Music
Music for the series was by Roger & Gavin Greenaway. Incidentally Gavin went on to compose for the BBC series Bug’s, and later went on to compose additional music for the film Face Off, Antz and Evolution, and can be found conducting the orchestra on a range of film scores that include The Thin Red Line, Gladiator, Hannibal and The Time Machine.
Roger (picture right) meanwhile is best known for his song writing and has written shed loads of tracks, many with his writing partner Roger Cook, the
best known being “I’d Like to teach the World to Sing”, and presumably made a fortune out of Coca-Cola…… (see the Coke website for more)
The Full Theme Tune in MP3 format taken from the opening credits to the program:
974KB 44kHz 128kbs Mono (1m 02s)
974KB 44kHz 128kbs Mono (1m 02s)
McTout blows on his bagpipes,
whilst Elspeth & Angus watch those notes go floating across the Waves.
Ferocious-Ness appears at once, and grabs a note or two for lunch,
And the whole of the Family Ness is not too far behind
Sporty-Ness leaps over him,
Turns up-side-down and dives back in,
And the beautiful Lovely-Ness shows she’s the kissing kind!
Eyewit-Ness comes up for air,
And taking notes without a care,
He turns, with a crash, and a bash and and a splash,
To the Family Ness……
You can knock it,
You can rock it,
You can go to Timbuktu,
But you’ll never find a Nessy in the zoo.
You may see an Anaconda, or Giraffe and Kangaroo,
But you’ll never see a Nessy in a zoo…..
Low Quality Versions:
Opening Music (73KB)
Intro Music (17KB)
Closing Theme (32KB)
There is also the extended version of the theme tune, as found on the single below:
Extended Theme Tune – 2.13MB 44KHz 128kbs Stereo (2m20s)
Believe it or not there was also the Family Ness single! Written along the lines of the theme tune by Roger Greenaway, Peter Maddocks and Gavin Greenaway, it was released on the 5th October, 1984 following the transmission of the final episode (featuring the song). See a copy of the original press release. Sadly the single never made it into the Top 40. Wham were at the number 1 spot with the single “Freedom” that month, which they then followed up two month later with that perennial Christmas classic “Last Christmas”. It was the year that Band Aid also released Do They Know it’s Christmas”. Other notable tunes to hit the charts were the UK’s most successful act of the year – Frankie Goes to Hollywood with “The Power of Love” which was number 1 in December, the theme from “Never Ending story” by Limahl, “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. and “Nelly the Elephant” by the Toy Dolls, but I digress….
We have not one but two versions available. Thanks to Will Datsun for providing a recording taken from the series final episode:
High Quality – 2.46MB 44kHz 128kbs Mono (2m41s)
Low Quality – 476KB 22kHz 24kbs Mono (2m41s)
And also to Edward Norton who provided the single release. He found it in a charity shop for only 10p – A bargain if I ever saw one!
MP3 Format:
You’ll Never Find a Nessy in the Zoo – 2.35MB 44kHz 128kbs Stereo (2m34s)
Upside-downy Bats,
And stripey Cats,
And Monkeys too;
Big Cow pats,
And keeper’s hats
And things that “wiff” and “phew”
Birds that stand on spikey legs,
Whilst others “bill” and “coo”,
Yes, there’s an awful lot of sadness in the zoo.
You can knock it,
You can rock it,
You can go to Timbuktu,
But you’ll never find a Nessy in the zoo.
You may see an Anaconda, a Giraffe and Kangaroo,
But you’ll never see a Nessy in a zoo.
While Dolphins leap,
Sealions sleep,
Gorillas stare at you;
Camel rides,
And Penguin slides,
To catch a fish or two;
Sly Vultures look you in the eye,
And see you as a stew,
At feeding time they’d make a hearty meal of you.
You can knock it,
You can rock it,
You can go to Timbuktu,
But you’ll never find a Nessy in the zoo.
You can go to Auctomuckty,
And to Drumnadrocit too,
But you’ll never find a Nessy in a zoo.
Creepy-crawly things,
And yawning Kings,
Stay out of view;
Hippopotomi don’t bat an Eye,
They Wallow in the goo;
While Cuddly Bears,
Just hug in pairs,
Highenas laugh at you,
And there is not a lot to laugh at in the zoo.
You can knock it,
You can rock it,
You can go to Timbuktu,
But you’ll never find a Nessy in the zoo.
You may see an Anaconda, a Giraffe and Kangaroo,
But you’ll never see a Nessy in a zoo…..
You can knock it,
You can rock it,
You can go to Timbuktu,
But you’ll never find a Nessy in the zoo.
You can go to Auctomuckty
And to Drumnadrocit too,
But you’ll never find a Nessy,
No you’ll never find a Nessy,
No you’ll never find a Nessy in the zoo.
Click on the images below to see high quality scans of the record:
