Blue Peter (Making of)

[simes205]

I remember watching this back in the day

[imagos]

you can do all this now on an ipad lol

[dummyspitter]

old 24 track tape gramophone recorder was state of the art back then i suppose lol

[johncutler100]

Oldfield  Magic !

[jazzdrum100]

I remember watching this when it was on Blue Peter. Time flies by!

[bobin1973]

he is god !!!

[imagos]

what a lovely pair of knockers!

oh hang on.. wrong video.

[dummyspitter]

@imagos i rember that lol

[FOLLABAMBAS]

A truly genious

[PrimalMax]

Like a lot of others I remember this when it was shown originally and then going out and buying the 7" single and playing it over and over and over. I still love this version of the theme, it is as iconic as the 80's version of the Dr. Who music. It sums up perfectly the era and style. It was great to see this again and brings out the boy in me once more!

[AshtonPhoto]

Best version by far.

I watched this live when it was aired.

Mike plays a guitar ad lib riff in the single version that is just brilliant.

[androoow]

still the best version of the blue peter tune ever , by miles....and miles.......

[WEENOB]

i got a copy of this single signed by chris trace ....whom i had the pleasure of knowing at the time this was made .

[Simesnaki]

I remember watching this on Blue Peter. Great to see it again. Thanks.

[neil73]

@Simesnaki Me too! What year was it 78 or 79 I would guess

[johnhugh99]

Great to hear the full version of the Blue Peter.sig tune, let's hope the ideot Levell is listing

[jonlawsb]

Watching this when I was 9 blew my mind - the idea that ONE man could create a complex piece of music by playing all the parts and multi-tracking it was incredible to me. I cannibalised cassette recorders to make rudimentary multitracks and recorded by tape 'bouncing' - quality was awful but it worked...

[amwvb]

What a genius, thanks so much for uploading this *****!

[jdhammond]

Brilliant, I remember it so well...and they buried a copy of the 7" single in the time capsule...when they dug it up Simon Groom grumbled that he never got any royalties for his snare drum work.. :-)

[JohnnyTheWolfLupino]

Great clip, always thought Mike Oldfield's version was the best and deservedly so.

[piano2k8]

Excellent!!! Thanks for posting this video!!!

[MoveOverCasanova]

in the first shot it looks like they stand in front of an arp 2600

[Spoolz07]

Wow! Fancy seeing this again! Thank you to whoever recorded it and posted it. I remember watching this on TV as a child - I now work in a music recording studio!

[martybhoy72]

I remember this being on tv. I got the 7 inch single of the theme tune as part of my christmas.

[jsm666]

I remember, way back in the day, seeing the vid of Blue Peter (the single version where they're messing about in hovercraft and such) ON Blue Peter - and deciding at that point that I was a Mike Oldfield fan. Never looked back.

[MoveOverCasanova]

his approach to music is just to my taste. and his unpathetic honesty too.

i love confident, humble musicians/artists that do not shrout themselves in mystery that´s musical intelligence beyond rock´n´roll cliche bullshit ! !

[MikeandEllie]

A fantastic return of some memories there, thanks!

[simpson30]

This was by far the best version of the theme tune.

[LinkBulletBill]

It looks easy to do, but it isn't easy... You need the talent!

[SteveResin]

Good grief I can remember watching this after school back in the day. Thanks for uploading, brings back some ace memories.

[stuckontheupslow]

"Why do you have to slow it down?"

"Because I can't play it that fast"

Classic!

[LinkBulletBill]

it's because of his nails too... With keyboard you have to play with your fingertips, but he had to play with his fingers flat, or else it would if he would play by his fingertips his nails would be playing it. And that's bad, can't play that ways, impossible...

[glenrea]

I always thought Simon Groom was a good presenter, but there's something so Alan Partridge about him!

[ant501UK]

wow that was scary! No, not the item; just seeing myself with loads of hair and big shirt collars as one of the crew playing the instruments at 5:50

[mrb6rb]

Brought back so many memories. Love the patronising way Simon Groom explains things - 'the tick tock noise in his heaphones'. lol

[ddddddz]

aled is here

[annedaly12345]

blooming marvellous!

[MysteronAgent]

Utterly superb! The best theme arrangement of the best children's show ever!!! Many thanks for this.

Here's to another 50 years of Blue Peter!

[Hoya84]

It amazes me how he can play pretty much every single instrument himself! Sooo much talent!

[Kohntarkosz]

I love the bit where their host asks him why he has to play the melody at half speed and he says "Because I can't play it that fast"!

This is pretty cool, I've never seen this before. Being an American, I've never really seen Blue Peter, so it's kinda neat to see stuff like this.

[andrewbarrett42]

This is the best blue peter tune by far.

[Squab1972]

I couldn't agree with you more, this was very interesting to watch and see how Mike Oldfield works he is one of the best multi instrumentalists of all time.

[argyess]

great to see this footage, it brings back a lot of memories of Sarah Green, Goldie etc. This version of the theme tune sounds different to the one released as a single. Does anyone know which version was recorded first?

[dunebasher1971]

The single version was a complete re-recording to extend the tune to a more appropriate length for commercial release. Don't know why he chose to lose the drum roll.

The original TV version has never been released, sadly, and I think it only exists as a mono mix (because British TV only used mono audio at that time). And of course, Oldfield also did the closing music for the show, which only lasts 20 seconds and has also never been commercially released.

[Moench]

A very nice documentation of the accurate way Mike Oldfield, one of the most underestimated componists of our times, works. One can learn from him. Thank you!