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Nothing said new or modern or futuristic quite like a synthesiser in the 70s and 80s. If you were shooting an advert and you wanted your product or your company to appear forward-thinking and ahead of the game, then you would want something electronic, something out of the ordinary. When TV producers and advertising directors started searching for music that sounded like “Tubular Bells” – and then Tomita, and later Jean Michel Jarre – music libraries such as De Wolfe, Bruton, Parry and Chappell had to have the tracks readily available.
Compiled by Bob Stanley, “Tomorrow’s Fashions” varies from advertising jingles and TV themes to space exploration and gorgeous, beatless ambience. Though it’s 40-to-50 years old there’s a real freshness to this music. Older jazz players Brian Bennett, John Cameron, Alan Hawkshaw and others seized the chance to operate a synth; younger pups including John Saunders and Monica Beale were simply intrigued by the new technology being wheeled into the studios. There’s a tangible sense of adventure.
“Tomorrow’s Fashions’” brand of electronica anticipated new age and ambient music. It also had both a direct and indirect influence on pop – the early Human League and the future sounds of Warp Records are all over this collection. Electronic library tracks have been sampled by everyone from MF Doom to Kendrick Lamar.
One person’s primitive and experimental is another person’s space-age lullaby. This was music made in the shadows – in Soho’s secretive music library studios – that has now become desirable and influential. The chances are chunks of it will be sampled and used on hit records that have yet to be written. If the musicians’ aim was to soundtrack tomorrow’s fashions, they couldn’t have got it more right.
Tracklist
2LP
SIDE ONE
1. COASTER - Simon Park
2. RIPPLING REEDS - Wozo
3. LEAVING - Sam Spence
4. NORTHERN LIGHTS 1 - John Cameron
5. SPAGHETTI JUNCTION - Peter Reno
6. SPACE WALK - Rubba
7. PROSPECT - Paul Hart
SIDE TWO
1. TOMORROW'S FASHIONS - Geoff Bastow
2. BLUE MOVIES - Brian Wade
3. VIDEODISC - Trevor Bastow
4. INTERFACE - Astral Sounds
5. STARWAYS - Brian Chatton
6. OPTICS - Unit 9
7. ATOMIC STATION - Wozo
SIDE THREE
1. FUTURE PROSPECT - Adrian Baker
2. PLANNED PRODUCTION - Warren Bennett
3. FUTURE PERSPECTIVES - Anthony Hobson aka Tektron
4. WATERFALL - Chameleon
5. TELECOM - James Asher
6. EAGLE - Simon Park aka Soul City Orchestra
7. ASTRAL PLAIN - Alan Hawkshaw
SIDE FOUR
1. DRIFTING IN TIME - Paul Williams
2. EARTH BORN - Brian Bennett
3. SOFT WAVES - Harry Forbes
4. TOPAZ - Astral Sounds
5. ETERNITY - Alan Hawkshaw
6. INFINITY - John Cameron
7. MORNING DEW - Andy Grossart & Paul Williams
CD
1. COASTER - Simon Park
2. RIPPLING REEDS - Wozo
3. LEAVING - Sam Spence
4. NORTHERN LIGHTS 1 – John Cameron
5. SPAGHETTI JUNCTION - Peter Reno
6. SPACE WALK - Rubba
7. PROSPECT - Paul Hart
8. TOMORROW'S FASHIONS - Geoff Bastow
9. BLUE MOVIES - Brian Wade
10. VIDEODISC - Trevor Bastow
11. INTERFACE - Astral Sounds
12. STARWAYS - Brian Chatton
13. OPTICS - Unit 9
14. ATOMIC STATION - Wozo
15. FUTURE PROSPECT - Adrian Baker
16. PLANNED PRODUCTION - Warren Bennett
17. FUTURE PERSPECTIVES – Anthony Hobson aka Tektron
18. WATERFALL - Chameleon
19. TELECOM - James Asher
20. EAGLE - Simon Park aka Soul City Orchestra
21. ASTRAL PLAIN - Alan Hawkshaw
22. DRIFTING IN TIME - Paul Williams
23. EARTH BORN - Brian Bennett
24. SOFT WAVES - Harry Forbes
25. TOPAZ - Astral Sounds
26. ETERNITY - Alan Hawkshaw
27. INFINITY - John Cameron
28. MORNING DEW - Andy Grossart & Paul Williams