The Original Soundtrack

The story of Barbara Moore and Soho’s film industry

Should the specialist vinyl store Reckless Records on Berwick Street have an original copy of her 1972 album for sale, then it will cost you upward of £300. It’s been described as “a heavenly groove-based blend of jazz, Latin, soft-psych, folk-funk and gospel soul… as dizzying as it is dazzling”. Highly sought by DJs and collectors, limited edition reissues of the album sell out within days. Vocal Shades and Tones is an album by a musician most people have never heard of. But we guarantee that you will have heard the work of Barbara Moore.

As a singer she provided backing vocals for Jimi Hendrix and Dusty Springfield, as an arranger her version of BBC Radio 2's Pick of the Pops theme is used to this day, while as a composer her music has been used on TV shows, films and commercials across the world. She penned Terry Wogan’s theme tune and worked on film music for both The Deer Hunter and Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Barbara Moore's story in the Soho music scene is unique, unfolding quietly in backrooms, over her piano at home, and at her kitchen table. Unlike other music tales from the area, her journey didn't involve award ceremonies, cover photos for the NME or standing ovations (well, maybe just one). It's a narrative defined by anonymity and rigorous discipline, yet it remains equally inspiring.

Moore navigated the male-dominated music industry with remarkable tenacity and skill as a composer, arranger, and single mother. Her influence on the music industry is enduring. Her story connects the media and music communities of Soho and reflects the changing role of women in creative fields since the 1960s. It is a story that centres on 80-88 Wardour Street.

A building on Film Row

‘Wardour Street is long and narrow, like a strip of film … Listen to the men walking away from one of the private cinemas hidden in the gaudy cliffs of offices, where they have seen a new drama on a six-foot screen: the life of the street swirls past them quite unnoticed.’

Wardour Street serves as the central axis of Soho. To its east lies a section of Soho characterised by an elegant Georgian grid layout. In contrast, the western part is a maze of narrower streets, alleys, and courts, reflecting a seemingly more haphazard arrangement. This area is known for its Jewish tailoring heritage, the rag trade, and the tourist magnet of Carnaby Street. The most grandiose buildings in Soho are predominantly located on Wardour Street. Among these, the Novello Building stands out towards the northern end, but most of them are remnants of the film industry, which began establishing itself there in the early 1900s. By 1914, the street was home to over 20 film companies, a number that had grown to more than 100 by 1932, when James Jones penned the words above in his Evening Standard article.

The big names in film left Wardour Street some years ago, but the area remains a hub for post-production studios. However, names of the past remain etched into the street’s brickwork - Film House, Pathé, Hammer, Cinema House and Urbanora - the name of the street’s very first film company. That’s all above ground, but it was beneath the pavements of Film Row (as the street was known) in subterranean viewing rooms, editing suites and recording studios where much of the creative business was done. Barbara Moore would have countless times walked down a street that was, according to one well worn gag, shady on both sides. Some have suggested that ‘shady’ could refer equally to street prostitution and the professional ethics of the entertainment industry. In either case, it was a challenging place for a woman to work.

During the 1970s, Barbara Moore was a regular visitor to 80-88 Wardour Street, home to de Wolfe Music. Just a couple of doors down from the famous Marquee Club, de Wolfe Music represented a distinct aspect of music culture. Known as the world's oldest library music producer, the company specializes in stock or production music. Founded in 1909 by Meyer de Wolfe, a Dutch musician, in London, the company initially supplied live musical accompaniments for films in London's cinemas. However, with the emergence of 'talkies' in 1927, de Wolfe Music shifted its focus to developing a library of recorded music, mainly for newsreels.

The 1950s marked a significant turning point for de Wolfe and other library music producers due to the advent of mass television. This era saw a surge in demand for soundtrack music from television and radio stations, producers of broadcast and cinema commercials, and film studios. In recent decades, this market has expanded further to include corporate videos, multimedia, and computer games.

Music libraries like de Wolfe now offer thousands of tracks encompassing a wide range of musical styles, genres, and moods. This vast selection enables editors and directors to find the perfect piece of music to complement a scene, enhance a commercial, or serve as the theme for a radio or TV show. And serving their needs were the composers, arrangers and session musicians who created a dazzling variety and quantity of music. It was in this highly disciplined and productive musical world - and specifically in the basement recording studio of de Wolfe Music - that Barbara Moore excelled.

A feeling for jazz…

“…You’ve either got it or you haven’t. My little Yorkshire father had it. It came as a gift in Bradford. He discovered that he didn’t want to follow the family into sheep farming and shearing and mill work producing cloth. He bought a guitar, a banjo and a saxophone and ended up four years later earning loads of loot with a wonderful bandleader in London called Joe Loss…. And I inherited it.”

Barbara Moore, born to musical parents, showed early signs of talent in music. After her father left the family, she began working as a hotel pianist in her teenage years. She then moved into session singing, joining The Ladybirds, a female trio. The group provided backing vocals for notable artists like Jimi Hendrix, Dusty Springfield, and Sandie Shaw during her Eurovision victory.

Moore's early marriage ended in divorce, leaving her as a single mother. She found flexibility in session work, arranging, and composing, allowing her to balance work with parenting. Her career highlights include arranging for Elton John's debut album and reimagining the theme for BBC's 'Pick of the Pops - At The Sound Of the Swingin’ Cymbal. She also composed the theme for the Terry Wogan Show, which led to her signing with de Wolfe as a composer and arranger.

Moore described her creative process at de Wolfe as structured and demanding. She often received briefs that outlined a specific setting or mood for which she had to compose a 3 minute piece for eight voices and an orchestra. This involved imagining scenes, considering lyrics, and composing at the piano.

She described the kind of brief de Wolfe would provide: “We’re somewhere in the Amazon basin going along a river, hot steamy, mosquitos everywhere, but can you make it sexy at the same time?”

This led to the demands of composition itself: “It’s a sweaty and back-breaking job. It’s just you, imagining the scene, having a look at lyrics and thinking, this tune would go well there. In my case, it’s done sitting at a piano, and playing something. You think that sounds good, so you stand up, lean over the piano and scribble down on a piece of manuscript paper what you’ve written. And so on it goes. It’s up and down, sit and stand.”

Her days in the de Wolfe recording studio were intense, with twelve titles to record in about eight hours, spanning three sessions. The expectations for session musicians were high, often requiring them to deliver perfect performances in just a couple of takes: “In the 60s and 70s you had the capacity to go to a studio, pick up a sheet of manuscript, stand around a mic, the red light goes on and the engineer says ‘ok let’s run it through folks’. Every session musician could respond instantly, do a good performance first time at sight. Usually it was the second take that had the perfect version.”

Library music from this period featured some of the best musicians of their time playing at the very top of their game. Occupying the drum stool on Barbara Moore’s recording of the Pick of the Pops theme was Phil Seaman, one of Europe’s top jazz drummers. Basil Kirchin was a groundbreaking jazz musician and composer whose Abstractions of the Industrial North, recorded at de Wolfe’s Wardour Street studio, is a highly collectible library music album. It featured a pre-Zeppelin Jimmy Page on guitar and Tubby Hayes on sax and flute. These highly accomplished musicians were virtually all men, which posed Moore some significant challenges.

Once, while leading an orchestra at EMI's Abbey Road studio, her fashionable attire – a pink Courrèges miniskirt and leather boots – and visible nerves led the experienced male session musicians to assume she was a singer. When she revealed her role as the arranger in charge, she encountered laughter and skepticism. However, after she successfully conducted a bold, rock-style arrangement of Scarborough Fair, the atmosphere changed dramatically. The orchestra of 60 musicians gave her a standing ovation and even some hugs. Reflecting on this years later, she described it as "the most beautiful few minutes in 80 years."

In addition to her work with de Wolfe, Barbara Moore contributed to the Hot Hits albums, which featured budget-priced cover versions of popular chart songs. A friend of her daughter remembers visiting their home in Ealing and seeing Moore meticulously transcribing the latest T Rex hit from a cassette player onto manuscript paper.

During this period, Hollywood composer John Williams, known for his work on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, offered her a role as an arranger in Los Angeles. However, Moore declined the opportunity. She found that transcribing hits over her kitchen table in Ealing was more compatible with her responsibilities as a single parent than relocating to Los Angeles for a job.

Barbara Moore died in August 2021, leaving behind a rich legacy marked by innovation, resilience, and excellence in the music industry. In her later years, she delighted audiences with tales from her musical career, often shared in the company of Lorraine Bowen. Despite the anonymity and often overlooked nature of her work, her contributions were hugely significant. She played a crucial role in paving the way for women in music. This is evident in the fact that by 2023, women artists composed nearly half of the UK's Top 10 songs. Moore's life and career stand as a testament to her remarkable talent and dedication, leaving an indelible impact on the music industry and serving as an inspiration for future generations.

---

Sources

Lorraine Bowen and Sarah Angliss have done so much to share the story of Barbara Moore, including maintaining barbaramoore.co.uk which has links to some video interviews. Our post can only scratch the surface of her story.

In addition to the historical sources on Soho we have cited elsewhere, the following specific sources were also used.

Sarah Angliss (2021) Jimi, Elton, Dusty … the overlooked musical magic of Barbara Moore, The Guardian obituary 16 Sep 2021

James Collingwood (2021) An appreciation of the late Barbara Moore https://wearecult.rocks/an-appreciation-of-the-late-barbara-moore

De Wolfe Music (2021) Barbara Moore 1932 - 2021 https://www.dewolfemusic.com/page/Barbara_Moore

Nigel Beaham-Powell (1997) All about library music https://www.soundonsound.com/people/all-about-library-music

Paul Newbury (2014) Terry Wogan's theme tune and a very productive recording session, https://paulwalternewbury.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/terry-wogans-theme-tune-and-a-very-productive-recording-session/

David Pearson (2022) Engine Room | Barbara Moore, Record Collector https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/engine-room-3

David Pearson (2024) Shades of Gray, Shindig, Issue 147, pp 40-43

Paul Walter (2014) Terry Wogan's theme tune and a very productive recording session https://paulwalternewbury.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/terry-wogans-theme-tune-and-a-very-productive-recording-session/