From Zeta Minor:

Mute Records has a treat for fans of the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop in November, with the welcome re-release of two rare (out of print) CDs, and a brand new 50th anniversary two-disc set, offering previously-unreleased material!

Here's the press release, and sleeve images...

Mute are proud to announce the release of a 50th Anniversary Retrospective double CD from the Radiophonic Workshop. This brand new compilation features classic, extremely rare and previously unavailable sounds and music by the legendary BBC organisation. Presented in chronological order, the CD includes works from stalwarts of the Radiophonic Workshop such as John Baker, Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram, Elizabeth Parker, Desmond Briscoe, Paddy Kingsland, Peter Howell and Malcolm Clarke amongst others.

This Retrospective features more than a hundred pieces of music and sound effects from various BBC TV and Radio shows from 1958 through to 1997. Including work from Quatermass and the Pit, The Goon Show, The Secret War, Blake?s Seven, The Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy, Salem?s Lot, The Demon Headmaster, Michael Palin?s Full Circle as well as the original full-length Doctor Who theme and the TARDIS effects.

Using reel-to-reel tape machines, early heroines such as Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire recorded everyday or strange sounds and then manipulated these by speeding up, slowing down or cutting the tape with razor blades and piecing it back together.

The pioneering techniques were created for and used on a myriad of programmes, with Doctor Who being their biggest client. The sound of the TARDIS in Doctor Who was a sound engineer's front door key scraped across the bass strings on a broken piano. Other impromptu props included a lampshade, champagne corks and assorted cutlery.

Ten years ago the workshop was disbanded due to costs but its reputation as a Heath Robinson-style, pioneering force in sound is as strong as ever, acknowledged as possibly the greatest influence on UK electronic music, influencing the likes of Jon Spencer, Aphex Twin, Daniel Miller, Add N to (x)?. The corporation initially only offered its founders a six-month contract, because it feared any longer in the throes of such creative and experimental exercises might make them ill.

Also released on the same day are the albums BBC Radiophonic Workshop and BBC Radiophonic Music, The BBC Radiophonic Music CD concentrates on the more musical output of the legendary organisation while BBC Radiophonic Workshop deals with the pioneering sound effects and methods used to achieve them.

These releases continue a series that began on The Grey Area of Mute with the release of Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 1: The Early Years 1963-1969 and Volume 2: New Beginnings 1970-1980.

Track listing for the new disc:

DISC ONE

1. Amphitryon 38 (1958) 0'50" - Daphne Oram

2. The Ocean (Main Theme) (1958) 1'05" - Daphne Oram & Desmond Briscoe

3. Quatermass and the Pit (Effects) (1958) 0'36" - Desmond Briscoe

4. Major Bloodnok's Stomach (1959) 0'10" - Dick Mills

5. Outside (1959) 0'36" - Desmond Briscoe & Maddalena Fagandini

6. Science and Industry (1959) 0'29" - Phil Young

7. The Artist Speaks (1959) 1'26" - Phil Young

8. The Splendour That Was Rome (1960) 0'29" - Phil Young

9. TV March (1960) 1'56" - Desmond Briscoe

10. Interval Signal (1960) 1'37" - Maddalena Fagandini

11. Phra the Phoenician (1960) 0'49" - Desmond Briscoe

12. Full Circle - The Stick Up (1961) 0'48" - Desmond Briscoe

13. Time Beat (1961) 0'30" - Maddalena Fagandini

14. Music for a Magic Carpet (1961) 0'42" - Jenyth Worsley

15. Ideal Home Exhibition (1962) 1'02" - Maddalena Fagandini

16. Time On Our Hands (Titles and City Music) (1962) 2'01" - Delia Derbyshire

17. Arabic Science and Industry (1962) 0'21" - Delia Derbyshire

18. The Chem Lab Mystery (1962) 0'50" - Maddalena Fagandini

19. Know Your Car (Get Out and Get Under) (1963) 0'57" -
Delia Derbyshire (Maurice Abrahms, pub. Francis, Day & Hunter)

20. Doctor Who (1963) 2'19" - Delia Derbyshire (Ron Grainer, pub. Warner Chappell)

21. TARDIS (1963) 1'25" - Brian Hodgson

22. Choice (1964) 0'36" - John Baker

23. Hard Luck Hall (1964) 0'32" - John Baker

24. Westminster at Work (1964) 0'27" - Keith Salmon

25. Talk Out (1964) 0'24" - Delia Derbyshire

26. Science and Health (1964) 0'55" - Delia Derbyshire

27. Secrets of the Chasm (1964) 1'07" - Tony Askew

28. The Slide (Opening) (1966) 0'27" - Brian Hodgson and Bridget Marrow

29. A New View of Politics (1966) 0'39" - Delia Derbyshire

30. Radio Stoke-on-Trent (1) (1968) 0'19"

31. Radio Stoke-on-Trent (2) (1968) 0'30" - David Cain

32. Bobby Shaftoe (1968) 0'37" - John Baker (Trad. arr. John Baker)

33. The Lambton Worm (1968) 0'33" - John Baker (Trad. arr. John Baker)

34. Environmental Studies (1969) 0'29" - Delia Derbyshire

35. Chronicle (1969) 0'21" - Delia Derbyshire

36. Great Zoos of the World (1969) 0'35" - Delia Derbyshire

37. P.M. (1970) (1970) 0'15" - John Baker

38. Tros Y Gareg (Over the Stone) (1970) 2'48" - John Baker (Trad. arr. John Baker)

39. Dance from "Noah" (1971) 0'53" - Delia Derbyshire

40. Good Morning Wales (1972) 0'18" - John Baker

41. Sequence (1972) 1'24" - Paddy Kingsland

42. Martian March Past (1973) 0'28" - Dick Mills

43. The Changes (Suite) (1974) 4'49" - Paddy Kingsland

44. Thomas the Rhymer (1974) 1'17" - Dick Mills

45. Merry-Go-Round (1975) 0'21" - Peter Howell

46. Fanfare (1975) 0'21" - Dick Mills

47. BBC2 Serial (1975) 0'44" - Malcolm Clarke

48. The Plunderers (1975) 1'16" - Roger Limb

49. The Secret War (1976) 0'54" - Peter Howell

50. Quirky (1976) 1'29" - Roger Limb

51. Newton (1976) 1'07" - Paddy Kingsland

52. Contact (1977) 0'26" - Malcolm Clarke

53. For Love or Money (1977) 1'09" - Roger Limb

54. Mysterioso (1977) 1'07" - Richard Yeoman-Clark

55. The Astronauts (1977) 5'18" - Peter Howell, Drums - Howard Tibble, Timpani - Terence Emery

56. Moving Form (Main Theme from "The Body in Question") (1977) 1'45" -
Peter Howell, Flute - Sebastian Bell, Cello - Ross Pople

57. A Whisper from Space (1978) 2'12" - Paddy Kingsland

58. Land and People (1978) 1'13" - Peter Howell

59. Swirley (1978) 1'52" - Roger Limb

60. Greenwich Chorus (1978) 2'19" - Peter Howell

61. Hurdy Gurdy (1978) 1'27" - Malcolm Clarke

62. P.M. (1978) (1978) 0'26" - Paddy Kingsland

63. Broken Biscuit Club (1978) 0'39" - Paddy Kingsland

64. The Unseeing Eye (1979) 1'07" - Malcolm Clarke

65. The Milonga (1979) 2'00" - Malcolm Clarke

66. Mainstream (1979) 2'26" - Peter Howell (Attr. Henry VIII, arr. Howell)

67. Seascape (1979) 2'23" - Dick Mills

68. Yellow Moon (1980) 1'41" - Roger Limb

DISC TWO

1. Brighton Pier (1980) 3'44"

2. The Whale (1980) 1'51" - Paddy Kingsland

3. Radio Blackburn (1980) 1'51" - Elizabeth Parker

4. Lascaux (1980) 3'15" - Peter Howell, Flute - Sebastian Bell

5. The Comet is Coming (1980) 3'59" - Malcolm Clarke, Horn - Kris Rusmanis

6. Macrocosm (1981) 2'09" - Dick Mills

7. Planet Earth (Scenes from "The Living Planet") (1981) 2'10" -
Elizabeth Parker

8. Catch the Wind (1981) 1'21" - Dick Mills

9. Fancy Fish ("Aquarium") (1982) 1'25" - Peter Howell and Dick Mills (Camille Saint-Sa뮳, arr. Howell / Mills)

10. Houdin's Musical Box (1982) 1'09" - Jonathan Gibbs (A. Le Charpentier, arr. Gibbs)

11. Computers in the Real World (1982) 0'48" - Jonathan Gibbs

12. Believe it or Not (1982) 1'26" - Malcolm Clarke, Trombone - Eddie Lorkin

13. Armagiddean War Games (1982) 1'18" - Dick Mills

14. Dawn (1982) 2'08" - Jonathan Gibbs

15. Ghost in the Water (1982) 2'02" - Roger Limb, Cello - Hilary Jones

16. Radiophonic Rock (1983) 4'13" - Peter Howell / Roger Limb / Jonathan Gibbs / Malcolm Clarke / Elizabeth Parker / Dick Mills

17. Woman of Paris (1986) 1'11" - Jonathan Gibbs

18. Dandelion Countdown (Pictures In Your Mind) (1986) 2'09" - Dick Mills

19. Heart of the Matter (1986) 1'13" - Jonathan Gibbs, Sax - Nigel Nash

20. Dead Entry (Opening Titles) (1986) 0'55" - Richard Attree

21. No Easy Road (1987) 2'59" - Richard Attree

22. Slambash Wangs of a Compo Gormer (Titles and Space Theme) (1987) 2'04" - Steve Marshall

23. The Great Rift (1988) 2'21" - Peter Howell

24. Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon (Titles) (1988) 1'57"

25. Archery and Cranes (1988) 2'11" - Steve Marshall

26. Artwork (1989) 1'34" - Richard Attree

27. Jewel in the Sun (1989) 2'20" - Richard Attree

28. Techno (1989) 1'31" - Richard Attree

29. OK2 (You In Mind) (1990) 1'03" - Richard Attree

30. Doctors To Be (1991) 1'12" - Elizabeth Parker, Cello - Peter Esswood

31. Secret Nature (Titles) (1992) 0'43" - Elizabeth Parker

32. The Secret of Life (Cracking the Code) (1992) 3'53" - Malcolm Clarke

33. Salem's Lot (1992) 0'39" - Elizabeth Parker

34. Music from "The Sea, The Sea" (1992) 4'04" - Elizabeth Parker, Cello - Peter Esswood

35. Music from "The Demon Headmaster" (1995) 2'08" - Richard Attree

36. The Lost Gardens of Heligan (1997) 1'58" - Elizabeth Parker

37. Michael Palin's Full Circle (Main Theme) (1997) 1'31" - Peter Howell,
Trumpet - Steve Bentley

38. Assignment (Kofi Annan) (1997) 2'25" - Elizabeth Parker

39. Dance from "Noah" (stereo mix) (1971) 1'07" - Delia Derbyshire