David Lowe (television And Radio Composer)
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David Harry Lowe (born 11 April 1959) is an English composer and music producer. His work comprises primarily music for television, radio, commercials and
idents Station identification (ident, network ID, channel ID or bumper (broadcasting), bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand na ...
. Lowe is best known for his extensive work on theme tunes for bulletins and programmes for
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
.


Early life and career

Lowe has never received any formal musical education, and began his early career in broadcasting. He started part-time work at BBC Radio Birmingham (now BBC Radio WM) while still a student at Riland Bedford (now Plantsbrook School) in
Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...
. Based at the former Pebble Mill Studios, he developed a strong interest in sound production, and was keen to work full-time for the
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 ...
. He was unsuccessful at getting a position, however, and continued freelancing at BBC WM until 1981 when he attained a permanent post as a
location sound recordist A production sound mixer, location sound recordist, location sound engineer, or simply sound mixer is the member of a film crew or television crew responsible for recording all sound recording on set during the filmmaking or television production u ...
with Magpie Film Productions. During this time he became interested in the relatively new area of electronic music and synthesizers. He borrowed a Crumar Trilogy synthesizer from a friend and created his first multi-track compositions using two domestic cassette decks. He later acquired one of the first affordable polyphonic synthesizers, a
Roland Juno 6 The Roland Juno-60 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1982 and 1984. It followed the Juno-6, an almost identical synthesizer released months earlier. The Juno synthesizers introduced Roland's digitally control ...
. He formed a band with Samantha Meah called the Cool Fish, which found a reasonable amount of success, supporting
Ruby Turner Francella Ruby Turner MBE (born 22 June 1958) is a British Jamaican R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and actress. In a music career spanning more than 40 years, Turner is best known for her album and single releases in Europe and North Ameri ...
,
Fine Young Cannibals Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham, West Midlands, in 1984 by former The Beat band bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox with singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their self-titled ...
and appearing on Central Television. However Lowe was more interested in writing and studio production than live performance, and the band did not continue. His first opportunity to write for television came through a chance meeting with a graphic designer at BBC Pebble Mill, which led to Lowe's first TV commission for
BBC Midlands Today ''BBC Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasti ...
. Lowe saw this as the opportunity to fulfil both his passions for working in broadcasting and writing music, and from then on worked on furthering his career as a television composer. Lowe is a member of the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
(BAFTA) and the
British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors The Ivors Academy (formerly known as British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy works to protect and support and also campaigns the int ...
(BASCA). He has twice been awarded honorary doctorates, first by
Staffordshire University The University of Staffordshire is a public research university in Staffordshire, England. It has its main campus in Stoke-on-Trent and four other campuses in Stafford, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, and London. History In 1901, industrialist Alfred ...
in 2005, and then by
Birmingham City University Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic in 1971 an ...
in 2014.


Works


Albums and singles

In 1997, Lowe released his debut album, ''
Dreamcatcher In some Native Americans in the United States, Native American and First Nations in Canada, First Nations cultures, a dreamcatcher (, the Ojibwe language#Grammar, inanimate form of the word for 'spider') is a handmade willow hoop, on which is ...
''. He performed a live mix that year at the first Thames River Festival, which accompanied a record breaking tightrope walk across the river. His single " Would You...?" under the name Touch and Go was a top 3 hit in the UK in 1998 and a hit in the rest of Europe in early 1999. The album ''I've Noticed You Around'' spawned more hit singles in Eastern Europe and Russia. "Straight...to Number One" was chosen by Apple to launch the
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
site in the US, where every track on the album has been used in films, television and/or commercials.


BBC News

In 1999, Lowe created perhaps one of his most famous compositions, the current BBC News themes. Whilst previous themes had been orchestral, these new themes made extensive use of the ' pips' that are used on the hour on BBC Radio stations, along with more electric sounds. Since 1999 his themes have been remixed numerous times for BBC News in the UK as well as the international channel,
BBC World News BBC News is an international English-language pay television channel owned by BBC Global News Ltd. – a subsidiary of BBC Studios – and operated by the BBC News division of the BBC. The network carries news bulletins, documentaries, an ...
. Two CDs of Lowe's music have been released by the
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 ...
. ''BBC World: The Music'', released in 2001, is a compilation of some of Lowe's work for BBC World, made available after significant demand from viewers. For the BBC's coverage of the 2019 general election, Lowe remixed a version of "Arthur" from
Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakema ...
's rock concept album '' The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,'' bringing back a track that was previously used for BBC election night coverage from 1979 to 2005.


Television

David Lowe's first television composition was the 1983 title music for ''
BBC Midlands Today ''BBC Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasti ...
'', followed in 1988 by ''
BBC Wales Today ''BBC Wales Today'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Wales, broadcast on BBC One Wales from the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales in Central Square, Cardiff. According to the BBC, it is the world's longest-running television n ...
'' and he went back to
BBC Birmingham BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC, located in Birmingham. It was the first region outside London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio (in 1922) and television (in 1949) transmissions, the latter from t ...
and ''Midlands Today'' again in 1992, creating title music for both ''Midlands Today'' and '' Pebble Mill''. His work on other British television programmes includes ''
The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...
'', '' Countryfile'', ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...
'', '' Cash in the Attic'', '' Wildlife on One'' and '' The Really Wild Show'' (all on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
), ''
Newyddion ''Newyddion S4C'' (''S4C News'') is a Welsh language, Welsh-language news programme broadcast on S4C and produced by BBC Cymru Wales, covering national and international news stories from a Welsh perspective. History Welsh-language television ...
'' on
S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...
, ''
Grand Designs ''Grand Designs'' is a British television series that has broadcast on Channel 4 since 29 April 1999 and is presented by Kevin McCloud. Format Episodes generally follow a regular format, with small variations depending on the progress of t ...
'' on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
, and the Channel 5 motoring programme ''
Fifth Gear ''Fifth Gear'' is a British motoring television magazine series which has been broadcast since 2002. Originally shown on Channel 5 from 2002 to 2011 (and branded as ''5th Gear'' until 2005), it began as a continuation of the original version ...
''. He has also created musical identities for
BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
,
BBC Entertainment BBC Entertainment was an international television channel that broadcast comedy, drama, light entertainment, reality and children's programming (some regions only) from the BBC, Channel 4 and other UK production houses. The channel broadcast re ...
,
Euronews Euronews (stylised in lowercase) is a pan-European television news broadcasting, news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. It is a provider of livestreamed news, which can be viewed in Europe and North Africa via satellite, and in most of the ...
,
Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...
and
Abu Dhabi TV Abu Dhabi TV () is an Emirates-based television channel that was originally launched in 1969. It broadcasts content from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and is owned by Abu Dhabi Media. Abu Dhabi TV is managed by the Abu ...
in the Middle East,
NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...
in India, TV2 in Norway, and in 2013 for China's
CCTV-1 CCTV-1 (CCTV General Channel) is the primary channel of CCTV, the national flagship terrestrial television network of the People's Republic of China. It broadcasts a range of programs from CCTV Headquarters at East 3rd Ring Road in Beijing and ...
. For radio he produced the current identity for the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
, and for BBC Arabic Radio. Through his website, Lowe has released compilations of some of his television soundtracks. ''TV Chill'' is a mix from a variety of different programmes, whilst ''Grand Designs'' features a full-length arrangement of the main theme, and other music from the Channel 4 series. Both were produced after interest from viewers, including a request from one to have the ''Grand Designs'' music played at her wedding. ''Wild Caribbean'' features prominent use of Lowe's music from the BBC Two series of the same name, and remixes of his Touch and Go tracks "So Hot" and "Life's a Beach". Lowe was invited by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters to compose the theme for the 50th
Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...
ceremony in 2005. In 2006 he was commissioned to write the music for the BAFTA Film and Television Awards and for the BBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics.


Festivals and events

He has performed at several
WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...
festivals worldwide. In 2004, he was commissioned to provide a music soundscape for The Tropical Biome at the
Eden Project The Eden Project () is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay clay pit, pit.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map 107 – Fowey, Looe & Lostwithiel''. . The complex is dominated by two h ...
, which was performed at WOMAD Reading in 2005. Reinforced with several new songs, the material has been reworked to form his second ''Dreamcatcher'' album, ''What...is in Between?'', released on Oval Records in October 2006. Featured vocalists are poet and novelist
Benjamin Zephaniah Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (15 April 1958 – 7 December 2023) was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. Over his lifetime, he was awarded 20 honorary doctorates in recognition of his c ...
and Japanese artist and composer Mieko Shimizu, while Lowe himself sings on "Still The Greatest." Lowe also co-produced an album for poet
Roger McGough Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one ...
. Between excerpts of McGough's live performance, he set some of the poetry to music. Lowe was also commissioned to create a global themed remix of "
Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...
" by
Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...
for the
London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
Medal Presentations.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, David English composers English electronic musicians English television composers Living people 1959 births People from Sutton Coldfield