Due for release 31st July 2026 via Ace Records
CD / 2LP
"Motorway City" is a superb, driving-based collection of library music. The tracks on this album were all written between the mid-60s and the early 80s to hymn car travel, back when the petrol-operated motor car was seen as the transport mode of the future, when motorways were new and thrilling. It was car travel’s golden age.
The tracks are highly collectable rarities from the libraries of De Wolfe, Chappell and Hudson. It has been compiled by Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne who has also written the informative sleeve notes. It stretches from mod movers to proto-ambient, something for every car journey.
Library music soundtracked the many short films that extolled the virtues of TopTray restaurant at Watford Gap or the comfortable leather seats in an Alpine Sunbeam. These tunes illuminated the joys of motor travel, and were given titles such as ‘Fast Lane’, ‘Super City’ and ‘Clearway’.
Many of these tracks seem time specific. The sun peeks over the horizon for Basil Kirchin’s ‘Through New Territory’; Reg Tilsley’s ‘Hold The Road’ is so bright at midday that you’ll need to wear shades to stop the sun getting in your eyes; John Fiddy’s ‘City Skyline’ has to be seen (and heard) at dusk.
Ex-Soft Machine Karl Jenkins provides the tense ‘Wheeling’, and Peter Reno’s thunderous ‘Convoy’ shifts the mood up a gear. Maybe you should risk nudging the speed up, 80-plus, to the soundtrack of Alan Hawkshaw’s ‘Fuel Injection’ or Simon Park’s mellow-but-dynamic ‘Big Road’.
Beautifully packaged in a gatefold sleeve, "Motorway City" could be the soundtrack to your summer holiday.
SIDE ONE
1. WIRE WHEELS - INTERNATIONAL STUDIO ORCHESTRA
2. ON THE MOVE - JOHNNY HAWKSWORTH
3. MOTORWAY - CLIFF JOHNS
4. THROUGH NEW TERRITORY - BASIL KIRCHIN
5. SUPER-TRAVEL - JAMES CLARK
6. DRIVING FORCE - HERBERT CHAPPELL
7. TOWN BEAT - JACK TROMBEY
SIDE TWO
1. HOLD THE ROAD - REG TILSLEY
2. CONVOY - PETER RENO
3. MOTORDOWN - JOHN SCOTT
4. SOUL CITY DRIVE - SOUL CITY ORCHESTRA
5. BIG ROAD - SIMON PARK
6. WHEELING - KARL JENKINS
7. NEVADA JUNCTION - STEVE GRAY
SIDE THREE
1. HIGHWAY SONG - THE COOL
2. SILVER THRUST - PETER RENO
3. LORRY LOAD - FRANK MCDONALD
4. FAST LANE - MIKE GILLINGHAM & ROY STONE
5. WALK THE WHITE LINE - PETER RENO, REG TILSLEY
6. FUEL INJECTION - ALAN HAWKSHAW
7. SUPER CITY - JOHN FIDDY
SIDE FOUR
1. TAKE A BREAK - REG TILSLEY
2. CLEARWAY - FRANK RICOTTI
3. SOFT THROTTLE - ALAN HAWKSHAW
4. NIGHT MOVES - PATCHWORK
5. CITY SKYLINE - JOHN FIDDY
6. FREEWAY - ROGER WEBB
7. HOMETOWN - ALAN PARKER