Next weekend sees the start of the Formula 1 season. So for this week’s television presentation gem of the week, I had to feature The Chain. This week there is a campaign to get The Chain to number 1 in the charts for the start of the Formula 1 season.
Here is the title sequence to Grand Prix from 1979, the first Formula 1 season to be broadcast in full by the BBC.
Like many BBC Sport theme tunes, The Chain has gone into legend. Just as Soul Limbo is inextricably linked with cricket, so The Chain goes hand-in-hand with Formula 1. This is despite a 12 year break in which it was never used in ITV’s coverage of the sport.
I fondly remember this 1995 title sequence, which was being used when I was first getting into F1 (unfortunately this is the best quality I could find).
The Chain is one of those elements of Formula 1 broadcasting that have become almost religiously important to many of the sport’s followers. Murray Walker is another.
There is almost a folklore of F1 broadcasting which has made F1 fans particularly protective, and often critical of even the highest quality broadcasting. Commentators James Allen and Jonathan Legard have both learned that to their cost.
When F1 returned to the BBC for the 2009 season, they had no choice but to choose The Chain (albeit with a lot of sound effects added).
Well there have been a few posts on this blog already about what we might expect from the BBC when they take over the coverage of Formula 1 in the UK from next year. There is one aspect of the coverage that I have not yet touched on because I have been planning a separate post on it — the theme tune.
Most people say they like ‘The Chain’, although I wonder sometimes you know. I think there is a bit of groupthink going on there. A lot of people say it just so that they can feel like part of the club. Nevertheless, Grand Prix on the BBC without ‘The Chain’ would be like cricket on the BBC without ‘Soul Limbo’.
ITV’s current theme tune, ‘Lift Me Up’ by Moby, is a bit of a mess. The title sequence is a bit of a farce as well. I can just imagine the meeting. “Do you know what our title sequence needs? A miniscule F1 car being launched from a giant helmet!”
The title sequence used from 2000–2002 was also a bit of a duffer. Apollo 440 were kind of cool in the 1990s, but they were getting pretty tired sounding by this stage. Their music is unmemorable — fitting for these F1 wilderness years of Mickey the Shoe domination.
ITV have had some good themes though. Their original was by Jamiroquai, and it’s rather good. Some of the sound effects used here are still used by ITV in some of their stings, twelve years on!
My favourite though was the Bachman-Turner Overdrive remix. I know this makes me unusual, but I am sure it’s Christine Blachford’s favourite as well so I’m in good company.
As for the BBC? I do have a soft spot for The Chain, I have to say. Whenever I think of the Beeb’s coverage, I think of this title sequence. The 1994 sequence with the Williams livery materialising over a montage of classic Grand Prix footage was the first I can remember seeing.
I wouldn’t mind seeing something new from the BBC though. I suspect they will probably use a jazzed-up remix of ‘The Chain’.
But if the BBC bring back ‘The Chain’, I want FOM to bring back this.
There was another reason why the European Grand Prix was great. It brought the one-off return of Murray Walker, commentating on an F1 race for a UK broadcaster for the first time since 2001.
Radio Five Live’s regular Formula 1 commentator, David Croft, was off to watch his baby being born. Murray Walker was invited to fill his chair for one race only.
This presented a dilemma to F1 fans: do you stick with the ITV coverage, or do you switch on the radio to listen to Murray Walker?
I was a little bit worried that Murray Walker’s commentary would not be up to much. He did, after all, retire for a reason. His later years on ITV were sometimes frustrating to listen to. His mind was not quite as sharp as it once was, and he regularly had to stop mid-sentence to have a coughing fit.
On the one hand, we knew what we were going to get by sticking to the ITV commentary. James Allen is disliked by many, but at least he does not make as many mistakes as Murray Walker was known to in the latter part of his career. ITV also has the excellent Martin Brundle.
But this was a one-off. A chance to listen to the greatest commentator in the world say, “And it’s go go go!” just one last time.
I opted to listen to Murray Walker, but in retrospect I should have recorded his commentary and listened to it after the race. But that wasn’t anything to do with Murray Walker. He was, in fact, much better than I expected!
But the nature of Radio Five Live meant that three sporting events were being covered at once. And while the Grand Prix took the bulk of the airtime, there were long periods where the focus was on golf or cricket instead. So it was not a full race commentary.
But apart from that, it was a joy to listen to. The producers obviously knew the sort of people who would be tuning in to listen to Murray Walker, and the broadcast began with a familiar tune — but one that hasn’t introduced a Grand Prix for over ten years.
“Aah, they’re playing my tune!”, said a delighted Murray Walker. And immediately he was into the swing of things. He didn’t bumble along as I feared. He might be 83, but you would not be able to guess it. He still knows how to broadcast.
It was classic Murray. He used plenty of catchphrases without descending into self-parody. No one else can start a Grand Prix like Murray Walker.
One light. Two lights. Three lights. Four lights! Five lights! …AND IT’S GO! GO! GO!
It was not perfect throughout. At times he was commentating for the radio, but a couple of times he slipped into saying things like, “and you are looking at…” He also often got tangled up, forgetting people’s positions from time to time.
There was also a classic “Murrayism”.
And Winkelhock goes through in the orange Spyker, well down the field… Well, he’s not well down the field, he’s actually in tenth position because he’s yet to come in.
That was when Winkelhock led the race! Although Murray Walker can be forgiven because I found that fact difficult to believe myself…
I do not agree with everything that Murray Walker says. He supports the British drivers a bit too much for my liking. He was also far too sympathetic to Michael Schumacher. He is seemingly the only person in the world who does not believe that Schumacher deliberately caused crashes at Adelaide in 1994 and Jerez in 1997.
But it is impossible not to love him as a broadcaster. As a describer of action, no one can rival him. Clive James said, “In his quieter moments, it sounds like his trousers are on fire.”
If I live to be 83, I hope that I can have just a fraction of the energy and enthusiasm that Murray Walker has. When something interesting his happening on the circuit, Murray Walker is the first to get excited, and soon enough everyone knows about it.
A particularly colourful and vivid description of Alonso overtaking Massa towards the end of the race showed exactly why Murray Walker is so highly regarded.
Alonso is practically sawing the Ferrari in half with his nose cone!
Utter genius.
(Thanks to Tom for giving me the opportunity to hear Murray Walker’s commentary even though I was at work when the race was on!)
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