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Various Artists (Compiled By Bob Stanley)
  1. COASTER - Simon Park
  2. RIPPLING REEDS - Wozo
  3. LEAVING - Sam Spence
  4. NORTHERN LIGHTS 1 – John Cameron
  5. SPAGHETTI JUNCTION - Peter Reno
  6. SPACE WALK - Rubba
  7. PROSPECT - Paul Hart
  8. TOMORROW'S FASHIONS - Geoff Bastow
  9. BLUE MOVIES - Brian Wade
  10. VIDEODISC - Trevor Bastow
  11. INTERFACE - Astral Sounds
  12. STARWAYS - Brian Chatton
  13. OPTICS - Unit 9
  14. ATOMIC STATION - Wozo
  15. FUTURE PROSPECT - Adrian Baker
  16. PLANNED PRODUCTION - Warren Bennett
  17. FUTURE PERSPECTIVES – Anthony Hobson aka Tektron
  18. WATERFALL - Chameleon
  19. TELECOM - James Asher
  20. EAGLE - Simon Park aka Soul City Orchestra
  21. ASTRAL PLAIN - Alan Hawkshaw
  22. DRIFTING IN TIME - Paul Williams
  23. EARTH BORN - Brian Bennett
  24. SOFT WAVES - Harry Forbes
  25. TOPAZ - Astral Sounds
  26. ETERNITY - Alan Hawkshaw
  27. INFINITY - John Cameron
  28. MORNING DEW - Andy Grossart & Paul Williams

Tomorrow's Fashions: Library Electronica 1972-1987

Various Artists (Compiled By Bob Stanley)

ACE
  • 2LP

    Released: 28th Jun 2024

    £32.99
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  • CD

    Released: 28th Jun 2024

    £13.99
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Compiled by Bob Stanley, “Tomorrow’s Fashions” varies from advertising jingles and TV themes to space exploration and gorgeous, beatless ambience.

Though it’s 40-to-50 years old, there’s a real freshness to this music. Older jazz players, Brian Bennett, John Cameron, Alan Hawkshaw and others seized the chance to operate a synth; younger pups including John Saunders and Monica Beale were simply intrigued by the new technology being wheeled into the studios. There’s a tangible sense of adventure.

“Tomorrow’s Fashions’” brand of electronica anticipated new age and ambient music. It also had both a direct and indirect influence on pop – the early Human League and the future sounds of Warp Records are all over this collection. Electronic library tracks have been sampled by everyone from MF Doom to Kendrick Lamar. One person’s primitive and experimental is another person’s space-age lullaby. This was music made in the shadows – in Soho’s secretive music library studios – that has now become desirable and influential. The chances are chunks of it will be sampled and used on hit records that have yet to be written. If the musicians’ aim was to soundtrack tomorrow’s fashions, they couldn’t have got it more right.