Music in the key of Keff Sharp

[Andrew Curnow]

Sorry for the thread title!

So, Keff McCulloch's theme & incidentals... what do we reckon, eh?

[SiHart]

Keff... he's an interesting one. He's absolutely of his time- very 1987 with the string stabs and similiar drum machines etc to the music that was out at the time, but that sadly means his music dated very quickly.

That said, I think he suits Season 24 very well. I can't imagine Time and the Rani or Delta with any other music. Whether that's a good or bad thing, I don't know, but they're very distinctive scores. Let's not forget either that Paradise Towers was a very late commission when David Snell's score didn't work, and so it's a miracle it works at all, let alone as well as it does.

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

I think he's generally competent, but there are no moments where he does anything outstanding. Conversely, there are a few places where the music can be quite annoying!

I think we've got some Keff scores from the DVDs and stuff, so I'll put them on my MP3 player and let you know what I think.

[SiHart]

The Centre of Leisure music is certainly distinctive.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

It's hugely nostalgic for me. And sing-able too. One quite ever be sure whether it's utterly fantastic or totally terrible.

Si.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

The Centre of Leisure music is certainly distinctive.

Si xx

I'm not sure that distinctive is the word that I would use!

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

I'm not a huge fan of Keff's. There are some very nice pieces of music in Time and the Rani (probably my favourite of his scores) and also 'Remembrance'. Unfortunately the rest of his scores are a bit generic. Battlefield is very similar to Remembrance (although the music works in Remembrance but not in Battlefiled - in my honest opinion). Paradise Towers sounds similar to Time and the Rani (although I must confess I didn't know that he was commissioned at the last minute on that one).
I agree in that his music hasn't dated very well.

It's odd really; my favourite Radiophonic composer is Paddy Kingsland, and one could argue that most of his scores are very genertic (Mawdryn Undead excluded), but his don't seem, in my opinion, to have dated at all.

Keff was certainly ok, I don't think he was dreadful or anything; perhaps he wasn't helped by the the fact that his two 'colleagues' were so good. Dominic Glynn was very inventive and as much as Mark Ayres can be a bit annoying as a person from time to time (so I gather), I love his incidentals.

[Andrew Curnow]

Personally I think his scores suit season 24 very well indeed - and certainly, his distinctive and different style adds to the general 'freshness' of the new season. It's actually very difficult, IMHO, to imagine Paradise Towers with any other score.

Unfortunately, as the show tried to get a bit darker in the following couple of years, his music didn't fit quite as well - maybe that's the reason he only did the one story in season 26.

Nevertheless, I'd really like to see a piece on him & his music on a DVD release, as like it or love it you definitely can't ignore it!!!

[Stuart Wallis]

I'm not sure that distinctive is the word that I would use!

Distinctive is a very good word in Keff's case. At least you know it's him! You do unfortunately know he's there; his music is very strident, and I do find it rather distracting, and also pretty samey.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

Nevertheless, I'd really like to see a piece on him & his music on a DVD release, as like it or love it you definitely can't ignore it!!!

Yes, I would like that too.

The very first ever Doctor Who convention that Ant Cox first attended was a very small affair in a school in Wimbledon (it was our kind of 'rival' school). A tape cassette of Keff's TATR score was auctioned. It was simply an ordinary household cassette tape in a clear case - no official packaging or anything!!!

[Stuart Wallis]

Which, on the subject of a DVD interview, immediately begs the question, does anyone remember if Myth Makers ever caught up with him?

[Antony Cox]

I'd generally agree with the concensus on Keff; now sounds terribly dated and to be honest wasn't that great at the time!

The one exception for me is Remembrance which works really well even though it's not that dissimilar to his other scores.

As far as his theme is concerned, it's also very much of its time but for some reason still sounds fresh as a daisy to me. It's enjoyed a bit of a renaissance for me in the last few years and is no longer my least favourite version.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

I'd generally agree with the concensus on Keff; now sounds terribly dated and to be honest wasn't that great at the time!

The one exception for me is Remembrance which works really well even though it's not that dissimilar to his other scores.

As far as his theme is concerned, it's also very much of its time but for some reason still sounds fresh as a daisy to me. It's enjoyed a bit of a renaissance for me in the last few years and is no longer my least favourite version.

Am I right in thinking that your once favourite version of the theme is now your least favourite?

[Stuart Wallis]

You're right in thinking that I'm confused...

[Antony Cox]

Am I right in thinking that your once favourite version of the theme is now your least favourite?

I'm not really sure these days - I like them all in different ways!