Century 21 sting...

Hi all,

There's a discussion going on in the Fanderson Facebook group about the Century 21 sting music that precedes every episode of UFO.  There is someone there who claims that the music on the current video releases (DVD, Blu-ray) is different than what was originally broadcast in the UK and on the UK home video releases.  

Being from the USA, I can't claim to know what exactly was shown in the UK, but I'm pretty sure that's the same sting that I've always seen in the USA broadcasts and videos.  

I'm just wondering if anyone here knows of a different version than what's on the DVDs, or has any video recordings from the 1970s or 1980s (e.g. broadcast, VHS, Beta, laser) as evidence one way or the other.

Thanks!
Marc

Oh, and I *think* Rob Hemmings once sent me a recording from an old UFO VHS tape from the UK (Polygram or Channel 5).  I'll have to look around and see... perhaps I'm mis-remembering....

Marc

I remembered that James Gibbon has posted some YouTube videos from 1987 UK broadcasts that showed the Century 21 sting.  This sounds more or less the same to me as what's on the DVDs:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFqLRm_6jYI
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI1-c1pR7AE

Those prints look pretty well-used, so I'd guess that they are original prints from 1970.

I guess the UK didn't get the International ITC "spinning wheels" logo that we got in the USA broadcasts.

Marc

Hi Marc,

Having lived in southern England (Kent and Sussex) for much of my youth, I can definitely confirm that the Century 21 sting as shown at the start of the original UFO VHS and DVD's is the same one I remember being shown and played on TV as a kid. No difference at all.

I have ALL the VHS sets, and many sets of the DVD's (standard and Blu-ray) in all the languages available, and frankly I don't know what this person is talking about.

Having said all that, there are minute variations in pitch from one episode to another, as there was in Thunderbirds, Jo 90, Captain Scarlet etc. Also, the theme/s musical pitch (and speed) varied dramatically from those of the original recordings - but we all know that.

Also, when UFO was shown in my TV area (Kent and Sussex) each episode of UFO was split into three parts with two advert breaks. What DID vary was that occasionally, the very short UFO break teaser (1: a spinning UFO shown flying away from the screen, and 2: A UFO flying towards the screen) between the episode and adverts was inadvertently shown the wrong way round! Or, not at all.

Hope this helps,

Best to all :)

Griff

Thanks Griff!

Yes, I think this person is mis-remembering something.  I know that there is an alternate version of that sting, but I think that was only used for maybe the Thunderbirds films... or maybe also Captain Scarlet, I can't remember.  

But I've never seen the old Channel 5 or Polygram VHS releases, so I couldn't be sure that these weren't different in some way than all the other releases.

Marc

Okay, he's now claiming that this is the different sounding original sound:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFqLRm_6jYI

I agree that this sounds a tad different, but I think it's still the same recording... just different sound quality...

Marc

Hello Marc,

I have ALL the currently available Gerry and Sylvia Anderson productions, in just about ALL formats, even some original broadcast tapes.

I have converted just about ALL of these to HQ MP4 (and some other formats), so I can play any of them on demand on my computers/tablets.

I have just checked ALL the Century 21 stings (just a few episodes each) for:-

- Thunderbirds TV series
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
- Joe 90
- The Secret Service
- UFO

All the Century 21 stings are the same - with some very minor quality variations, and very slight speed and hence pitch differences.

However, the two Century 21 stings used at the start of "Thunderbirds Are Go" and "Thunderbird 6" although based on an identical source (I can speed up and slow down the audio on demand), are the same but time space out, and with different equaliser settings (bassier).

I should add that I know for sure that some studios from the mid to late sixties had sound equipment that had the capability to compress and stretch audio takes, BUT do this without adjusting the pitch if necessary and was controllable. This is easy nowadays, but at the time was quite a technical feat! To most people, speeding up and slowing down sound/audio/music will obviously have the effect of adjusting the relative pitch up or down. To be able to speed up and slow down sounds WITHOUT making a variation to pitch is technically - or was - very difficult, but was much needed for sound effects, special effects and speech dubbing.

Sorry, I'm going On a bit there... I'll leave it there :)

Best to all :)

Griff