''BBC Radiophonic Workshop – 21'' is a compilation by the

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce Incidental music, incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering ...

to celebrate their 21st anniversary in 1979. It was compiled as an overview of their work both old and new, showcasing the changes in the Workshop as they developed from backroom

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...

suppliers for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Radio to full-fledged in-house music composers for the whole of the corporation. It demonstrates the move from the

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...

and tape-manipulation techniques used in the early days, to the

synthesiser A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

works of the 1970s. The first side of the album consisted of material from 1958 to 1971, covering their early work creating jingles, sound-effects and some incidental music. This side includes the first material by Workshop founder Desmond Briscoe to be commercially released, as well as sound effects from ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September ...

'', Maddalena Fagandini's

interval signal An interval signal, or tuning signal, is a characteristic sound or musical phrase used in international broadcasting, numbers stations, and by some domestic broadcasters, played before commencement or during breaks in transmission, but most comm ...

that later became " Time Beat", some of

Delia Derbyshire Delia Ann Derbyshire (5 May 1937 – 3 July 2001) was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme ...

's experimental work and the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

version of the ''Doctor Who'' theme music. The second side of the record covered the period between 1971 and 1979, including

Richard Yeoman-Clark Richard Yeoman-Clark was a British composer and sound engineer who worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1970 to 1978. Richard joined BBC Radio direct from St Albans School as a Technical Operator at Broadcasting House, moving to the Ex ...

material from popular BBC series ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four series of thirteen 50-minute episodes were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first series, prod ...

'' and Peter Howell's vocoder heavy "Greenwich Chorus" theme for ''

The Body in Question ''The Body in Question'' is a British-based, internationally co-produced medical television series first aired in the UK in November 1978. Premise This is a 13-part series (1 hour episodes) on all aspects of medicine and health science, writte ...

''. It was reissued on CD by Silva Screen Records on 22 April 2016.

Track listing

Side 1

# Desmond Briscoe - "''

Quatermass and the Pit ''Quatermass and the Pit'' is a British television science-fiction serial transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third and last of the BBC's ''Quatermass'' serials, although the chief character, Prof ...

''" #Dick Mills - "Major Bloodnock's Stomach" (from ''

'') #Desmond Briscoe - "Outside" # Phil Young - "Science and Industry" #Phil Young - "The Artist Speaks" #Phil Young - "The Splendour That Was Rome" #

Maddalena Fagandini Maddalena Fagandini (30 August 1929 – 29 November 2012) was an English electronic musician and television producer. She was employed by the BBC in the early 1950s, as part of their Italian Service, before becoming part of the pioneering BBC Ra ...

- "Interval Signal" #Desmond Briscoe - "Phra The Phoenician" #Desmond Briscoe - "Stick Up" #Maddalena Fagandini - "Interval Signal" (reworked as " Time Beat") #Maddalena Fagandini - "Ideal Home Exhibition" #

- "Time On Our Hands" #Delia Derbyshire - "Arabic Science and Industry" #Maddalena Fagandini - "The Chem Lab Mystery" #Delia Derbyshire - "Know Your Car" #Delia Derbyshire - "''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''" #

Brian Hodgson Brian Hodgson (born 1938) is a British television composer and sound technician. Born in Liverpool in 1938, Hodgson joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1962 where he became the original sound effects creator for the science fiction programm ...

- "

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space") is a fictional hybrid of a time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. While a TARDI ...

" #

John Baker John Baker or Jon Baker may refer to: Military figures *John Baker (American Revolutionary War) (1731–1787), American Revolutionary War hero, for whom Baker County, Georgia was named *John Baker (general) (1936–2007), Australian Chief of the ...

- "Choice" #John Baker - "Hardluck Hall" #Delia Derbyshire - "Talk Out" #Delia Derbyshire - "Science and Health" # Tony Askew - "Secrets of the Chasm" #Keith Salmon - "Westminster At Work" #Delia Derbyshire - "A New View Of Politics" #Delia Derbyshire - "Environmental Studies" #Delia Derbyshire - "Chronicle" #Delia Derbyshire - "Great Zoos of the World" #

Dudley Simpson Dudley George Simpson (4 October 1922 – 4 November 2017) was an Australian composer and conductor. He was the Principal Conductor of the Royal Opera House orchestra for three years and worked as a composer on British television. He worked on ...

- "Minds Of Evil" (from "

The Mind of Evil ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

Side 2

#Dick Mills - "Fanfare" #

Paddy Kingsland Paddy Kingsland (born 30 January 1947) is a composer of electronic music best known for his incidental music for science fiction series on BBC radio and television whilst working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Educated at Eggar's Grammar Schoo ...

- "Broken Biscuit Club" #

Roger Limb Roger James Limb is a British composer, specialising in electronic music. He was born in 1941 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He is best known for his work on the television series ''Doctor Who'' whilst at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. ...

- "The Plunderers" #

- "Mysterioso" (from ''

'') # Peter Howell - "Greenwich Chorus" #

Malcolm Clarke Malcolm Clarke may refer to: *Malcolm Clarke (zoologist) (1930–2013), British marine biologist *Malcolm Clarke (composer) (1943–2003), British composer *Malcolm Clarke (footballer) (1944–2004), Scottish footballer *Malcolm Clarke (filmmaker), ...

- "Hurdy Gurdy" #Dick Mills - "Martian March Past" #Paddy Kingsland - "A Whisper From Space" #Roger Limb - "Swirley" #Peter Howell - "Merry Go Round" #Malcolm Clarke - "

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

Serial" #Roger Limb - "Quirky" #Paddy Kingsland - "Newton" #Peter Howell - "The Secret War" #Dick Mills - "Thomas The Rhymer" #Malcolm Clarke - "Contact" #Roger Limb - "For Love Or Money"

References

External links

mb21 Discography entry
* BBC Radiophonic Workshop albums 1979 compilation albums BBC Records compilation albums {{1970s-compilation-album-stub