Tuesday 17 May 2011

Harry South 'The Sweeney (Closing Theme)' (1975) (mp3)

The opening music of The Sweeney is a classic TV theme tune, a blaring alert to the arrival of the slag-busting, hard-drinking, bare knuckle boxing, shooter-toting officers of the Flying Squad.

The closing music, however, has always held a fascination for me. It's an almost pastoral, downbeat take on the theme, reflecting a different side to the series - Regan and Carter drinking themselves into an early grave, the contents of an innocent pensioner's shopping bag strewn across the precinct after a bungled blag, their frustration at the 'establishment' power-brokers pulling the strings to nix a conviction they've worked months (well, all episode) to secure...

The full version of the closing theme - included on 'Shut It: The Music Of The Sweeney' - lets the meandering melody play out to its full extent with electric piano breakdown, radiant brass, sax and trumpet solos, just the occasional chikka-chikka guitar subtly referencing the all-action nature of the opening theme.

What's also nice about the album (sadly currently out-of-print) is that, alongside the seventies library music funk there's dialogue snatches from the series so you can practice your Regan impression, you slag.

Download Harry South 'The Sweeney (Closing Theme)' (Sweeney mp3) (box.net)

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