Everton History

Z-Cars at 60

This week marked the 60th anniversary of the first screening of the television show Z-Cars, the theme from which, of course, is dear to every Evertonian heart. From its origins as a maritime folk song to the Johnny Keating version we know today, the story of the song is fairly convoluted.

On 2 January 1962, people watching BBC television heard the first strains of a new theme tune. It may have been vaguely familiar to aficionados of folk music and adults harking back to their Liverpool childhood. It still resonates with football supporters of an Everton persuasion, to this day.

Z-Cars was a ground-breaking, gritty, police series, set in the fictional Merseyside overspill town of Newtown — loosely based on Kirkby. It followed the crimefighting exploits of the Lancashire Constabulary police squads, using cars with the (fictional) call signs Z-Victor 1 and Z-Victor 2 (the inspiration for the series' title — not, as some believed, the Ford Zephyr cars driven).

It was the show's contents rather than the theme music which caused a stir, on its first screening. ‘Storm over Z-Cars on TV' was the headline in the Mirror, the following day. It detailed how senior figures of Lancashire Constabulary — and some denizens of Kirkby, had made representations to the BBC regarding their unfavourable portrayal. Nonetheless, the show, initially performed and transmitted live, proved a hit. An initial five-season run to 1965 was followed by a revival from 1966 through to 1978. In all, a mind-boggling 801 episodes were broadcast (sadly many have been lost). It spawned several spin-off shows, notably Softly, Softly (later Softly, Softly Taskforce) and Barlow at Large.

Six decades after that first screening, the Theme from Z-Cars remains the players' entrance tune at Goodison Park (and, for that matter, at Vicarage Road and Workington). The track has been recorded by numerous artists (sometimes rerecorded by the same artist) - but the matchday staple is that performed by Johnny Keating and his Orchestra (also referred to as the Z-Men). Keating has become synonymous with the tune — to the extent that some may believe, wrongly, that he wrote it. The story of the song is far more convoluted.

The origins of the tune are a traditional maritime folk song called Johnny Todd (a maritime ‘twin' to Madam Will You Walk?). Frank Kidson captured it in his 1891 book Traditional Tunes. It was often sung by Liverpool children in the playground or street as an accompaniment to ball-bouncing or skipping games. The lyrics vary but one version of the first two verses goes:

Johnny Todd he had a notion
For to sail the ocean wide.
But he left his true love behind him
Walking by the Liverpool tide.

For a week she wept in sorrow,
Tore her hair and wrung her hands,
Till she met with another sailor
Walking by the Liverpool sand.

It had been recorded by several folk musicians in the 1950s and early 1960s (and was subsequently committed to vinyl by Bob Dylan). The shanty came to the mind of Fritz Spiegl, a Merseyside-based musician, conductor and arranger, when he was approached in 1961 by the BBC for a theme tune appropriate for a forthcoming Merseyside-based police TV drama.

Fritz Spiegl had a fascinating life story. Related distantly to Gustav Mahler, he had fled Nazi-controlled Austria with his Jewish family in 1939. At 13-years-old, and without a word of English in his vocabulary, he was sent, with his older sister, to reside in Northampton. On leaving school he worked for an advertising agency but, as a talented flautist, subsequently enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music. This led to him becoming principal flautist with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for fifteen years (hearing loss would curtail his playing days), and he'd go on to organise concerts - often those aimed at being accessible to a wide audience, including younger listeners.

Fritz is sometimes erroneously credited as the composer of the Theme from Z-Cars. However, an eagle-eyed owner of a copy of the record will spot that a certain Bridget Fry is given the songwriting credit. Bridget, a freelance musical arranger and multi-instrumentalist (harpsichord being her specialism) was, in fact, Fritz's first wife - she retained her maiden name for professional purposes. Now in her 90s and living in south Liverpool, Bridget recalls how the programme's theme tune came to fruition: ‘Johnny Todd was quite a well-known Liverpool song — so Fritz suggested that we use it, and I did the arrangement. It was only an eight-bar thing, but it needed to be a bit longer; so, I added a link that made it go round and round. I put in about half of it, really.'

She was ‘outed' as the arranger/composer by the Daily Mirror in March 1962 and explained how the song was given the green light: ‘The producer of the programme saw that the chamber music quartet, which my husband and I run, was giving a concert in Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall. He popped in, heard the theme, liked it and booked it.'

It was written to be played by four flutes, two drums, two horns, a double bass and a harmonium. One assumes (although we can't be certain) that the version which accompanied the programme's first opening credits on that winter's night in 1962, was performed by the Spiegl's colleagues in the Liverpool Philharmonic.

Maybe encouraged by the excellent viewing figures for the show, other musicians and producers were quick to see the hit-potential of the theme tune. This led to a flurry of singles being released in early spring. Norrie Paramor, who had worked with the likes of Cliff Richard and the Shadows, put out an orchestral version on Columbia Records.

A star of the show, James Ellis (in the role of Bert Lynch, lent his vocal talents to a rendition of Johnny Todd on a 45 issued by Philips:

However, most successful was the rendition released on Piccadilly by Johnny Keating and his Orchestra.

Keating was, at this juncture, a well-established artist who been staff arranger for the Ted Heath Band. He had also dabbled in the world of popular music by doing backing arrangements for Adam Faith and Helen Shapiro. With the Keating version riding high in the charts in April 1962, and the programme's links to Merseyside, it is little wonder that it was given a spin on the turntable at Goodison Park.

There is no definitive evidence of when it was first given an Everton airing, but Billy Smith's transcription of old newspaper report for his Blue Correspondent website confirms that it had become a pre-match favourite from early in the beginning of the championship-winning 1962/63 season. The Liverpool Echo and Evening Express match report from the Merseyside derby in late September noted: ‘The players had come on, traditionally in pairs (to the accompaniment of the Z cars theme song). They went off almost two-by-two to tumultuous applause and some handshakes.'

Ernest Edwards' Echo column on 4 December made reference to the club dropping it for several weeks in the autumn: ‘Two followers of Everton from Childwall add their wonderment to mine that Everton's Z-Cars theme has not sounded before the last two home games. Ironically, after it had been played for the first seven or eight home matches, it was left out on the very day the late Mr. Leonard Williams of Twentyman fame was a guest of the club, only three or four days before he died. The club say there was no official adoption of the tune and that it has not been stopped for any special reason. As one who counted Twentyman and his Liverpudlian cracks as the most authoritative mirror of football fans in this city, it mightn't be a bad idea to adopt the Z-Cars drums and fifes and commemorate one of the city's notable sons.'

The tune was reinstated on the Toffees turntable. Recently rediscovered footage of the 1963 Charity Shield match at Goodison Park captures it being played as Roy Vernon was presented with the shield after the 4-0 defeat of Manchester United.

The actual version played as the team takes to the pitch has evolved — broadly in line with changes made to the theme accompanying the TV show. In the early 1970s a significantly reworked version was in evidence:

Footage of a February 1972 cup tie between Everton and Walsall captures this very different iteration being played:

I sought the recollections about Z-Cars of David Exall, the Blues' Promotions Manager in that era. David was the person responsible for the matchday music (and much more); he also engaged Graham Gouldman to produce Forever Everton. In 1971 he received a phone call from someone on behalf of John Keating (they were very clear that he was to be referred to as John, rather than Johnny), stating that when the conductor was doing a season at Liverpool Philharmonic, he'd like to meet to discuss the re-arrangement of — and royalties from — the Theme from Z-Cars.

A few weeks later Keating called David and they arranged meet at the concert hall in order to, in Keatings's words, ‘talk business'. According to David, he came across as ‘a nice chap — a bit serious but clearly proud of his place in classical music.' They chatted about the famous orchestras that he'd conducted and discussed other musicians, like John Barry, who had bridged the divide between pop and classical music. Then it was down to brass tacks. In summary, Keating felt that the Theme from Z-Cars had become the ‘Everton Theme' at no cost to the Toffees. David told me his reaction to the assertion: ‘I replied that it was a public record that we'd used for years and made it clear that we paid the due royalty. I had a chap who noted the title and number of every track we played, and every quarter we'd send it in to Performing Rights.'

Keating subsequently came to Goodison Park (not on a match day — he had no interest in the sport) and looked at what version of the record was being spun on a Saturday afternoon. He informed David that the Blues' copy was at least two versions out of date, adding that he would make sure that a copy of the latest recording was sent. There was a catch — he expected a contribution from Everton, by way of a ‘goodwill gesture'. Keating was as good as his word - but by then local record stores were already stocking it. So, David declined to make a payment to the arranger, knowing that the normal royalties due to him would be received (via the regular channels).

The theme tune accompanying the TV series continued to be updated — by 1977 it was given a radical revamp performed by English folk group Steeleye Span (credited on the programme as Steeleye Span Fuzz Music). The band's singer, Maddie Prior was the daughter of Allan Prior, a co-creator of the long-running police drama, so one assumes that this was what brought about the unlikely link up.

The very last episode of Z-Cars, broadcast in 1978, fittingly, reverted to a more traditional rendering of the theme tune:

In December 1966, the Spiegls were filmed for BBC Two's Music International programme at their Liverpool home (described in the item as ‘a bizarre house stacked with strange musical instruments'). Arthur Jacobs interviewed them about their work in music and the impact of the Z-Cars theme. Fritz — reportedly a Liverpool FC supporter — had a prodigious work rate as a conductor, author of books, newspaper columnist and BBC radio contributor. Blessed with a waspish wit, he was dismissive of pop artists ranging from the Beatles to Dylan and Joni Mitchell — quipping that popular music was ‘instant bliss without mental effort'. He died in 2003.

Bridget Fry had a long career as a freelance arranger and performer, whilst also raising three daughters. In 1966 she composed the theme tune for Softly, Softly. Listening to it you can discern knowing nods to its Z-Cars sibling; Fritz once jokingly described it having been created by turning the Z-Cars score sheet music upside down.

Bridget remains active as a keen gardener and charity fundraiser. She is not, however, a follower of football and has never been to Goodison Park. She admits surprise that her composition has endured as a match day favourite there. Asked if the regular airings still bring in a few pounds she told me: ‘Something changes with royalties after 50 years. One gets the odd ha'penny now and again…much less than it used to be; but never mind!'

The Theme from Z-Cars (now with the added ‘umph' of a siren preceding it) continues to send tingles down the spine of ardent Toffees as their team exits the tunnel and trots onto the pitch at Goodison. But it was endangered at the start of the 1994/95 season, as the new Peter Johnson regime sought to freshen things up. The club asked the Liverpool Echo to conduct a poll of fans' preferences for the ‘entrance music'. 54% voted to retain Z-Cars, 15% plumped for Simply the Best with lowers levels of support also registered for Here We Go, Forever Everton, We Shall Not be Moved and the theme from Chariots of Fire. So, when the players came out for the match against Aston Villa, there was dismay when Also Sprach Zarathustra, composed by Richard Strauss and featured in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, blared out. A credible report by Ken Rogers pointed the finger at Mike Walker for the left-field musical selection. A month later it was all change — again.

For the visit of QPR, the team exited the tunnel to the accompaniment of a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising. It featured lyrics written by Swedish Evertonians and was performed by Lemon Tree. Lyrics, which were flashed up on big screen for supporters to join in with (they didn't), included:

I see players that are trying
I see players having fun
I see supporters that are screaming
I see the winning attitude
So come on (x4) Everton — we're going to make it to the top

Sense was seen, before further damage could be done, and Z-Cars was restored to its rightful place. There it has stayed. Surely, this part of the Everton matchday experience will transfer to Bramley-Moore Dock?

Credits:

Bridget Fry
David Exall
bluecorrespondent.co.uk (Billy Smith)
Liverpool Echo
Dave Prentice article
Daily Mirror
The Guardian
YouTube
Fritz Spiel obituary
Royal College of Music website

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