The Electric Music Machine

Five days at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (1988)

Super Space Detective Captain Zep

Theme From The BBC TV Series Captain Zep - Space Detective by The Spacewalkers (1983). I have no recollection of watching this at all, guess there must have been something better on "the other side".

Captain Zep looks like it was a pretty awful show but it's a great pop theme tune all the same. Side B "A Race Against Time" very much sounds like an instrumental by Rush or Marillion if they were on a tight budget. Fans of anal retentiveness may also be pleased to note that I have added a bonus 'side C', being "Zep One Interior" by Dick Mills as taken from BBC Essential Hi Tech Sound Effects. 

The Spacewalkers (Paul Aitken and David Owen Smith) also made music for other BBC children's favourites Take Hart, Hartbeat with Tony Hart and Knowhow with Johnny Ball, under their own publishing company Catslick Music.

Whilst throwing this post together I was both surprised and extremely pleased to discover that two albums by Paul Aitken and David Owen Smith (The Catslick Gallery 1 & 2), featuring music taken from both of the Tony Hart shows, are currently available as legit downloads from all the usual legit mp3 vendors. If you've enjoyed the music of Richard Denton and Martin Cook I've already posted on Ripping Yarns, or if your simply after more "Programmes For Schools and Colleges" nostalgia, I highly recommend searching them out and giving them a listen.

Captain Zep patronising two dimensional aliens with ropey accents, earlier.

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DROKK!!

"Jimp - Judge impersonator, Crime where the perp dresses and acts like a judge who for their own benefit or enjoyment" 

Geoff Barrow has been on BBC 6 Music promoting Drokk and other projects this weekend. 

Stuart Maconie's Freakier Zone: Geoff Barrow discusses Drokk, Beak> and plays some tracks that have influenced him.

Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone: Geoff and Adrian Utley out of Portishead discuss the band's album Third.

An abridged podcast version is also available here.

The shows will be up for 7 days after broadcast and are well worth a listen.

DROKK!

Portishead's Geoff Barrow and soundtrack composer Ben Salisbury bring you a musical tribute to Judge Joseph Dredd's home town, Mega-City One. If the Dredd movie was made back when it was first on the cards in the early '80's and John Carpenter had got the directing gig, maybe his score would have sounded something like this. Especially if he had roped in Tangerine Dream and Neu! to flesh out a few cues here and there, once they hit the recording studio. For me this is up there with the recent work of College and the Valerie Collective for perfectly capturing that cool throbbing retro-synth sound without ever falling into cheesy parody. Great stuff:

Various zarjaz hard copy formats are also available from Invada and stores like Norman Records and Boomkat should you desire them. Don't hang around though.

Scrotnig!

Geoff Barrow gives great interview on The Skinny.

From the Invada Records page:

Geoff Barrow is a founding member of Portishead and producer/label owner of Invada Records UK. Ben Salisbury is a soundtrack composer with over 200 film and TV credits to his name, including David Attenborough’s ‘Life of Mammals’, ‘Life in the Undergrowth’ and ‘Life in Cold Blood’. Barrow and Salisbury met over 10 years ago when they both joined a Bristol football team for old men. After many disastrous games they decided they might be more productive working on a music project together. Other work commitments kept them apart until late 2010, when the pair met up with a screenwriter to discuss some possible work on a feature film project. Although their involvement with this particular film did not continue, a collaborative writing relationship had begun…

When Barrow and Salisbury revisited and started expanding upon this early material they decided to continue writing what was essentially soundtrack music. Barrow, along with album designer and long term friend, Marc Bessant, were both avid 2000AD readers from a young age, and the sprawling metropolis and classic stories of Mega-City One seemed the ideal inspiration for this ‘soundtrack’. 

DROKK was written in a 6 month period between Barrow’s Portishead world tour and Salisbury’s composing jobs for the BBC. Although it is a soundtrack of sorts, Barrow and Salisbury instinctively felt that music for MC1 should steer clear of the rich orchestration common to many contemporary film scores. Even for electronica the music is often purposefully stark and spare, with the majority of tracks created exclusively on the Oberhiem 2 Voice Synthesizer (a 1975 classic keyboard), and its onboard sequencer used to create rhythm and drums sounds. The only exceptions are a handful of tracks which combine the synth with digitally manipulated and time - stretched performances of acoustic instruments (such as piano, violin, mandolin, ukulele, voice and hammered dulcimer). There is also a brief cameo from Barrow’s other band BEAK>.

Until next time, Splundig Vur Thrigg Earthlets.

Delia Derbyshire interview 1997

A transcript is also available here

Audio only version I've stitched together, balanced and cleaned up a little here: dl

MCA

 Adam Yauch (1964 – 2012) 

Studio 2 Stereo

Two classic "Sound Gallery" lps by library legends Alan Hawkshaw & Brian Fahey. Not much else to say other than this seems to be quite the rare and sought after double CD set these days.

Best listened to on the hi-fi with friends, Martini and lemonades all round. Ice and a slice? Cheers and good health!

Alan Hawkshaw – 27 Top T.V. Themes & Commercials:

01 The Ironside Theme/Theme From The Persuaders/Main Theme From The Saint

02 The Right One - Martini/Come Into The Warm - Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate/A Matter Of Pride - Blue Band

03 Theme From Cade's County/The Virginian Theme

04 The Night Rider - Cadbury's Milk Tray

05 Theme From The W.Somerset Maugham TV Series/Theme From Upstairs Downstairs (The Edwardians)

06 Bird's Eye Country

07 Yes I Understand - Esso

08 The Odd Couple

09 Theme From The Baron/Man In A Suitcase/Theme From Z Cars

10 Faraway Music - Heinz Spaghetti/The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair - Sunsilk/Crossroads

11 I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)/Poppochoc - Milky Way/ It's All At The Co-Op Now

12 Blarney's Stoned From The Dave Allen Show/By George! - It's The David Frost Theme/Braden's Beat

13 Theme From Shaft

Brian Fahey And His Orchestra – Time For TV:

01 Theme From "The Power Game"

02 Main Theme From "The Saint"

03 Batman Theme

04 At The Sign Of The Swingin' Cymbal

05 High Wire (Theme From "Danger Man")

06 The Rat Catchers

07 Thunderbirds

08 The Avengers

09 Seaway

10 Inspector Rose Theme From "Mr. Rose"

11 The Clanger

12 Theme From "The Baron"

13 Theme From "The Man From The U.N.C.L.E."

14 The Troubleshooters

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