August 6, 2019
Silva Screen to Release Barry Gray’s UFO score for Gerry & Sylvia Anderson TV Series
First Release in Series Compiled & Designed by Fanderson
The long awaited release of Barry Gray’s freshly remastered score for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s 1970 live action series, available worldwide from 13th September in CD, digital, and vinyl formats.
After a decade of creating pioneering puppet series made for children, Gerry & Sylvia Anderson took their first steps into live-action, with the 1969 feature film DOPPELGÄNGER (re-titled outside Britain as JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN). This science-fiction film approached its outer space subject matter with a gritty realism, and would set the tone for what was to be their first live-action television series: UFO.
Featuring 26 episodes set in the futuristic 1980s, the series is inspired by the two big topics of the 60s, extra-terrestrials and the first successful heart transplant. The timing was perfect for a story about the Earth community defending themselves from aliens intent on harvesting human organs and the storyline follows the constant battle of SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation) a secret organization defending earth against invaders from space.
To complement the series, the Andersons frequent musical collaborator Barry Gray created a multifaceted score that gave the program its own musical identity. Moving away from his signature militaristic sound which relied heavily on the brass and percussion sections, noted for SUPERCAR, FIREBALL XL-5, THUNDERBIRDS and others, for UFO Gray produced a jazz tinged period score, rooted in lounge style. The softer sound, with extensive use of leitmotifs, follows Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s first live action sci-fi series.
2019 would have been Gerry Anderson’s 90th birthday. To celebrate his Legacy, Silva Screen Records will release a series of freshly remastered and compiled soundtrack albums from the iconic TV shows. Starting with UFO on September 13th, the Silva Screen releases will cover all the major, worldwide popular series that Anderson produced. All the releases in this series are being newly compiled, mastered and designed by the creative team at Fanderson – The Official Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Appreciation Society.
Details will follow at http://www.silvascreenusa.com/
