*rubs thighs vigorously*
“The full track-listing for Television Themes is:
Are You Being Served? (1972-1985)
The Good Life (1975-1978)
LWT (1968 – 1972)
Blankety Blank (1979 – 1990)
Top Of The Pops (1963 – 20050
Picture Box (1966-1990)
The Liver Birds (1969 – 1979)
Thames Television (1968 – 1992)
Rainbow (1972-1997)
Doctor Who (1963- present)
Wildtrak (1979-1984)
World In Action (1963-1998)
Sorry (1981 – 1988)
Open University”
http://www.acidjazz.co.uk/pre-order-matt-berrys-new-album-television-themes/
I’m in for the LP and t-shirt bundle, presuming of course that by October it could actually be cool enough to wear clothes.
I think you should leave them off, just to be on the safe side.
That’s what the postman said this morning.
… and I have to say, his uniform was a trifle informal.
These drone camera things are good, aren’t they?
Really liked his version of Sorry – was tacked on the sender of a Charlie Brooker show about 5 years ago.
Whether he was 100% serious or not, his tribute to Ronnie Hazlehurst certainly came across as genuine.
This album is looking like it will find a place in my collection
He was on 6 music yesterday afternoon talking about the album, and cited Hazlehurst as one of his two favourite TV themes composers.
I forget who the other once was, but you can probably catch it on iPlayer if so inclined.
Altogether now..
My soul doth magnify the Lord
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God
My saviour!
You might be interested to know that since reading your post last night, that little ditty was one of the first things in my head when I woke, and has been my constant ear worm companion all day.
I see no reason for you to suffer alone.
One of the themes covered is Wildtrack – I think that was Florida Fantasy by John Barry (used in Midnight Cowboy).
World in Action is a hella cool tune. Highly dramatic music accompanying Copernicus with his knob out, followed by half an hour of tubby blokes with sideboards and combovers chuntering about collective bargaining.
Ronnie H’s theme for Are You Being Served is a wondrous thing (who played that Bassline?!). Not sure Matt Berry brings much to the original here – and he missed a trick in not getting Justine Elastica to sing it – when I first heard *this* song I immediately thought of AYBS :
I thought “huh?” and then I thought “oh yeah!”. A great observation.
Ha, that would be cool! He adds drums, which the original doesn’t have, and sort of acid-jazzes it all up a touch. I think it works well, and can’t wait to hear the rest.
I’m guessing that the great and the good on here know the fantastic Coil version?
was planning on posting it myself! Something very special about this, pretty sure it was played at Jhonn Balance’s funeral.
Flippin’ ‘eck Tucker! Actually come to think of it, why isn’t the Grange Hill theme on this?
More seriously , and this question has weighed heavily on my mind these thirty years, how do you make a sausage fly through the air while there is still a fork stuck in it?
It’s the trajectory that worried me. The uneven weight distribution ‘twixt sausage and fork would surely make the object spin in the air. The BBC had had a man called Eric who produced simple cardboard motion models for Ask the Family to showcase amazing optical illusions (often accompanied by a swan whistle sound effect). The animation produced was rudimentary – it made Captain Pugwash look like Avatar.
I am certain the same Eric was occasionally on TV demonstrating science-y stuff for children. He resembled a late middle-aged office worker but man could he work a test tube!
Nevertheless, The Grange Hill sausage sequence had the playful pop art of Roy Lichtenstein combined with the lab-coated paunchtastic magic of, I suspect, in house BBC go-to shit animator Eric.
Spin in the air? I now think that 2001: A Space Odyssey should be remade with sausages, or meat products generally.
Except for a single, very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter, the four million-year-old Beefy Bake has remained completely inert, its origin and purpose still a total mystery.
I could never relate to Grange Hill as a child. Far too common. Dreadful riff anyway. Highly irritating – ‘wah wah wah WAH! – doo doo doo doody doo’ (where’s the groove?) – and then some lad cops a forked banger in the mush.
Picture Box- now that’s a tune! He can’t possibly better the original, arguably my first sonic psychedelic experience in a prefab classroom, curtains pulled, circa ’75. It changed my life.
Telly on a tall cabinet on wheels, every cross-legged child going “woooo!” when the light is switched off.
It’s got that whole psychedelic victoriana vibe going, a la Mr Kite. I think children definitely connect to that enchantment. Off the top of my head I can’t remember what the instrument is. I tried to find an mp3 download once, but no luck.
Let’s enjoy it here.
https://youtu.be/gVTsnSg-MS4
Twice the joy!
Oh and the instrument is a Cristal Baschet: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristal_baschet
Fascinating stuff. Thanks.
MORE BASCHET!
Cristal Baschet… one of my favourites. And her website is so easy to navigate one-handed.
You shouldn’t really be reading her site while driving.
Phew. For a minute there I thought he was referring to being a frequenter of The Wristwatch Disco.
You thought he’d been having wanks while driving? Well we’ve all done that, but reading printed text is a no-no.
Are you calling me a driver?
We call her Crystal Batshit around here.
I for one have most certainly not! That sort of thing is only acceptable in the passenger seat, sir!
… or the backseat, or the boot, just to clarify.
I’ve tried that just the once, but my feet couldn’t reach the pedals from there. How do you manage?
It’s Inspector Robdget!
I don’t have to. I don’t have a driving licence so I’m pretty much unencumbered, mobile disco wise.
Unencumbered, but fully cucumbered. I’ve heard.
Talking of TV themes, this coincidentally cropped up on my fb page today. A uni acquaintance of mine (who, as sax player and musical arranger for Jools Holland, has played with just about everyone) with his own band The Deptford Rivieras playing the theme from Dave Allen At Large.
Not to put a dampener on things (and I do deeply love Matt Berry, music and comedy polymath with a voice like fried Camembert) but isn’t this project a bit redundant?
What’s he bringing to the table? He already makes music that sounds like a 70s nostalgia trip, so covering tunes from the 70s that are already proper 70s nostalgia trips seems a bit pointless. He could have made a compilation album or a DJ mix album out of the original songs instead, couldn’t he? I think that would have more staying power and weight. This just seems like a novelty.
The issue I have with this is… TV themes normally last about 40 seconds, so this album is going to be about 10 minutes long, amiright?
You clearly haven’t heard the full versions of some of these songs/cues.
Here’s Rainbow.
I’ve dislocated my arm air-drumming to that.
Er, several times.
No Ski Sunday?!?
A friend of mine used to play a note-perfect version of the snooker theme as his party piece. I think if I could do that my life would not be in vain.
On a couple of occasions I have enjoyed watching the amazing Dream Themes perform a live show of theme tunes to a raucously appreciative audience. I’d go to another of their shows at the drop of a hat.
The notion of buying and playing an entire album of “reimagined” UK TV themes leaves me completely mystified. Not something I would want to do.
I feel the same way about prog (for example).
Good that we’re all different, innit.
Oh yes.
I enjoy (mostly) Jonny Trunk’s “OST” show on Resonance FM, where he plays soundtrack and library music, some of it rather obscure, and talks to/about various people in those fields, collectors etc.
Jah Wobble & The Invaders Of The Heart do a few good theme music covers (some of them dubbed-up) in their live set. And of course Leedsboy’s cousin’s husband is his keyboard player, which is nice.
I’ll be buying it for DJ sets, even if I might only play it at home occasionally. I’m certain this will have people heading to the dance floor.
I can certainly see it being very useful for DJing.
This is the best version of Are You Being Served theme. from the movie. Sounds like the sort of break A Tribe Called Quest would sample
Yowsah!