The Mutations – Unreleased Basil Kirchin Film Music from 1968-1974

Recently discovered lost and unissued score by Basil Kirchin to wild surreal freak horror movie from 1974. Plus bonus unissued spooky TV score with groovy Eastern vibes.

So, here we are again, with more super sounds from the Basil Kirchin archive. As usual, it’s a shame Basil is not here to share in our love for his music or to fill us in a bit on who was playing what, when and why.

I can tell you for sure that the music for The Mutations dates from 1974, and was the score to the bizarre Jack Cardiff film starring Donald Pleasence and Tom Baker. It’s a pretty freaky film with Pleasence playing the part of a deranged scientist genetically crossing humans with plants, and ultimately causing all sorts of unpleasant issues for everyone, including the makeup department.

As for Journey Into The Unknown, this is a tape from the archive with just “Journey Into The Unknown” written on it and very little else. This dates from 1968, and is from a series of spooky British TV dramas with supernatural twists and the occasional American guest star, like Barbara Bel Geddes, Stefanie Powers and Roddie McDowell. Seems like a forerunner of Tales Of The Unexpected. There were 17 episodes in all over a year and a half, and Basil scored two - Episode 7 The Madison Equation and Episode 11, The Indian Spirit Guide. Other composers drafted in for scoring duties throughout the run included David Lindup, Bernard Ebbinghouse and the ubiquitous John Scott. There is no theme here as the series used a whistling one written by the Scottish composer Harry Robinson that was used throughout the series. Robinson had previously worked on TV shows such a Six-Five Special and also went on to write the music for Twins Of Evil for Hammer.

The score we have here from the two episodes comes as a series of vignettes and longer more experimental cues that dip into Kirchin’s music vocabulary (or bottom drawer) and will be oddly familiar at times to anyone with an ear for his brilliant past work. Thrilling to hear it all now, like staying hello to Basil all over again. Brilliant.

 Side One:T
he Mutations 1 - 10

Side Two:
The Mutations 11
 Journey To The Unknown - Unreleased TV score