In Western Popular Culture
One episode of the first season of Mission Impossible 1966 named "OLD MAN OUT" (parts 1 and 2) makes use of a calliope as a musical instrument and also as a timing cue to the development of the story.
The Beatles, in recording Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, used tapes of calliope music to create the atmosphere of the Pablo Fanque circus performance that inspired the song. Beatles producer George Martin recalled, "When we first worked on Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! John had said that he wanted to 'smell the sawdust on the floor,' wanted to taste the atmosphere of the circus. I said to him, 'What we need is a calliope.' 'A what?' 'Steam whistles, played by a keyboard.'" Unable to find an authentic calliope, Martin resorted to tapes of calliopes playing Sousa marches. " chopped the tapes up into small sections and had Geoff Emerick throw them up into the air, re-assembling them at random."
Tom Waits' 2002 release Blood Money features a track written for trumpet and calliope.
Vernian Process' 2011 single "Something Wicked (That Way Went)" features a sampled calliope throughout the song.
In Thomas & Friends, an episode focuses around Percy saving a calliope from the scrapyard.
In In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson, the main theme of the title song is played on a calliope towards the end of the piece.
During Madonna's The Girlie Show tour, during the encore for "Holiday", the credits include "contains excerpts from 'Holiday for Calliope'", which was, in general, the hook for "Holiday" played with a calliope. Also a generalized circus theme was played with a calliope sound through part of the song.
Read more about this topic: Calliope (music)
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