Wednesday 13 May 2009

Theme Tune Week - Day Three

The 60s vibe continues with today's theme-y themester and, really, there was no way I was going to let the week go by without a certain TV tune turning up. So, who have we got today?

Ron Grainer

The king of 60s British themes, he gave three real belters. First up is this iconic piece from a series which couldn't be any more 60s if it tried. Here goes:-



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE-EMinj69o

But he didn't just go for your strange, weird and offbeat sci-fi/fantasy style series. He was capable of knocking out some pure comedy sitcom themes, too.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7ly_tp-9SY

However, the greatest of them all has to be this theme - one that has been reworked many, many times over the last 46 years and is still going strong today...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF2x5IKxmAQ

Credit Where Credit's Due Dept. :- In all fairness, this theme isn't entirely Grainer's creation. While he may have come up with the basic tune, it was a young lady from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop who came up with the arrangement and the razor-blades-down-piano-wire noise that makes up the haunting theme. Her part was unfairly overlooked for many years but, in recent years and fortunately before her death, she received a lot more recognition for her work.

The week's not over yet. Any bets on who else we've got coming up?

5 comments:

Pearl said...

Ah, crap. I've nothing to say here, other than a vague recollection of the original Dr. Who.

Sorry.

Now MONTY PYTHON. What kind of geek would I be if I admitted to have whole bits of dialogue memorized?

I feel happeeeeeeeeee!

Pearl

kapgaf said...

Daleks from behind the sofa.
The gorgeous village of Portmeirion.
You dirty old man !

Kurt said...

The Dr. Who theme used to creep me out. Everyone on that show had speech impediments or something. Plus killer robots and swooshy music.

This has been a great series. Keep them coming!

Brandy Wilcoxen said...

Doctor Who FTW! Hell yeah!

That Baldy Fella said...

Pearl - There's nothing wrong with knowing Monty Python off by heart.

"You're not fooling anyone, you know."

kapgaf - ...is the right answer.

Kurt - We're English, we assume everyone in the universe talks like that.
Why, thank you, squire, keep them coming I shall...

Brandy Rose - It's the original and best.