Edwin Astley

Trackimage Playbut Trackname Playbut Trackname
The Saint 01:46 Tools
Whatever Happened To George Foster 02:31 Tools
Secret Agent Man 02:43 Tools
Drake's Progress 00:00 Tools
Vulgar Olga 00:00 Tools
Cliff Hanger 03:30 Tools
Mio Amore St A Lontano 00:00 Tools
I Wonder Where The Microdot Went 02:47 Tools
Recumbent Love 00:00 Tools
Theme from Department S (Original Version) 02:10 Tools
Theme From Department S 02:07 Tools
Randall And Hopkirk Deceased 01:40 Tools
Danger Man 02:22 Tools
Main Theme From The Saint 00:00 Tools
Theme from The Baron 01:45 Tools
Department S 00:00 Tools
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) 01:40 Tools
High Wire 02:24 Tools
Dangerman 02:18 Tools
The Phantom of the Opera 00:00 Tools
Danger Man Theme (Early Seasons) 02:22 Tools
Halo 00:00 Tools
The Saint (Original Single Version) 01:46 Tools
Randall & Hopkirk Deceased 03:04 Tools
Mio Amore Sta Lontano 02:31 Tools
International Detective Theme 02:40 Tools
International Detective 02:40 Tools
Halo (From The Saint) 01:47 Tools
I Wonder Where the Microdot Went? 00:00 Tools
Drake And Ducks 02:28 Tools
Slinky (From The Saint) 02:24 Tools
Randall & Hopkirk [Deceased] 03:06 Tools
Chaise-Lounge (From The Saint) 02:55 Tools
Light Affair 01:01 Tools
Drama On The Move 03:07 Tools
Mal Au Coeur 02:40 Tools
Mio Amore Sta Lontano (From Danger Man) 02:31 Tools
Drake In The New World 02:40 Tools
Blue Shadows 01:40 Tools
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) 03:03 Tools
Staten Island Ferry 01:48 Tools
Ivanhoe Theme 01:01 Tools
Big Sound 02:22 Tools
Mainly on the Plain 02:24 Tools
Swinging Simon 00:00 Tools
Cantina 02:54 Tools
Swiety 00:30 Tools
Chaise-lounge 00:00 Tools
Olaf's Dance 02:20 Tools
The Saint Takes A Ride 00:58 Tools
Theme From "The Saint" 02:01 Tools
The Baron 04:04 Tools
Danger Man (1960) 02:06 Tools
Ying-Tong-Piddle-Ay-Kilt 01:48 Tools
Slinky 01:47 Tools
The Saint theme 00:58 Tools
Mulligatawney 02:39 Tools
Main Theme From 'The Saint' 01:47 Tools
Main Theme 01:47 Tools
Cliffhanger 01:48 Tools
Randall & Hopkirk 03:05 Tools
Danger man (half hour series) 00:30 Tools
Danger Man (hour series) 00:30 Tools
The Adventures of Robin Hood - Original Soundtrack Theme from "Robin Hood TV Serie" 01:20 Tools
Danger Man (High Wire) 02:18 Tools
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) - Main Titles 00:48 Tools
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot Theme 01:04 Tools
The Adventures of Robin Hood (Original Soundtrack Theme from "Robin Hood TV Serie") 01:19 Tools
Main Theme from "The Saint" 01:04 Tools
Department S Main Titles 01:09 Tools
Man In A Suitcase 00:31 Tools
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) - Closing Titles 01:06 Tools
The Baron Main Titles 00:49 Tools
Theme From "Danger Man" 01:44 Tools
Le saint 00:59 Tools
Theme from the Saint 00:47 Tools
Secret Agent (Danger Man) 02:01 Tools
Gideon's Way 00:38 Tools
Main Title Theme 00:38 Tools
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) - Incidental Cue 4 00:32 Tools
Danger Man Theme 00:47 Tools
Opening Titles 00:47 Tools
The Saint - I'm Out to Get You (from Portrait of Brenda) 02:14 Tools
The Baron incidental cue 5 00:57 Tools
Gideon's Way Main Titles 00:38 Tools
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) - Incidental Cue 2 00:38 Tools
Danger Man (one hour) closing titles 01:02 Tools
Danger Man (one hour) main titles 01:00 Tools
Danger Man (half hour) closing titles 00:49 Tools
Randall And Hopkirk 03:04 Tools
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) - Theme 01:49 Tools
Just Another Divorce Case 01:49 Tools
Danger Man (half hour) incidental cue 1 00:38 Tools
Danger Man (half hour) incidental cue 3 00:38 Tools
The Murderous Husband 01:49 Tools
The Baron Closing Titles 00:57 Tools
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) - Incidental Cue 1 03:04 Tools
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) - Incidental Cue 3 01:49 Tools
The Saint - Opening & Closing Themes 01:44 Tools
Devil girl from Mars 03:04 Tools
The Saint - closing titles (Legacy of The Saint) 01:02 Tools
The Saint incidental cue 1 01:13 Tools
Danger Man - Pre-Credits & Theme 01:09 Tools
Gideon's Way closing titles 01:40 Tools
Bath Zap 01:49 Tools
Danger Man (one hour) incidental cue 4 01:00 Tools
Danger Man (half hour) incidental cue 2 02:21 Tools
The Witness 01:09 Tools
The Baron incidental cue 2 00:57 Tools
The Baron incidental cue 3 01:11 Tools
Walking Through Walls 01:09 Tools
Closing Titles 00:38 Tools
Jeff Nabs Gamekeeper 01:09 Tools
The Saint (1962-1969) - Theme from 'The Saint' 01:47 Tools
Wake Up, Jeff! 01:09 Tools
The Saint closing titles (monochrome) 00:56 Tools
The Saint main titles (colour) 00:51 Tools
Jealous Ghost 01:17 Tools
Danger Man (half hour) incidental cue 4 02:28 Tools
Fast Getaway 01:11 Tools
A Ghost At The Funeral 02:28 Tools
London Intro 00:33 Tools
Department S incidental cue 7 02:38 Tools
The Saint incidental cue 3 01:40 Tools
Gassed! 01:17 Tools
No Voice On The Tape 01:17 Tools
Marty's Murder 01:09 Tools
The Saint - Opening & Closing Theme 03:08 Tools
Marty's Headstone 01:09 Tools
Gamekeeper On The Run 01:17 Tools
Walking Through Walls (Partial Retake) 01:17 Tools
Danger Man (one hour) incidental cue 2 02:17 Tools
Cellar Escape And Chase 01:17 Tools
You're Alive 01:17 Tools
Guilty Gamekeeper 01:17 Tools
After Dinner Sneak 01:17 Tools
Jeff Arrives At Estate 01:17 Tools
Jeff Nabs The Sniper 01:17 Tools
Conked Out In The Cellar 01:17 Tools
The Adventures of Robin Hood (From 'Robin Hood' TV Serie) 01:19 Tools
Danger Man (1964) 01:19 Tools
The Saint (1962) 02:01 Tools
The Saint incidental cue 2 01:30 Tools
Danger Man (one hour) incidental cue 1 02:28 Tools
Marty On The Case 02:28 Tools
The Hit Men 02:28 Tools
High Wire (Original British Theme) 01:19 Tools
Department S incidental cue 4 00:57 Tools
Secret Agent Man (American Theme) 00:57 Tools
Department S incidental cue 1 02:28 Tools
Get Randall! 02:28 Tools
Danger Man (one hour) incidental cue 3 01:11 Tools
Vibrating Coffee Cup 01:17 Tools
Jeff Is Lost 01:17 Tools
Breaking And Entering 01:17 Tools
Randall Must Die 01:17 Tools
The Early Bird Gets The Bullet 01:11 Tools
Department S incidental cue 2 01:11 Tools
Jeff Held Prisoner 01:11 Tools
She Had To Die 01:11 Tools
Jeff Thrown Off Bridge 01:11 Tools
Department S - Main titles 01:09 Tools
The Champions incidental cue 1 01:09 Tools
The Arsonist 01:09 Tools
Failed Escape 01:09 Tools
The Sniper 01:17 Tools
Pecked To Death? 01:17 Tools
International Detective (var 6) 01:09 Tools
Jeannie's Bouquet 01:17 Tools
Signpost Switch 01:17 Tools
Murder Strip 01:17 Tools
Whatever Happened To George Fo 01:09 Tools
Tense Night 01:09 Tools
I Wonder Where the Microdot We 01:09 Tools
The Saint opening titles (Legacy of The Saint) 01:09 Tools
Early Morning Visitor 02:28 Tools
Explosive Escape 02:28 Tools
Department S incidental cue 5 02:28 Tools
Jeannie's Cover Blown 02:28 Tools
Department S incidental cue 6 02:28 Tools
Hit And Run 02:28 Tools
Dial-A-Killer 02:28 Tools
Department S incidental cue 3 02:28 Tools
Fished Out 02:28 Tools
Sinister Black Van 02:28 Tools
Hire Wire 01:11 Tools
Jeff's Dilemma 01:11 Tools
Eerie Welcome 01:17 Tools
Marty Appears At Seance 01:17 Tools
Ex-Wife With A Gun 01:17 Tools
Pond Fight 01:17 Tools
Shadow Mood 01:17 Tools
Prisoners In The Barn 01:17 Tools
Jeannie Attacked By Poltergeist 01:17 Tools
Theme From Department 5 01:17 Tools
Main Theme From The Saint (The Saint) 01:17 Tools
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) Theme 01:17 Tools
Broken Rhythm 01:17 Tools
Dance Time 01:17 Tools
Night Drama 01:17 Tools
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Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Ted Astley (b. Edwin Thomas Astley, Warrington, Cheshire, 1922. d. Goring, Oxfordshire, 1998) was perhaps the most prolific and inventive composer of British television action-adventure theme music. He was also a highly accomplished musician, songwriter and arranger of popular music, as well as composer of more formal works (an original operatic piece for Hammer's 1962 remake The Phantom of the Opera, compositions for son et lumiere performances at Hampton Court Palace and the Cairo pyramids). He joined the Royal Army Service Corps band as a boy, playing clarinet and saxophone, and by the age of 18 was arranging both military and dance band music. After the war, he joined the Percy Pease dance band and later formed his own band, the Ted Astley Orchestra. The band appeared mainly in the north of England and was often heard broadcasting from the BBC's Manchester studios. Following the closure of northern venues in the late 1940s, he decided to move to London and found work at music publishers Francis, Day and Hunter as an arranger for such popular singers of the period as Vera Lynn and Anne Shelton. Astley's first film work, in 1953, was for the Danziger brothers (Edward J. and Harry Lee), a couple of British-based American producers of second features and low-cost television series: Gilbert Harding Speaking of Murder (1953), Star of My Night (1954), A Tale of Three Women (1954), all directed by Danzigers' regular Paul Dickson. He also worked on the Danzigers' suspense anthology series The Vise (which was shown via various ITV companies from 1955). His other television work around this time included Fabian of the Yard (BBC, 1954-56) and the Boris Karloff mystery series Colonel March of Scotland Yard (ITV, tx. from 1955), the latter for producer Hannah Weinstein - an association that led to Astley being asked to write the music for Weinstein's The Adventures of Robin Hood (ITV, 1955-59) series. Astley's popular Robin Hood theme, heralded by his famous nine-note trumpet fanfare, helped launch his career as a composer for television. For the early series he wrote original music for every episode, recording three episodes per four-hour session at Beaconsfield Studios. The conventional practice for television during this time was that only the first dozen or so episodes of a series had original music specially written in order to build up a library of incidental music for re-use in later episodes. Running for 143 episodes and performing well in America, the Robin Hood series was also a highly lucrative assignment for Astley. It was American composer Carl Sigman, however, who wrote the familiar 'Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen...' title song; fellow composer Albert Elms provided the greater part of the episodic underscore. The swashbuckling exploits of The Buccaneers (ITV, 1956-57), opening with a rousing shanty over the main titles, and The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (ITV, 1956-57), employing a suitably noble signature, followed; both series produced by Weinstein's Sapphire Films. During this mid 1950s period Astley also provided the music for Adventures of the Big Man (BBC, 1956), The Invisible Man (ITV, 1958-59), the latter uncredited, Ivanhoe (ITV, 1958) and International Detective (ITV, 1959-61). In 1959, Astley was approached to score the Canadian police drama series R.C.M.P. (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) (1959-60), a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/BBC co-production, but was prevented from taking up the assignment by restrictions imposed by the British Musicians' Union. He did, however, supply the music for another overseas production, the Australian-filmed action series Whiplash (ITV, 1960-61). He also worked on features, shorts and travelogues between TV recordings, including the Hammer Films productions A Clean Sweep (d. Maclean Rogers, 1958), Visa to Canton (d. Michael Carreras, 1960) and The Phantom of the Opera (d. Terence Fisher, 1962). Producer Ralph Smart brought in Astley as musical director for the espionage series Danger Man (ITV, 1960-62; 1964-66). First produced in 1960 as a half-hour series, starring Patrick McGoohan as a NATO trouble-shooter, Astley composed the early series' title and incidental music as fast moving big brass productions emphasising a strong jazz saxophone. When the series returned in 1964 in an hour format Astley's main title theme (called 'High Wire') used a jazz harpsichord over the fast paced brass orchestra. Astley was the first composer for British television with a familiarity with jazz and other contemporary idioms. When the hour-long series of Danger Man was acquired by CBS (the first British spy series to be purchased by an American network), the title was changed to Secret Agent and Astley's main title composition was replaced by a new theme commissioned by the network. This new theme opened with an electric guitar riff and featured a pop-hit song ('Secret Agent Man') sung by American youth market favourite Johnny Rivers. However, the most recognisable British TV theme of the era was Astley's simple seven-note phrase over the introduction to The Saint (ITV, 1962-69), signalled on screen at the start of the opening credits with an animated halo appearing above series' star Roger Moore's head. Based on the series of popular adventure novels written by Leslie Charteris (who was actually credited with the opening bars of the theme later in the series), The Saint was one of the most successful action-adventure series of the 1960s, both in Britain and the USA. Astley recorded several sessions for the early series that were then re-used for the remainder of the series. Both Danger Man and The Saint were ATV/ITC productions, the successful Sir Lew Grade combine that was responsible for several popular mid-Atlantic filmed series of the 1960s. Astley's arresting use of jazz colours and rhythms during this period included works for the ATV/ITC series Gideon's Way (ITV, 1965-66), The Baron (ITV, 1966-67), The Champions (ITV, 1968-69), Department S (ITV, 1969-70) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (ITV, 1969-71). In 1969, he was called upon to compose the music for Sir Kenneth Clark's 13-part historical documentary series Civilisation (BBC) and provided an appropriately majestic and evocative composition featuring heavy organ music. In the late 1970s, he moved from London to Oxfordshire to enjoy early retirement. He continued his involvement in music, however, converting a garage into a recording studio and acquiring a number of state-of-the-art synthesisers, building up a successful music library. Remaining ever-active, he orchestrated several pieces of music for his son-in-law, The Who's Pete Townshend (married to his daughter Karen). Astley went on to become one of the first to orchestrate symphonic pop for large orchestras. In 1997, he was delighted to see The Saint theme enter the music charts (at number 5) by the electronic band Orbital. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.