Nothing said new or modern or futuristic quite like a synthesiser in the 70s and 80s. If you were shooting an advert and you wanted your product or your company to appear forward-thinking and ahead of the game, then you would want something electronic, something out of the ordinary. When TV producers and advertising directors started searching for music that sounded like “Tubular Bells” – and then Tomita, and later Jean Michel Jarre – music libraries such De Wolfe, Bruton, Parry and Chappell had to have the tracks readily available.

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. 

Tracklist:
    Coaster - Simon Park
    Rippling Reeds - Wozo
    Leaving - Sam Spence
    Northern Lights 1 - John Cameron
    Spaghetti Junction - Peter Reno
    Space Walk - Rubba
    Prospect - Paul Hart
    Tomorrow’s Fashions - Geoff Bastow
    Blue Movies - Brian Wade
    Videodisc - Trevor Bastow
    Interface - Astral Sounds
    Starways - Brian Chatton
    Optics - Unit 9
    Atomic Station - Wozo
    Future Prospect - Adrian Baker
    Planned Production - Warren Bennett
    Future Perspectives - Anthony Hobson AKA Tektron
    Waterfall - Chameleon
    Telecom - James Asher
    Eagle - Simon Park AKA Soul City Orchestra
    Astral Plain - Alan Hawkshaw
    Drifting in Time - Paul Williams
    Earth Born - Brian Bennett
    Soft Waves - Harry Forbes
    Topaz - Astral Sounds
    Eternity - Alan Hawkshaw
    Infinity - John Cameron
    Morning Dew - Andy Grossart & Paul Williams