Musically, visually, and emotionally, he transcended so many barriers that even categorizing him as a rock & roller seems somehow stingy. And, if it is at all oxymoronic that the King of British Glam should be responsible for one of the national anthems of American Football, then that is simply further testament of what made Gary glitter so brightly. The hits which catapulted him to fame in the early '70s, the anthemic "Rock and Roll" of course, but also the likes of "I'm the Leader of the Gang," "Do You Wanna Touch Me," and "I Love You Love Me Love," still have the capacity to stir an audience - as "Rock and Roll" itself proves, every time it airs at a major sporting event in the U.S.
DR WHO SONG GARY GLITTER FULL
In the case of Jon Pertwee's 'vocal' version of the TV theme, maybe not.Although the late '90s apparently saw the end of Gary Glitter's career, following his conviction for sexual offenses, there is no doubting that for a full 25 years before that tragic denouement, Glitter ranked among Britain's best-loved performers of all time. Theme tune covers and remixes are uploaded almost weekly to one site and the quaint antiquities of the Radiophonic Workshop have been compressed into web toys like the BBC's Radiophonatron.īut is any of this music actually worth listening to for its own sake? In the case of Lex Records' recent hip-hop album Beat Journey (by Dr Who Dat), I say definitely. In the world of user-generated content Dr Who doesn't just provide inspiration to bedroom musicians but a whole palette of sounds and visuals with which to play.
DR WHO SONG GARY GLITTER SERIES
But production delays had it jostling with the launch of the revamped TV series and it was scrapped. In 2004 the BBC planned an album called Resistance Is Futile: Doctor Who Remixed, which was to feature St Etienne (who finished recording There There My Brigadier), 808 State (The Master's theme), The Orb and Coldcut. The best series of songs inspired by Dr Who is annoyingly locked away in a record company vault. And when Floyd played One Of These Days from the Meddle album live the full Who theme would often make a cameo: > Elsewhere, like in prog-rock land, Pink Floyd's Sheep - from 1977's Animals - bears an uncanny resemblance to the Dr Who theme both with the dang-da-dang bassline and swooshing sound effects. The Human League had released their tribute to Tom Baker as the B-side to 1981's Boys And Girls single. One of Orbital's forefathers had got there before them, though.
Their 2001 album The Altogether had a very faithful recreation of Delia Derbyshire's work titled Doctor? and they took it one stage further with this classic half ambient/half drum & bass live version at Glastonbury in 2004: > But while the KLF were always happy to take the mickey, the biggest bona fide Whovians in dance music were to be Orbital.
DR WHO SONG GARY GLITTER MANUAL
The most obvious pop homage to Dr Who has to be The KLF's Doctorin' The Tardis, a number one hit and proto-mash up confusion of the TV theme and Gary Glitter which led to the publication of their classic book, The Manual (How To Have A Number One The Easy Way).
And the influence of all this on the world of wonky pop is evidenced by the fact that Mute Records currently re-release this catalogue, not the BBC itself. Delia Derbyshire made tape loops and deconstructed pianos to create the original 1963 theme and Dudley Simpson was the leading light behind the incidental music. Consider the evidence.įirstly the stellar work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, possibly the world's only tax-funded avant garde recording studio. But does the music world owe a debt of gratitude to Who, too? I think so. Delia Derbyshire on the wheels of steel The impact of Doctor Who on science fiction, on 9.8 million viewers last Saturday night and on nine-year-olds everywhere is well documented.
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