Norman and the Invaders - Night Train To Surbiton/ The Likely Lads

Label: United Artists

Year of Release: 1965

Strange as it possibly seems from today's perspective, a lot of TV themes throughout the fifties to late sixties ended up getting released as singles, even without the existence of BBC Records and Tapes to take gambles on their commercial viability. Some theme tunes, such as that of "Doctor Who", were so striking that obviously the decision made sense. In other cases, it's hard to hear where the broader appeal lay. 

"Night Train To Surbiton" is, logically enough, the theme to a missing-believed-wiped six-part thriller drama from 1965 starring Peter Jones and Nicholas Parsons. Revolving around two businessmen getting themselves caught up in a murder mystery while spending a weekend away, the  series is remembered by some as being eerie and gripping, but... that's literally all the information I have (unless you want me to pull all the casting and crew information off IMDb, but you can do that for yourselves, surely?) The theme tune itself sounds more like something from a television Western than a crime drama, and shorn of all context it's hard to understand why. It's not completely impossible that it was a piece of music which was appropriated in a manner the composer (Norman Percival) hadn't originally intended. 

The B-side needs little introduction, but then again, maybe it does. This, after all, is not the theme from "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads", but the theme from "The Likely Lads", so you can curb your expectations and stop expecting a bleary-eyed, beery-bellied mournful singalong about the onset of middle age and the Newcastle slum clearances (and you YouTube video owners can stop calling the WHTTLL theme "The Theme From The Likely Lads" as well, BECAUSE TECHNICALLY IT'S NOT. Specifics are important, damnit!) That said, I'm not actually sure this is the original theme as such either - it seems like a cover version with a very heavy Mr Bloe styled harmonica section, like some sort of "Last of the Summer Wine" and "Likely Lads" mash-up. Somebody ring Channel 4 now, there's probably an appalling series in that idea, but one which would nonetheless be guaranteed bucketloads of media coverage.