STANDARD YOUNG ONES MUSIC FACT™: Did you know that the reason there’s a band performing in nearly every episode of The Young Ones is so the programme could claim to be a variety show instead of a sitcom, and get a higher budget?
Yes, I did. Right, now that’s out of the way, let’s move on, shall we?
While working on a different project recently, I found myself in need of a complete list of music used in The Young Ones. Sadly, nobody had already written this. After some research, it soon became clear why nobody had already written this.1 Of all the things I’ve done for this site, this has been one of the most difficult and complicated. The Young Ones has a lot of music in it, and a fair amount of it is obscure, sometimes absurdly so.
Not that I was starting entirely from scratch; I do own a copy of the official paperwork listing the music used in each episode. While this was of enormous help, the paperwork is also incomplete, and occasionally incorrect. Luckily, with a combination of that, my own ears, and an army of helpful people on Twitter, I’ve been able to identify the vast majority of the tracks used in the show. This includes chart music, library tracks, and specially written material by Peter Brewis.
There are a still few instances where I’ve unfortunately drawn a blank. These missing tracks are listed like this, along with an audio clip. So if anybody can identify any of these pieces, let me know in the comments, or drop me a line elsewhere. I will love you forever.
Let’s get going. This article covers Series 1; Series 2 will be dealt with separately, because I feel a responsibility not to over-excite you.
S1E1: Demolition
RX: 23rd/24th January 1982 • TX: 9th November 1982
(00:00) “The Young Ones”, Peter Brewis & Orchestra
The title music, with Mayall, Edmondson, Planer, Ryan as performers. The orchestra was David Hulley, John Beecham, Will Hill, Brent Forbes, Derek Griffiths and Jamie Buckley, and don’t you feel better for knowing that?2
(13:24) “Rock Around the Clock”, Bill Haley and his Comets
The soundtrack to Neil’s attempted suicide. This song is missing from the paperwork; to my ears, it sounds like the classic 1954 recording.
(17:26) “Demolition Sting”, Peter Brewis & Orchestra
A highly amusing piece of Brewis for the moment where our gang discover the house is going to be demolished.
(17:51) “Eleven Plus Eleven”, Nine Below Zero
Not actually the recording released on their album Third Degree, also in 1982, but extremely similar.
(23:47) “Nozin Aroun”, Peter Brewis & Orchestra
The opening music for Nozin’ Aroun’ is a Brewis creation. But…
(23:59) …here we come to the first piece of music I’ve been unable to track down. What’s the backing music, throughout the rest of the Nozin’ Aroun’ sketch?
Sadly, there’s nothing listed in the paperwork for this.
(28:38) “Morning Has Broken”, John Gregory
From the 1973 album Gregory Conducts The Sounds Of Today. Fun fact: John Gregory also wrote the theme music for On the Buses spin-off Don’t Drink the Water. Well, a fact, anyway.
(32:23) “Young Ones Closing Music”, Peter Brewis & Orchestra
Has there ever been a more perfect closing theme for a sitcom?
S1E2: Oil
RX: 25th/26th August 1982 • TX: 16th November 1982
(00:37) “Travellin’ Light”, Cliff Richard
As our heroes arrive at the new house. This track couldn’t be cleared for commercial release originally, and is missing from the VHS and initial DVD releases of the episode. As the original dialogue for the scene no longer survived, it was re-recorded by the main cast for these releases – luckily, we only see the characters in long shot. The song is present, with the original dialogue, on the most recent DVD.
(04:58) “Coo Coo Daddy Long Legs”, Ronnie Golden
Buddy Holly hanging from a parachute through the ceiling: surely one of the most tasteless jokes in the whole of The Young Ones. Good. This song is credited entirely to Ronnie Golden on the paperwork, rather than Elton/Mayall/Mayer, which matches up with his reminisces in this video, from 23:34 in.3
(16:37) “Skin Tight”, Paul Keogh
Have you ever wondered what music is playing during the scene where Rick’s bedroom is turned into a roller disco? Well wonder no more. Unmentioned in the paperwork, this piece of Bruton library music was – as far as I can tell – first released in 1981, on the album Souled Out. Recently it’s been re-released on Disco Vol. 1 in the Bruton Vaults series, and can be heard on the Universal Production Music site.
(19:37) Another piece of unidentified music – or at least, an unidentified recording, anyway. The meeting below stairs is clearly an Upstairs Downstairs parody – but the music isn’t the same recording used in the classic LWT series:
This isn’t listed at all in the paperwork. A Brewis version? Or one of many theme tune re-recordings, sold to unsuspecting punters in the hope that it would sound close enough to the original? (I’ve listened to as many of these as I can bear, and I haven’t yet found the version used here.)
(24:19) “Souq”, Ali Ishfahan And George Farid
A library track, used for the sketch where the team decide to insult “the Arabs”. This piece is listed in the paperwork, but in a slightly unhelpful way. Firstly, the text is virtually unreadable in the copy I have. Secondly, it’s incorrectly listed in the paperwork for Bomb instead of Oil. Oops.
Anyway, the piece was originally released on the 1978 album All The Arabias by JW Theme Music, and you can listen to the full piece on the Upright Music site.
(24:37) “I’m Bustin’ My Rocks (Working On The Chain Gang)”, Roy C
Another track missing entirely from the paperwork, this obscure song plays in the background when the gang are first digging for oil in the cellar. This was first released on his album Sex & Soul from 1973, which finally got a CD release in 2002.
The track certainly shouldn’t have been missing from the paperwork, as it ended up causing problems: the song couldn’t be cleared for most commercial releases of the show. This results in some missing footage at the beginning of the scene; Vyv saying “Get on with it Rick, you big poof!” is cut entirely. The rest of Neil and Vyv digging for oil is kept, but obscured with new sound effects, to get rid of the rest of the song. Luckily, the song stops entirely once Neil puts the pickaxe through Vyv’s skull, enabling the rest of the scene to remain intact. As with “Travellin’ Light”, the song and missing footage is restored entirely in the latest DVD release.
(29:49) “Dr. Marten’s Boots”, Alexei Sayle and Radical Posture
He’d better be good, this Norman Tebbit. Fairly similar to the version released on Sayle’s first album, Cak!, also released in 1982. In fact, at this distance it’s easy to forget how close together all this was; Cak! was released in October 1982, and Oil was broadcast a month later in November.
Radical Posture themselves consists of Jim Bamber, Harry Bogdanov, and David Stafford – all people who featured on Cak!, and were already playing with Alexei.
S1E3: Boring
RX: 18th/19th August 1982 • TX: 23rd November 1982
(00:35) “Good Day Sunshine”, The Beatles
As all the interesting people laze around at the start of the day. Again, this was mixed off for most commercial releases in the UK due to rights reasons. (The audience laughs are also different between the two versions, suggesting that the ones present here on the earlier commercial releases are yer literal canned laughter.) As with all these missing songs, the latest DVD release restores the original broadcast version.
(01:08) Time for a double whammy of unidentified tracks. Firstly, the music used when the carrot and the chip are dancing is clearly “The Skaters’ Waltz”, by Émile Waldteufel:
But does anybody recognise exactly which recording is used here? (The paperwork doesn’t list it at all.)
(06:03) A similar question arises when we go down below to visit the Interesting King and Queen. The music is obviously “Infernal Galop” by Jacques Offenbach, but which exact recording?
I am well aware these “which recording?” questions will be almost impossible to pin down, of course.
(12:53) “Fire”, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
To greet our descent into hell. Followed in short order by…
(13:52) “Bermuda Triangle”, Barry Manilow
Who said The Young Ones was above a cheap gag?
(14:58) “Flash Barrier”, John Hawksworth
A suitably Sweeney-esque piece of library music for Bastard Squad, oddly enough not listed in the paperwork. This would have been taken from the 1976 release Bite Hard, although a copy can also be found on the 2009 Dramatic Funk Themes Vol. 2 if you can find one. (Or go here, but ssshhhhhh.)
(19:56) “House of Fun”, Madness
Of course. Still, there is an interesting wrinkle here; the show actually uses the original 7″ single release, rather than the subsequent album versions. The 7″ ends with a startling stab chord, and then some funfair noises fading away into the distance; you can hear the stab in the episode as the pint is slammed down, although the funfair is omitted. The version of the song most often heard now is nine seconds shorter, and ends on a fade before the stab.
Also worth noting: this is the first time the actual single version is used for the band performance of the week, rather than a live or specially recorded version.
(25:40) “Teddy Bears’ Picnic”, Henry Hall and His Orchestra
For when Goldilocks goes wandering, of course. “Bloody hippie food.” Reused at the end of the episode when the bears arrive. Sod it, let’s go to McDonald’s.
S1E4: Bomb
RX: 1st/2nd September 1982 • TX: 30th November 1982
(09:43) “Bluebird”, Alan Hawkshaw
Amusingly being broadcast across THE WHOLE OF TELEVISION. A KPM library track which I believe was first released in 1973 on the album Happy Rainbows, though it’s been re-released on many different compilations since then.
Worth noting that Rick only tries BBC1, BBC2 and ITV, and doesn’t bother switching to Channel 4. C4 launched on the 2nd November 1982, which means it wasn’t around when the episode was recorded, but was on air by the time the episode was broadcast. Clearly, this makes The Young Ones dated before it had even finished its original transmission.
(18:52) “Jackie Wilson Said”, Dexys Midnight Runners
Not the same recording as the single version, although – like Nine Below Zero in the pilot – an extremely close approximation. Imagine Roger Sloman scratching his beard at this statement, if you wish.
(25:54) “I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent”, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
As Rick flicks a V-sign behind a policeman’s back. Charting in the UK in 1957, it demonstrates that The Young Ones has so many different influences feeding into it, including pop music from 25 years earlier. The show’s title is far from an aberration.
(27:51) “Dicky & Dino”, Peter Brewis & Orchestra
Now, here’s an odd one. This parody of the Rat Pack is listed in the paperwork, and the performance is obviously credited to Mayall, Planer, and Brewis with his marvellous Orchestra. But the writing credits are not the expected Mayall/Elton/Mayer/Brewis. Instead, they’re Mayall/Planer/Brewis… and Sayle?! Since when did Alexei Sayle write any of the material beyond his own sections of the show? And for that matter, since when did Planer have any writing credit on The Young Ones?
More research on this is needed, but initial hunch: perhaps the song originated from material first performed at the Comedy Store, hence the unusual writing credits. If anyone knows any more, please get in touch.
S1E5: Interesting
RX: 11th/12th August 1982 • TX: 7th December 1982
(04:09) “The Tomato Song”, Audrienne Ferguson Smith & Peter Brewis
Yes, this really is the official name of the song we hear before Neil II gets kicked into the fridge, as listed on the paperwork.4 Written by Mayall/Mayer/Elton, arranged by Brewis. Sadly, singer Audrienne died in 2012; this obituary for her is well worth reading, and gives many details about her career.
(15:01) “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of”, The Human League
Anyone here like The Human League? Yes, I do. The show earns kudos points for this actually being the first track on Dare, so the scene makes perfect sense. Well done.
(18:29) “Cinderella Rockefella”, Alan Moorhouse and his Bond Street Brigade
A fantastic version from 1970, released on the album Hits On Parade In New Swinging Military Style.5 The album is still for sale, although instead of having Alan Moorhouse’s name attached, it now goes under the more generic name BWD Orchestra.
(19:19) “You’re My Kind of Climate”, Rip Rig + Panic
This one caused me no end of confusion, because I really don’t like this song in the show at all, but didn’t mind the single version nearly as much. Turns out there’s a very good reason for this: the vocals in the show are by Andi Oliver, but the single’s vocals are by Neneh Cherry. I don’t think it’s a controversial opinion to state that Neneh is a slightly better singer than Andi.
Amusingly enough, the single version is 2:50 long; the version in the show is cut down to barely 1:30.
(20:54) “Ain’t Nothin’ But a House Party”, Paper Dolls
An absolute cracker of a track, and a genuine obscurity. The Paper Dolls essentially only had one hit – “Something Here in My Heart” in 1968, peaking at Number 11. “Ain’t Nothing But a House Party” – a cover of a Show Stoppers track – was only released on their album, Paper Dolls House, in 1968. This eventually got a re-release with bonus tracks in 2001.
How it ended up in The Young Ones is a bit of a mystery – it’s surely one of the most obscure pieces of music in all twelve episodes. Was there a Paper Dolls fan working on the show? Or – as I suspect is more likely – did someone just go hunting through the library for the word “Party”, searching for songs to use for the episode? For the record, the paperwork states “Artist Not Available”, and doesn’t mention the Paper Dolls at all, despite it also giving the detail “Side 2 Track 1” and mentioning Pye, meaning it was almost certainly just taken from their album. (The paperwork also states that only 20″ of the track is used. Actually, pretty much the entire song features in the episode.)
Anyway, it’s bloody great. People always talk about The Young Ones being a capsule of 80s music; it’s a sign of how many influences feed into the show that my favourite song featured is from 1968.
(23:28) “It’s My Party”, Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin
I have no idea how deliberate this is, but it’s fun that we go from a 60s pop track, to an 80s updating of a 60s pop track. Although I have to admit: call me an idiot, but I didn’t even hear that this song was in the episode for years, until I decided to track down all the music used in the show. (All these songs used at the party are relatively low in the mix compared to the dialogue.)
(27:38) “You’ll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties”, Jona Lewie
But sadly, you won’t find him hanging around in the kitchen on The Young Ones, which feels like a missed opportunity.
(29:45) “Mama Told Me Not to Come”, Three Dog Night
Another song about parties of course, making it the fourth in a row which plays during the main party sequence. They didn’t just throw this show together, you know.
(30:55) “Young Ones Closing Music”, Peter Brewis & Orchestra
This gets another mention, because – bizarrely – the music is speeded up slightly here compared to every single other episode, and is at a higher pitch. Usually the theme runs for 51″, but it’s a mere 48″ here. I’ve noticed this for years, and always assumed that the tape was accidentally running at the wrong speed, but maybe it was deliberate – perhaps they needed to speed it up slightly to fit with the already-shot footage of Neil in his bedroom?
S1E6: Flood
RX: 29th/30th July 1982 • TX: 14th December 1982
(06:33) “All I Have to Do Is Dream”, Unknown
For Rick’s comic strip fantasy.6 And yes: not the Everly Brothers version, despite it sounding virtually identical. Instead, it comes from the album 20 Golden Hits Of The 50’s, released in 1974 by record label Music for Pleasure, who specialised in soundalike versions of popular chart hits. This definitely isn’t something just plastered in for VHS/DVD release – it’s present on the broadcast version, and the soundalike is clearly detailed on the original paperwork. Considering how the series used endless original versions of famous songs, it seems peculiar they didn’t do so here.
(10:30) “The Day the Rains Came”, Helen Shapiro
As Neil goes out in the pouring rain. Another pleasingly odd music choice; this was never released as a single, but comes from her 1962 album ‘Tops’ With Me. The obvious choice would have been Jane Morgan’s 1958 version, but I prefer this one.
(12:54) “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, Tight Fit
During the lion taming sequence, natch. This was also mixed off for most commercial releases, rendering the scene weirdly empty and pointless. As with all these missing songs, this has finally been fixed with the latest DVD release. (With all due respect to Tight Fit, the fact that they of all groups got tangled up with music rights problems just goes to show how bizarre that whole situation can be. I mean, they weren’t exactly your English Beetles.)
(22:16) One final unidentified track for Series 1. Unlisted in the paperwork – what track is playing in the background when the gang listen to the radio?
“I can’t swim!” / “I can’t even see!”
(29:30) “The Young Ones Closing Music”, Peter Brewis & Orchestra
And finally, the ending of Flood has different end credits music to the rest of the series. (Which is perhaps a little odd – I mean why?) Sadly, it doesn’t get a unique name in the paperwork – in fact, you’d never know it was a different piece at all, unless you were watching the episode. Which doesn’t matter when it comes to getting people paid – it’s all Brewis – but wouldn’t it have been nice to end this article on some brilliant revelation? Tough, that’s reality for you.
And that’s where we leave things for now. Join me next time, where we analyse Series 2 in even more excruciating detail. “To the station!”
With thanks to Tanya Jones, Darrell Maclaine-Jones, Simon Mclean, Joe Scaramanga, and Mike Scott, for various help identifying tracks and general pleasant noises.
No, Wikipedia, a list of band performances in each episode does not count. ↩
Here’s something that is so inconsequential that even in this article, it has to be relegated to a footnote. The opening music is correctly listed as lasting 47″ in the paperwork for Demolition – but that’s because of the track skipping near the end, which is only present in this episode. For the rest of the episodes in Series 1, it’s also listed as lasting 47″ in the paperwork, except for Flood, where the duration given is 45″. But because there isn’t the track skipping in the other episodes, the true duration should actually be 36″. I hope Brewis got paid for the extra 11″ per episode over the years. ↩
The anecdote that he wrote it on the tube on the way in to the recording seems a little suspect to me, but what do I know? ↩
Dirty Feed would like to warn all small children that pushing people inside old fridges is a bloody stupid thing to do. ↩
Oddly enough, the paperwork goes with “Artist Not Available”, and also lists the release as MFP 144, when it should be MFP1414. ↩
Hey, Mike, that sounds like the cue for a really dirty joke, doesn’t it? ↩
6 comments
Billy Smart on 17 June 2020 @ 1pm
I would get drummed out of any archive comedy club for saying it, but the appearance of Rip Rig + Panic is my favourite moment in all of The Young Ones – Free jazz/ Bristol post-punk breaks into TV comedy! It’s also regularly cut to almost nothing in edited repeats…
The booking of musical guests for The Young Ones was erratic and idiosyncratic. Madness, Dexys and Motorhead were acts from the top drawer, but the other choices were peculiar. The inclusion of the Damned and John Otway might have been down to someone being a fan, but its hard to see how Nine Below Zero and Amazulu got in.
The punk singer in the “I can’t swim” interview is a satirical portrait of the obviously exploited Annabela Lwin of Bow Wow Wow, by the way. Perhaps the only period detail omitted from the old SOTCAA ‘Young Ones Esoterica Explained’ page.
John Hoare on 18 June 2020 @ 10am
I have to admit, I wasn’t that keen on the Nine Below Zero performance until I started writing this piece, but repeated exposure to it has warmed me to it immensely.
I presume one reason they got on the show because Demolition was a pilot, and there was absolutely no guarantee it was ever going to be broadcast…
Kory Watson on 20 June 2020 @ 11am
I was born exactly a decade (to the DAY, I’ve only just realised) after the first episode aired, yet I still used to watch this show religiously from VHS recordings growing up. It’s weird because most bands/artists you’ve listed I actually first came across from the show, I hear now and instantly relate them back to it (Dexy’s, Madness, The Human League, Motorhead, hell even “Doctor Marten’s Boots” to name a few, haha) – and I’m pleased to say this is something I didn’t realise I needed to read. Bravo for your research and work in compiling this all together – I honestly had no idea that wasn’t the Everley Brother’s version of the song during Flood, too – WHAT!? Haha. Anyway, I loved reading this. Looking forward to more :)!
Nic Bowden on 22 June 2020 @ 10am
Wow. Amazing work, I love learning about The Young Ones. Can’t wait for part 2! I’ve often wondered where people get this official paperwork from- floor plans, camera scripts etc. What’s the deal?
Bertie on 24 June 2020 @ 8am
Brilliant work.
Helen Aver on 7 November 2020 @ 10am
Rewatching the Young Ones in lockdown….I started looking for the music playing over the test card – Wikipedia NO help, so thank you for introducing me to a new Alan Hawkshaw track.
You’re doing great work x
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