Beyond The Ordinary

BBC News' 57s ๐ŸŽˆ(and 90s) Countdowns + Launching A Saturn V Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV).

 

๐Ÿ”น  The BBC frequently includes

       countdowns in it's news programming. If you Google 'bbc countdowns', you'll see that there are two types of video described as 90 seconds and 57 seconds in length. These are the primary ones of interest here. The 90 second video starts at 87.

 

Run either of the following countdowns and then play The Launch Video.

 

Here is the news

Another action-filled adventure

(Here is the news)

All the worst [and best] from The World Convention

The Launch Video

๐Ÿ”น๏ธ  LIFT OFF: A SATURN V launch

       In Slow Motion.

โ–ช๏ธ  I can watch this video over and

       over.

Resources

 

Play the following compilation and note the transition to a 10 second video at 1:50 followed by a 60 second video. At 2:15, we get a video with the title monkey1. Compare the music of monkey1 (or Monkey 1) with that of the Seal track Crazy.

๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘‡

Li

Beyond the ordinary

The BBC News countdowns were not based on Seal's song "Crazy," though the two pieces of music share several structural and stylistic similarities that often lead to comparisons.

The iconic BBC News theme and its accompanying countdowns were composed by David Lowe for the 1999 BBC News rebranding. While Lowe has admitted the theme was inspired by rave and club music of the era, he has never cited Seal as a direct source of inspiration. 

Comparison of Elements

The confusion likely stems from the shared musical DNA of early 1990s electronica:

Rhythmic Foundation: Both tracks utilize a propulsive, 120-BPM electronic beat.

Structural Composition: David Lowe built the BBC theme starting with a clock-like "pip" and a deep, driving bassline designed to convey "strength and solidity". Seal's "Crazy" (produced by Trevor Horn) similarly features a prominent, repeating synthesizer melody and a driving rhythm section.

Harmonic Tension: Both tracks use "neutral" or minor-to-major chord shifts to create a sense of tension or anxiety resolving into calmness. 

The "Countdown" Connection

The name "Countdown" itself is a source of ambiguity in this context:

TV Show Appearance: Seal famously performed "Crazy" on a popular European music chart show actually titled Countdown in 1991.

BBC News Feature: The "BBC News Countdown" is a specific broadcast sequence used to fill time before the top-of-the-hour headlines. 

You can see Seal's 1991 performance on the music show 'Countdown' and compare it to the evolution of the BBC News countdown theme here:

Beyond the ordinary

 

Let's take a pathematical look at 87 and 57(3×19).

 

 

โ–ช๏ธ  8+5 = 13 and 7+7 = 14. 14+13 =

       27 = 3³ = 333. (I'm only half evil

       ๐Ÿ‘น๐Ÿ™‚). Also, 27 = 9×3 = 999.

 

โ–ช๏ธ  87+57 = 144 = 12² = 212แŠ (๐Ÿ‘

       ๐Ÿ…ฒ2) = 2112 etc.

 

โ–ช๏ธ  87s - 57s = 30s = 1/2 min =

       7.5s × 4.

 

โ–ช๏ธ  87 and 57 end in the same

       digit. And both have only a single factor pair. For 87, we have 3 and 29. And for 57, we have 3 and 19. Thus 87 and 57 share one factor (3) and have two other factors that, like 87 and 57, end in the same digit (9). The sum of 7, 3 and 9 is 19 - the triple prime factor of 57.

 

Anything else significant about the numbers 19'¹57'²แŠ¹'²&¹±² (&3'³) and the US (not an acronym of United States and includes honourable Russians along with every other honourable (decent) human being) Space Program?

 

๐Ÿ”น๏ธ  My birth year is 1963. 1963 - 1957

       = 6แŠ. And 1969 - 1963 = 6แŠ also. The start of the Space Age to The First Landing on The Moon is a span of 12 (2 × Tesla's Central โ„–, 6) years - with my birth year in the middle.

 

If you are able to play The Launch Video at the same time as some music, you could use any of the tracks in this entry for a videotheque style son et lumiere.

 

๐Ÿ”น ๏ธAn alternative name for the Saturn

      V is the C-57V. Then you get C-57V.1/2/3 etc for any given particular vehicle. The V can be taken to be a single letter abbreviation of the word Vehicle (or Version). All vehicles before the first C-57D used a letter A, B or C before the V. If you know the type of vehicle, you can often dispense with the type letter. The designation system for space vehicles is similar to the Dewey Decimal system for books.