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Love the Zero X Theme. I really can't choose a single favorite Gray track. The Doppelganger main title is also lovely. The thing is, and I mean this as no criticism, Gray used a LOT of strongly Spanish-moded themes in 'Thunderbirds', including that Zero X theme, indeed the main theme fits that too, especially in the central string trio of the ternary form. I can't think why he did that, other than that he loved the style .... or took a lot of Spanish holidays ...
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DP.
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If I had to pick just one it would be the ZERO-X theme.
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For me the answer is SPACE: 1999's main title. I just love that rousing call to action. It even overcomes my general dislike of rockin' electric guitar, which means it must be truly great.Me, too. That's Year One (1974). Year Two had a pretty good score (but not as good as S1 ) by Derek Wadsworth. Season 2 is when the wheels came off the Anderson productions. No Sylvia, no Barry Gray. No atmosphere. Things would never be the same again. Season 2 Space 1999's theme is ok but just not in the same league. Same can be said about Terrahawks. The less said about everything else, including Space Precinct the better. That drum roll at the start of Season one's titles tells you that the inspiration was 2001, and helps make the theme that bit classier before it lurches into that rockin' electric guitar, and the brass sections are reassuringly Thunderbirds era Gray. Wonderful. No doubt Fred Frieberger had the idea to can Barry's music along with a few other 'improvements', and in the process killed it dead.
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No doubt Fred Frieberger had the idea to can Barry's music along with a few other 'improvements', and in the process killed it dead. Did it have much to do with Freiberger? He always gets the blame for everything of course - often with good cause. But in The Making of Space: 1999 Gerry Anderson recalls how they decided to try for a more upbeat sound to improve the pacing. Anderson, over the years, dodged a lot of the blame for Year 2 but when it comes to the music - and bearing in mind they'd changed the style for Into Infinity (a show that Freiberger had nothing to do with) before 1999's second season - can we not assume this was more Anderson's idea? (And, probably, ITC's too...) I suspect budgetary considerations came into play too, since I imagine Derek Wadsworth came 'cheaper' than Barry Gray? Agree totally, by the way, that Gray's Year One theme was superior to Wadsworth's Year Two theme. Incidentally with regards to the rock interludes in the Year One theme, it's probably right to give at least some credit to Vic Elms (though he rarely gets it). Wadsworth's music - which I like very much indeed - suited the style of show which Space: 1999 had become. It's a shame Wadsworth's film/tv career never really came to anything.
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When I used to DJ, I would always play the two funky tracks on Space 1999. The ones on the RCA album that have nothing to do with the series or Barry Gray?
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When I used to DJ, I would always play the two funky tracks on Space 1999. The ones on the RCA album that have nothing to do with the series or Barry Gray? I heard once that they were from a porn movie or something...
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When I used to DJ, I would always play the two funky tracks on Space 1999. The ones on the RCA album that have nothing to do with the series or Barry Gray? I heard once that they were from a porn movie or something... They were from the Bruton music library, which I think was part of ATV Music then. They certainly got used in shows like Return of the Saint, and by the nature of the fact they were two library tracks, I should think it not unlikely they got used in porn films too Irving Martin, who co-wrote those tracks, has been annoyed ever since that they were put on the RCA Space: 1999 album without his knowledge or approval.
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I'm far from being an expert on Barry Gray's music but there was a rhythmic driving track that opens an episode of one of the series, setting the scene for a high class coastal resort at night. Does that ring a bell with anyone? Hi Peter, I think you are referring to the episode "The Man from MI5." The track is called the James Bondson theme and is on the Silva Screen compilations. It is great fun and a terrific take on John Barry's James Bond Theme (Yes, I know. As Barry could well have said, This never happened to the other fellow.) Stan
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A Space: 1999 track I never get enough of is "Flowers for Helena," the cue that played at the end of many S1 episodes. Unofficial title: "You Must Respect the Mysteries of the Universe." Utterly sublime.
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