That tune... irritating, isn't it?

For Any Other Topic not covered in one of the specialist forums below

Moderators: David Martin, dave robinson, Iain Purdon, George Geddes

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby JimN » Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:59 pm

Gatwick1946 wrote:I like it - very jazz influenced. That bass guitar sound is one that I connect with the disco-funk music of the 1970's.
Christopher


The record was nevertheless made at least as early as 1964!
User avatar
JimN
 
Posts: 4780
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:39 pm
Full Real Name: Jim Nugent

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby cockroach » Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:04 am

I'm always fascinated with session musicians and their work..

It seems that many of them were jazz lovers and players, and they hated pop and rock music, which they only played to earn a living because they couldn't earn enough playing their beloved jazz..

Funnily enough, IMHO, much of the great stuff they reluctantly played on pop and rock records (usually anonymously!) is some of the best playing - which we younger pop and rock fans loved and sought to emulate!

Feel sorry for them, but I suspect some session players actually enjoyed playing pop and rock stuff, and were perhaps a little more broad minded than the 'jazzers'! Some of the 'good ol' boys from the country music scene come to mind!

When a band I was in was playing mainly country music some years ago, on 'the country music scene', there was a significant respected first violin player from the local symphony orchestra who often played with country musicians..he could not only play and enjoy the 'holy' classical music, but he loved to play hot country fiddle too!

The jazzers often hated having to play pop and rock, and having to keep their playing simple to what they considered to be a moronic level(!)and even hated the guitars that the producers insisted they used to get..'THE sound'!...instead of their beautiful 'real' guitars- archtop proper Gibsons etc...they had to bloody well go out and buy one of those 'phony, trebly solidbody things...often a Telecaster..!
cockroach
 
Posts: 1459
Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:33 am
Location: Australia
Full Real Name: john cochrane

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby RayL » Wed Jun 28, 2017 7:48 am

1962 -63 was the time when the 'rock'n'rollers' started to replace the 'jazzers' on London sessions. The obvious examples of 'rock'n'rollers' are Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan, both graduating from skiffle through rock'n'roll to sessions. As Mo Foster relates in his book, by the mid-sixties producers were were booking 'two Jimmies' sessions to get the sounds (and the creative licks) that they wanted.

There was a similar situation in drumming, the obvious example being Clem Cattini. From Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, then The Tornados, he graduated into session work and again by the mid-sixties he was a first-call drummer, often on 'two Jimmies' sessions. Producers recognised that he had great natural timing (where the jazzers tended to be a bit 'loose') and could come out of a roll or a fill perfectly in time. Before click tracks, that ability really mattered.
User avatar
RayL
 
Posts: 1256
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:25 pm
Location: Carshalton, Surrey
Full Real Name: Ray Liffen

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby JimN » Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:46 pm

Here's John Scott's Dine And Dance in use as background music for a Pathé news item. It isn't the only Pathé short - not even the only Beatles-related one - it was used for, but this illustrates the way in which the tune was woven into the voice-over. They must have worked quickly in Wardour Street - these syndicated newsreels changed weekly. And the musical background swiftly (on this occasion) moves to another piece of music as Ringo makes an appearance - one with a more Beatles-style drum part.



And another (with another quick change to a more Shadows/Tornados/Fentones style).

Last edited by JimN on Thu Jun 29, 2017 2:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
JimN
 
Posts: 4780
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:39 pm
Full Real Name: Jim Nugent

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby Derek Mowbray » Wed Jun 28, 2017 6:49 pm

What a coincidence I had my tonsils removed from this same hospital in 1956, and Jimmy Young had his appendix removed there after recording Unchained Melody in 1956.
User avatar
Derek Mowbray
 
Posts: 303
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:36 pm
Location: Leeds, Great Britain
Full Real Name: Derek Mowbray

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby Uncle Fiesta » Wed Jun 28, 2017 9:43 pm

I liked the 'now the bit you don't recognise' reference in the Nationwide video - we don't recognise it because we never heard it! Usually we were only treated to the first thirty seconds of the tune when the programme started, and the last thirty seconds when it ended.

Then many years later we hear it in its entirety, and realise there's a whole new dimension to it!
User avatar
Uncle Fiesta
 
Posts: 1187
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:31 pm
Location: near Gainsborough, England
Full Real Name: Steve Tebble

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby JimN » Thu Jun 29, 2017 2:46 am

Uncle Fiesta wrote:I liked the 'now the bit you don't recognise' reference in the Nationwide video - we don't recognise it because we never heard it! Usually we were only treated to the first thirty seconds of the tune when the programme started, and the last thirty seconds when it ended. Then many years later we hear it in its entirety, and realise there's a whole new dimension to it!


Well... some of us had heard it!

The "Nationwide" theme (under that and its correct title: The Good Word) was included on a MfP LP in 1973. Not the original library recording, but a reasonably faithful re-reading of the same arrangement, this time by Geoff Love.

YOUR FAVOURITE TV THEMES LP
GEOFF LOVE ORCHESTRA, The
1973
EMI/MfP (UK); 50091 (stereo)

1. Theme from "Colditz" (Farnon)
2. Country Matters
3. Midweek
4. Upstairs Downstairs ("The Edwardians")
5. Black Beauty ("Galloping Home")
6. A Man Called Ironside ("Ironside")

1. Alias Smith And Jones
2. Love Story ("Memories Of Summer")
3. The Strauss Family
4. The Brothers
5. World Of Sport
6. Nationwide ("The Good Word")
Bought 1973.


I have long been a fan of TV themes and there a few crackers (though all in cover versions) on this disc. The theme from the BBC Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday late evening current affairs programme "Midweek" was particularly good (it was effectively a predecessor of "Newsnight", though only on three nights). Anything by Robert Farnon is great and the Denis King theme for "Black Beauty" (Galloping Home) is a brilliant recording.
User avatar
JimN
 
Posts: 4780
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:39 pm
Full Real Name: Jim Nugent

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby Uncle Fiesta » Thu Jun 29, 2017 1:02 pm

I remember my parents having this very LP. I also remember really hating it!

If I'm going to listen to a TV or film theme, I want it to be the original, not a cover. (I may have mentioned before, that I hate covers of all descriptions.)

And these weren't even good covers - just seeing the list of titles has reminded me that the theme from Ironside was particularly naff.
User avatar
Uncle Fiesta
 
Posts: 1187
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:31 pm
Location: near Gainsborough, England
Full Real Name: Steve Tebble

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby JimN » Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:01 pm

Uncle Fiesta wrote:I remember my parents having this very LP. I also remember really hating it!
If I'm going to listen to a TV or film theme, I want it to be the original, not a cover. (I may have mentioned before, that I hate covers of all descriptions.)
And these weren't even good covers - just seeing the list of titles has reminded me that the theme from Ironside was particularly naff.


The "Ironside" theme was probably the least faithful rendering on the LP. The Geoff Love Orchestra couldn't capture the rhythm section feel of the Wrecking Crew. On the other hand, the British theme tunes were very well played and recorded, sounding as similar to the originals as you could reasonably expect (and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the orchestra's members were on both versions anyway).

None of this worried me at the time, because I "knew" that I would never be able to get my hands on the originals in good audio quality (and especially not in stereo), and I never watched nonsense such as "Ironside" anyway.

At that time, USA television drama was of appalling artistic quality (nowhere near BBC or ITV), with "Ironside" being a good (!) example of that. "Kojak", "The Streets Of San Francisco", "MacMillan And Wife" and "The Rockford Files" were other examples. It's all different nowadays, "The Shield", "The Wire", "Breaking Bad", "Better Call Saul", etc. USA television drama is now the best in the world, with the BBC running a close second.
User avatar
JimN
 
Posts: 4780
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:39 pm
Full Real Name: Jim Nugent

Re: That tune... irritating, isn't it?

Postby Uncle Fiesta » Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:10 pm

Oh, I don't know, Jim, I think you're being a little unfair to a few classic series, I seem to remember quite liking "MacMillan And Wife" - although I suspect that, had it been just "MacMillan" ... I wouldn't have been glued to it as much.
User avatar
Uncle Fiesta
 
Posts: 1187
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:31 pm
Location: near Gainsborough, England
Full Real Name: Steve Tebble

PreviousNext

Return to The Lounge

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests

Ads by Google
These advertisements are selected and placed by Google to assist with the cost of site maintenance.
ShadowMusic is not responsible for the content of external advertisements.