Surviving musical elements of The Golden City have been curated and made available as mp3 files. These include the Radio Clyde radio trailer and the studio recordings from which it was assembled. Mike Tedder, The Golden City's synthesiser player, has been the primary actor in the curation activity.
The production's radio trailer broadcast the Sunday before the show opened in Glasgow Golden City Radio Trailer(.mp3 file)
[Adapted from an email from the recording engineer, Colin MacNab]
There was lots of sound in the show. Roger Green handled all the sound and playback in the cathedral, along with Bertie Scott's radio microphone. Radio microphones were almost non-existent 50 years ago and STV's head of sound supplied us with this rare and exotic device. The playback/PA system involved a two speaker system with 50 year old technology then - so 100 years old now. The majority of the shows had Ian Gailey and his band playing live - with the usual foldback in addition to the Band Speaker going to the audience. There were lots of thimble cymbals, chime-bars, finger pianos, and other portable instruments played on the stage and wrangled by Bob Stuckey in various scenes.
[Adapted from an email from the recording engineer, Colin MacNab]
The radio trailer for the original productions of the Golden City was compiled from an audio tape of the music, along with a commentary/explanation by Kris Misslebrook, recorded in the University Film Unit voice-over studio. Copies were sent to radio broadcasters. Radio Clyde made it a large part of their "what's on at the moment" events and gave us a lot of airtime. BBC Scotland made various mentions of the project in their arts and "what's on" coverage. The surviving tapes are in the University of Strathclyde Archives and have been digitised. The recordings include most of the music that was used in the show. Some performances had taped music as not all the musicians were available for every show.
[Footnote by Mike Tedder]
There are three digital transfers in Strathclyde University’s archives of recordings made by Colin in 1974. One is of the Radio Trailer, a second is of most of the tracks used to compile the Trailer, and the third is of additional pieces and different takes of the music made at the time. The mp3 files have been edited from these digital transfers.
| Musician | Instrument(s) |
| Ian Gailey | Acoustic and electric guitars |
| Neil Brown | Electric bass |
| Dougie Brown | Violin |
| Fred (John Gilmour) | Classical guitar and percussion, kalimba |
| John Higgins | Percussion and chime bars |
| Mike Tedder | Synthesiser |
| Neville Sterne | Piano, organ and glockenspiel |
For the studio recording, the band were joined by Bob Stuckey and Ian Strang as well as by Colin Tully, Stuart MacKillop and Alasdair McNeil who played glockenspiels, metalophones and clarinets.
Townspeople’s Song
Act 1, Scene 3: this song depicts the hard lives of the ordinary people of Munster, beset by poor harvests, high taxes, inflation and religious strife. Ian Gailey credits the inspiration for the ‘Townspeople’s Song’ to time spent on Iona with acoustic guitar where he practised chord sequences in the Abbey. The basic chords were improvised on by band members Neil, Dougie, Fred and John. The lyrics were suggested by members of the cast who had in mind the Toreador Song from ‘Carmen.’ The recording was made for the Radio Trailer.
Townspeople’s Song (instrumental)
Act 1, Scene 3: this song depicts the hard lives of the ordinary people of Munster, beset by poor harvests, high taxes, inflation and religious strife. Ian Gailey credits the inspiration for the ‘Townspeople’s Song’ to time spent on Iona with acoustic guitar where he practised chord sequences in the Abbey. The basic chords were improvised on by band members Neil, Dougie, Fred and John. The recording of the instrumental version of the song was used for some matinee performances when not all members of the band could be present.
Baptism
Act 1, Scene 4: the people of Munster are susceptible to religious fundamentalists, notably to Anabaptism, and a mass conversion occurs. Towards the end, Ian Gailey is heard singing ‘Elijah’, as the people of Munster greet the arrival of Jan Matthys, who claims to be the prophet. Ian credits the inspiration for the ‘Baptism’ music to time spent on Iona with acoustic guitar where he practised chord sequences in the Abbey. The basic chords were improvised on by band members Neil, Dougie, Fred and John. This recording was made for the Radio Trailer.
Baptism (instrumental)
Act 1, Scene 4: the people of Munster are susceptible to religious fundamentalists, notably to Anabaptism, and a mass conversion occurs. Ian Gailey credits the inspiration for the ‘Baptism’ music to time spent on Iona with acoustic guitar where he practised chord sequences in the Abbey. The basic chords were improvised on by band members Neil, Dougie, Fred and John. The recording of the instrumental version of the piece was used for some matinee performances when not all members of the band could be present.
Baptism (guitar duet)
Act 1, Scene 4: the people of Munster are susceptible to religious fundamentalists, notably to Anabaptism, and a mass conversion occurs. Ian Gailey credits the inspiration for the ‘Baptism’ music to time spent on Iona with acoustic guitar where he practised chord sequences in the Abbey. The version of the piece for two guitars (probably Ian Gailey double tracked) may have been produced as a rehearsal aid for the actor who was to lead the singing of ‘Elijah’ at the climax of the scene.
Soldiers’ Song
Act 1, Scene 5: soldiers from the Bishop’s besieging army tell the story of the routing of the Anabaptists and the death of Jan Matthys. The song was composed and performed by Bob Stuckey and the recording for the Radio Trailer includes, among the performers, Ian Gailey as one of the singers and Colin Tully playing clarinet.
Courtly music
Act 1, Scene 6: Ian Strang researched, arranged and performed this courtly dance for two guitars and drum which may have been used to accompany the Coronation scene when John of Leyden is crowned King.
Pavane - full recording (10 minutes)
Act 2, Scene 1: to offer a glimpse of the decadence of King John’s court, Bob Stuckey composed a pavane for drum (played by Neil Brown) and an assortment of tuned percussion instruments (played by Bob Stuckey, Stuart MacKillop, Colin Tully, Neville Stern, Alasdair McNeil and Ian Strang). The script says of the Pavane: “It is at once beautiful and disturbing, even menacing.”
Pavane - 5 minute edited version
This file is an edited version of the full Pavane performed at the start of Act 2. To offer a glimpse of the decadence of King John’s court, Bob Stuckey composed a pavane for drum (played by Neil Brown) and an assortment of tuned percussion instruments (played by Bob Stuckey, Stuart MacKillop, Colin Tully, Neville Stern, Alasdair McNeil and Ian Strang). The script says of the Pavane: “It is at once beautiful and disturbing, even menacing.”
Incidental music
The Golden City band play a vigorous instrumental piece. Some of it was used as background music during a section of the Radio Trailer.
Radio Trailer Climax
For the end of the Radio Trailer, the band played accelerando some of the riffs that were heard earlier in the show until they became a wild noise through which the synthesizer is heard until a sudden seizure reduces it to silence. The recording was made for the Radio Trailer.
Apocalypse
In the penultimate scene of the show, the Master of Ceremonies spins the wheel of fortune for the besieged people of Munster and announces that, for them, it is the end of the world. To accompany action in the nave that included the suggestion of a grotesque serpent, Neil Brown improvised on on heavily distorted bass guitar with swell pedal while Mike Tedder played a Synthi AKS. A rising arpeggio composed by Bob Stuckey for the incidental music was adapted and sequenced for synthesiser and repeatedly looped. Mike subjects the repeating sequence to ever-greater deconstruction and distortion.