New Vintage: The Best of Simon May is a 1994 compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 featuring some of the key works from British film and television music

Theme music

Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...

 composer Simon May

Simon May

Simon May is a British musician and composer, best known for composing some of British television's best known theme tunes, including EastEnders and Howards' Way, and for composing the music for the 1988 film The Dawning....

.

The album was accompanied by a UK tour, named "A Night Away From the TV". May used several school choirs for the show, which also included performers Kate Robbins

Kate Robbins

Katherine Robbins is an English actress, comedienne and singer.-Biography:Robbins is a first cousin once removed of Paul McCartney and older sister of Amy Robbins . She attended Wirral Grammar School for Girls and won the Drama Prizes each year, notably with her monologue "All this glitters is not...

 and 1990 Opportunity Knocks winner Mark Rattray.
Some performances had to be cancelled because of low ticket sales.

A BBC television

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...

 Pebble Mill

Pebble Mill at One

Pebble Mill at One was a popular British lunchtime chat show broadcast live originally on BBC2 before transferring to BBC1. It was produced from the Pebble Mill facilities of BBC Birmingham, and uniquely was hosted from the centre's main reception area rather than a traditional studio...

special was broadcast on BBC1

BBC One

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 on 20 December 1994. It featured aspects of the planning, rehearsals and performances of the tour, including comments by Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

 about the failure of some projects. May discussed the writing process, especially for the theme to Jobs for the Girls. It included interviews with Tony Holland

Tony Holland

Anthony John "Tony" Holland was an English television screenwriter best known as a writer and co-creator of the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early career:...

, Gerard Glaister

Gerard Glaister

John Leslie "Gerard" Glaister DFC, was a British television producer and director best known for his work with the BBC. Amongst his most notable successes as a TV producer were Colditz, The Brothers, Secret Army and Howards' Way.After studying at RADA, Glaister made his West End debut in 1939...

 and Verity Lambert

Verity Lambert

Verity Ann Lambert, OBE was an English television and film producer. She is best known as the founding producer of the science-fiction series Doctor Who, a programme which has become a part of British popular culture, and for her association with Thames Television...

, who discussed his work for EastEnders

EastEnders

EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

, Howards' Way

Howards' Way

Howards' Way is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC One between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the yachting and business communities in the fictional town of Tarrant on the South Coast of...

and Eldorado

Eldorado (TV series)

Eldorado was a British soap opera that ran for only one year, from 6 July 1992 to 9 July 1993. Set in Coín on the Costa Del Sol and based around the lives of British and European expats, the BBC hoped it would be as successful as EastEnders and replicate some of the sunshine and glamour of imported...

respectively.

Track listing

Orchestral tracks are performed by the Simon May Orchestra.

Track No.	Title	Associated show	Notes
1	"EastEnders"	EastEnders EastEnders EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...	Co-written with Leslie Osbourne. This track is similar to the unpopular jazzy revamp of the theme heard in the programme around the time of this album's release.
2	"Always There" Vocals: Marti Webb Marti Webb Marti Webb is a musical actress from England, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980...	Howards' Way Howards' Way Howards' Way is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC One between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the yachting and business communities in the fictional town of Tarrant on the South Coast of...	Co-written with Leslie Osbourne with lyrics by Don Black Don Black (musician) Don Black, OBE is an English lyricist. His works have included numerous musicals, movie themes and hit songs. He has provided lyrics for John Barry, Charles Strouse, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Quincy Jones, Jule Styne, Henry Mancini, Michael Jackson, Elmer Bernstein, Michel Legrand, Hayley Westenra,... . Vocal version of the theme tune, used over the end credits in the second series.
3	"Barracuda"	Howards' Way Howards' Way Howards' Way is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC One between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the yachting and business communities in the fictional town of Tarrant on the South Coast of...	Extended version of the closing theme.
4	"When You Go Away" Vocals: Johnny Griggs	Eldorado Eldorado (TV series) Eldorado was a British soap opera that ran for only one year, from 6 July 1992 to 9 July 1993. Set in Coín on the Costa Del Sol and based around the lives of British and European expats, the BBC hoped it would be as successful as EastEnders and replicate some of the sunshine and glamour of imported...	Vocal version of the theme, used over the end credits of the show's final episode. It was released as a single.
5	"Every Loser Wins Every Loser Wins "Every Loser Wins" is a song written by Simon May for the BBC television soap opera EastEnders. It was performed by Nick Berry.Written and produced by Simon May, Stewart James and Bradley James the song was heavily featured in the BBC soap opera EastEnders throughout the summer of 1986, sung by... " Vocals: Nick Berry Nick Berry Nicholas "Nick" Berry is a British television actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Simon Wicks in the British soap opera EastEnders from 1985 to 1990 and as PC Nick Rowan in the British drama television series Heartbeat from 1992 to 1998.-Career:Berry started acting at the age of...	EastEnders	Featured in a 1980s EastEnders storyline with Simon Wicks Simon Wicks Simon "Wicksy" Wicks is a fictional character from the British BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nick Berry between 1985 and 1990. Wicksy was introduced to take on some of the more adult storylines that had been scripted for another character, Mark Fowler; Mark's actor David Scarboro had left...  (Berry), and was a UK number one single in 1986.
6	"Trainer"	Trainer Trainer (TV series) Trainer is a British television series transmitted by the BBC between 1991 and 1992.Filmed in and around the village of Compton near Newbury, the series is set in the world of horse racing. It starred Mark Greenstreet as Mike Hardy, an aspiring horse trainer keen to set up his own stables...
7	"More Than in Love" Vocals: Kate Robbins Kate Robbins Katherine Robbins is an English actress, comedienne and singer.-Biography:Robbins is a first cousin once removed of Paul McCartney and older sister of Amy Robbins . She attended Wirral Grammar School for Girls and won the Drama Prizes each year, notably with her monologue "All this glitters is not...	Crossroads	Co-written with Barry Leng; reached no. 2 in the UK singles chart
8	"Summer of My Life" Vocals: Simon May	Crossroads	Reached no. 7 in the UK singles chart.
9	"Holiday Suite"	Holiday Holiday (TV series) Holiday was a long-running UK television programme on BBC One, and was the oldest travel review show on UK television. It was aired on the channel from 1969 until 2007.-Overview:...	Co-written with Barry Leng; reached no. 2 in the UK singles chart
10	"More to Life" Vocals: Cliff Richard Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....	Trainer	Lyrics by Don Black. Vocal version of the Trainer theme
11	"We'll Find Our Day" Vocals: Mark Rattray and Emma Robbins	Smike Smike Smike is a pop musical adaptation of a small part of Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby, that was televised for the BBC in 1973. The musical is based on the character Smike from that novel. The TV production starred Beryl Reid as Mrs Squeers, Andrew Keir as Mr Squeers, Leonard Whiting as Nicholas,...	Re-recorded version with one of the performers on the 1994 tour.
12	"Jobs for the Girls/Food and Drink/TV Weekly/Morning on BBC1"	Jobs for the Girls/Food and Drink Food and Drink Food and Drink was a long-running British television series on BBC Two between 1982 and 2001. It was the first national television programme in the UK to cover the subject of food and drink without cookery and recipe demonstrations.... /TV Weekly/Morning on BBC1 Pebble Mill at One Pebble Mill at One was a popular British lunchtime chat show broadcast live originally on BBC2 before transferring to BBC1. It was produced from the Pebble Mill facilities of BBC Birmingham, and uniquely was hosted from the centre's main reception area rather than a traditional studio...	Compilation of several themes.
13	"The Dawning"	The Dawning The Dawning The Dawning is a 1988 British film, based on Jennifer Johnston's novel, The Old Jest which depicts the Irish War of Independence through the eyes of the Anglo-Irish landlord class...
14	"Wolfgang" Vocals: Simon May		Inspired by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music... .

External links

• Music From the Movies - information
• Track listing
• BBC Essex - with biographical information about May and details about the chart performances of some titles on this album.