Well it only seems right to kick off with what, for the time being at least, is the definitive "document" of Laurie's work on the series, with fifty(!) incidental themes used in the show. It should be noted that only the first CD in the set covers The Professionals - but at almost 80 minutes, there is more than enough material to keep fans happy.... well, up to a point, anyway...

Let's get the negative points out of the way first. Every track - including the main title theme - is monophonic. It is uncertain whether they were originally recorded this way - after all the programme as transmitted had mono sound. Countering this, though, is the fact that most of the pieces are of high sound quality. OK, let's review each track in detail...

The main theme is, at last(!), the genuine TV version (actually, the second recording, which accompanied episodes from the second season onwards in original transmission. Tragically, having waited for over thirty years to hear this, the sound quality is mysteriously dire, with "squashed" audio dynamics one usually associates with old, cheap tape cassette. Indeed if you were to rip it from a DVD, you would get better results.

"Theme A" is the frantic, bouncy, jazzy version of the title theme heard in a few first season eps, usually to accompany a chase. From here on the audio is of a far more, ahem, professional sound quality.

"Theme B" was only used once in the show and is the slow, "sleazy jazz" version of the main theme used in the fourth season episode "It's Only a Beautiful Picture" when the lads are trawling around central London looking for the photographer.

"Sleuthing" is one of the classic "wah-wah" and brass themes used in first season eps such as "Everest was also Conquered" and "Stakeout".

"On the Trail" is an odd title for this bright, bouncy, brassy track used for "Off we go again!"-type scenes. Closer in the style to The New Avengers, really.

The next six tracks are taken from the third season episode Stopover and present a nice mix of "surveillance" and "frantic chase" styles.

Next up we have five pieces from the third season story "Fugitive". This suite is more varied, offering different flavours of surveillance, tailing and action styles.

The next couple of two tracks are marked as being from "Foxhole on the Roof", though the second of the two is actually from the episode "A Man Called Quinn". By 1980 synthesisers were becoming accepted in the mainstream. For the "Foxhole" track, however, they are employed to provide sustained-note backgrounds to the military-style brass and percussion. By the time of the "Quinn" episode, filmed the following year, Laurie has clearly become more comfortable with the electronic instruments as the strident "chase" theme here shows.

Overall this CD set is a must for even casual fans of the show - especially considering the ludicrously low price you can pick it up for! While it suffers two major disappointments, these are more than made up for by the choice of pieces. Most of the really memorable themes from the show are here (although inevitably there are a few greats that didn't make it - the unforgettable car chase theme from "Man without a Past" being the most obvious omission). What's interesting here is that although there is no mistaking that they were written as soundtrack music, they actually stand up in their own right - and it perhaps isn't until you hear these pieces in isolation that you really appreciate Laurie's ability as a composer. I guess the only reason why Laurie was never invited to score for other television shows during the 1970s and 80s was the industry became reliant on inexpensive "library" houses.

Overall I score the set 3 out of 5.

If sales are strong enough, we may get a second volume.

Contains an excellent version of the theme by the Laurie Holloway orchestra. It is a different arrangement from the original as the middle section uses the incidental music that accompanies the motorway chase sequence from 2nd season epsiode "Hunter/Hunted" (Thanks to Oliver Lomax)

This version comes closest to the original score. Well worth tracking down, then! Despite The Professionals theme being the A-side, the record's sleeve bears a picture from The New Avengers

The Professioanls theme is on the "Out Of The Box" side. It is the shortest in a medley that also contains versions of TV themes such as "The New Avengers", "CHiPs" and "Hart To Hart", all set to a disco beat. (Thanks to Oliver Lomax)

The following info and opinions were kindly submitted by Chris Drake. The A-side is something of a 'power ballad', whilst the B-side is just a ballad. Neither song is particularly good. Both songs were written by Shirlie Roden. Produced by Jon Miller and Published by D'Arc Music. They were both recorded at Redan Studios. The record was released on the Nouveau Music label. What is interesting is that there is no date anywhere on the record or packaging. What is quite bizarre is that, on the reverse, it says "Photography by courtesy of Wimpey Homes" (?!). There is also a free poster contained within the sleeve, which is just a blow-up of the photo.

Big thanks to Barbara Johnson and Chris Drake for cover scans.

Despite the boast of 'Original Versions' on the cover, in fact this is the same mix as the one on FAVOURITE TV THEMES (see above) by the South Bank Orchestra. So, another one on the 'blacklist'!

You would think that record labels, especially one's like this who are supposedly "specialists" in TV themes, would have the research capability to simply dig the original KPM recording out and get it licensed for release on a compilation. Its so simple I cannot believe that no one has done it yet! Especially considering that KPM records are a huge TV music library as well! The same goes for the version of Dempsey & Makepeace that is on here. The original FED 9 release on Sierra Records was the original score and it is much better than the tacky synth version that is currently doing the rounds. The one redeeming feature of this album is the truly ORIGINAL recording of The Sweeney theme which is authentic!

An excellent compilation, features the version of the theme from THE ROSE & THE GUN which is the one used in the Nissan adverts. The whole CD seems to have been mastered with a bit more low end, which means the theme has more kick than on THE ROSE & THE GUN. Other rarities on here include Tom Scott´s original 1977 recording of STARSKY and HUTCH, which was only previously available on a 1987 US CD ´The Best of Tom Scott´; . Another gem is the original EMI recording of the theme to ´MINDER´ sung by Dennis Waterman, which is the first time this track has been released on CD and also only is second re-release since the 1980 EMI 5009 single.

Crazy for Gershwin, This is Your Life, Suddenly, Bolero, I Should Care, How Do You Keep The Music Playing?, The Avengers, I Love Paris, Where Do We Go From Here?, The Professionals, Mack The Knife, Coasting, The Glenn Miller Medley, Xylophobia, Why Do People Fall In Love?, The New Avengers, My Romance, Got To Get You Into My Life, Rhapsody In Blue, Soon

DISC 1: The Professionals (Blue Boy 7"Mix) / The Professionals (Galdez Ambrose Project Versatility Mix) / The Professionals Theme (Laurie Johnson) / You and Me (Alexia)

DISC 2: The Professionals (Blue Boy 7" Mix) / The Professonals (Galdez Ambrose Project Versatility Mix) / The Professionals (Blue Boy 12" Mix) / The Professionals (Galdez Ambrose Project Maximum Versatility Mix)

No, this is still not the original version – despite what Virgin told people at the time it was released – but simply the same as that included on the Return of Cult Fiction disc (above). The Blue Boy dance mix takes the same version and adds a typical dance beat, which predictably, sounds awful. The Galdez Ambrose (wasn't she an actress in Brookside?!) track is just bizarre! I won't even attempt to describe it except to say that it is in style called "jungle", apparently. However I do quite like the Alexia (whoever she is) track 'You and Me' which adds vocals to a laidback attempt at the theme. This really has a very 70's funk/soul sound - a joy for all us folk who remain happily trapped in 1977! Yes the lyrics are cheesy but it's still better than the Laurie Johnson version that appears here!

An intriguing little compilation disc which features various, little-known bands. >Russell Writer at FLR was kind enough to send me a copy of this CD for review. It's a shame, then, that I can't honestly recommend it. On playing it through the hi-fi (as opposed to my twenty-quid PC speakers!) it becomes immediately apparent that all is not so hot on the sound quality front: there's very little lower-to-mid treble and the bass part of the sound spectrum is often 'muddy'. This happens on all of the tracks. The Professionals theme is a strange, bass guitar-led dirge and an absolute insult to Laurie's score. To be honest, though, I don't think Earthling Scum are expecting us to take it seriously, anyway. It seems more like a jokey warm-up session simply done for fun. In which case, it shouldn't really be released commericially. It's a great shame Future Legend didn't use the version by The Incrediby Strange Film Band because their recent rendition on UK TV was absolutely superb.

The disc opens with a dreadful rendition of UFO (the massively undervalued cult 1970 Gerry Anderson series starring Ed Bishop... and Gabrielle Drake in a purple wig!!) which is entirely devoid of the charm and jauntiness of the original.

The Persuaders theme suffers the same fault as well as sounding very dour – "pop noir" is the term used in the liner notes and is fitting, I think.

The Get Carter (cult 1971 Newcastle-based gangster film starring Michael Caine) theme grooves along quite nicely but lacks the sharp-edged "spine-tingliness" of the original.

However by the time of The Sweeney, things are definitely looking up with this faithful reproduction, though doesn't quite have the "bite" of Harry South's original, brilliant theme. But this version also includes the soulful end theme – yes, I enjoyed this one!

The Shaft and Starsky & Hutch themes are highly commendable, too, both being surprisingly faithful to the originals.

Mouse's version of Carly Simon's Nobody Does it Better (from the Bond film 'The Spy Who Loved Me') is excellent in this stripped-down form but the singer's voice (which is very good) is not allowed to "shine through" as it does with Carly's original. It seems to be "restrained" in the mix.

Predictably the attempt at Hawaii 5-0 has a very Two-Tone/Ska flavour to it and isn't bad but lacks the "energy" of the original.

FLR specialise in these types of compilations and currently have quite a number of similar discs available.

Thanks to Matt Jeffery for notification of this disc. You can hear snippets of some of the tracks (including those from The Professionals and New Avengers) at Amazon. To be honest, like the disc above, this doesn't sound like a serious attempt at covers, though the tracks from the James Taylor Quartet may well be pretty good.

Here's what "The Minister" has to say:

"This CD is aimed a mass audience and as such does well. The various versions on the compilation are well produced in general. The Professionals is interesting and different from other cover versions. It's very hip and uses lots of synth brass (which is cheap and tacky sounding) but lacks anywhere near the raw funkiness of the original theme (surprise, surprise).

What anyone has YET to do is mix the best elements of a good orchestral arrangement (and Laurie's own brass arrangement on 1996's Laurie Johnson's Big Band double-CD from Horatio Records is pretty damn perfect – this CD to be reviewed soon) with a solid bass line and equally low end funk drumtrack with an excessive amount of wah guitar. Then we would have something close to the original TV theme. At least this ACID JAZZ CD has the main theme played on electric guitar which sounds quite good. The Sweeney theme is excellent and actually has more of a shuffle feel than the original. Fans of Laurie will enjoy the New Avengers re-recording by Snowboy which has really authentic sounding bass and drums , and recreates that 70's feel. It's quite a long mix and deservedly so. Alan Parker's Angels theme is brilliantly re-created and is almost indistinguishable from the original recording, but with the benefit of digital recording technology. Other notable tracks are The Countdown theme by Alan 'Grange Hill' Hawkshaw (very authentic) and The James Taylor Quartet's Dirty Harry theme which is an excellent reworking of Lalo Schifrin's original. Overall, this CD is a disappointment for Professionals fans looking for a close version of the theme, but enjoyable for fans of 70's wah-wah style music which nowadays is classified as Acid Jazz.

Many thanks to Dave Silk for this review:

Overall the disc is good if you like Laurie’s music (who doesn’t?) but the ‘The Professionals’ theme tune is very short with its mid section a little weak – almost like a fill in for the sake of of a fill in. The beginning is quite raunchy though and very similar to the TV version. The Avengers theme tunes are the best I’ve heard away from the programme itself, so if you like those the disc is worth buying for them alone. I think one of the best things for me about the disc is that it made me realise just how much of Laurie’s music we’ve been listening to over the years without realising that he was the man behind it.