Anyone with an interest in the history of television music will savour this mouth-watering double set, which is another splendid effort compiled by deejay Steven Wills and available only through the www.whr.org.uk website. Across two CDs, Morning and Afternoon, this showcases tunes lifted mainly from the mighty Chappell Music Library and adopted to accompany out-ofhours transmissions in the days before 24-hour broadcasting. It’s all string-driven jazz waltzes, tightly-arranged big band swing, quirky comedy marches and funky pop with bursts of fuzz guitar and cooing female scat vocals.
Days spent pulling a sickie from school are recalled by some cool and kitsch Testcard tunes. For the swots who went, there are some infectiously dance-friendly ‘interval’ themes, as played between educational programmes shown in class. The bands have intriguing names such as The Telecast Orchestra, Ole Jensen & His Music and The Bunny J Browne Ensemble – all unfamiliar to the eyes, though your ears will recall the music.
A few of these titles cropped up in The Prisoner and by way of a bonus there is some incidental music from the cult kids show Vision On, and the often forgotten exotic theme to Ask The Family. Never has the phrase ‘soundtrack to a generation’ been so apt.
