MAKING OUT with New Order

Does anybody remember the (pretty good actually) old comedy drama series "Making Out" that ran for three series between 1989 and 1991 inclusive, starring a whole host of faces from other soaps, dramas, comedies, etc: the key characters played by Margi Clarke and Keith Allen (when he still had hair - that is historical value in itself!) and centering on the lives of a group of gutsy women and their hilarioulsy clueless spouses revolving round the shopfloor of an electronics factory?

I ask because, the track "Vanishing Point" on Technique, was created from the instrumental version that was used as the theme tune for the first two series, before another contributor added some new incidental music for the third final series. The end credits indeed list New Order or Stephen Morris/Gillian Gilbert for the music: the only time to date that we have seen our heroes' names in this way........

Anybody else enjoy this series as much as I did? (For those more astute TV fanatics - I'm not one of them however - don't you reckon that BBC1's latest comedy drama about shopfloor goings on: "Clocking Off" owes more than a nod to "Making Out" for its conception??)

Did anyone see hooky when he was the lead singer / bass player in the house band on the Mrs Merton show? Mrs Merton was of course Caroline Hook at that time. The theme music was identical to the Monaco track "Under The Stars" but the lyrics were changed to:

'So let the happy times begin cos mrs merton's here again to spread the joy thats in her heart throughout the world'

Then as the show started you would see hooky in the background playing his bass like a windmill with hiccups. Brilliant.

Originally posted by Jeff White and just what the hell do we have to do to get these fine shows on the air in Americer??

Of course New order met Keith Allen around the time Keith was starring in Making Out and New order were doing the music for the show, they later went on to score a hit with a Keith Allen song called WORLD IN MOTION (ha ha). Of course the BBC's relationship with New order didnt end there, ther Other Two wrong the music to COMMON AS MUCK (TV series) and Gillian and Steven also wrong the theme to ITV's COLD FEET.

I'm so proud to be a born and bred Manc! Great Bands, Great Actors. Manchester's got everything, except maybe a beach!

Originally posted by Allen Jarvis Making Out. Quality TV. Didn't bits of The Happy One appear occasionally too. The Beeb does make some good Drama. Remember Keef Allen in Roger Roger? I was gutted when he committed suicide 3 episodes in.

Me too....me too.....me too..... It seems our ole' Keef seems to snuff it very early on in alot of his cameos: remember his Hugo character in "Shallow Grave"?? (Roger Roger was good too!! I wonder if a 3rd series is due?)

Originally posted by The Keeper Of The Major Key Did anyone see hooky when he was the lead singer / bass player in the house band on the Mrs Merton show? Mrs Merton was of course Caroline Hook at that time. The theme music was identical to the Monaco track "Under The Stars" but the lyrics were changed to:'So let the happy times begincos mrs merton's here againto spread the joy thats in her heartthroughout the world'Then as the show started you would see hooky in the background playing his bass like a windmill with hiccups. Brilliant.

HA! Quite! The sight of Hooky standing there amongst a sea of OAPs looking rather gormless as his missus occasionally hurled a few innuendo-ridden asides in his general direction every week was a joy to behold.
How incongruous can you get when you have a reputation as a low-slung flailing viking rock god to live up to?? Them was happier times indeed (before their bitter split a year later, obviously)

By the way, I always thought the melody to Mrs Merton's theme tune was identical note-for-note to the chorus in "Weirdo" ("just like the ocean and the sea....just like the fire that burns in me....etc...") Who else can back me up on that one??

Originally posted by The Keeper Of The Major Key playing his bass like a windmill with hiccups. Brilliant.

"Windmill with hiccups" !! FUCK! THAT IS PRICELESS!! How much d'ya want for that one???

'Roger Roger'? Was that the comedy about the taxi firm? I think I only saw that once. There was a funeral and the widow had requested "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston as a song to be played in tribute to her late husband. However, the song they actually played was the theme tune to Minder i.e. "I could be so good for you" by Dennis Waterman and all the blokes started dancing in the aisles. I pissed myself laughing so much I practically fell off the sofa. I should really have watched that program more often.

On a tangent here, but I reckon 'I could be so good for you" would be a great song for the first dance at a wedding. Not sure I could ever get a woman to agree to that mind you.

Originally posted by Matt Hicks > Originally posted by Jeff White> and just what the hell do we have to do to get these fine shows on the air in Americer??

Of course New order met Keith Allen around the time Keith was starring in Making Out and New order were doing the music for the show, they later went on to score a hit with a Keith Allen song called WORLD IN MOTION (ha ha). Of course the BBC's relationship with New order didnt end there, ther Other Two wrong the music to COMMON AS MUCK (TV series) and Gillian and Steven also wrong the theme to ITV's COLD FEET.

I'm so proud to be a born and bred Manc! Great Bands, Great Actors. Manchester's got everything, except maybe a beach!

Too True!!! Too True!!!! By the way, THE OTHER TWO's theme tune/incidental music to "Common As Muck" turned up as two completed songs on their fine, overlooked, second LP "Superhighways" (brought up in a previous thread elsewhere) The titles are "The Grave" and "Ripple" (the latter was originally titled "Common As Muck" and is a brilliant pop song which is pure euphoric New Order at its best - but with Gillian singing of course! - just listen to those rousing synths build up at the end - why wasn't this song a single??!!) Weirdly enough, there's also a track on the LP called "Cold Feet" which I don't think is the same tune as the later TV series.....

Originally posted by Martin Gray > Originally posted by The Keeper Of The Major Key> playing his bass like a windmill with hiccups. Brilliant.

"Windmill with hiccups" !! FUCK! THAT IS PRICELESS!! How much d'ya want for that one???

I'll take £40 and a copy of NME from 1987. You're right about the mrs merton / under the stars / weirdo thing, they are all very, very similar.

Originally posted by Martin Gray

What I meant to also say was: going back to "Making Out", Margi Clarke's character Queenie was every bit the mouthy, ebullient and gregarious Scouse dame she was in "Letter To Brezhnev". Her hilariously gormless teddy-boy husband Chunky, was none other than Brian Hibbard, who, aside from also acting in"Coronation Street", used to be the lead singer with THE FLYING PICKETS (1983 Xmas number one with their accapella barbershop cover of Yaz(oo)'s "Only You" - remember??!!)

One of my all time favourite moments in the series was Margi Clarke's infamous one liner when confronted with Chunky's box of (stolen) tortoises: "What do we want with all them walking pie-crusts??" I nearly shat myself at that one!

Originally posted by hugh sludden Was BEST & MARSH also used for a programme of the same name? I'm sure I remember seeing it once or twice

It most certainly was - in 1989 - as theme tune for a one-off documentary on football legends.......wait for it.... George B and Rodney M....... looking back over their golden years and celebrating their influence on the young upstarts that were gearing themselves up for the following year's World Cup in Italy.

Originally posted by The Keeper Of The Major Key You're right about the mrs merton / under the stars / weirdo thing, they are all very, very similar.

"Under The Stars". Now am I right in saying that this is the extra bonus track included in the US edition of "Music For Pleasure" - cos I don't have it anywhere on my UK versions of the Lp or any of its singles.

Originally posted by Martin Gray > Originally posted by The Keeper Of The Major Key> You're right about the mrs merton / under the stars / weirdo thing, they are all very, very similar.

"Under The Stars". Now am I right in saying that this is the extra bonus track included in the US edition of "Music For Pleasure" - cos I don't have it anywhere on my UK versions of the Lp or any of its singles.

Yeah, thats the one. Its in the audio section of this site. Remember how at the end of mrs merton she would say "take it away hooky and the boys!" and the show would finish with some acrobatic bass playing? That was all i watched it for. For the last series after hooky had left her she got in a different band and said "what did we ever see in that scruffy band we used to have?"...

Originally posted by The Keeper Of The Major Key Remember how at the end of mrs merton she would say "take it away hooky and the boys!" and the show would finish with some acrobatic bass playing? That was all i watched it for. For the last series after hooky had left her she got in a different band and said "what did we ever see in that scruffy band we used to have?"...

Quite......without dissing Caroline Aherne (I used to happen across the two of them all the time when they were "courting" before they got hitched in 1993 at The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club in Manchester at the open mike nights where Caroline was one of the comperes.....ah....such good times they were, sniff...)...sounds like a case of good old sour grapes.....

I remember the producers of 'Making Out' held a press conference after Technique came out protesting because New Order had 'nicked' their theme tune and made a song out of it! Did the stupid fuckers not even know who wrote it in the first place??

Originally posted by Muffy I remember the producers of 'Making Out' held a press conference after Technique came out protesting because New Order had 'nicked' their theme tune and made a song out of it! Did the stupid fuckers not even know who wrote it in the first place??

Did you know, the exact same thing happened a year later with "World In Motion" when the Beeb threatened NO with legal action after hearing the resemblance of the footie anthem to their own "Reportage" Theme. To which a curt Stephen Morris replied: "well we'll have to sue ourselves then, seeing as we wrote the bleedin' thing as well"!! (Steve and Gillian's "Reportage Theme" was reworked to become "WIM")

...Unless, that is, one of us is confusing one scenario with the other.....!!! I can't recall the Making Out rumpus, but most people remembered the Reportage one, cos that was subsequently mentioned in a fair few NO interviews afterwards!!!