Emma Peel’s classic quote (in her farewell to Steed): „Always keep your bowler hat on in times of trouble … and beware diabolical masterminds.“
Ian McCartney surely knows more about this being a man and manafonista from Glasgow. But this might be something to be keen on even for Hungarian shepards. So this will not only work in nostalgic mode. It’s much too inventive to just put a happy smile on your face. You might get really excited. So, brave armchair traveller, be ready for a special flight!
Here some informations from Soul Jazz Headquarters: The 36 track 2CD album comes with 50-page book featuring text, biographies and photography. It also comes in a limited run two volume double-vinyl super-loud super-heavy gatefold sleeve editions. Compiled by Stuart Baker and sleevenotes biographies by Johnny Trunk (Trunk Records). TV Sound and Image features the work of British composers in television, film and music libraries during the second half of the 20th century.
Aside from John Barry, whose work on the James Bond films made him a household name, or Tony Hatch and Laurie Johnson, the majority of composers featured here – Simon Park, Keith Mansfield, Reg Tilsley, Syd Dale, Keith Papworth – remain relatively unknown. And yet ironically they have created some of the most recognisable songs in British popular culture, their music widely disseminated on television. A quick role call of these would include Neil Richardson (who composed the theme tune to Mastermind) and Barry Stoller (who wrote Match of the Day). The Simon Park Orchestra’s Eye Level, theme song to the BBC series Van der Valk, reached number one in 1973. CCS’s cover of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love was the theme tune to Top of the Pops. And so on.
This album is not however a stroll through the TV memories of the mind, but an exploration of the serious contribution that these creative musicians have on the landscape of popular music in Britain.