Name That Tune (UK game show)

Name That Tune is a television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. Originating from the United States on NBC Radio in 1952, the show was created and produced by Harry Salter and his wife Roberta.

History

The British version began in 1956. Marion Ryan was the singer in the popular musical quiz Spot The Tune on Granada Television for seven years, with a total of 209 half-hour programmes. Several stars hosted it, including disc-jockey Pete Murray, Canadian pop singer Jackie Rae, and comedians Ken Platt and Ted Ray. The big band in support was that of Peter Knight and his Orchestra.^[1]

It was later revived as Name That Tune on ITV. The UK pilot was recorded in 1976 and became a 15-minute slot on the popular entertainment series Wednesday At Eight but because the game was so popular, producers Thames Television decided to turn Name That Tune into a half-hour weekly series in 1983.^[2]

From 1976 until 1983 it was hosted by Tom O'Connor. Lionel Blair took over from O'Connor in 1983 until the series was dropped from the ITV schedules in 1988. Maggie Moone and Irish trio Sheeba sang the songs that contestants had to guess, while the pianist (whose hands were a regular feature) was Ronnie Price. Nick Jackson served as the announcer.

In 1997 the series was revived on Channel 5 with Jools Holland as the host for 2 series in 1997 and 1998.^[3]

On 5 May, 2007 the show was briefly revived for Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon on ITV, with Peter Dickson as announcer.

Rules (1983–87)

Two contestants selected from the studio audience competed in various games to earn points as well as cash and prizes.

Each of the first two games awarded 10 points to the winner and the winner of the third game scored 20 points. After the third game, the contestant with the most points proceeded to the "Prize Tune" bonus round. If there was a tie at the end of the game, one last tune was played, and the first contestant to buzz-in and name that tune then went to the Prize Tune.

Melody Roulette

A wheel was spun onstage to determine a cash prize for identifying the tune. The wheel contained amounts from £25-£100. An outer wheel was also spun which held two spaces marked "Double" and was spun in the opposite direction of the inner. The first to three tunes out of five won the round.

Sing a Tune

After hearing the middle section of a tune sung by the show's vocalist, contestants wrote down the title of the tune. The vocalist replaced any words normally part of the song title with "la-las." Three tunes were played.

Bid a Note

The host read a clue to a song and the contestants alternated bidding as to how few notes they needed to identify the song. Each contestant stated their bid to their opponent in the infamous format "I can name that tune in X notes", where X was any whole number with 1 being the lowest and 7 being the highest. Bidding ended when one contestant challenged the other to "Name That Tune". Bidding also ended when one contestant bid one note or (rarely) zero notes, with intent to identify the song from only the clue read by the host. The first contestant to score three tunes won, and the third had to be either earned naturally, or by default.

Golden Medley Showdown

The contestants attempted to name as many tunes as possible within 30 seconds. The clock stopped as soon as a contestant buzzed in to provide a response, although, after five seconds, the clock stopped and the tune was thrown out. The contestant who named seven or the most tunes correctly won.

Prize Tune

The contestant was escorted on-stage into an isolation booth (which was wired so that they could only hear the host and the piano). Then, the host opened a golden envelope, handed the pianist the sheet music for the song, and held onto a sealed business-size envelope. The pianist then played the song while a 20-second timer counted down. After 20 seconds of playing, the piano player stopped, and the contestant in the booth (who was allowed to give only one answer) had 10 seconds of thinking time before guessing the song's exact title. After the contestant exited the booth, The host then opened the envelope and announced the song's title. If the contestant guessed correctly, they won a bonus prize, usually a new car.

References

External links

• Name That Tune at BFI.
• Name That Tune at UKGameshows.com.