Tuesday 19 May 2020

BBC Radiophonic Workshop ‎– "Doctor Who At The BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Volume 2: New Beginnings 1970-1980)



Towards the end of Miss Derbyshire's and Brian Hodgson's tenure in the workshop, the arrival of a state of the art EMS Synthi 100 modular synth,nicknamed 'the Delaware' after the address of the workshop, started to change the direction of the music the team produced.
Also the arrival of 'proper' musicians, like Malcolm Clarke,also normalised the sounds somewhat.Malcolm also brought long hair,flak jackets and moustaches into the fold.
Malcolm with the Delaware and moustache.
Having, mildly,expressed my disapproval of the replacement of the two key members of the Radiophonic Workshop from the sixties,one must say that Clarke's soundtrack for the imfamous 'Sea Devils' episodes makes me shit bricks in fear. I was too young to remember any of the sixties soundtracks,mainly because I genuinely hid behind the sofa in terror in the time-honoured fashion, so didn't connect the sound with the images.By 1973 I was,older and watching,in colour, from that same sofa,pretending not to be shitting in my short trousers while The Sea Devils rose out of the murky polluted  waters of the North Sea, fuming mad at what us land dwellers were doing to their aquatic abode. A parable for our times but from nigh-on fifty years ago. I can still hear those harsh synthesizer notes clanging unapologetically down every child's spine the whole length and breadth of this island nation. 
What amazes me most about this stark electronic ass kicking, is the total lack of ambient soundscapes that were the trademrk of Derbyshire and Hodgson, just stark monophonic EMS synthesizer noise,that seem incompatable with the images,yet strangely in tune with the experience. Terrifying!
The end of this collection sees Delia's most hated version of her fabulous Theme tune,as done by her and Hodgson on the 'Delaware' as a request by the boss.She was not happy that they insisted on messing about endlessly with her 'Perfect',organic ,sci-fi anthem.By 1980,after Delia had given up on music for wine,snuff,and working in a bookshop, they had someone else (Peter Howell)do a characterless synth version,also included here.


Tracklist:


1–Delia Derbyshire- Doctor Who (Opening Title Theme, 1970) 0:46
2–Brian Hodgson- TARDIS Control On & Warp Transfer 0:22
3–Delia Derbyshire- Blue Veils & Golden Sands 3:25
4–Delia Derbyshire- The Delian Mode 5:33
5–Brian Hodgson- The Master's Theme 0:43
6–Brian Hodgson- Dover Castle 0:30
7–Brian Hodgson- Keller Machine Appears/Vanishes 0:23
8–Brian Hodgson- Keller Machine Theme 0:42
9–Brian Hodgson- Brain Centre Atmosphere 0:21
10–Brian Hodgson- The Axons Approach 1:45
11–Brian Hodgson- TARDIS Lands 0:22
12–Delia Derbyshire- Doctor Who (Closing Title Theme, 1970) 1:13
13–Malcolm Clarke- The Prison 1:19
14–Malcolm Clarke- The Master 2:05
15–Malcolm Clarke- The Naval Base 1:28
16–Malcolm Clarke- The Sea Fort 2:13
17–Malcolm Clarke- Stranded 2:39
18–Malcolm Clarke- The Sea Devil 2:43
19–Malcolm Clarke- The Master At Large 3:04
20–Malcolm Clarke- Air-Conditioning Problem 0:48
21–Malcolm Clarke- Duel 1:44
22–Malcolm Clarke- The Master's Plan 1:31
23–Malcolm Clarke- The Submarine 1:52
24–Malcolm Clarke- Jo Frees The Doctor 1:11
25–Malcolm Clarke- Rock Bottom 1:15
26–Malcolm Clarke- The Beach 1:57
27–Malcolm Clarke- The Minefield 0:23
28–Malcolm Clarke- Devil Underwater 1:18
29–Malcolm Clarke- The Doctor And Jo On The Run 0:35
30–Malcolm Clarke- The Sea Devils Take The Prison 3:24
31–Malcolm Clarke- The Diving-Bell 1:23
32–Malcolm Clarke- Mr. Walker's War 3:05
33–Malcolm Clarke- Torpedo 1:28
34–Malcolm Clarke- Attack In Force 2:02
35–Malcolm Clarke- Ventilation Shaft 1:20
36–Malcolm Clarke- Sea Chase 2:06
37–Malcolm Clarke- Escape 0:46
38–Delia Derbyshire & Brian Hodgson With Paddy Kingsland- Doctor Who (Stereo Version, 1972) 2:21
39–Delia Derbyshire & Brian Hodgson With Paddy Kingsland- Doctor Who (Delaware Version, 1972) 2:08
40–Dick Mills Aggedor's Temple Atmosphere, Peladon ("The Monster Of Peladon", YYY) 0:59
41–Dick Mills- Metebelis III Atmosphere ("Planet Of The Spiders", ZZZ) 1:51
42–Dick Mills- Nerva Beacon Infrastructure & T-Mat Couch ("The Ark In Space", 4C) 1:42
43–Dick Mills- The Planet Karn ("The Brain Of Morbius", 4K) 1:43
44–Dick Mills- The Shrine Of The Sisterhood Of Karn (As 43) 1:13
45–Dick Mills- The Mandragora Helix ("The Masque Of Mandragora", 4M) 0:46
46–Dick Mills- Nova Device Countdown & Explosion ("Destiny Of The Daleks", 5J) 0:12
47–Peter Howell- Demo 1 1:13
48–Peter Howell- Demo 2 1:07
49–Peter Howell- Doctor Who (New Theme, 1980) 2:42


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As far as I can see no Milli Vanilli this week. I´ll try next week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqslU9YwNkw

Oscillate Wildly said...

I'm not as into synth porn as I used to be, but when it comes to that sexy beast that is the Synthi 100, I'm reminded of a Steve Levine quote about (I believe) the Yamaha DX-1 in the early 80s : "If there was a hole big enough in the back of it, I'd fuck it."

Wolfgang said...

May I confess that I enjoy (apart from the Promethean original) the version by The Timelords/KLF a lot?