NEW! THEMES OF THE CENTUrY
&
INTERMISSION ACCOMPLISHED - CHRCD 5
Fund raising CD produced by CHR volunteer Steven Wills 

THESE CDS ARE AVAILABLE NOW FROM AMAZON, HMV AND OTHER RETAILERS 

It’s time to enjoy again a selection of themes and interludes from the first 100 years of British broadcasting. Even though this two CD set plays for approximately two and a half hours, inevitably this compilation can only feature a snapshot of all the music ever heard over the last century.

You’ll hear some of the classics, like the Grandstand theme by the legendary Keith Mansfield, Arthur Wood’s dramatic theme to Radio 4’s The Archers and Eye Level from the De Wolfe music library, the theme to Van der Valk which reached No. 1 in the UK singles chart in 1973. There’s also Alan Parker’s theme to the long-running ITV schools programme My World entitled The Free Life, so many people remember it as one of the greatest themes from their school days.

Also included on the first CD are some lesser known themes such as The Mind of Mr J.G. Reeder, a Thames television production from 1969 starring Hugh Burden in the title role based on the novels and short stories of Edgar Wallace, the Living with Betty theme, a short lived Radio 2 sitcom from the 1980s starring Barbara Windsor and Peter Sallis, and the Maigret theme from the 1970’s Radio 4 dramatisations of the Georges Simenon novels starring Maurice Denham in the title role.

On the second CD, as well as more great themes, there’s incidental music from programmes such as All Creatures Great and Small, plus interval music heard between the BBC schools programmes, test card and Ceefax transmissions, a selection of idents played before and after the programmes broadcast on the Talking Pictures TV channel.

There’s also a mixture of themes and incidental music from “trade test colour films” which were shown on BBC2 between 1967 and 1973. Theywere broadcast during the daytime on BBC2 to promote the new colour television service. These short and generally informative films were not billed in Radio Times, but appeared during the closedown period of the test card and music.

Finally, I’m delighted to include music from the legendary Gordon Murray Productions that featured during the “Watch with Mother” strand on BBC1’s children’s schedule for many years, namely Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley. The music was written and performed by guitarist Freddie Phillips with the songs sung by Brian Cant who also narrated the shows.

Happy Listening!

Time to enjoy again a selection of instrumental recordings as heard on TV broadcasts of the 1970s produced by the London based legendary music production company KPM. On this CD you'll hear compositions by many famous composers, such as the theme to "The Go-Between" by Michel Legrand, plus music from Johnny Pearson, Alan Hawkshaw and The Shadows drummer Brian Bennett.

Many of the tracks on the CD were heard on daytime television in-between the schools programmes being broadcast, most notably between 10.30 and 11 o'clock on ITV. A caption would appear on the screen with the message that "Programmes for Schools and Colleges resume at 11 o'clock". Most schools had their mid morning break at about this time, and as a result the schools transmissions had a break as well. However, if you kept the television on, you were treated to some great music during the intermission.

There's also tracks used as incidental music on programmes such First Affair by Alan Hawkshaw, which was heard during an episode of the Thames television programme "Special Branch" starring George Sewell and Patrick Mower.

All proceeds from the sale of this CD help to ensure that the Chichester Hospital Radio service is maintained, which is staffed entirely by volunteers.

Happy Listening!