Library music that became popular TV themes

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Many years ago I remember flipping through some old library records at Ealing studios and discovering a song called 'marching up and down' that was basically the theme to screen test. Previously I had just assumed all tv themes were commissioned. Seems not. A little more digging and I found out loads of themes in the 70s and 80s were library music.
Chicken man for instance was not only used for grange hill, over on ITV it was also being used for give us a clue.



Even the news at 10 (skip to the end)


The dream as a composer would be to get your library music picked for a theme, as not only do you get the PRS money, after three plays as an opening (even just to a segment on a show) it is designated a 'theme' and the rate is elevated.

Imagine writing a track and then ten years later it just gets picked up and used on the news every night. Jackpot!

 

[Orang Utan]

Grange Hill
Vision On
Ski Sunday
Grandstand

there’s loads

 

[killer b]

I was surprised to discover the theme to The Old Grey Whistle Test on a psychedelic country LP I picked up from the chazzer last year.

 

[killer b]

And the theme to 1970s/80s kids TV show 'Picture Box' was on this french experimental LP

 

[Steel Icarus]

The Monty Python theme is the Grenadier Guards' rather jaunty version of an 1893 piece called The Liberty Bell

 

[butchersapron]

Many years ago I remember flipping through some old library records at Ealing studios and discovering a song called 'marching up and down' that was basically the theme to screen test. Previously I had just assumed all tv themes were commissioned. Seems not. A little more digging and I found out loads of themes in the 70s and 80s were library music.

Marching there and Back Again (sorry)

 

[Orang Utan]

Crimewatch is pretty powerful

 

[spanglechick]

The Always Sunny in Philadelphia music (theme and incidental) is by the Heinz Kissling orchestra.

 

[Steel Icarus]

SpongeBob Squarepants used a lot of music from the Associated Production Music Library, especially in its first series.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

The Always Sunny in Philadelphia music (theme and incidental) is by the Heinz Kissling orchestra.

Oh yes of course, it practically all on one record. That, I have to say, is the most genius use of cheesy library music ever. When I was at ITV we all got banned from using music like that. Everyone put it on everything with sarcastic voiceovers.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I also remember friends using a licence free jingle in full from Apple logic studio.

 

[Steel Icarus]

I always wondered - if I used a music writing program like AudioSauna (which I'm using at the moment to produce backing for some songs of mine) or the classic Music for the PS1, do the people who made it retain the copyright on the sounds themselves or is it just the program itself they own?

 

[killer b]

Virgin released a great comp of 70s library tunes by Jack Arel & Pierre Dutour (from the Chappell catalogue) in the late 90s which we caned regularly for a couple of years - I'm not sure if there was copies of the same album going round the TV stations or they always played that shit anyway, but I was constantly spotting tracks from it in the background on tv shows...

 

[Kaka Tim]

Mastermind was another library tune wasn't it?

 

[Orang Utan]

Mastermind was another library tune wasn't it?

yep, it's weird cos a lot of these themes are so long associated with these programmes that you think they must have been commissioned for them instead of pulled off a shelf

 

[MrSki]

Marching there and Back Again (sorry)

It was just called 'Marching there and Back' Sorry.
By Syd Dale who did some great stuff in the 60's & 70's
A compilation for anyone with time on their hands.


ETA only seems to be Marching...

More here. Any film buffs will recognise some of the tunes.

 

[scifisam]

What exactly is library music? I could google but I think you lot will explain it better.

 

[MrSki]

What exactly is library music? I could google but I think you lot will explain it better.

Taken off the shelf or from a music library rather than having a tune commissioned for a particular show.

 

[Orang Utan]

What exactly is library music? I could google but I think you lot will explain it better.

Taken off the shelf or from a music library rather than having a tune commissioned for a particular show.

for instance, the Grange Hill theme wasn't composed for the show, but exists as a piece of music called Chicken Man, by Alan Hawkshaw, who composed for the label KPM. It was actually used before, in a different arrangement, on an early series of Give Us A Clue.

 

[scifisam]

for instance, the Grange Hill theme wasn't composed for the show, but exists as a piece of music called Chicken Man, by Alan Hawkshaw, who composed for the label KPM. It was actually used before, in a different arrangement, on an early series of Give Us A Clue.

Thanks both.

When Atomic Suplex mentioned about Give Us a Clue I could actually recognise the bits that were used in that theme tune. I watched far too much TV as a kid.

 

[Orang Utan]

would loved to have been at this gig:

 

[ska invita]

not surprisingly i dont know library music so cant add to that part of the conversation, but remember getting a buzz when i first heard this - as used on the Money Programme back on some dusty sunday or whenever the hell that show was on. Such a firing big band tune