Testcard and Library music - any fans here?

[whiskas]

Hi All,

I enjoy collecting (and of course listening to) old testcard / library music often used in and between TV programmes in the old days..
There have been some great CD's of this genre released, [albeit sometimes in very small run numbers], it seems there is a small but fanatical following these days.. does anyone else here have a similar musical penchant?

[high_vacuum_house]

Yes indeed. It is a much forgotten light music source

I have to confess I put some test card C music from both BBC and ITA tracks on a USB stick and play this in my works van when there is nothing of interest on radio 4.

Christopher Capener

[HamishBoxer]

Dare I admit I belong to the Test Card Circle since day one!

[Nuvistor]

I have a CD of about 20 tracks I listen to in the car, again when nothing of interest on the radio.

[dazzlevision]

Are you aware of The Test Card Circle?

http://www.testcardcircle.org.uk

Having repaired TVs since the late 1960s, I "had" to listen to the music and could amaze "non-TV repair people" friends by humming the next track before it began!

I still enjoy listening to it, having acquired many of the CDs issued that contain "library" music tracks, as used to accompany the (BBC1 and 2 and Channel 4) test cards, and TV show theme tunes, etc.

[Panrock]

I'm a longstanding fan of Light Music and have many of the Guild series of CDs, originally obtained via the Robert Farnon Society.

I find this sort of music melodious and atmospheric. There is clearly a nostalgic aspect but I also feel it's no exaggeration to say it "makes the heart sing".

Played between programmes? The CD on today in the workshop included the piece used in the 'Fishes' BBC Interlude.

Steve

[Richard_FM]

I'm interesting in library music, when I was more interested in Melbrum's Home Page & Transdiffusion I was interested to find which tracks had been used for TV themes.

[ben]

There is some amazing library music out there. The 60s and 70s KPM, Amphonic, Bruton, DeWolfe and Programme Music libraries are well worth investigating.

Many of the artists were made up names, for contractual reasons. You had things like the 'Oscar Bernstein orchestra' (there was no such person, O.B. stood for outside broadcast as the sessions were reportedly held in Europe to avoid MU regs).
Some of my favourite artists: Zack Laurence, Alan Hawkshaw, Syd Dale, Johnny Gregory, Keith Mansfield, Geoff and Trevor Bastow, James Clarke, Steve Gray, John Fiddy, Duncan Lamont...So many great session players. Brian Bennett from the Shadows featured heavily on KPM.

There were a few CDs made in the 90s ideal for those wanting to test the water ( pardon the pun): 'Test Card Classics' /'Big Band width'. EMI's 'Sound Gallery' is also well worth finding.

[whiskas]

Wow what a surprise how many of you are into the library music scene..
I have quite a few CD's which are absolute keepers, my favourites being:

Watch With Teacher - 2CD's of music from ITV schools intervals
Lost in Transmission - various library, some startup music etc
Test Card Classics (vol 1 &2) - title says it all
Soundtracks Great and Small - similar kind of compilation to 'Lost in Transmission'
KPM The big beat vol 2

I thorughly recommend all of these, but they're tough to find, especially at a sane price as most are out of print.

+ I have some other KPM titles I bought on Bleep.com who host legitimate download sales of some of the KPM catalogue - available in WAV or MP3 formats.

I will look into the Test card circle

[suebutcher]

I'm a KPM fan myself, with a shelf full of 78s discarded by ATV-0 Melbourne.

[ben]

Forgot to mention earlier... In case anyone was unaware, there are some fantastic Test card tapes (the original compilations as-TX'd) on Youtube. Example

[dominicbeesley]

I'm a huge fan of KPM library music (and other stuff like Piero Umiliani) a lot of the KPM stuff is on Spotify and I listen to it regularly while working - it's great music to work and drive to!

Ben, Bruton's a new one to me - I'm listening to some of it now

[Panrock]

Originally Posted by ben

Example

Lovely stuff! More up-tempo than interlude-style music in the '50s and where Easy Listening was at after the swinging sixties, with jazz influences etc. Great work-a-day music... optimistic and industrious.

I was one of the TAs operating the Leevers-Rich putting test card music out on BBC1 and BBC2 between 1969 and 1975. At the time the music seemed entirely forgettable and I have to admit the tapes could have been handled with more care. We never would have thought this music would come to symbolise an era.

Steve

[whiskas]

Thanks for the Youtube link Ben... some good stuff on there.. hadn't thought to look!

[HamishBoxer]

Great prog called Total Recorder,not free but ideal if you wish to record for your own use.

[julie_m]

Alan Hawkshaw is probably best known for the incidental music in Channel 4's Countdown. His daughter Kirsty was in the dance music group Opus III, who had a hit with It's a Fine Day in 1992.

[G6Tanuki]

I'm not really interested in testcard music, but am deeply fascinated by the music used in 1950s/1960s TV advertising and the background music for the short 'advertorials' that were commonplace in the same era [the "Here's Mayor Joe Bloggs cutting the ribbon to open the MacFisheries shop in Northampton's new shopping-centre and here's some of the delighted housewives on their first visit" - cue jazzy music - sort of thing]

[Andrew2]

Oh yes. I have both the Chandos testcard CD's and I love old interlude music. I've also got some compilations of 'The Queen's Hall Light Orchestra' output, which are full of tunes from my childhood days when I listened for hours on end to my bedroom radio (when I wasn't tinkering with it...).

[Andrew2]

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

I'm not really interested in testcard music, but am deeply fascinated by the music used in 1950s/1960s TV advertising and the background music for the short 'advertorials' that were commonplace in the same era [the "Here's Mayor Joe Bloggs cutting the ribbon to open the MacFisheries shop in Northampton's new shopping-centre and here's some of the delighted housewives on their first visit" - cue jazzy music - sort of thing]

I love that stuff too, including the films themselves. They were often cheerily voiced by Bob Danvers-Walker or Tim Turner and seeing and hearing them instantly transports one back to Ye Olde Days of black & white telly and visits to the cinema.

[Richard_FM]

Pages From Ceefax was another use of stock music, many times I remember watching this waiting for children's programmes to start in the school holidays. At the times my family didn't have a TV with teletext so I was good to see what I was missing.