1970s FF Series Incidental Music.

Discuss the television and film adaptations of Enid Blyton's stories.
petejt
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by petejt »

One of the tunes that have perplexed me is a rather eerie, spooky one that sounds very mysterious and ghostly. I recall it most vividly in Billycock Hill when Julian, Dick, George, Timmy, and Toby explore the Old Hall (rather than the Billycock Caves like in the book) to find Toby's cousin Jeff Thomas.

It seems to be a whistled lead melody, with other spooky 'ooh' sounds as a "call and answer".

It was also played in Adventuring Again where Uncle Quentin finds his test tubes have been knocked over. The scene opens with George ready to burst into tears.

Here's the scene from YouTube, however part of the segment was cut. I have quoted part of it from memory:

Quentin: Please George, I'll give you one more chance. Are you or are you not responsible for this?"
George: No I didn't do it! (nearly cries)
*spooky music!*
Quentin: Very well then [in a rather heavy German accent]. GO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_0Od6Upvb0?t=11:51" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


I cannot find this song in the 'Drama Montage' .rar files that have been uploaded. But it definitely sounds like from that Bruton Music Library. There are also some guitar-based tunes in Adventuring Again that I cannot find. Does anyone know them please?
Last edited by petejt on 21 Dec 2017, 15:55, edited 1 time in total.
petejt
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by petejt »

Gary Russell wrote:Just watched that. First time I've seen anything of MM in years. Gawd, we were all sooooo young!
Haha! :lol:
petejt
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by petejt »

Does anyone please know the piece of incidental music that I mentioned in my 2nd previous post?
petejt
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by petejt »

I'm so sorry. I am meant to be time-stamping all of the incidental music for each episode. But I am now studying two postgraduate degrees so time is extremely limited. And yet at the same time, I am playing episodes of the "Famous Five" in the background!

Oh and can someone please answer my query regarding that eerie piece of incidental music? I still cannot track it down!
FiveFanDownunder
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by FiveFanDownunder »

Hi folks,

I posted this in the TV locations thread but probably should have posted here.

Tele80, a French label, producing CDs of music from 80s kids' TV, released a F5 ( Le Club des Cinq ) edition in 2015. Unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere new or second hand. Those chasing the incidental music, keep an eye out, and if anyone ever finds more than one for sale, post the link here after you've bought your own...

https://www.facebook.com/Tele80/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Midnight-Visitor
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by Midnight-Visitor »

petejt wrote: 21 Dec 2017, 15:51 One of the tunes that have perplexed me is a rather eerie, spooky one that sounds very mysterious and ghostly. I recall it most vividly in Billycock Hill when Julian, Dick, George, Timmy, and Toby explore the Old Hall (rather than the Billycock Caves like in the book) to find Toby's cousin Jeff Thomas.

It seems to be a whistled lead melody, with other spooky 'ooh' sounds as a "call and answer".
I know the music you're talking about petejt! Creepy tune indeed :shock:

It was also played during the scene in Episode 1 of Five go to Smugglers Top after the Five arrive at the House and Sooty activates the secret entrance to the tunnel from his Stepfather's Study.

Cue to that creepy music and a camera closeup of the closed door handle behind everyone slowly, silently turning :shock: Adding to the creepy factor is the person behind the door isn't shown on screen, although most viewers would probably know it's Block.

The Five, Sooty and Marybelle have a narrow escape as they've all entered the "Secret Way" and closed the door behind them just as the Study door opens properly.

PS: There's some sort of weird creeking noise in that music that I often thought was the doorhandle in this scene
FiveFanDownunder
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by FiveFanDownunder »

Well I've hit the jackpot on the incidental music for the 78 series, thanks to someone who's put up just about every Bruton music release from 1978/79, which as far as I can tell holds just about the lot of the music used. I have sent them my thanks!

I've been able to nail down almost all the tracks on the CD ( see post above ) on the original albums ... some have titles that correlate but many have somehow been renamed, which has made searching a long process. I can see why some people collect library music as a lot of it is very easy to listen to, and has a feeling now that seems to be unique to those TV days. I have a feeling to that there's a good few tunes that may have been used but didn't make the CD, probably due to space issues??.

There's a Bruton Music fan channel on Youtube at

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnRTE9 ... OnqD5VmlXw

and if you look for the albums below, you could see how you go listening out for the tunes.

Midnight visitor, I've had no luck listening out for that eerie track you mention for when the children are exploring The Old Hall' in Billycock.

I am also striking out on the very first music heard on Kirren Island ( called 'Under the mist' on the CD ) - can't find it anywhere yet - and as the track is used here and there and it seems often for Kirren scenes I do rather want to find it. Anyone fancy a try at finding it? 95% of the tracks are on 1978 releases, with just the one track ( Underwater Beauty ) on a 1979 album.

Drama Montage I
Darkside
Menace
Fear
Driving Force
Good Times
Leisure
Little Creatures
Four Season/Country Life
Thriller/Underwater Beauty

**** EDIT Ha ha I should have just looked on earlier pages in this forum ... would have saved an hour or two! But the chase has been fun ....
FiveFanDownunder
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by FiveFanDownunder »

Picking up on the great work of Petejt ( and others ) from some years ago.

That 'spooky' track ( Smugglers, Kirrin, and lots of stories ) is proving very elusive. I am assuming it can be found on a Bruton release but have nothing definite to back that up. Perhaps some music came from other sources.

From Petejt's list, it sounds like Soft Haze 4 was used at 00:47, and the track 'Perpetual Motion', from Advanced Technology ( BRL3 ) was used at 11:11 for the sequence where everybody was spying on everybody else. I am hopeful of indexing the music used throughout but like all the F5 projects they are long and frequently interrupted. The cue at 14:25 is 'Montego Bay', also used at 09:10 and 10:12. That's off 'Good Times' ( BRG4 )

Here is a link to 'Perpetual Motion' ... three tracks from 70s F5 are on this album: Place to Place, Revolving Patterns, Perpetual Movement.

https://www.universalproductionmusic.co ... Id:(28677)

The further we go through the series, the easier this will get ... I think? Plenty of tracks used throughout, so once identified, easily remembered.

Musical Cues Index : FIve on Kirren Island Part 1
00:47 – Soft Haze 1 ( 4? )
01:31 – Halcyon Days
02:17 – Unknown
02:26 – Halcyon Days
04:00 – Papillon
05:07 – Foiled Again
06:08 – Unknown (clarinet)
06:28 – Unknown (electric guitar)
07:17 – Unknown (goofy)
07:49 – Place to Place
09:00 – The Plot Link
09:10 – Montego Bay? (not sure)
11:11 – Unknown (arpeggiated guitar, lead bass) ( 'Perpetual Motion, from Advanced Technology, BRL3 )
13:00 – Startle 2
13:10 – Startle 1
14:25 – Unknown ( Montego Bay )
15:58 – End of Foiled Again
16:53 – Underwater Beauty 2 ( Suite of the Shark ) * Thanks Morgan Jones
18:45 – Foiled Again
19:48 – Foiled
20:35 – End of In Suspense
20:58 – Unknown (spooky)
21:44 – Unknown (spooky)
22:37 – Unknown
Last edited by FiveFanDownunder on 20 Feb 2023, 02:03, edited 1 time in total.
FiveFanDownunder
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by FiveFanDownunder »

Continuing with this list as I have a bit of spare time today. Hopefully some of the mystery music will be found.

Five on Kirren Island Part 2

In/Out: Cue:
01:06/01:56 Perpetual Movement
02:01/02:25 Unknown, tension building to crisis, as used in Smuggler's Top end Ep. 1
03:00/03:51 Unknown, spooky, as used in establishing the marshes in Smuggler's Top
04:26/04:35 Foiled ( Drama Montage )
04:39/05:51 Unknown, mournful tune; fairly certain this is its only appearance in the series
07:26/07:49 Startle 2 ( Drama Montage )
08:14/08:46 Unknown, eerie tune used in Smuggler's and Billycock for lonely, deserted moments such as exploring The Old Hall
08:48/08:59 Foiled Again ( Drama Montage )
09:45/11:19 Perpetual Movement ( looks to be entire track )
11:56/12:11 Unknown, tense electronic synth used for George exploring in UQ's underground lab
12:29/12:52 Startle 2
13:07/13:09 Startle 2 ( trimmed; end only )
13:13/13:22 Foiled
13:52/14:27 Hurry ( Driving Force; Trimmed )
14:48/15:40 Unknown, eerie as at 08:14
15:42/17:15 Moving Tension ( Driving Force )
17:45/18:21 Moving Tension
19:06/19:20 Foiled Again ( Drama Montage )
20:34/22:03 Dissolves ( Darkside )
22:51/13:04 Unknown, upbeat jig, also used in Smuggler's for the drive to stay with Sooty

I've double checked, but don't assume perfection! Timings taken from the clips off my YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@fivefandownunder1462 which are derived directly from the mpegs of the BluRay release
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Morgan Jones
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by Morgan Jones »

You’re correct about the uses of Montego Bay in Part One.

The Xylophone track at 16:53 is Underwater Beauty 2 by Andrew Jackman. Here it is in full:

https://youtu.be/jXzXyEHQOVo

Not sure about the other unknowns but I am looking!
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FiveFanDownunder
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by FiveFanDownunder »

Morgan Jones,

Thanks. Not quite sure why I had it as unknown as I found that track a while ago ( thanks to a facebook post by Zoe Billings actually ) but I am in a bit of a rush with these things usually. Much appreciated, and I've updated the list.

Best wishes with the searching, these vinyl abulms are no doubt not the original source for the music used in the series as the episiodes were being broadcast at the same time the albums were being released. I know a few of the Bruton releases are re-issues of 'Regency Line' library music, but there is precious little of that available to check through Youtube or library music sites etc. Many of these are dated 1975 which makes them suitable candidates for exploring!

Brian Bennet and some of the other writers were with KPM before forming Bruton, and the number of albums they put out is quite daunting.

Hopefully one day there'll be a breakthrough with the mystery music, much of it noted on this forum through the years.
FiveFanDownunder
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by FiveFanDownunder »

ADVENTURING AGAIN music cues

In/ Track/ Out

0:50 Halcyon Days 1:10
1:30 Halcyon Days 1:42
2:12 'Spooky' theme 2:51 *. ( I think this is Rusty Menace based on Marc’s great new info )
3:43 Underwater Beauty 2 4:49 Likely whole track used
5:09 Unknown ( Mr Barling's Theme ) 5:46 *. ( I think this is the Horror 1 track, used for Barling in ST )
6:33 Spooky music + flourish 6:58 *
7:45 Papillon 8:52
9:36 Papillon 9:39
9:59 Creepy piano music 10:04 *
10:41 Tense theme 11:10 *
11:11 Spooky whistles 11:17 *
11:46 Clarinet theme + sting 11:50 *
11:58 Spooky theme 13:10 *
13:53 Percussion/trumpet track ( Block ) 14:26 *
14:28 Sting *
14:38 Bass guitar and drum ( as for Dirty Dick's arrival at Two Trees in Hike ) 15:07 *
15:16 Electric guitar 15:38 *
16:12 Startle 16:40
16:42 Xylophone ( as for Mr Barling ) 17:05 *
17:21 Moving Tension 18:55
19:18 Underwater Beauty 2 20:24
20:53 Spooky theme 21:15 *
21:18 Guitar, bass, trumpet chase 22:37 *
22:47 Guitar sting *
22:48 drums and flute sting 22:57 *
23:22 Flute jingle; close 23:30 *

Lots of unknowns here!
Last edited by FiveFanDownunder on 18 Mar 2024, 12:47, edited 1 time in total.
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Morgan Jones
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by Morgan Jones »

I’ve listened to all those unknowns and they don’t ring any bells with me. I think another library must have been used besides Regency Line/Bruton - there were quite a few around: KPM, Boosey and Hawkes, Intersound, Parry….
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Marc
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by Marc »

Does anyone know about that tune in the meanwhile?

"22:51/13:04 Unknown, upbeat jig, also used in Smuggler's for the drive to stay with Sooty"
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Morgan Jones
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Re: 1970s series incidental music.

Post by Morgan Jones »

I wish I could identify that tune. It’s used a lot in Series 1, but I haven’t heard it anywhere else (unlike most of the other tracks which have cropped up in other productions).
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