John Malcolm: Non Stop (Synth version)

[bardwell64]

Can anyone tell me what disc featured the moog synthesiser rendition of John Malcolm's "Non Stop"? The original orchestral version is on KPM1245, and was used as the ITN News theme here in the UK for many years. The synth version was used by the BBC as a Ceefax link track to cover the changing of tapes.

Thanks in advance. 

[Lord Thames]

It's on KPM 1269 Funtime - credited to Ron Singer on Discogs for some reason but it's actually by Max Reinsch

[nidostar]

Thanks for that LT. I'd not spotted it before. But what a jolly version of a theme which for some of us was heard daily on ITV.

[Lord Thames]

Yes, I rather like it - bearing in mind it came out around the time ITN ditched the original Non-Stop, I wonder whether it was originally planned by KPM as an attempt to persuade them to continue using it by giving it a more contemporary news-style intro, before going into the tune we all know.

All speculation by me, but it's curious they did it!

[nidostar]

Although in retrospect Non-Stop seems a most inappropriate theme for a news bulletin. Or is it that we took life less seriously back in the 60s? Though to be fair ITN didn’t usually play the theme if some disaster led the news.

[bardwell64]

The synthesised version seems to be a partial rewrite of the tune, with whole passages dropped and new ones inserted.

The instrumentation used sounds similar to Trevor Duncan's Bruton Music album "Eklektikos". I wonder what the actual instrument is. It has to be said that Trevor Duncan used more reverb.