Search - Various :: The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

The Soundtrack of a 60s Childhood

Gavin Wilson | 06/30/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know whether this series was ever screened in the US, but if you grew up in Britain or France in the 1960s, it was virtually impossible to avoid this enchanting 13-part adaptation of Defoe's novel. First shown in 1965, it became an annual part of my summer holidays, and being the incurable nostagic that I am, I have bought both this soundtrack CD and the video box-set.But I'm not the only one. When Anne Dudley (of the Art of Noise, and composer of 'The Full Monty' soundtrack) was asked by a London radio station to name her Top Ten tracks, she included the theme from the Robinson Crusoe TV series, along with Joni Mitchell's sublime 'Shades of Scarlett Conquering' (from 'The Hissing of Summer Lawns'). The tune was evidently important to her, because the Crusoe theme dominates the Art of Noise's subsequent 'Ambient Collection'.This is highly targeted music -- it is intended for children, and children in the 1960s at that. Composers Mellin and Reverberi would have had no intention that, 37 years on, their music should be listened to by adults on small, silvery discs. The music is often playful (#3, #8), sometimes twee (#5), and sometimes dull (#4, #7). And much of it is glorious (#1, #2, #6, #10 etc). There are some wonderful 1960s sound effects and arrangements -- just as in the early Bond movies, composers were still not quite sure how to integrate electric guitar into an orchestra.If you remember the 1960s, you either weren't there or you were a kid. For those of us in the second category, this is essential listening. It still brings a tear to my eye when Robinson's dog dies (track #5, I think)."