Inside John Peel's Record Box

"He gave it a chance for... a lot of people to hear it. And I would never get the chance in the United States. Never."

"It was a kind of national anthem, it was also a kind of weird warped lullaby."

"And to be one of the records in this small box, it makes me so happy, it almost makes me sad."

(Laurie Anderson on 'O Superman' being featured in legendary UK radio DJ John Peel's show in 1981

- as heard on 'John Peel's Record Box', a BBC documentary (2005))

UPDATE: listen to what radio DJ David Jensen, Feargal Sharkey, Laurie Anderson, Sir Elton John and others have to say about 'O Superman's emergence in the UK with the help of John Peel

• John Peel's Record Box: 'O Superman' by Laurie Anderson (audio length: 1 min 21 secs, file size: 1.86 MB)

Stare with Your Ears

...This could be an excerpt from a Laurie Anderson lyrics but it's the title of a documentary on Ken Nordine, le doyen of spoken word, created by Pakistani-Canadian film director Omar Majeed, featuring interview excerpts of - amongst others - Laurie Anderson.

Extra: a recording of the Meltdown Festival that is mentioned in the documentary (created by Laurie Anderson in London, 1997) can be listened to here.

Why Birds Sing

"Birds sing because they are alive. And they have a million reasons to sing just like we do."

"Music is everywhere. We live in an ocean of sound."

"I was playing this show in Italy, on the top of a hill one evening and I heard this very cool brand new part, and I realized I was singing a duet with this little owl. I thought, 'I can die right now because life does not get better than this, I'm singing a song, a duet, with an owl'."

(Laurie Anderson in David Rothenberg's BBC documentary 'Why Birds Sing')