Test Card Treasures

Another helping of musical miniatures from BBC Test Cards from the late 1970s and on into the ’80s. Bon appetit!
0:00:02 - Melancholic Rock · Polish Radio & Television Orchestra Of Popular Music, Katowice
0:03:32 - Anxiety · Polish Radio & Television Orchestra Of Popular Music, Katowice
0:06:25 - Super Racing · Jeff Hasky And His Orchestra
0:08:44 - Now Or Never · Polish Radio & Television Orchestra Of Popular Music, Katowice
0:11:52 - Conversation Piece · Syd Dale And His Orchestra
0:14:34 - Today Is The Day · Polish Radio & Television Orchestra Of Popular Music, Katowice
0:16:58 - Pretty Girls · Henry Mancini And His Orchestra
0:19:28 - Pages · Lado’s Latin Combination
0:22:08 - Dedication · Lado’s Latin Combination
0:24:14 - Jeff’s Special · Jeff Hasky And His Orchestra
0:26:15 - Footprints On The Beach · Horst Gmeinwieser And His Super Trombones
0:28:48 - The Lights Of Hong Kong · Budapest Radio Orchestra
0:32:19 - Mexican Mood · The Ulrich Sommerlatte Orchestra
0:35:01 - Cherry Drops · The Firebirds
0:37:39 - Rendezvous In Rio · Budapest Radio Orchestra
0:41:36 - Just In · King Zérand Orchestra And Chorus
0:44:00 - Alma Corazon · Angel "Pocho" Gatti And His Orchestra
0:46:49 - Maraschino · Lado’s Latin Combination
0:49:15 - To Break A Record · Helmuth Herold With The Frank Gönther Orchestra
0:52:00 - Lovers’ Promenade · Siegfried Merath With His Orchestra
0:55:53 - Flirt In Lilliput · Siegfried Merath With His Orchestra
0:59:00 - Nonchalance · Siegfried Merath With His Orchestra
1:01:41 - You Belong To Me · The Opus Orchestra
1:04:09 - The Old Fisherman · George Hermann And His Orchestra
1:06:56 - Costa Canaria · Micheal Coster And His Orchestra
1:09:46 - Side In · Will Arens Orchestra With Walter Schmidt-Binge
1:12:20 - A Passing Glance · Ben Cooper And His Orchestra
1:15:56 - Positron · Guy Gollasch And His Band
78 minutes
The music was used in the following BBC TV Trade Test tapes:
Super Racing (broadcast on BBC2 1974-1975) ~ track 3
Melancholic Rock (BBC1 1978-1979) ~ 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
Theme From “Z” (BBC2 1978) ~ 5
Pretty Girls (BBC1 1978-1980) ~ 7
The Trolley Song (BBC1/BBC2 1978-1985) ~ 8, 9
Jeff’s Special (BBC1 1979-1981) ~ 10, 11, 12, 14, 15
Well, Alright (BBC1 1979) ~ 13
In The Latest Fashion (BBC1 1979-1982) ~ 16
To Break A Record (BBC2/BBC1 1979-1982) ~ 17, 19
The Green Leaves Of Summer (BBC1 1980-1981) ~ 18
Happy Polka (BBC1 1981-1985) ~ 20, 21, 22
Water Mountain (BBC1/BBC2 1982-1985) ~ 23
Sunny Isle (BBC1 1983-1984) - 24
Dixie Omelette (BBC2 1983-1985) ~ 25, 26
Positron (BBC1 1985-1987) ~ 27, 28
[ 4/5 ]

[@johnrhodez6829]

The Girl the Doll, the Music!!

[@annakatarinatimewillshowle9741]

❤ Good morning !Thank you for gived your best in your easy music to like listen. Now brain works and its nice to start a day. ❤

[@ashfaq1999]

Thanks for posting these childhood classics. 😊

[@richardevans560]

Just brilliant stuff to put your housecoat on and clean the house to.

[@geoffjoffy]

Excellent. Best 'programme' on TV. Thanks!!

[@tonybalm1513]

Fantastic!!!! Far more entertaining than anything on the television today!!!!!!

[@davidcox9483]

I Love BBC 2 Television Test Card

[@senorpasso8670]

Top Man/Woman

[@davidcox3974]

We Love BBC 2 Television on the Test Card

[@SadAnorak]

Spent uncountable hours watching the test card. My favourite track was 'Days of the Old School Yard' Cat Stephens which was regularly played during my youth.

[@lucaviggiani2189]

Nonchalance reminds me of the music airlines used to play over the loudspeakers just after landing. My father worked for a holiday company in the 60s and 70s and we used to fly Britannia Airways a lot. Immediately after landing they always used to play piano style music similar to nonchalance just after we landed. This brought that memory back to me very vividly.

[@ricadus]

It does have a rather "glad to be alive" feel about it!

[@robloveday4265]

'Nonchalance' is lovely - nice bit of 5/4 time, like a more laid-back Dave Brubeck!

[@dangaAgadanga]

Proper best-of tape 🙂

[@amandawhiteley6737]

Fantastic toons, from phoebe,s partner, long may they live on, oh it's all coming back!!!

[@dvidclapperton]

There was a test card tape called Super Racing in the 1970's

[@Hoppyhouse48]

Best set ever thank everyone I'm so blessed xxx

[@davidcox3974]

We Love BBC TV on the Test Card

[@Hoppyhouse48]

Thank you xxx

[@stuartbritton7408]

Splendid

[@Tirana44]

Lots of memories here! I share the same birthday as Carole Hersee. Did I see once that her father at the BBC designed the card itself?

[@andyhowlett2231]

Yes, George Hersee was a BBC engineer who designed Test Card F. The central circle needed a realistic flesh tone to test the colour rendition of the system, so he got a photographer to make a high quality slide of his daughter with the clown doll.

[@amandawhiteley6737]

The lights of Hong Kong, ace toon!

[@Hoppyhouse48]

Enjoy 😆🐸✊🚀🇬🇧

[@davidcox9483]

The Girl on the Test Card is Carol Hersee

[@365networker2]

I really like “You Belong To Me” - do you have any other recordings by the Opus Orchestra? I suspect this track will have come from the Disc Imports library. I’d also be interested in anything by the Brno Radio Orchestra or Orchestron Symphony.

[@ricadus]

I don't have any others. There was a Rondor Music Ltd LP series from the early 1980s. These were not intended for retail sale but to be liscensed for use as background music in public spaces such as hotels, department stores and shopping malls, or for use as ‘on hold’ music in telephone call systems. Discographic info is hard to find but the first LP was of instrumental arrangements of songs by The Carpenters, which has been listed on Ebay and elsewhere.

[@365networker2]

@@ricadus Thanks - I had come across that LP - I didn't know there were others. Hopefully the others will turn up at some point.

[@guildlightmusicguildlightm3171]

Ｉlove siegfried merath music❗

[@ricadus]

For years I mistakenly thought they were by the John Fox Orchestra, until I found them on a Germany-issued CD.

[@guildlightmusicguildlightm3171]

@@ricadus Ｉlike music in a german 60s and 70s time best.

[@dvidclapperton]

Now or Never:- Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba........

[@user-bg2nj5fn4m]

Honestly, most of this library music was so sublime and so funky that it was frankly too good for the BBC test card.

[@richardevans560]

Nonsense, NOTHING was too good for the test card.

[@user-bg2nj5fn4m]

@@richardevans560 I guess what I meant by that was that it deserved a higher billing than being stuck away on the testcard.

[@IridescentAudio]

"To Break a Record" holy shit this is fire.

[@colinglass1342]

It's much better then radio two playlist Terry wogan Jimmy younger Ed stewpot Ken bruce never ever listened to radio one never will do either .

[@Hoppyhouse48]

I almost made it 1716 😆🤩👋✨👌🍻👍🏻

[@markcolpstein1153]

i do like melencolick rock from mark colpstein

[@amandawhiteley6737]

Definitely Ace!!!!!

[@amandawhiteley6737]

Great tunes, remember them fondly, me Amanda 56, almost at high school, ace ace ace!

[@amandawhiteley6737]

My partner phoebe would probably like the jazzy tones!

[@cliveevans9795]

Who's the girl in the test card

[@Hoppyhouse48]

Xxxxx😘😘😘💙