In the last decade, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop have shot from being a fond memory to a national obsession.
Their legacy is now set in stone, and the team (which included Delia Derbyshire, Dick Mills, Paddy Kingsland and more) put together pioneering compositions for Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Quatermass and Blake’s 7 (among many more), which still sound just as confounding now as they did in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Thankfully the resurgence of interest has caused plenty of buried material to be uncovered and re-issued, and now two classic sets are to receive the deluxe treatment.
BBC Radiophonic Music was recorded in 1968 and intended as a library recording for the BBC’s drama producers, and while it was released commercially in 1971 this is the first time it’s been on vinyl in its complete original form. The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was a more traditional compilation, and released in 1975 bundled up some of the team’s most popular sounds.
The Radiophonic Workshop will be performing live at the London Electronic Arts Festival in Shoreditch on November 9. Led by founder member Dick Mills, the group also contains Paddy Kingsland, Peter Howell, Roger Limb and Mark Ayres, and have only performed together once before, and you can grab tickets here.
Both albums will be pressed to 180g vinyl, and will be released on November 25.
Tracklist:
BBC Radiophonic Music
Side A
01 Radio Sheffield
02 Radio Nottingham
03 Boys and Girls
04 Mattachin
05 Pot eu Feu
06 Time and Tune
07 Tomorrow’s World
08 Reading Your Letters
09 Blue Veils and Golden Sands
10 The Missing Jewel
11 Artbeat
12 Fresh Start
13 Christmas Commercial
14 Sea Sports
15 The Delian Mode
Side B
01 The Frogs Wooing
02 Milky Way
03 Structures
04 New Worlds
05 Ziwzih Ziwzih OO-OO-OO
06 Festival Time
07 The Chase
08 Towards Tomorrow
09 Quiz Time
10 P.I.G.S.
11 Autumn and Winter
12 Door to Door
13 Factors
14 War of the Worlds
15 Crossbeat
16 Air
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Side A
01 La Grande Pièce de la Foire de la Rue Delaware
02 Brio
03 Adagio
04 Geraldine
05 Bath Time
06 Nénuphar
Side B
01 Major Bloodnok’s Stomach
02 The Panel Beaters
03 Crazy Dazy
04 Veils and Mirrors
05 Romanescan Rout
06 Schlum Rooli
07 Kitten’s Lullaby
08 Waltz Antipathy
09 The World of Science
