Tragic Roundabout
Ah, The Magic Roundabout.
It was such an institution that it kept getting reprised, one way and another, for over forty years. My dad used to come in from work ostensibly to watch it with my little sister, but I swear it was really because he wanted to see it himself.
It was a television series:
It was made into a film/movie:
It was made into a cult hit B-side recording that drove the A-side release into the UK’s Top 5 music hits
It was turned into a Rave track:
Or two:
Fifty-two additional episodes, not previously broadcast, were shown in the United Kingdom during 1991
It was made into another film/movie:
In 2007, a new TV version was created.
In 2010, yet another series of 52 episodes was created.
Let’s remind ourselves of the theme tune, shall we?
Because:
I am Zebedee, Lord of the Woods;
Bow down snail, I have dominion.As a child born with no legs
I was sent away for years
to save the neighbours’ sneersI returned
Was spurned
“Father! Hold me!”
“You are no son of mine, you freak … you spring, boy!”Bow down to the spring
For I am king of the roundabout!
[Aura should probably turn it into a story]
I am, of course, going to have to pull my finger out and finally get around to making a track based upon Bill Bailey’s version, but sneakier, so that people don’t immediately realise what they’re listening to. Like the way Orbital took the theme from (John Craven’s) Newsround and turned it into Spare Parts Express:
I spent the first five minutes of it thinking “I know this … I swear I know this … but that’s impossible … it was only released today, nobody’s ever heard it before,” with the increasing sensation of déjà vu getting especially frustrating from 4:22 until they finally dropped the punchline at 5:05 (when I swore out loud).
I’ve been threatening to do so for a long time now, but never got around to it and it really is long since time that I did.
In the meantime though … whilst you’re waiting … I grinned like a loon and bounced around to this:
And, whilst it’s too obvious too early on … and too laid back for what I have in mind … you can see Orbital doing this and turning it into a full-on, pounding monster of a mix by the end of it:
… much better quality (and far more sophisticated) than this … with trouser-flapping, spontaneous orgasm-inducing bass, naturally … but with the same trademark uplifting/euphoric vibe (when the previous track gets to 2:49, press [PLAY] on the following ¹):
—
¹ Orbital would have been slowly mixing it in for a few minutes, introducing the new beat, dropping one or two of the new sounds over the top, easing the new riff in, seamlessly blending the two parts and, suddenly, it’s a whole new track … (they always bring it to that point where it all comes together and just kicks off without the need for a breakdown and rebuild to create tension before the drop) … but you’ll get the idea: POW … LIFTOFF!
