#delia derbyshire
Heavy Rotation in 2018
Lithics, “Excuse Generator” (2018, Kill Rock Stars)
Maxine Funke, “nicest thing” (2018, I Dischi Del Barone)
Felt, “Bitter End” (1988, Creation)
O.V. Wright, “This Hurt Is Real” (1969, Back Beat)
Pusha T, “If You Know You Know” (2018, G.O.O.D. Music)
JJ Ulius, “Tänder Ett Ljus” (2018, Happiest Place)
Grachan Moncur III, “When” (1969, BYG)
The Mad Scene, “Paperplane” (1992, Homestead)
Total, “Tannery #1″ (1994, Freek)
Delia Derbyshire & Barry Bermange, “Running" (1964, BBC Third Programme)
Skee Mask, “Lil DB Tool” (2018, Monkeytown)
Stereolab, “Fluorescences” (1996, Duophonic)
Aretha Franklin, “Eleanor Rigby” (1970, Atlantic)
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I’ve posted about Delia Derbyshire many moons ago and I just came across this presentation from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop that originally aired in 1965.
The Doctor Who theme was composed by Ron Grainer but he had only made a basic outline of the song. Grainer then handed it over to Derbyshire (who he stated deserved co-composer credit for her arrangement but Derbyshire was a “workshop assistant” and the BBC kept assistant contributions anonymous so Derbyshire’s contribution went unnoted).
Derbyshire had to record thousands of electronic sounds onto tapes (this was prior to the use of computers and synthesizers), adjusting each individual note and then splicing those notes together to craft a melody. She didn’t know it at the time but she was creating not only the sound of Doctor Who but a style of music that would become synonymous with science fiction.
You can listen to the original theme here. While you’re listening, think about the hundreds of hours of labor that went into producing this iconic and enduring music.
(Oh, I basically cribbed the above info from here to properly give credit where it’s due)
(Oh 2, here’s a list of ‘10 Female Electronic Music Pioneers You Should Know’ which notes that Derbyshire’s Doctor Who theme was “astonishingly ahead-of-its-time” and “one of the first entirely electronic pieces of music to be used on TV anywhere.”
The Groundbreaking Sound of Delia Derbyshire
“Derbyshire, a working-class genius and Cambridge-educated mathematician, was particularly gifted when it came to hearing a sound and knowing what to do to make it interesting. The bulk of Derbyshire’s musical output came from her tenure at the Radiophonic Workshop, a sound effects unit of the BBC — housed on top of a skating rink — created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television.
As it were: there was a need for a pioneering approach to sound to complement the pioneering approach to programming in the 1960s. During her eleven years at the Workshop, Derbyshire would create music and sound for almost two-hundred radio and television programs, including the hauntingly iconic theme song for Doctor Who.
Because the BBC preferred to keep the members of the Workshop anonymous, Derbyshire’s genius was not recognized, as it should have been, at the time of her creative output. She was never credited as a composer and never saw financial residuals for her work. And yet, despite the best efforts of the BBC bureaucracy, the forces of time now rightfully recognize Derbyshire’s pioneering genius as an early and invaluable contribution to electronic music.”
Read the full piece and listen to her work here
