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New BBC Test Card Music CD From Apollo Sound

Reviewed by Keith Hamer

The first commercially-available CD to be released featuring BBC Test Card music was produced by Chandos Records. This was reviewed recently in Test Cards. Hot on the heels of Chandos comes a CD issued by the mood music publisher, Apollo Sound. This company has produced music for the radio, television and film industries for many years.

Until now, it has been virtually impossible to obtain BBC Test Card music. This is a pity because there are a lot of fans out there with cash-in-hand just waiting for CD’s like the ones from Chandos Records and Apollo Sound to emerge from the dusty archive shelves. The Apollo Sound CD (ASCD 206) features twenty pieces of digitally re-mastered recordings.

Was The ‘Repertoire Advisor’ On Holiday?

The job of compiling music for a CD of this nature is relatively simple because all the pieces were originally carefully hand-picked for quality by BBC compilers in Broadcasting House from thousands of discs in their gram library; only the very best were chosen to accompany the Test Card!

Producers of CD’s devoted to BBC Test Card music can hardly fail to please the listening public because all the pieces have already undergone a stringent vetting procedure by the BBC compilers and have stood the test of time. The music on the Apollo Sound CD is, therefore, superb and should be included in anyone’s collection.

The only minus point is the total lack of information supplied by the ‘repertoire advisor’. Unlike the Chandos CD which gave transmission dates (some of which were, incidentally, hopelessly wrong!), the Apollo Sound release makes no attempt at all to help Test Card aficionados pinpoint the era when the music was used. This is a serious omission and begs the question as to just what exactly was the so-called ‘advisor’ doing! His involvement (if there was any!) seems entirely superfluous. Was he simply on some huge ego trip?

The selection includes works by English, Polish, Hungarian, Slovenian and German composers. The music, written for big-band and smaller ensembles, is played by top orchestras including the Polish Radio Orchestra and the Budapest Radio Orchestra.

The Apollo Sound CD (reference number ‘ASCD 206’) features the following superb pieces:-

  Title Duration Remarks
1. Flying Over San Jose 2’ 40" 1
2. The Girl I Love 3’ 00" 2
3. Now Or Never 3’ 02" 3
4. Pondering 2’ 52" 2
5. Look Out. 2’ 21" 3 & 4
6. Up And Up 2’ 20" 2
7. February 3’ 09" 1
8. Tropicana 3’ 58" 2
9. Canzona D’Amore 2’ 55" 3 & 4
10. My Fate And You 2’ 34" 1
11. The Lights Of Hong Kong 2’ 35" 5
12. When You Smile 2’ 58" 2
13. Better Luck Next Time 3’ 53" 4
14 Golubchik 3’ 10" 2
15 Janice In Wonderland 6’ 05" 5
16 So Lovingly 3’ 15" 2
17. Enjoy Yourself 2’ 10" 2
18. My Dear Cousin Julia 2’ 13" 4 & 1
19. Danger 2’ 18" 2
20. There Will Be Yet Another Day 2’ 48" 2
  Total Time: 63 Min. 11 Sec. (Approximately).    
       

Key To ‘Remarks’ Column :

Because the so-called ‘repertoire advisor’ seems to have failed to advise listeners about anything, we are doing his job for him by providing below details regarding dates of transmission and the overall titles of the one-hour sequences. It’s a real enigma as to why the ‘advisor’ didn’t apparently do any advising for this CD because he obtained most of his present knowledge about BBC Test Card music from Keith Hamer over a 10-year period beginning in 1976 so he should have had all the correct details for the CD at his fingertips!

  1. BBC-2 10/5/75-5/1/77 (Sleigh Ride/ Flying Over San Joze or Flying Over San Jose)
  2. BBC-1 30/1/76-September 77 (Gentle As The Rain Drops/Tropicana)
  3. BBC-1 -/7/78-December 79 (Galloping Away/Melancholic Rock)
  4. BBC-1 17/3/82- May 84 (Spanish Kitten On Keys/Summer, Sunny, Holiday)
  5. BBC-1 12/11/79-November 81 (Egyptian Castanet/Jeff’s Special)

The titles in parenthesis indicate firstly the overall title given to the sequence by the author; the second title given is the first piece listed on the official BBC Music Reporting forms.

Availability

We understand from Heinz Herschmann (proprietor of Apollo Sound) that this CD will not be available in High Street records shops for some considerable time. However, enthusiasts will be pleased to know that it is available now from the following address:-

HS Publications, 7 Epping Close, Mackworth Estate, Derby DE22 4HR.

The price is £15.75, including UK postage and packing (for readers overseas, please write for Airmail prices).

Please make Cheques/Postal Orders, etc., payable to ‘HS Publications’. The CD previously issued by Chandos (called ‘Test Card Classics’) is also available from HS Publications. The CD price is £15.95 (Audio Cassette £9.99), including UK P&P.

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