1969 was a year which saw the world of popular music blossom. Musical freedom was the watchword and experimentation was welcomed by an ever increasing underground audience who were eager to feed their heads with ambitious albums by acts who embraced the worlds of rock and the avant garde. It was also a year in which independent record labels began to make their commercial mark in Britain. Of these companies, Island records was undoubtedly the biggest player.<br /><br />Of all the albums released that year by Island, “An Electric Storm”, by White Noise was by far the most experimental and ground breaking. The album was equally surprising for the fact that two of the three members of White Noise were not long haired rock musicians, but were respected pioneers of electronic music who worked at the BBC’s legendary Radiophonic Workshop.Initial recording work was undertaken by Vorhaus, Derbyshire and Hodgson at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in Maida Vale during the night after staff had gone home. “It was all very unofficial and the BBC was unaware of us using the studio and equipment for our own ends” recalls David. “However, it’s common knowledge now that the first couple of tracks recorded by White Noise were actually recorded at the BBC, so I think it’s safe to come clean!”
