By Darren Allison, Cinema Retro Soundtracks Editor
Silva Screen Records have added to their
excellent Barry Gray series of soundtracks with the first ever vinyl release of
The Secret service (1968) (SILLP1681). The origins of the series The Secret
Service began in 1968. Whilst working at Pinewood Studios, Gerry Anderson
bumped into a familiar face of stage and screen: comic actor Stanley Unwin.
With his whimsical charm and hilarious gibberish double talk (playfully
christened ‘Unwinese’) Unwin had earned great popularity throughout the 50s and
60s and the Anderson's immediately knew that they had found someone to base
their next puppet series on. For several years the Century 21 team had toyed
with directly basing a puppet character on a real-life actor, now the time had
come to make it a reality. Duly, the Andersons developed a premise around
Unwin, returning to their ‘unlikely spy’ scenario which had worked so well with
Joe 90. They created ‘Father’ Unwin, a kindly priest who, despite outwardly
disappearing into whimsy, doubles as a determined agent for British
Intelligence. In the serie,s the lines would be blurred even further between
the miniature Supermarionation world and reality, as live action footage of
Stanley Unwin would also be used in the series.
To appropriately reflect The Secret Service’s
premise and compliment the gentle title sequence created to introduce the
series, Barry Gray decided to step completely away from his usual
attention-grabbing themes and write a three-part fugue in the style of the
Baroque composer Bach. To perform the vocals, the Mike Sammes Singers were
hired, the vocal group who Gray had used on the Supercar theme back in 1961.
Once coupled with soft organ and minimalist percussion, a truly unique piece of
inventive music was born to bookend Father Unwin's adventures, which perfectly
captured the off-beat nature of the series.
Silva Screen have delivered another excellent
package which perfectly supports their previous entries. The sound quality is
exceptionally good and the packaging comes in the form of a high gloss gatefold
sleeve with the LP pressed in an appropriate Grass Green Vinyl. 14 tracks of
cherished childhood memories round off this collection with informative liner
notes included within. We love it!
Click here to order