Part of a recent series of De Wolfe library compilations, here we have the very recent and decent Top Dog. Subtitled "A Retrospective Of Classic TV & Radio Themes 1960-1982", Top Dog does what it says on the tin. I'll be honest and say that, personally speaking, I'm not too chuffed with it due to the simple fact that most - if not all - of these tracks can be found on other similar (and better) compilations. But if you need yet another easy listening/lounge/library tv and radio theme collection then this will certainly do for a pleasant enough listen. Best thing to be said about Top Dog is that there are plenty of classics on here and the sound quality is beautifully crisp and sparkly. Many a library/tv music composer legend is catered for with Johnny Hawksworth in particular getting a good amount of coverage. Retro/cult British tv theme faves such as "Eye Level" (aka the theme from Van Der Valk), "Liberty Bell" (you know it best as Monty Python's Flying Circus), "Domino" (Never The Twain), "Up To Date" (Man About The House), "Distant Hills" (Crown Court), "George & Mildred" (aka... George & Mildred) and the funktastic "Precinct" (previously the theme to the cult 70s Jon Pertwee-hosted murder quiz Whodunnit?) along with the whacky offbeat themes to the Bob Godfrey animated classics Henry's Cat and Roobarb and a few lesser heard tracks make Top Dog a very palatable - if not entirely essential - collection. Also, for newcomers to collecting cult tv/library music, Top Dog isn't a bad place to start.
Top Dog - A Retrospective Of Classic TV & Radio Themes 1960-1982
De Wolfe
2010
130 mb
RS / MU
1. Eye Level - John Trombey (Van Der Valk)
2. Accroche-Toi, Caroline - Claude Vasori (Vision On)
3. Roobarb - Johnny Hawkworth (Roobarb & Custard)
4. Liberty Bell - Sousa (Monty Python's Flying Circus)
5. Top Dog - Ivor Slaney (The Men from The Ministry)
6. George & Mildred - Johnny Hawksworth (George & Mildred)
7. Comedy Hour - Ivor Slaney (Harry Worth)
8. The Gonk - Herbert Chappell (Seeing and Doing)
9. Left Bank Two - Wayne Hill (Vision On 'The Gallery' Theme)
10. Precinct - Simon Haseley (Whodunnit!)
11. The Power Game - Wayne Hill (The Power Game)
12. Up To Date - Johnny Hawksworth (Man About the House)
13. The Greatest Show On Earth - Peter Reno (Queenie's Castle)
14. Fruity Flutes - Reg Wale (Farmhouse Kitchen)
15. Ready To Serve - Johnny Hawksworth (Delia Smith's Cookery Course)
16. Inspector Rose - J, Snow (The Odd Man)
17. Radioscope - Georges Delerue (The Round Britain Quiz)
18. Henry's Cat - John Hyde (Henry's Cat)
19. Trombones On Parade - Jack Trombey (Junior Showtime)
20. Flatrock - Willi Andrea (The Kids from 47A)
21. Merry Ocarina - Pierre Arvay (Vision On 'Humphrey the Tortoise' Theme)
22. The Mugwamp - Reg Wale (Angling Today)
23. Domino - Jack Trombey (Never the Twain)
24. Rita De La Terre Earth - Edward Michael (Timeslip)
25. Tonight and Every Night - Frank Spencer (Tonight)
26. Distant Hills - Peter Reno & Simon Haseley (Crown Court)
Ripped, encoded & tagged by X-Y-Z-Cosmonaut @ 320 kbps.
