Gerry Anderson's production of Supercar made
its UK TV debut in January 1961. The
adventures of the crew of an amazing land, sea and air vehicle based at a secret
laboratory in the Nevada Desert became an instant worldwide hit bolstered by
the tag, 'filmed in Supermarionation'.
In later years musical maestro Barry Gray had
the freedom to write scores for selected episodes of each Gerry Anderson series
- with the cues being reused on subsequent episodes and new material being
composed as needed.
For Supercar this was initially not possible
due to the breakneck turnaround of the show and limited budget. Therefore, in
addition to composing the all-important title theme, Barry produced a series of
‘themes’ for locations, situation and characters (Supercar itself being
embedded with heroic characteristics through the score launching the idea that
the vehicles were central characters too). The often whimsical, charming score
beautifully embellishes the equally charming and whimsical nature of the
dialogue. However, the more serious moments are scored with appropriate menace
, suitably written to underline the knowingly melodramatic nature of the plots.
For series One, Gray’s music was heavily supplemented with library music by
Edwin Astley, but for the second series Gray was the sole musical voice and, in
addition to a new version of the main theme, he expanded on his existing score
with tracks that would serve not just the Supercar team, but future heroic
organisations as yet undreamt of.
1 Supercar - Series One Main Titles
2 Full Boost Vertical
3 The Headhunters And Sargon
4 Whimsical Antics
5 Masterspy Theme/Pleasant Theme
6 What Goes Up
7 Supercar - Series Two Main Titles
8 The Runaway Train
9 Precious Cargo
10 Zizi's Song
11 Super Stork
12 Hi-Jack
13 Calling Charlie Queen
14 The Beakette Danube
15 Space For Mitch
16 Jail Break
17 The Day Time Stood Still
18 City Lights
19 Gifted Gorilla
20 Supercar Extended Theme