Television News Theme Music - Creative Uses!

It is called "Breaking News" and composed by Dave Hewson - unlike most ITN themes it isn't available anywhere (and even if it was they'd have to release it into KPM as it's based on "The Awakening", the News at Ten theme, a piece of library music).

How's this for a news theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L-07Dijq-Q

Have a feeling that the VHS mangler may not have been kind to the pitch of that!

However the South had some great News themes. I always thought the final TVS Coast to Coast opening was pretty slick for its time. Love the way the ident became the titles!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYBHzww6qZI&feature=PlayList&p=4A0FF857B8EBE78D&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=34

Even so, a disco news theme tune! I'm not sure that the lack of tracking does justice to the set's colour scheme either, but then it was the 70's!

I particuarly love the way that they had to play some music and a slide while the 2 presenters hot-seat and revolve the board



That's not a news theme as such, it's a different version of TVS's theme music, as heard in full here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WebnZzBxG4c Which is a great little sequence

The original Meridan tonight titles and tune was quite nice though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDuamXaAAPE

Some of my favourite news theme tunes/titles:

The Al Jazeera Arabic news theme music and titles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU1eb-x_cnQ#t=61s

The thing I love about the title sequences from that part of the world, especially AJ is that it's as if The Day Today never happened.... it's still the dramatic music and pointless moving shapes. The English channel music is good but in a different, British, way (and this opening sequence is great)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBWbd3XxYjg

The original London Tonight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMSaed5AQlI#t=11s

The last Thames News Titles: (I can't find a better version of these on youtube, you have to crank up the audio!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSnFENw9l5w#t=22s

Mid 90's Spotlight (I prefer this music to the one that followed, although that one looked better):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tBxxrb9Igg

late 80's BBC News:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5WGx1LvSuY

And of course:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oldKzoGcQao

I noticed that Network News Music, which has RealAudio clips of most news themes used by US networks from the 1970s until today, is back online:

ABC News: http://www.networknewsmusic.com/abc.html
NBC News: http://www.networknewsmusic.com/nbc.html
CBS News: http://www.networknewsmusic.com/cbs.html

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v302/az2si/nnm1a.jpg

Oddly, they are using the Morning News theme as the Evening News theme on that site.

Hi.

Just as a matter of interest, with regard to the Mason Williams track "Classical gas" mentioned earlier in this thread, it was actually used as the theme to a programme called "This is your right" presented by Dr Michael Winstanley, which was a five minute consumer advice programme, which followed immediately after Granada reports, but it was a separate programme, not a part of Granada reports. The programme ran from 1972 till 1986.

Hello Mark, and welcome along!

I might be totally wrong, because I was pretty young at the time, and my memories might be a bit hazy, but from what I recollect, Classical Gas was used as Granada Reports closing theme, which was then followed immediately by This Is Your Right, which began with a simple, but unintentionally comical bit of percussion - a kind of drum-roll followed by a cymbal clash.

Can't find any video anywhere to confirm either way though. Can anyone help?

Hi Spencer.

Thanks for the welcome I found this site through the links on my video (The one in the OP) and decided to sign up

I suspect that I may be a little older than you, and I remember Classical gas being used for "this is your right" quite well, and I still have my old 45rpm copy of it in my collection.

In fact many of the less musically minded people from here abouts at the time, only ever knew the tune as the "the theme from This is your right"

However just in case my memory was playing tricks on me, I googled it and found some references to it.............

Did I hear Classical Gas on TV?
Classical Gas has been used as the theme music for Granada Television's watchdog broadcast "This is your right" running from 1972 to 1986. It was also used in the 1980s by Channel 4 during their NFL results presentation, and in the 1970s and 1980s and several local area television news programs in the United States used it as their theme song. The song also forms the basis for an identically-titled television news theme, published by a now-defunct company called Telesound. NASA also used it as the background music for the Apollo 4 mission film. In “The Simpsons” episode "Last Exit to Springfield", Lenny asks Lisa, who is playing a guitar, to play Classical Gas, which she does. The TV show “Frasier” used the song in episode titled "The Great Crane Robbery”. Visit the TV, Film & Video page for more information.

Taken from this website

http://www.classicalgas.com/gasfaq.html

Here are a few more of the many references to it.

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Classical_Gas

http://outonbluesix.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/this-was-easy-in-1996/

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Classical-Gas

http://www.finance-option.com/Classical_Gas.html

http://forums.lfconline.com/showthread.php?t=88972&page=22

http://www.southportfriends.co.uk/forums/arts-and-music/argies-playlist/35/?wap2

Didn't think I was that senile (yet)

Hope that clears it up

Apoolo 100 had an album out in the 70's titled "Classical gas" and the title track is an orchestral cover version of it.

Fair enough Mark, I will bow to your superior knowledge!

But I'm now curious as to what the percussion stab I mentioned came from. I distinctly remember it as a 'dubba-dubba-dub-tschhhhh' used in or around This Is Your Right. I'm certain I've not made it up - maybe it was a mid-programme sting or something. It's bugging me now.

PS. Apologies for going all Tumble Tower there.

No, you haven't made it up, the percussion stab you mention is part of classical gas (about two thirds way through the track) and was included as part of the end theme.

Classical Gas, this is a live version but still includes the percussion stab.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mguzKze1sYo