Whither Chariots?

(photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto from Wikipedia)

Why do a show about chariots, you might wonder. Is it because of having heard one of the literally hundreds of versions of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" out there? No. Is it because I either watched the film or heard the soundtrack recently for Chariots Of Fire? No. Oh no Gary is it because you someone found yourself reading the pseudoscientific book Chariots Of The Gods? Is that it? Oh say it isn't so!

In case you have never heard of that book, which came out the year I was born, let me tell you, it was written by a Swiss author named Erich Von Däniken & Wikipedia adds the delightful fact that "The book was extensively rewritten by its editor, Wilhelm Roggersdorf," Ouch,

Here's the thesis, courtesy of the Wikipedia: "The main thesis of Chariots Of The Gods is that extraterrestrial beings influenced ancient technology. Von Däniken suggests that some ancient structures & artifacts appear to reflect more sophisticated technological knowledge than is known or presumed to have existed at the times they were manufactured. Von Däniken maintains that these artifacts were produced either by extraterrestrial visitors or by humans who learned the necessary knowledge from extraterrestrials."

So, you're thinking, it's also a little racist? Yeah.

But no, I wasn't reading the book. It was one of the books my friend Russell was fascinated by as a kid - the sort of thing his character Howard Gently would later make fun of. Before I did the last Howard Gently show a month ago, I re-listened to Russell's album from 1984 called Archaeology on which he has a song called (you guessed it) "Chariot Of The Gods." I wanted to play it on the radio & thought I might find more songs about chariots. & so I have.

The chariots show airs tonight on KBOO - 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere - from midnight to 2am. Thankfully my show is so amateurish no one has ever suspected aliens are actually behind it!

Preface To Chariots: Chariot Racing

(Still from Ben Hur grabbed at the link I mention in the post.)

At some point in the childhood of the average American kid in the 1970s, you got to watch Ben Hur on television. We were poor so didn't have a color television so the first time I saw it - probably in a very edited version chock full of commercials - I didn't see it in glorious color. & by the time I saw it, the movie had been around for almost twenty years, so all the elements of the race had been parodied many times over - especially in cartoons. Still, I do recall being thrilled by the race & looking forward to it when I saw it again. You can watch all of it on You Tube.

It's not the reason I'm doing a show about chariots - I'll talk about that tomorrow - but it's one of the first things I think about when I hear the word "chariot" - & maybe it is for you, too.