Celebrating Fifty Years of Outrageous Recordings of the World’s Most Renowned Sleeptalker!

 

Dion McGregor is one of the most outlandish cult figures in history—and certainly among one the most unique recording artists the world has known. Exactly fifty years ago, Decca released an LP called The Dream World of Dion McGregor (He Talks in His Sleep). The cover featured a now-classic illustration by Edward Gorey, and the contents were unlike anything heard before: the tape-recorded musings, stories, rants and screams of a man who was fast asleep. To celebrate the golden anniversary of this remarkable album, Torpor Vigil Records is releasing a new compilation of never-before-heard somniloquies entitled Dreaming Like Mad with Dion McGregor (Yet More Outrageous Recordings of the World’s Most Renowned Sleeptalker).

In advance of the new album, I’ve uploaded some classic McGregor recordings to a (secret!) Soundcloud page. Just click on the link below to hear samples of what audio archivist Phil Milstein called “the damnedest sounds you’ll ever hear!” https://soundcloud.com/torporvigil/sets/dreaming-like-mad-50-years-of/s-OjE26

Further audio samples and updates, along with a promo video, can be found on the Dreaming Like Mad Kickstarter site:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1823544782/dreaming-like-mad-with-dion-mcgregor

For news about Dreaming Like Mad and other current Dion-related projects in film, literature, music and theatre—kindly drop by the Torpor Vigil Records blog:
http://torporvigil.wordpress.com/

And, of course, feel free to get in touch with me directly if you have any questions or would like any further information.

Thanks for taking the time, and for your interest in the Dream World’s fiftieth!

Steve Venright
Torpor Vigil Records (Founder)
Toronto, Canada
http://www.torporvigil.com
https://twitter.com/torporvigil

PS: The story of the dream recordings and Dion McGregor—who, in waking life, was a couch-surfing New York lyricist—is one that involves a wide range of colourful characters, including composer Michael Barr, Busby Berkeley film actor Carleton Carpenter, gay porn movie director Peter de Rome, Tonight Show co-creator Jules Greene, Decca Records director Milt Gabler (famous also for releasing Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” on his Commodore Records label), legendary NY radio show host Long John Nebel, and an array of popular singers, including Barbra Streisand (who sang the Dion-penned dittie “Where Is the Wonder”). For an excellent overview, see Phil Milstein’s essay “The Nightmare World of Dion McGregor”: http://www.songpoemmusic.com/dion/chapters/1.htm

 


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