It started as a piece of music from the sound library and through reworkings, remixes and generations of Australians hearing it, the Majestic Fanfare has wedged itself into Australian consciousness.
Written in 1943 by British composer Charles Williams, the Majestic Fanfare wasn’t really intended to be a standout piece, despite its fancy-sounding name.
The name of the music was about the atmosphere it should evoke, rather than a reflection of the actual instrumentation, as the Australian composer and conductor Richard Mills told Libby Gore on ABC Radio Melbourne†
“It was a quintessential piece of music from the British film library,” he said.
“They had huge amounts of LPs with what we call library music on them. It was music that could be used for any occasion, and it was categorized by mood.”
The ABC began using the Majestic Fanfare in the early 1950s as an intro to its radio news bulletins, replacing the abbreviated version of Advance Australia Fair that had been used earlier.
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The same music was used before the TV news when the ABC expanded to broadcast television in 1952, until it was replaced in 1985.
Mr Mills was asked by the ABC to revive the old-fashioned orchestral fanfare in 1988 for Australia’s bicentenary.
“I spent two days on it because I had to take it off a cassette and then rewrite it,” Mills told Libby Gore.
A theme of nostalgia
While the Majestic Fanfare may not be anything special musically, it has become special to many Australians, who have shared their stories as the ABC marks 90 years of broadcast†
“The news theme was in my head for years and now the nostalgia it brings is immense,” wrote Amanda Brick.
“When I was little, my mother told me I called it the ‘Daddy coming home’ music, because that’s when my father usually came home from work,” wrote Lynelle Urquhart.
“We had moved to Canada and were quite homesick when we finally managed to connect to ABC Radio,” wrote David.
“Hearing that music [the Majestic Fanfare] was a real thrill and made a huge difference to our lives away from Australia.
“I think it was the music rather than the news itself that made the difference.”
Majestic Fanfare remixed with a sample of time
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In the early 1990s, ABC’s youth radio station Triple J gave the Majestic Fanfare a ’90s remix.
The triple j news theme is written and produced by Paul McKercher and John Jacobs in 1991.
“I was an in-house producer at the time and I was asked to come up with a new news theme,” McKercher said.
“It had to be something that was immediately recognizable as something from the ABC, but it also had to be contemporary.”
Mr. McKercher said that John Jacobs found a 1978 Majestic Fanfare record in a dumpster at the back of the ABC in Ultimo and they decided to use that as the basis for the theme.
“I played guitar over it, the beat track was from a Prince record…there were other beats that came from DJ records,” said Mr. McKercher.
“Also, the scratch just before the last sentence is from NWA’s Straight Outta Compton.”
At the time, Triple j was the only radio station, possibly in the world, to play the controversial NWA song F**k Tha Police on air.
After some complaints from state politicians, ABC’s management banned the broadcast of the song.
This caused the triple j staff to go on strike and play NWA’s Express Yourself on a Loop for 24 Hours†
“I thought it would be fun to take the scratch out of F**k Tha Police and put it in the triple j news theme,” McKercher said.
Not all fans of the marching band
Australian composer and former ABC employee Peter Wall said he didn’t believe the Majestic Fanfare was right for the ABC.
“I have a very strong opinion about Majestic Fanfare and that is that it was written by an Englishman and I think that is wrong,” he said.
“That said, like a lot of people, when I go abroad and when I hear that music, I like to hear it because of what it means.”
While the Majestic Fanfare is still used on ABC Radio, the TV news theme has had a number of versions over the years, including a tune composed by Mr Wall and Tony Ansell.
“I was running the ABC in Newcastle at the time and got a call, [saying] “We’d like you to write a new news theme for ABC,” said Mr. Wall.
“I thought it was a joke.”
Mr. Wall and Mr. Ansell had worked together on a number of TV program themes.
They put together the news theme for ABC TV for a weekend in the Hunter Valley.
It was used for 19 years before being replaced in the early 2000s.
But Mr Wall and Mr Ansell’s theme was revived with a 2010 remix by WA electronic act Pendulum featuring Rob from the group that triple j . tells that they still enjoy playing it for an Australian audience.
“It’s our favorite. We never get to hear it unless we’re in Australia. Other countries didn’t grow up with the ABC,” he said.
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What is your ABC story?
Share your story by filling out the form below, or you can email yourABCstory@your.abc.net.au†
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