VA - The A to Z of British TV Themes, The Complete Series (1992-1998) [2023] (4 x CDs)

K SPECIAL

VA - The A to Z of British TV Themes, The Complete Series (1992-1998) [2023] (4 x CDs)

If you were asked to compile a list of your favourite TV theme music from the sixties and seventies, it is most unlikely that your selection would coincide even closely with that of anybody else. For that reason, it will obviously be impossible for us to capture everybody's particular favourite within this compilation. Nevertheless, it is to be hoped that the majority of our choices will evoke many happy memories of some of the best of British television, from, arguably, its finest era.

We have been able to include themes reflecting all facets of television - from the ATV show starring 

Britain's best loved comedian, Tony Hancock, to the charm and suavity of Gerald Harper's Hadleigh, and from the puppet world of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray to the more earthy style of BBC's Z-Cars. It is especially rewarding to be able to use so many original recordings of themes, by such giants of the television music genre, as Ron Grainer, Barry Gray, Tony Hatch and Laurie Johnson. Even where the original recording of the theme was not available to us, we have been fortunate to obtain some excellent "cover" versions, which are generally very true to the original sound, and in some cases provide fascinating variations. Certainly, this entire 4CD series consists of themes recorded during the period under reflection, rather than recent versions.

It is, perhaps, interesting to note, that of the many TV shows featured in this series, only two are currently gracing our screens - Doctor Who and Emmerdale - albeit with slightly different titles from the original programmes. Many of the others, however, are subject to frequent re-runs both on commercial and BBC television; not to forget the increasing number finding their way onto video, thus reflecting their continuing popularity. In certain cases, the listener will be hearing the entire theme for the first time, as by their very nature, many TV themes last purely for the duration of the opening credits. Hopefully, these "full length" versions will provide even more enjoyment than the 30 to 60 seconds heard previously.

During the introduction to the notes accompanying our first compilation of British TV Themes (The A to Z of British TV Themes from the Sixties and Seventies), we noted how impossible it would be to please everyone with our final selection.

This will be equally true of Volume Two, but nonetheless, we hope we have gone at least some way in meeting all the requests we've received during the last year. In the case of our first volume, we concentrated solely on the sixties and seventies, and whereas the bulk of this compilation still meets with this criteria, on this occasion we have moved into the eighties to feature themes from three classic series of that decade: Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Bergerac and Bread.

Many of the remaining tracks, whilst very much a product of the sixties, seventies and eighties, are still to be seen regularly today either via Satellite television, streaming services or through individual video, DVD and Blu-ray releases.

A few programmes are still running with their original themes:

BBC have used Booker T. & the M.G.'s 'Soul Limbo' to introduce coverage of Test Matches and other major cricket matches since the late sixties; the Grandstand theme has been synonymous with that programme since the mid- seventies while 'Holy Mackerel' has only recently been replaced as the theme for BBC's Rugby Special series. Nevertheless, we also aim to surprise and delight, by including some popular and well-loved themes which are rarely heard today, such as Angels, Animal Magic, Four Feather Falls, The Human Jungle and Supercar, to name but five. Once again, the vast majority of the tracks feature the original artists and composers; indeed, we will always endeavour to do this if possible. Where this has proved impossible, we're confident the replacement will prove entirely satisfactory.

We hope you will enjoy our venture into the exciting world of television themes, and that as a package, this compilation will provide you with many happy hours of nostalgic listening.

K

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Track lists

Vol. 1

01 Laurie Johnson - The Avengers 2:20

02 The Barry Gray Orchestra - Captain Scarlet 1:52

03 Ted Dicks - Catweazle (Busy Boy) 1:19

04 Tony Hatch - The Champions 2:08

05 The Tony Hatch Orchestra - Crossroads 2:01

06 Bud Flanagan - Dad's Army (Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr. Hitler?) 1:08

07 The Bob Leaper Orchestra - Danger Man (High Wire) 1:50

08 Cyril Stapleton - Department S 2:55

09 Alan Tew - Doctor in the House (Bond Street Parade) 1:30

10 Eric Winstone & His Orchestra - Dr. Who 3:11

11 Tony Hatch - Emmerdale Farm 2:19

12 The Flee-Rekkers - Fireball XL5 (Fireball) 2:34

13 The Cyril Stapleton Choir & Orchestra - The Forsyte Saga 2:51

14 Tony Hatch - Hadleigh 2:54

15 The Derek Scott Music - Hancock (Hancock's Tune) 2:21

16 Eagles - Maigret 2:24

17 The Tony Hatch Sound - Man Alive 2:03

18 Ron Grainer - Man in a Suitcase 2:14

19 Laurie Johnson - No Hiding Place 2:07

20 Sam Fonteyn - Please Sir! 1:55

21 Cyril Stapleton - The Power Game 2:39

22 The Saint Orchestra - Return of the Saint 2:51

23 Les Reed Brass - The Saint 2:03

24 Tony Hatch - Sportsnight 2:51

25 Ron Grainer - Steptoe and Son (Old Ned) 2:29

26 Gary Miller & The Barry Gray Orchestra - Stingray 1:56

27 Peter Knight - Thank Your Lucky Stars (Like Lucky Stars) 2:35

28 The Barry Gray Orchestra - Thunderbirds 2:34

29 Laurie Johnson Orchestra - Top Secret (Sucu Sucu) 2:09

30 Johnny Keating & The Z-Men - Z-Cars 2:13

Vol. 2

01 London String Chorale; Denis King and The South Bank Orchestra - Adventures of Black Beauty (Galloping Home) 2:27

02 Johnny Pearson - All Creatures Great and Small (Piano Parchment) 2:01

03 Alan Parker Sound - Angels (Motivation) 2:25

04 Laurie Johnson - Animal Magic (Las Vegas) 2:25

05 Joe Fagin - Auf Weidersehen Pet (That's Livin' Alright) 3:02

06 Booker T. & the M.G.'s - BBC Cricket (Soul Limbo) 2:22

07 George Fenton - Bergerac 2:53

08 Cast of "Bread" - Bread (Home) 2:44

09 Nick Harrison - Budgie (The Loner) 2:44

10 Red Price Combo - Danger Man (Danger Man Theme) 2:07

11 Ron Grainer; Delia Derbyshire; BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Doctor Who 2:24

12 Denis King and his Orchestra - The Fenn Street Gang (The Dandy) 1:37

13 Michael Holliday - Four Feather Falls 2:09

14 Laurie Johnson - Freewheelers (Private Eye) 2:55

15 Keith Mansfield - Grandstand 2:27

16 De Wolfe Ensemble - Here's Harry (Comedy Hour) 1:03

17 The John Barry Seven and Orchestra - Human Jungle 3:07

18 John Barry Seven Plus Four - Juke Box Jury (Hit and Miss) 1:58

19 The Scaffold - The Liver Birds (On a Mountain Stands a Lady) 2:34

20 Johnny Hawksworth - Man About the House (Up to Date) 1:48

21 Laurie Johnson Orchestra - The New Avengers 2:15

22 The Johnny Pearson Orchestra - Owen, M.D. (Sleepy Shores) 3:36

23 Johnny Keating; London Symphony Orchestra - The Persuaders! 2:23

24 Brian Bennett - Rugby Special (Holy Mackeral) 2:16

25 Charles Blackwell and his Orchestra - Supercar 2:18

26 Ron Grainer - Tales of the Unexpected 2:25

27 Alexander Faris; The South Bank Orchestra - Upstairs Downstairs (The Edwardians) 3:11

28 The Simon Park Orchestra - Van der Valk (Eye Level) 2:21

29 The Noveltones - Vision On (Left Bank Two) 2:27

30 Highly Likely - Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (What Ever Happend to You?) 3:51

Vol. 3

01 Frank Ricotti All Stars - The Beiderbecke Connection (Crying All Day) 2:34

02 Dudley Simpson - Blake's 7 3:22

03 Dave Mackay - Blott on the Landscape 2:05

04 Nigel Hess - Dangerfield 2:58

05 The South Bank Orchestra - Dempsey & Makepeace 2:31

06 Trevor Duncan - Doctor Finlay's Casebook (March from a Little Suite) 2:53

07 Peter Yorke - Emergency Ward 10 (Silks & Satins) 3:01

08 Nigel Hess - Hetty Wainthropp Investigates 2:44

09 Edwin Astley - International Detective 2:40

10 Nigel Hess - Just William 2:26

11 Denis King - Lovejoy 2:09

12 John Scott - Midweek 2:39

13 John Scott - Nationwide (The Good Word) 2:49

14 John Barry - The Newcomers (Fancy Dance) 1:57

15 Chameleon - The One Game (Saylon Dola) 3:06

16 Christopher Gunning - Poirot 2:12

17 The South Bank Orchestra - The Professionals 2:59

18 Brian Bennett - The Ruth Rendell Mysteries 2:30

19 The Vic Flick Sound - Sexton Blake 2:05

20 George Fenton - Shoestring 2:46

21 Sam Fonteyn - Ski Sunday (Pop Looks Bach) 2:05

22 Harry South - The Sweeney 2:42

23 John Shakespeare - Terry and June (Bell Hop) 2:39

24 Laurie Johnson - This Is Your Life (Gala Performance) 1:45

25 George Fenton - The Trials of Life (End Title) 2:08

26 Alex Glasgow - When the Boat Comes In (Dance Ti Thy Daddy) 3:13

27 Jim Parker - Wish Me Luck 3:12

28 The Paul Lewis Woof Band - Woof! 3:19

29 Don Harper - World of Sport (World of Sport March) 1:44

30 Nigel Hess - Wycliffe 2:50

Vol. 4

01 Stephen Oliver - The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby (London/Overture) 2:04

02 John Leach - Ask the Family (Sun Ride) 1:00

03 Joe Fagin - Auf Wiedersehen Pet (Back with the Boys Again) 3:14

04 Keith Mansfield - BBC Wimbledon (Light and Tuneful) 1:34

05 Bobby G - Big Deal 3:36

06 David Ordini; The Gary Mann Orchestra - The Big Match (La Soiree) 2:35

07 Dave Greenslade - Bird of Prey 1:19

08 Nigel Hess - Campion 2:28

09 John Cameron - Crimewatch UK (Rescue Helicopter) 2:29

10 Francis Monkman - Did You See? (Think Big) 2:05

11 Stephen Francis; The Settlers - Follyfoot (The Lightning Tree) 2:37

12 Len Stevens - Grandstand (News Scoop) 1:19

13 Gordon Giltrap - Holiday (Heartsong) 5:01

14 Francis Shaw - Jamaica Inn 2:16

15 Dave Greenslade - Kinsey 1:44

16 Nigel Hess - Maigret 2:51

17 Neil Richardson - Mastermind (Approaching Menace) 2:08

18 Russell Tony - On the Buses (Happy Harry) 1:52

19 The Les Reed Combo - People In London (Spanish Armada) 2:50

20 Rick Lloyd - Porterhouse Blue 3:12

21 Nic Raine and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra - Quatermass II (Mars, the Bringer of War) 3:49

22 Edwin Astley - Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) 3:04

23 Bill Connot - Resort to Murder (A Thief in the Night) 4:12

24 Duncan Browne - Shadow of the Noose (Salve Me) 3:06

25 Wilfred Burns - Sportsview (Saturday Sports) 2:46

26 Geoffrey Burgon - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Main Title) 1:33

27 Lesley Garrett; Geoffrey Burgon: Philharmonia Orchestra - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Nunc Dimittis) 2:16

28 Duncan Browne - Travelling Man (Max's Theme) 3:09

29 Laurie Johnson - Whicker's World (The Trend-Setters) 2:36

30 Cyril Watters - The World of Tim Fraser (The Willow Waltz) 3:05

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