Tugs Theme
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- čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
- This is an early demo of the Tugs theme tune with my son Ben performing the VO, sadly not used in the end, he is 37 years old now!!
Plus a couple of pictures of the studios where Thomas and Tugs were recorded, and a shot of me and Junior at Shepperton Film Studios - happy days.
I love your music, both Thomas and TUGS. They bring such good memories! :-)
Truly beautiful. I watched the TUGS episode Ghosts last night as I do every Halloween and I still love the show and your music.
First of all, let me just thank you Mr. O'donnell for literally making the sound of my childhood. You and Junior are pretty much the whole reason I make music. Anyway, so wonderful to hear such an early version of this. If I'm not mistaken, the piano, flutes, and aux percussion are the same as in the final mix. I must say I actually like this version better. The big boomy snare drum, different key, and wonderful ending really do it for me. I'm excited to see what else you have on the way....
Actually, it's NOT in a different key: It's just that over the years it seems that the cassette has weathered and stretched, slowing it down and thus lowering the pitch and speed a little. I can confirm this because speeding it up to match the finished theme causes both pitch and tempo to sync up, proving that the tape was just slowed. (the same has happened to may of my old tapes too) It's kind-of the same reason that the US releases of the newer TTTE movies are lower in pitch because they were slowed down to match the 25-fps Vs. 24-fps formatting, except in this case the reason is due to natural decay in the film. ;-)
Then I love it even more. It sounds so unique. Such a great sound for a simple 80s demo.
What a gem...
I love TUGS. The theme is the most beautiful piece of music I've heard, I think. You two really impressed me with this theme. I think your final version of it is best ;)
Something I just realised: Whilst your son's vocals weren't used in the final cut, the *wording* was, in the TVS VHS promo. I think that maybe you and TVS got the original script for the narration with the line "...And Captain Star and his tugs..." as opposed to the finished product's "..And the Star Tugs...". Has anyone else noticed this yet?
Yes, I noticed that but I did not think it was worth pointing out until you said! A very interesting part of TUGS history indeed!
i think they forgot to add the phrase and captan Star and his tugs .
I just think they removed captain Starr and his tugs because if it was Starr narrating the intro, it would be kind of weird third personify himself
@@JamesTheRedEngineProductions The way you called Captain star “Captain Starr” reminds of Ringo Starr. As most of you probably already know that in the American television series Shining Time Station, the first Mr. Conductor was Ringo. That makes me question, what if TUGS (Bigg City) was located around Shining Time or was a Shining Time property, and the first Mr. Conductor was related to Captain Starr? (This is just a theory)
oh yeah!
The kid saying the intro line is just absolutely perfect
Incredibly beautiful music with a delightful saxophone part! Immediately you feel the salty wind, the lapping of the waves, the sound of the docks. Awesome tangible music!
A real piece of art! Beautiful, just Beautiful!
Bless you for making this theme Mike. It’s incredibly beautiful and nostalgic. How I wish this show continued. God bless you and this show.
This is absolutely priceless. I can't believe stuff like this still exists years later. Thanks so much for sharing this. Really hoping to see a full soundtrack release of Tugs/Thomas if it ever happens in the future.
One of my favourite series, and wonderful music. Thank you for sharing Mike
Yours and Junior's music in Thomas and TUGS is so iconic and beautiful, always brings a smile to my face hearing a little piece of nostalgia from childhood.
Thank you so much for a wonderful childhood, Mr. O' Donnell
Absolutely beautiful! You and Jr. Campbell were perfect with the themes for both Thomas and TUGS. KI especially love the synth themes used for the first 2 series. Thanks for making our childhood all the more awesome and memorable Mike!
I had just binged up to High Tide last night, and this is truly beautiful.
0:27 easily the best part
How come this wasn't used in TUGS, it sounds wonderful and your son did a great job at the vocals
Maybe because Captain Star was the narrator.
So nostalgic, thanks for sharing!
This is a real gem. Thank you very much for sharing your musical genius with us!
Altough i never got the chance to see TUGS on the screen here in Germany your music for both shows TUGS and Thomas was amazing. :)
me my mum and dad loved tugs listening to this brings back some happy memories
This is superb! Such an honour and a privilege that you are letting us have an insight into your archives. I love the little solo piano part towards the end, really moving. I'd love to hear some of the 'Vienna' song isolated :) I look forward to hopefully hearing more TUGS gems :)
Thank you for everything.
The beautiful sounds of tugs and trains you have gifted to us.
Oh amazing voice over from your son. Mike
Oh this was lovely, it nearly brought a tear to my eye. I really do miss this show and I wish I had seen it on the television screens. I wish you and Junior were still making all of your lovely music. Your music really interested me and it still does today, I cannot get enough of it :).
TUGS theme song is the most beautiful song I have heard it's so calm and leaves you with a feeling or safe reassurance it makes me think of the good old times in the 1980s to 1990s NYC which everybody loved the song fits the setting well and its the best I hate to say it being a Thomas fan but.. It's better than the Thomas theme itself!
Lyrics: we’re tugs we’re pushing it together as one (pushing it together) we’re tugs we’re pulling it together as one (pulling it together) yeah we’re doing it together because we are tugs ( because we are tugs)
I'm speechless. You and Junior had gifts. Very special gifts.
Lovely theme I feel happy simply listening to it
Great job, man! I actually never knew there was a demo version of the Tugs theme. Your son sounded nice doing the narration. Plus, great music! Shame it wasn't used.
This is rather nice, good to hear an early cut of the song, in stereo audio too! Is this a genuine saxophone or another synth sound made on the Jupiter or the Prophet?
Hi Sudrian, It was a real sax played by Pete Zorn, who was also an amazing bass player. Although I played bass on this one.
Mike O'Donnell
Oh yeah, I read that in an interview somewhere. Anyway, sounds brilliant and I can't wait to hear what else you have in store.
Hey mike have you check out Sumerian Afros videos there amazing
I just spelled with really bad grammar i've never done that before
KYcrafters21
*Sudrian.
This had me in such a nostalgia flurry. You and Junior are the composers of my childhood, thank you.
Probably gonna get slaughter for this but I never actually got into TUGS when I was younger because my parents bought me the series 1 of it and I just lost interest after the first 3 episodes, but I loved the theme 😭
Have you tried to complete the series? I thought it was pretty stupid looking until I tried it out and it turned out to be an amazing series. If you haven't tried it out then a strongly recommend you do.
Absolutely beautiful :) I do like Ben's voice in this demo; it's so good ^_^
I hope someone finds the 3 minute version of the outro song on Bigg Freeze by Sue Glover. I'd really love to hear the full length of it. I asked The Star Tugs Trust if they would find it, but they said it's in a public domain. And by the way, I really loved the Thomas and Friends songs you and Junior Campbell composed when I was little.
the 3 minute version was planned, but never fully created
If Mike has a manuscript for the theme of tugs, with lyrics by him and junior, we should have record it as a single.
I WISH THIS WAS USED THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL
I can't help but listen to this without also thinking of the intro to Stories of Sodor by Victor Tanzig.
What a lovely find. Thanks for sharing it with us, Mike.
This version of Tugs is interesting.
I always loved Tugs. I wish it did not get canceled. If the studio that was in charge of filming Tugs did not go bankrupt, Tugs would have gone on for longer. They could have made more episodes, more seasons, and I think it would lived up to its fullest potential and probably would have become as popular as Thomas the Tank Engine. I even think we could have possibly had a crossover between the two franchises, since I think both take place in the same universe.
But on the other hand, if Tugs did go on for longer and become as popular as Thomas, it probably would have suffered the same horrible fate of changing from creative, realistic models to god-awful CGI. So maybe it was probably good that it got canceled.
Absolutely amazing!
YES, YES AND THRICE YES!
This brings back memories
Good to see another special special on this channel.
Mike is certainly a really useful man!
You and junior have been awesome makers of songs for Thomas the tank engine and tugs your music is so popular and everytime I think of it I start whistling or humming it.
I wasn’t even around when this TV series existed... how am I getting a nostalgic feeling?
This is amazing for a theme song. The saxophone bit sounds more like a Lyricon than an acoustic sax. Still an awesome sounding instrument. Makes me miss the smooth 80's sound :)
This really is amazing for you to share Mike! It's great that we're able to see things like this from you! :)
If the studio had not gone bankrupt, I know you guys would have made even more spectacular music for TUGS’s second series.
Wow! Just... wow! :)
I never knew there was an early version of the theme. Cool! Thanks for the post!
Hey Mike, it's Max here. ;-)
Where did you earth this up from, I recall you said you'd lost all the TUGS stuff! I'm delightfully surprised it survived after all these years.
I always thought the theme was originally in stereo, but I'd never dreamed I'd get to hear it as such, even if it is a draft version! The only differences in the first part is that the first notes of the high motif aren't echoed like the finished version, and there's an few extra notes audible in the second-last verse before the drop. The second half is really different though, there's less strings playing Junior's " Do You Have To Fall In Love" chorus and the piano is a little louder. Love the piano scale at 0:45, it's either not in the finished one or just inaudible, but it's still a beautiful touch. The Saxophone line is altered quite a bit too, it doesn't sound quite like Mr. Zorn's horn in the finished product, it think it's actually the more Clarinet-ish preset used for the end theme and Lillie's theme at the beginning of Regatta!
Your son sounds really sweet - if you don't mind me saying so ;-) - and the pictures are actually quite touching considering how long it's been. Did you ever return to the Bluebird desk after TTTE? And (although I know you probably wouldn't remember this one) was the ship's horn at 0:18 an SFX sample form the Cinesound Archive that the show used for the actual charecters, or a home-brew thing?
He probably kept the demo on a cassette or something as a souvenir. Mayber there's more stuff in his attic (Guessing the location of video origin)
Is far as I know, There's this, The official theme song, the normal ending theme, the ending theme variant form ghosts, and the season finale song "Across the Sea". A bit of the intro theme was used at the start of the episode Pirate. The episode Regatta includes the theme "Den-Der Rocks", Which is very similar to the opening ditty of the Sizzle Reel. The Sizel Reel included a extended variant of the ending theme that could possibly be an full instrumental of "Across the Sea". The Star Tugs Trust owns the full recording of Across the Sea, but has not released it. The song itself was based on "Do you have to fall in love" and may have inspired "The Island Song."
Absolutely amazing to hear this. I find it very interesting how you used your sons voice in the theme. Although I prefer the version that was used, this version is awesome too. :)
I hate asking this question to a great composer, but since you can't do many original Thomas tunes on here, is it possible to upload the music of TUGS on here? So far as I know of it, TUGS never got any copyright strikes or notices. I think some notices whatsoever is because the footage was also used on Salty's Lighthouse after it was cancelled. I've been a huge fan of the show even though I'm from the US and I would love to here some of the ditties and tunes from the source without voice acting or sound effects.
Hi, Thanks for your kind words I'm so pleased you liked the music. Unfortunately I don't have any of the music from Tugs - I think the ownership lies with Clearwater Features but in any case I don't have it except for that one piece I uploaded.
Best wishes
Mike
+Mike O'Donnell Didn't that company close down 26 years ?
The nature of the ownership of TUGS is more than a little murky, Mike, but as far as I know:
David Mitton reportedly sold his half of the rights to Castle Vision, the VHS distributors for the series, after running short of money to produce it (hence why four of the episodes were released ahead of the series' TV debut). Then CV was gradually swallowed up in a wave of buyouts and mergers, finally becoming buried in the lower echelons of Universal. Even if Universal did keep the rights to TUGS, I doubt they realize they even have them.
Meanwhile, Robert Cardona, the owner to the remaining half of the rights, emigrated to Canada around 1990, and apart from being one of the directors of 'Theodore Tugboat', he hasn't been seen or heard from since.
Complicating matters further, in 1997, Cardona and Castle each sold half of their respective shares to Sunbow Entertainment, to allow them to incorporate the TUGS footage into 'Salty's Lighthouse'. Sunbow itself became defunct in 2004, and it's not known who now owns its share of the rights.
TL, DR; The TUGS rights are now split across three parties, we don't know if they still have them, and neither do they, it seems...
I guess the Tugs music will be lost either forever or for a very long time. Someone needs to find out where Clearwater Features' original location was.
This theme, and any other version, brings a happy tear to my eye, thank you for creating the music that shaped my childhood, with Thomas and TUGS! And in stereo too! Do you have the released theme in stereo?
Mike, do you know anything about Sue Glover's full version of the song in Tugs episode 13/finale 'Across the sea'? Thanks for answering if you do.
Far away,
Across the sea...
I'm missing you...
You're missing me...
But no matter how far away you are...
Know I'll be here to guide you home...
*FADES INTO TUGS ENDING THEME*
TARDIS9, if you've heard this version of the TUGS theme soundtrack, you should try it for your next TUGS audio production.
This needs to come back such an underrated brother to the Thomas series
such a shame this series came to such a sudden end.. the ending of episode 13 almost brought me to tears.. this series had such a wonderful soundtrack..
Such child hood memory's with this theme ...and meny frainds who keep it alive
Hello again Mr O'Donnell. 3 questions regarding your involvement of Tugs...
1. What made you and Junior interested in composing Tugs?
2. How would you describe the prospect of doing something different other the Thomas back then?
and 3. Do you have a particular music piece from Tugs that you like, or is it the same like you said regarding your view on the Thomas tracks, that they have their own charm?
Hi Aaron,
We were asked to work on Tugs because we had a close working connection with Dave Mitton and Bob Cardona, and we got paid for it.
We were already working on other things back then.
As with Thomas, they all had their own charm, so no favourites.
Cheers again sir, take care.
Both of the themes are beautiful
Very nice!! Very wonderful to hear!! Really think this is better than the final version!
It has a big city atmosphere, combined with the allure of the sea and dream coming true. :)
So, with the Thomas remix album out, any chance we might ever see a Tugs remix album?
I'd love to hear your modern take on Warrior or Boomer's themes. Maybe even the Danger/Rescue theme?
You never know, but it's not on the table yet.
Beautiful, It feels Magical.
If the show were to continue back then, I would’ve love to hear this as the theme for season 2
I have a question for you, Mr. O'Donnell.
I think this recording likely answers it for me, but was TUGS and Thomas' S1-3 music always in stereo and just mashed into mono due to the mono sound mixing?
HI, They were all mixed down in stereo but very mono compatible due to the fact that there weren't that many stereo televisions then.
@@MikeODonnellcomposer so stereo had existed back then in the 80s amirite?
@@minukarodrigo Stereo was first invented back in 1930 but stereo records were around in the late 50's and by the late 60's it was everywhere.
@@MikeODonnellcomposer that's amazing
You are a true wizard!!!
I’ve haven’t seen Tugs (yet) but this theme is so satisfying and nostalgic~
One word. Legendary.
#mikeandjunior I love TUGS. Some of your best music, ever!
Who's Your Favorite Tug? Mines so Top Hat
it's... it's MAGNIFICENT.
There’s something surreal about a child doing the voiceover
I'm making up my own american sitcom show called The Tyler Vielie Show, and I'm basing it off me starting high school, and then graduating and finding work as an adult. I even got started writing scripts and making episodes. So if I ever do get my own tv show, would you and Junior be the composers for my show? Because you guys composed great music for Thomas and Friends when I was little. And your name and Junior's name popped into my head. It would be a great honor. :)
Brilliant to hear a theme from my early childhood again, shame the rights to the series are so jumbled up, my old tapes are a bit worn now.
It took masterminds to create this
this is tugs.
(the episode proceeds to start)
Listing to the one used and this one, I actually prefer this one! Shame it wasn't used
Well this is short lived R.I.P Tugs.
I love all the music you've done. Just wondering, do you know what happened to the Big Mickey model after Thomas the Tank Engine went to full CGI? And do you possibly know where the model for Top Hat currently is? I'm a huge fan of your work! Cheers, and keep up the great work!
Thanks for that, you could have a look on this site for info on the models etc. www.sodor-island.net/
Very nice
😭 Memories
Your son Ben sounds pretty good. Props to him. Hmm, wonder what he'd sound like now...
you are probably offline right now, but what instruments were used? btw I loved your music for Thomas the tank engine, I loved Thomas when I was younger
I think the instruments used were a Yamaha grand piano, Linn drum, various prophet 2000 samples (although real sax used on final master) Proteus 2xr and real bass guitar.
Tugs: reimagined the soundtrack.
is this song and the song across the sea used in one of the episodes the same?
Your son did a great job !
Found this theme song way to good to be for Tugs. Was more like a Star Trek intro song
Would love to hear more of the themes you created, used or cut! This isn't too much different to the used version.
Did you have any favourite compositions?
Im a fan of tugs so ill like the Vid!
This tugs
This is fantastic by any chance do you have a version without your son performing as I would love to hear it!
0:30 is it just me, or is that Sunshine on that TV screen?
This is TUGS
Two questions
1. What was it like working with David and Britt
2. Do you have any favorite pieces of music you composed for both Tugs and Thomas
+Nathan Arrington Hi Nathan, it was a great experience working with David & Britt, on Tugs and Thomas. It was a shame they didn't make more Tugs episodes. I have no favourite pieces, it was all such good fun to do.
+Mike O'Donnell Do you think this could be used for TUGS: drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx4V_dKzP63MSUdmQmRkQjd3eTA/view?usp=docslist_api
+Brandon The Creator 13 Yeah, why not!
+Mike O'Donnell Thanks for the opinion .
+Mike O'Donnell This audio track is my attempt of converting "Henry's sad theme" into the style of Tugs because I thought the show could use even more depressing theme .
i quite like this version i loved this theme tune loved tugs so did my mum and dad shame they did not do more series i thought it was very well done , i like boats and naval vessels , love the craftmanship of the model boats lot of skill like with original thomas the tank engine models do it for me i dont like the cgi version this brings back happy childhood memories when kids tv was great
this is tugs
Prototype Tugs theme