Computing and technology speech synthesizer released in 1984 • In 1961, an
IBM 7090 at
Bell Labs was programmed to sing "Daisy Bell". This was one of the earliest demonstrations of computer
speech synthesis. This recording has been included in the United States
National Recording Registry. • In 1974,
auditory researchers used the melody of "Daisy Bell" for the first demonstration of "
pure dichotic" (two-ear only) perception: they encoded the melody in a
stereophonic signal in such a way that it could be perceived when listening with both ears but not with either ear alone. • In 1975, Steve Dompier, member of Homebrew Computer Club, programmed an
Altair 8800 computer to play "Daisy Bell" as AM radio interference. • In 1985, Christopher C. Capon created a
Commodore 64 program named "Sing Song Serenade", which caused the
Commodore 1541 floppy disk drive to emit the tune of "Daisy Bell" directly from its hardware by rapidly moving the read/write head. • In 1999, a piece of computer software called
BonziBuddy sang "Daisy Bell" if the user asked it to sing. • Microsoft's discontinued personal assistant
Cortana would sometimes sing the first line of "Daisy Bell" when asked to sing a song. • Amazon Alexa can sing "Daisy Bell" when asked to sing a song.
Drama, film, and television • Science-fiction author
Arthur C. Clarke witnessed the IBM 7090 demonstration during a trip to Bell Labs in 1962 and referred to it in the 1968 novel and film
2001: A Space Odyssey, in which the
HAL 9000 computer sings "Daisy Bell" during its gradual deactivation. • The song is sung repeatedly in
Stewart Parker and
Jimmy Kennedy's play
Spokesong (1975); a work which was staged in London's
West End in 1977 and on
Broadway in 1979. • In the
Futurama episode "
Love and Rocket" (2002), Bender sings "Daisy Bell" to the Planet Express Ship when he falls in love with it. The episode contains several references to
2001: A Space Odyssey.
Musical recordings •
Dan W. Quinn produced a wax cylinder recording of "Daisy Bell" in 1893, the first recorded rendition of the song. • Singer
Dinah Shore recorded a version of the song for
Bluebird Records in 1941. • Singer
Nat King Cole produced a recording of "Daisy Bell" as part of his
Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer LP for
Capitol Records in 1961. • On May 3, 2014, an album was released composed entirely of covers of "Daisy Bell" entitled
The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell, in conjunction with
Mark Ryden's exhibit "The Gay 90s". The album features covers of "Daisy Bell" by
Katy Perry,
Tyler, the Creator,
"Weird Al" Yankovic,
Nick Cave,
Kirk Hammett of
Metallica,
Mark Mothersbaugh of
Devo,
Wall of Voodoo's
Stan Ridgway,
Danny Elfman, and others. Profits from the album went to the nonprofit
Little Kids Rock.
Radio • The tune was played as the lead-in to
Aunt Daisy's radio broadcasts in
New Zealand, which ran from 1930 until her death in 1963. ==References==