often irresponsible in the name of its own self-interest.
I don’t think anything could have been done for her. But I agree, they could’ve tried.
Sorry for the long post-hope it was of interest to some of you.
53. Lewis - February 14th, 2008 at 11:22 am
How they castrated castatoes is rank! they put their ’scrotum’ in boiling water for hours until it was all peely and stuff and then theyd rub at it and *bleugh* yuk!
54. Lewis - February 14th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Sorry for all the comments but i found the random button and now i’m commenting on lists i was too lazy to comment on forst time around :D:D
55. SocialButterfly - February 14th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Eww… well thanks for that information Lewis… wow. I’m grossed out and fascinated at the same time.
56. kamil - February 17th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
omg that picute of annalise micheals is just scary..dear me i wish i hadent looked at it.
57. sonic 45 - March 7th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
first time , diff for sure thanx
58. Laura - March 15th, 2008 at 4:40 am
The really odd thing about the Last Castrato is that he’s not particularly good. His voice is clearly that of a castrato (I suppose
but he doesn’t actually have good technique. That’s so crazy- he dedicated his life, and body, to an art he didn’t turn out to be particularly skilled in (which, as you mentioned in his last list post, is a chance they took).
59. Tenebrae - April 16th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Mariah Carey has a 5 octave (possibly six) range. The 8 octave was hype to get people excited about her.
Whenever someone sings that high, I think they sound like flipper… it makes me cringe.
60. schiesl - April 29th, 2008 at 12:20 am
lol. Againm just recently scientists have found that this, a women singing, is actually the first true recoring
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....SVSB9J.DTL
you can hear the recording at the bottom of the article
61. kitty - May 14th, 2008 at 12:13 am
the exorcism ritual has been around for centuries, i doubt it wudnt hav worked if performed properly, and in the case of possession…but its not as if we can say much bout medicine at michel’s time; appropriate for her ‘condition’…either way that audio makes my skin creep - moreso than the film, and it is very unfortunate wat happend to her
62. enxchanted - May 19th, 2008 at 12:40 am
georgia brown sounds like she’s whistling or something… and thomas edison reciting “mary had a little lamb” made me laugh
63. Fairlight - May 21st, 2008 at 9:17 am
Georgia Brown is so cool.
Like a mix of GnR’s Civil War and Eve Battles from Parasite Eve