Results 1 to 15 of 15
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Downstairs by the PC
    Posts
    13,267

    Default Music in the key of Keff Sharp

    Sorry for the thread title!

    So, Keff McCulloch's theme & incidentals... what do we reckon, eh?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Bracknell, Berks
    Posts
    29,744

    Default

    Keff... he's an interesting one. He's absolutely of his time- very 1987 with the string stabs and similiar drum machines etc to the music that was out at the time, but that sadly means his music dated very quickly.

    That said, I think he suits Season 24 very well. I can't imagine Time and the Rani or Delta with any other music. Whether that's a good or bad thing, I don't know, but they're very distinctive scores. Let's not forget either that Paradise Towers was a very late commission when David Snell's score didn't work, and so it's a miracle it works at all, let alone as well as it does.

    Si xx

    I've just got my handcuffs and my truncheon and that's enough.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
    Posts
    17,652

    Default

    I think he's generally competent, but there are no moments where he does anything outstanding. Conversely, there are a few places where the music can be quite annoying!

    I think we've got some Keff scores from the DVDs and stuff, so I'll put them on my MP3 player and let you know what I think.
    Pity. I have no understanding of the word. It is not registered in my vocabulary bank. EXTERMINATE!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Bracknell, Berks
    Posts
    29,744

    Default

    The Centre of Leisure music is certainly distinctive.

    Si xx

    I've just got my handcuffs and my truncheon and that's enough.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Sawbridgeworth
    Posts
    25,127

    Default

    It's hugely nostalgic for me. And sing-able too. One quite ever be sure whether it's utterly fantastic or totally terrible.

    Si.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Whitton
    Posts
    1,880

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by SiHart View Post
    The Centre of Leisure music is certainly distinctive.

    Si xx
    I'm not sure that distinctive is the word that I would use!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Whitton
    Posts
    1,880

    Default

    I'm not a huge fan of Keff's. There are some very nice pieces of music in Time and the Rani (probably my favourite of his scores) and also 'Remembrance'. Unfortunately the rest of his scores are a bit generic. Battlefield is very similar to Remembrance (although the music works in Remembrance but not in Battlefiled - in my honest opinion). Paradise Towers sounds similar to Time and the Rani (although I must confess I didn't know that he was commissioned at the last minute on that one).
    I agree in that his music hasn't dated very well.

    It's odd really; my favourite Radiophonic composer is Paddy Kingsland, and one could argue that most of his scores are very genertic (Mawdryn Undead excluded), but his don't seem, in my opinion, to have dated at all.

    Keff was certainly ok, I don't think he was dreadful or anything; perhaps he wasn't helped by the the fact that his two 'colleagues' were so good. Dominic Glynn was very inventive and as much as Mark Ayres can be a bit annoying as a person from time to time (so I gather), I love his incidentals.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Downstairs by the PC
    Posts
    13,267

    Default

    Personally I think his scores suit season 24 very well indeed - and certainly, his distinctive and different style adds to the general 'freshness' of the new season. It's actually very difficult, IMHO, to imagine Paradise Towers with any other score.

    Unfortunately, as the show tried to get a bit darker in the following couple of years, his music didn't fit quite as well - maybe that's the reason he only did the one story in season 26.

    Nevertheless, I'd really like to see a piece on him & his music on a DVD release, as like it or love it you definitely can't ignore it!!!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Loughton
    Posts
    11,593

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Lethbridge-Stewart View Post
    I'm not sure that distinctive is the word that I would use!
    Distinctive is a very good word in Keff's case. At least you know it's him! You do unfortunately know he's there; his music is very strident, and I do find it rather distracting, and also pretty samey.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Whitton
    Posts
    1,880

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Curnow View Post
    Nevertheless, I'd really like to see a piece on him & his music on a DVD release, as like it or love it you definitely can't ignore it!!!
    Yes, I would like that too.

    The very first ever Doctor Who convention that Ant Cox first attended was a very small affair in a school in Wimbledon (it was our kind of 'rival' school). A tape cassette of Keff's TATR score was auctioned. It was simply an ordinary household cassette tape in a clear case - no official packaging or anything!!!

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Loughton
    Posts
    11,593

    Default

    Which, on the subject of a DVD interview, immediately begs the question, does anyone remember if Myth Makers ever caught up with him?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Torquay
    Posts
    4,613

    Default

    I'd generally agree with the concensus on Keff; now sounds terribly dated and to be honest wasn't that great at the time!

    The one exception for me is Remembrance which works really well even though it's not that dissimilar to his other scores.

    As far as his theme is concerned, it's also very much of its time but for some reason still sounds fresh as a daisy to me. It's enjoyed a bit of a renaissance for me in the last few years and is no longer my least favourite version.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Whitton
    Posts
    1,880

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Antony Cox View Post
    I'd generally agree with the concensus on Keff; now sounds terribly dated and to be honest wasn't that great at the time!

    The one exception for me is Remembrance which works really well even though it's not that dissimilar to his other scores.

    As far as his theme is concerned, it's also very much of its time but for some reason still sounds fresh as a daisy to me. It's enjoyed a bit of a renaissance for me in the last few years and is no longer my least favourite version.
    Am I right in thinking that your once favourite version of the theme is now your least favourite?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Loughton
    Posts
    11,593

    Default

    You're right in thinking that I'm confused...

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Torquay
    Posts
    4,613

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Lethbridge-Stewart View Post
    Am I right in thinking that your once favourite version of the theme is now your least favourite?
    I'm not really sure these days - I like them all in different ways!

Similar Threads

  1. Music help please.
    By Dirk Gently in forum Mr Smith, I Need You!
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 23rd Mar 2012, 8:47 PM
  2. S24 Contemporary Music
    By Jonno in forum ...to Season 24!
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 18th Dec 2010, 2:18 PM
  3. Music downloads
    By Jamie McCrimmon in forum Music
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 23rd Jun 2008, 9:10 PM
  4. Music you're ashamed to like ...
    By WhiteCrow in forum Music
    Replies: 63
    Last Post: 16th Mar 2008, 7:38 PM