I always thought David Essex did like three singles then died in some kind of tragic motorcycle accident. But he's got over twenty five albums and was in Eastenders a few years back.
The funny thing is he released eleven singles before releasing his first single Rock On in 1973 when I wasn't even two years old yet. So Gonna Make You A Star was his fourth proper single and some say shoulda been his last. Gonna Make You A Star is unusually produced glam almost yacht rock with synth breaks straight out of a BBC sports theme. Very strange, very emotional and very affective. Jolly good then.
Speaking of Cliff on Kenny Everett. Here he is doin' an old wave into new wave sophisticated sub Steely Dan jam. 80s Saxophone break included. Possibly Cliffford's finest moment. The sound of the radio back then all seemed so adult... it also seemed like there were a lot of songs about where people lived, who lived next door and who had moved away...
Surprisingly convincing slow burning raunchy r&b from our wholesome Clifford. Brilliant funky arrangement from Mike Leander oozing sophisticated sleaze.
*Sure my dad had old school 1950s Cliff singles but he will always be the really normal for a pop star guy with the cheese-y American teeth from The Kenny Everette Show for me.
Has there ever been a more threatening love song? Coz I Luv You is a controlled detonation of a tune where Slade really pile on the tension with that persistent menacing throb, the unsettling mayhem of those electronic handclaps, insane violin and underlying stompiness as Noddy gets whipped into a maelstrom all in the name of love or perhaps lust.
Morricone rarely rocks out in a jock-rock manner. He might have some twangin' guitars on the spaghetti western soundtracks or have some wah-wah and fuzz infected psychedelic freak-outs on his giallo scores but here the finale is almost a conventional anthemic hard rock lead break. Anyway it's not just about the rockin' last 30 seconds, this track, which I assume is some kind of edited suite, has got all sorts of disparate elements going on - the atmospheric tension of the strings and horns, the haunting harpsichord, an array of swirling sinister bass, ominous drums, disorientating jazz noir lulls and that aforementioned bombastic rock out. A symphonic crime funk masterpiece.
The entire original 1983 vinyl edition of this top ranking Morricone soundtrack. Funnily enough the rock guitar version of Cop Killer is not on here. It's only on the reissue cd from 2002. Some Morricone soundtracks are hard to sit through from go to woah as they are often repetitious variations on a theme. This record however works well as a home listening LP.
The coolest theme tune to a movie ever. Double retro of the mid 60s then this vibe was revived in the mid 90s with all the great trip-hop, lounge and downtempo gear. I have a vague recollection of a trip-hop act sampling this maybe, am I right?
That's not a guitar or a harpsichord no this one's all about the sound of that mysterious cimbalom, a Hungarian hammered dulcimer, giving this sparse spy jazz a sophisticated Euro touch. The moody vibes, creepy flutes and lonesome distant ghost of a trumpet combined with the menacing mellow melody of the cimbalom perfectly evoke a shadowy cold war atmosphere.
Hardcore going into the darkside but not becoming overtly jungle-y. Bangin atmospheric techno more than anything. Fucking relentless and goes hard with the parapsychological sonics into the transmutating darkness. Totally plugged in to an inescapable visceral force.
Fitting creepy end title theme from the regional 70s horror cult movie set in the isolated small desert town of Hillsboro, where deadly accidents are rife, children are disappearing and the elderly residents just might be a coven of satanists. Fits right along side of similarly themed cult flicks of the same era Lets Scare Jessica To Death and Messiah Of Evil but not quite as legendary.
Oh wait... just discovered the ever reliable Fish Man on youtube has put together a nine minute suite of music from the film... pretty eerie and pretty freaky...
Jaime Mendoza-Nava seems to be another one of these composers who are so under appreciated they're barely recognised at all yet he is a serious composer with an extensive body of work from the sacred to the profane working with The Bolivian National Orchestra and Madrid Symphony Orchestra to scoring soundtracks for Westerns, B-Movies and even Disney cartoons.
When I was little and used to play pretend soccer in the dining room this was the theme that we would belt out "baba ba baba baba ba baba" while pretending to be either Kenny Dalgliesh or Archibald, the only two British players we knew in 1979 or 80. So i finally figured out it was the theme tune to ITV's The Big Match which must have screened here in the 70s and 80s when it was just the first division English Football League... you know not corporate globalist social justice bull twang that it has become just like our very own Australian rules football league is now.
Grandstand Theme - Keith Mansfield
We got British soccer and snooker shows but we didn't get things like Grandstand as we had our own sports roundup shows so we missed out on this classic theme. It might actually be genius. Sprightly xylophones, triumphant brass, boings, brisk bongos, a searing lead break and a victorious fist pumping finale. A relentlessly upbeat anthem. Winners need only apply. We are all winning. The feel good anthem of our lives.
The Doug Wood Band - Drag Racer (1976)
Here's a crackin theme tune. This was for BBC Snooker back in the 70s and 80s. I mean they needed a high octane and totally smokin funky blues fuelled jam because it was the snooker right. Many believe this to be the all time great sports tv theme tunes.
Chase Side Shoot Up - Brian Bennett (1974)
Here's another spectacular theme that the BBC used back in the day. This was the theme for BBC Golf. Brian Bennett, a doyen in the fields of rock, tv themes and library music, is of course best known for being in The Shadows and his legendary theme for Channel 9's Cricket broadcasts. He always delivers. How does he inject so much positivity into a tune? Chase Side Shoot Up is a drivin' funky synth jam of the anthemic variety with forays into daydreamy moods, no wonder everybody loved it and hated it when the retards at the BBC changed it in the 00s after 25 years. Peak Bennett!
These tunes aren't just kitschy nostalgic fun, no these sports telly themes are some of the greatest music made in the 70s.
The Doug Wood Band - Cranes
Some anthemic proggy synth funk goodness for the bbc darts show. It's all done and dusted in under a minute. Incredible stuff. Also darts is fucking great telly entertainment. Actually this is a bit like a horror synth prog jam in the vein of Goblin, Tangerine Dream or John Carpenter. Strange but then again darts is not a particularly normal sport if indeed it's a sport at all. I mean isn't it just a game for pissed people with the added danger of these drunk people handling a potentially dangerous weapon.
The Big Fight Live Theme
A rip-snorter jock-rock disco anthem for some kind of Friday night boxing show on ITV. This is so plugged into the vibe of being pumped on a Friday night, being pumped for some boxing, being pumped for any old action and being pumped because you're alive living in the moment, it's perfect.
The brilliant theme tune by Edwin Astley. So 60s, so soundtracky, so damp, so English, so good with its moody harpsichord, deluxe sinister horn and string arrangement and downtempo beats.
Unlike his contemporaries like John Barry, Edwin Astley (Virginia's dad) was quite under-documented for a top notch 50s & 60s British tv composer until 2008 when Network started issuing a series of soundtrack cd compilations. Still a lot of his film work has never seen light of day.
The original British opening credits to this unique occult detective fiction series ie. a show about the antics of a private eye and his ghost-y partner and his lovely widow. Hopkirk being a ghost gives the show a similar madcap quality to shows like I Dream Of Jeanie and Bewitched. The supernatural element lends itself to delicious comic situations.
The American opening credits.
Here's My Late Lamented Friend And Partner the first episode of Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) from September 1969. It's a good fun show with great cars, vintage interiors, classic furniture and choice locations. I love the bit where they obviously had no budget to be smashing up cool expensive cars so they just parked an un-dinted car up to a pole and opened the bonnet to depict it had crashed. Can you imagine getting empty London streets to film in these days. The time capsule of a London that's never coming back...
Imprint recently reissued a box set of the entire series on blu-ray.
