TME > Audio > Tributes Discography

Resources #2 - Music Collector 28

The first comprehensive discography about the madcap Doctor Who tributes appeared in 1991, in the pages of a rather cheap-looking magazine called Music Collector. The article examined the musical spin-offs from the Gerry Anderson series, The Prisoner, Doctor Who, The Avengers, a variety of ITC dramas and many other science-fiction shows (Star Trek, Blake's 7, Battlestar Galactica, etc), as well as providing a handy list of the complete Century 21 EPs from which The Daleks was released. Highlights - including the Doctor Who-related discographies, but not the Doctor Who article - are presented here.

Spotlight on Cult TV

It’s been a long held theory round these parts that a large minority of those people collect records, are also interested in certain TV programmes. Both Steve and myself were weaned on a diet of Doctor Who, Thunderbirds and The Prisoner, alongside our Stranglers and Ramones albums. So, we thought we’d have a look at these programmes, and the music and records which surround them. You can tell us we’ve lost our marbles if you want, but we’re sure plenty of people will find what we’ve uncovered at least partially interesting.

Of course, there is no way we could hope to document as much as we’d want. Ideally, this spotlight section should include material on the likes of Batman, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, The Munsters or even The Invisible Man. However, we’ve given you a short cross section on some of our faves, and contact addresses if the subject matter interests you further. Such magazines and fanzines go in to greater depth than we are able to here.

The music element has always been important to these shows too. The most obvious example of this is Ron Grainer’s magnificent title theme for Doctor Who, a superbly sympathetic piece for the action which is about to unfold. The public recognition of such themes has been exploited remarkably frequently in the charts as well. Variations on the signature tunes to Doctor Who, Star Trek, The Prisoner and several of the Gerry Anderson shows have proved very popular, several shifting thousands of units. Our list does not pretend to be comprehensive, but a good guide to what’s on offer.

Doctor Who is as English as buttered scones, and just as essential a part of the diet. The Avengers reflect this, and similarly occupied the imaginations of the British viewing public. The Prisoner, meanwhile, oversees the cyclical dystopian implosion of self and society. Or something like that anyway. Meanwhile Gerry Anderson has provided a superb little cottage industry in the fields of animation ad live action. No strings attached, as they say.

Acknowledgment – Thank you’s are due to Andrew Pixley, for his time, help and advice in putting this spotlight section together.
Dedication – To Mark Armitage, who refuses to wed unless his bride dresses up as Lady Penelope, and he can be Virgil Tracy.

Century 21

Some of the most collectable Cult TV related material to be released during the sixties are the Century 21 mini-LPs. The name is a bit misleading as they were only 7” in diameter but they did play at 33RPM. The ones of interest to Cult TV collectors are the Gerry Anderson discs that feature music and dialogue from various shows. The music was largely by Barry Gray. There were also releases connected with popular childrens television programmes such as Topo Gigio (An Italian rat or something that used to be on Saturday evenings as I recall!) and Tingha and Tucker (Two Koala Bear glove puppets introduced by Auntie Jean!). Century 21 were also connected to the magazine of that name ho set up a special deal with Dalek creator Terry Nation to feature those creatures in a comic strip. This also enabled Century 21 to put out a mini-LP featuring the Daleks, which was a bit of a scoop because of the Dr Who copyright was owned, and closely guarded, by the BBC. The Daleks is one of the most collectable of these releases now. Expect to pay anything from Ł10-Ł30 for mint condition copies of most these [sic] records but keep your eyes peeled for 10p bargains at car boot sales!

MINI LPS

TITLE	CAT NO	ISSUED
Journey To The Moon A story based on an episode of Fireball XL5	MA 100	1965
Into Action With Troy Tempest A specially recorded introduction to Stingray	MA 101	1965
A Trip To Marineville A story taken from Stingray	MA 102	1965
Introducing Thunderbirds	MA 103	1965
Marina Speaks A story taken from Stingray	MA 104	1965
TV Century 21 Themes	MA 105	1965
Includes Parker Well Done, Supercar, Century 21 Theme, Dr Who, Fireball, and Stingray
Daleks	MA 106	1965
F.A.B.	MA 107	1966
Thunderbird One	MA 108	1966
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode Trapped In The Sky
Thunderbird Two	MA 109	1966
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode End Of The Road
Lady Penelope And Parker	MA 110	1966
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode The Stately Homes Robbery
Lady Penelope Themes	MA 111	1966
Includes Lady Penelope, Man From U.N.C.L.E., Beverly Hillbillies, Parker, Bewitched and Aqua Marina
Thunderbird Three	MA 112	1966
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode Sun Probe
Thunderbird Four	MA 113	1966
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode Terror In New York City
The Perils of Penelope	MA 114	1966
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode The Perils of Penelope
Topo Gigio In London	MA 115	1966
Great Themes From Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds	MA 116	1966
Features incidental music from the Thunderbirds episodes The Cham-Cham, Perils of Penelope, Path of Destruction, Man From MI5, and The Imposters
Space Age Nursery Rhymes	MA 117	1966
Includes If I Had A Little Nut Tree, Mary Had A Little Gram, Little Joe Beep, Sing A Song Of Sixpence, Cymbal Simon, and Three Redfined Mice
Lady Penelope	MA 118	1966
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode The Vault Of Death
Brains And Tin Tin	MA 119	1966
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode The Desperate Intruder
International Rescue	MA 120	1966
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode The Imposters
Thunderbirds	MA 121	1967
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode Day Of Disaster
Lady Penelope	MA 122	1967
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode The Cham-Cham
Brains	MA 123	1967
Features dialogue from Thunderbirds episode Alias Mr Hackenbacker
Thunderbirds	MA 124	1967
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode Brink Of Disaster
Thunderbirds	MA 125	1967
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode Atlantic Inferno
Thunderbirds	MA 126	1967
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode Richochet
Tingha And Tucker	MA 127	1967
Thunderbirds	MA 128	1967
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode One Move And You're Dead
Thunderbirds	MA 129	1967
Features dialogue from the Thunderbirds episode Thirty Minutes After Noon
Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons	MA 130	1967
Introducing Captain Scarlet	MA 131	1967
Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons	MA 132	1967
Features Captain Scarlet (Instrumental), Dangerous Game (Vocal), Mysteron Theme, and Zero X
Captain Scarlet Is Indestructable	MA 133	1967
Captain Scarlet Of Spectrum	MA 134	1967
Captain Scarlet Vs Captain Black	MA 135	1967
Themes From Gerry Anderson's Captain Scarlet	MA 136	1967

ALBUMS

World Of Tomorrow	MA 1
Introducing Thunderbirds/Marina Speaks	MA 2
End Of The Road/Trapped In The Sky	MA 3
Lady Penelope Investigates	MA 4
Includes F.A.B., Stately Home Robberies plus two songs
Tingha And Tucker Song Book	MA 5
Favourite TV Themes	MA 6

Dr Who - The Music Behind the Myth

By Steve Smith - Additional Information by Andrew Pixley

Whilst many popular TV shows have produced sucessful records - perhaps most often the theme tune - few have inspired such a host of records as has the BBC's long-running science fiction series Dr Who. The following is Who-ography of records from the show, or associated with it, that have been released since the programme was first aired in November 1963.

SINGLES

ARTIST	TITLE	CAT NO.	ISSUED
Ron Grainer/BBC Radiophonic Workshop	Dr Who Theme	Decca F 11837	02/64
Australian composer Ron Grainer came up with this distinctive theme tune with the help of a few boxes of tricks from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Although at the time of writing the future of the show is still held in a time vortex, this theme has been the basis of the title music for over twenty seven years. The original Decca release featured a dreadful renditioning of Rodgers and Hart's This Can't Be Love by Brenda and Johnny as the B-side. Released on Decca's standard silver lettering on dark blue background label design, it was re-released on the 4th February 1972 with a different label but otherwise identical details. There have been a number of significant updates and remixes of the theme, most notably by Dominic Glynn in 1986. Ron Grainer, himself responsible for many other film and TV themes, died in 1981.
Eric Winstone and his Orchestra	Doctor Who	Pye 7N 15603	??/64
A big band feel to the theme tune by band leader Eric Winstone.
The Go Joes	I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With a Dalek	Oriole CB 1982	12/64
If one market is bankable, then two is doubly so. The Go Joes go for the young Dalek audience, as well as the evergreen Christmas novelty record buyers. They failed badly on both counts. The B-side was Big Boss Man, the old Willie Dixon standard.
The Earthlings	Landing of the Daleks	Parlophone R 5242	02/65
Strictly speaking this was the B-side to March of the Robots, but because of the phenonemal popularity of Terry Nation's pepperpot aliens in the mid-sixties (bubble-bath, ice-cream, models etc) this was the side that got more attention. An instrumental, it found itself banned from the airwaves of the BBC because a morse distress signal on the record was considered to be confusing to shipping.
Jack Dorsey and his Orchestra	Dance of the Daleks	Polydor BM 56020	08/65
The famous Jack Dorsey leads his orchestra through a dance tune affiliated to the Daleks. I'd love to see the dance steps.
Roberta Tovey with Malcolm Lockyer	Who's Who	Polydor BM 56021	08/65
In the mid-sixties, two Dr Who spin-off feature films were made featuring Peter Cushing as the Doctor. His grand-daughter Susan was played in the films by Roberta Tovey who tried to cash-in on her role with this recording.
Malcolm Lockyer and his Orchestra	Eccentric Dr Who/Daleks and Thals	Columbia DB 7663	08/65
TV specialist Malcolm Lockyer with two sides of music relating to the show. The Thals mentioned on the B-side are the blond haired, blue-eyed co-inhabitants of Skaro, the Daleks home planet.
Frazer Hines	Who Is Dr Who	Major Minor MM 579	10/68
At the time of this records release, Frazer Hines was playing the Doctor's brave, young Scottish assistant Jamie McCrimmon. The record went nowhere but Frazer went on to play Joe Sudgen in Emmerdale Farm throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties (and even ended up having a screen affair with the girl who played Jenna in Blake's 7). Frazer's brother Iain used to play keyboards with the sixties group the Jets who played in Hamburg in the wake of the Beatles.
Jon Pertwee	Who Is the Doctor?	Purple PUR 111	??/72
The third incarnation of the Doctor himself with this vocal over the top of a variation of the theme tune. The label is more associated with those Heavy Metal stalwarts Deep Purple, and quite how this release ended up there, I can't be sure. This was re-issued by the BBC in 1983 (BBC 453) backed with Malcolm Clarke's incidental music from the Sea Devils story. It was re-issued once more in 1984 (Safari DOCTOR 1) coupled with the Blood Donor record listed below.
BBC Radiophonic Workshop	Dr Who	BBC RESL 11	??/73
A new version of the theme released whilst Jon Pertwee was playing the title role. Re-issued in 1976 in conjunction with Pye.
Dudley Simpson	Moonbase 3/The World of Doctor Who	BBC RESL 13	??/73
Incidental music from the Cyberman adventure Moonbase.
Don Harper's Homo Electronicus	Dr Who Theme	EMI 923	??/73
One of the more sought after Dr Who related records,that to the best of my knowledge is just a variation of the theme tune. I don't have it (Sob! Sob!), so much more I cannot say.
Art Attacks	I am a Dalek	Albatross TIT 1	02/78
Another very highly collectable disc, though not so much for it's Dr Who connections. The Art Attacks were a New Wave band who included Edwin Pouncey (Sound's Savage Pencil cartoonist) on vocals. Rob Gotobed (Wire) was also a member but not at the time this was recorded.
Mankind	Dr Who	Pinnacle PIN 71	11/78
A discofied version of the theme tune that became a surprising hit singlein 1978.
Blood Donor	Doctor...?	Safari SAFE 29	09/80
There is very little I can tell you about this record I'm afraid, so I'll tell you that Safari was better known for releasing records by Wayne County, Toyah and the Teenbeats.
Peter Howell/BBC Radiophonic Workshop	Doctor Who	BBC/PRT RESL 80	??/80
A new version of the official theme to coincide with Peter Davison becoming the fifth Doctor. Issued in a picture sleeve and re-released in 1982 on BBC/Gemcon (BBC 451).
Bullamakanka	Dr Who is Gonna Fix It	BBC RESL 132	11/83
Another one of which I have no details. Was there some connection with Jim'll Fix It? What on earth does that band name mean? This may also have been released earlier (1982?)
Peter Howell	K9 and Company	Sold Gold SGR 117	??/82
K9 was of course the Doctors mechanical pet hound who appeared between seasons 15 and 18. This piece of music was re-issued on BBC Records (BBC 456) in 1983.
Mankind	Dr Who - The Sequel	Motor MTR 001	01/84
Available on both 12" and 7" this was just a rehash of their 1978 hit, and featured the same B-side - Time Traveller.
Who Cares	Doctor in Distress	Record Shack DOC 1	04/85
Again issued on both 7" and 12" formats, this was a charity record featuring various pop stars alongside stars from the show. The gathering came about when it was announced that the BBC was shelving Dr Who for an indefinate period. Proceeds went to charity. Stars appearing included John Lodge, Justin Hayward, Rick Butler, David Van Day, and Hazell Dean.
Dominic Glynn	Doctor Who	BBC RESL 193	??/86
A new remix of the theme. It was backed by Mankind's Cosmic remix of their version, and released as a cassette single (ZRSL 193).
The Timelords	Doctorin' the Tardis	KLF 003	05/88
The Timelords (aka the JAMMS, aka the KLF aka Bill Drummond and Jimmy Caulty) with a UK number one hit single that mixes the Dr Who theme with Gary Glitter's Rock 'n' Roll Part 2 and the Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. The producer was an American car! Also available as a 7" shaped picture disc (KLF 003P), on 12" in two different versions (KLF 003T & KLF 003R), as a 3" CD on TVT (4042), as a 5" CD video (KLF CD003), and as a quite rare white label 7" featuring Gary Glitter and retitled Gary in the Tardis (KLF 003(S)).
Doctor Who	Variations on a Theme	Metro Music 12 MMI 4	12/89
A 12" only release (also available as an alternate mix (12X MMI 4) and as a normal and a square CD single (CD MMI 4)) which was exactly as it says - variations on the theme music by various performers.
???	Theme From Abslom Daak - Dalek Killer	Xenon 12XEN	??/90
Not directly related to the TV show but referring to a character created for the Marvel Comics Dr Who Monthly magazine.

MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTORS ITEMS (FOR COMPLETISTS ONLY)

Cybermen	Cybermen EP	?????	??/78
Dalek I Love You	Various Releases	????	c.1980
Liverpool New Wave band (later Dalek I) who released several singles in the early eighties.
Daleks	This Life	?????	?????	??/??
Human League	Tom Baker	Virgin VS 395	02/81
B-side of single, available with or without gatefold sleeve.
Brains of Morbius	Kill You Neighbours	Flim Flam HARP 10T	03/88
12" release from group who call themselves after a Tom Baker story.

The discography also included listings of Doctor Who related EPs (The Daleks) and Albums/CDs/Cassettes (covering the BBC and DWAS soundtracks, The Pescatons and the Silver Fist tapes), but as these listings are no different to the Record Collector article we have not reproduced them here.

next: Record Collector 209
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