TME > Audio > Tributes Discography
Tribute Songs
The reason we have created a separate discography exclusively for Doctor Who tribute records, and the reason why you really won't find anything similar for Star Trek, Blake's 7, Battlestar Galactica or other sci-fi shows, is that Doctor Who really has inspired a frankly astonishing amount of spin-off songs. We're not just talking about re-arrangements of the theme tune (although there have been many), or tracks that have just sampled the series (although yes, we've had those too) - here we have fully blown pop songs, with proper choruses and catchy lyrics and everything, all about Doctor Who. It's remarkable, it's unprecedented, and it's quite fascinating, too. "There's magic in his hand, you ask and he may show it" indeed!
1964 - I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With a Dalek
The Go-Go's: I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With a Dalek
7" vinyl single, limited edition picture sleeve, December 1964
Oriole CB 1982
A. I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With a Dalek
B. Big Boss Man
Composed by Les Vandyke
Produced by Johnny Worth
Click here to see the non-picture sleeve version
--> Lyrics
(I bring you greetings from all Dal - leks)
I'm gonna spend my Christmas with a Dalek
And hug him underneath the Mistletoe
And if he's very nice I'll feed him sugar spice
And hang a Christmas stocking from his big left toe
And when we both get up on Christmas morning
I'll kiss him on his chrome-implated head
And take him in to say "Hi" to Mum
And frighten Daddy out of his bed!
Merry Christmas! (Merry Christ - mas)
Happy Christmas! (Happy Christ - mas)
Merry Christmas! (Merry Christ - mas)
To you!
(I wish to be your friend)
(Please may I have some more plum pud - ding)
(And cust - tard) |
I'm gonna spend my Christmas with a Dalek
And if I make him happy he will stay
To go (wheep!) and (fart!) and twiddle his eye
And then my little Dalek will say
Merry Christmas! (Christ - mas tree)
Happy Christmas! (Mist - tle - toe)
Merry Christmas! (Merry Christ - mas)
To you!
Merry Christmas! (I love you)
Happy Christmas! (You love me)
Merry Christmas! (Merry Christ - mas)
To you!
Merry Christmas! (More plum pud - ding)
Happy Christmas! (More cust - tard)
Merry Christmas! (Merry Christ - mas)
To you! |
/ Compilation releases
- Who's Dr. Who Compilation CD, October 2000: Cherry Red / RPM Records RPM 200.
In October 2004, fan Stuart Palmer began to distribute VCDs of
The Dalek Chronicles, animated CGI featurettes dramatising the famous 1960s comic strip. As a bonus feature on the first disc, Genesis of Evil (AV01), he included an animated version of this song, with a movie Dalek bouncing in time with the instrumentals, flashing his lights in time with the vocals and translating some of the lyrics: Merry Christmas (We will slay you all), Happy Christmas (Die Earthling scum), Merry Christmas (You will be our slaves), and Exterminate all humans /
Obey or die! /
Daleks conquer and destory /
You will be exterminated... soon! The disc was distributed free via the
Altered Vistas website.
The Go-Go's, a semi-professional group from Newcastle, released this short record just in time to hit the Christmas market of 1964. The musicians - according to a gem of a contemporary newspaper article - were Mike Johnson (19), Alan Cairns (20), Abe Harris (20), Bill Davison (22), Les McLeian (19) and Sue Smith (17), with writer and producer Les Vandyke appearing under the pseudonym of Johnny Worth to boost their numbers. The vocals were sung by Sue Smith (who put-on a child-like voice and mis-pwonounced her 'r's) and spoken by a male member of the group in the guise of a nasal-voiced Dalek - a format that presumably defined The Go-Go's style, for the B-side (a traditional R&B number) sounded exactly the same. The up-beat song was performed by several organs and electric guitars, with typically 60s "space" effects that fooled a contemporary reviewer into thinking that they were samples from the Doctor Who TV theme. Famously, a limited amount of copies came in a black and white picture sleeve, showing a cut-out Dalek frightening crowds in the high-street. Sue Smith even remembers standing in London with a Dalek for publicity purposes.
BBC Video issued a short section of the song on 'Daleks - The Early Years' in 1992, substituting for the lost soundtrack of a clip from The Daleks' Master Plan, with presenter Peter Davison emphasising the kitsch appeal of the Daleks' "very own pop record". The following year, BBC Radio 1 ended their 30th Anniversary Doctor Who facts week with an edited broadcast of the single, which Steve Wright mocked and decided was simply "ill-conceived". Such contempt has led to numerous mistakes in reports concerning the record. I'm Going To Spend My Christmas With A Dalek by The Go-Joes was a title used by Doctor Who Magazine in DWM 54 and regularly thereafter until a letter from Completely Useless Encyclopedia writers Chris Howarth and Steve Lyons in 1997 put them straight. Further reports have spoken of The Go Gos, The GoGos, The Go Go's or The Gogo's, and composer Les Vandyke was mistaken for a Van Dyke even in October 2000's Who is Dr Who sleeve notes.
The release of that CD, the first reprint of the song since the original release, sparked a revival of appreciation. DWM reviewer Vanessa Bishop found it all "terribly endearing" in January 2001, and London retailer The Who Shop showed their appreciation by offering a 1'06" WAV download of the original Doctor Who theme with vocal samples from the single overlaid, presented as a "Christmas message from the Daleks" in December 2000. As a press-cutting from 1964 concludes, "The kids will go for it in a big way, and the tune is catchy enough to keep the grown-ups' feet tapping".
1965 - Who's Who
Roberta Tovey with Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Lockyer: Who's Who
7" vinyl single, some in picture sleeve,* July 1965
Polydor 56021
A. Who's Who
B. Not So Old
Who's Who (Lockyer/Bev)
Not So Old (Lockyer/Bev/Winsley)
* According to the 1997 Record Collector article, although we've never seen one.
--> Lyrics
If you see a man with long grey hair
And a funny little smile on his face
That'll make you laugh or hold your breath
As he travels from place to place
He'll meet all kinds of people
Wherever he may go
And all his friends will tell you that,
If they should want to know
(Who's Who?)
(Who's Who?)
Well Doctor Who of course!
He's quite at home on a big spaceship
Or sitting on top of a horse
He's been to the past and future
And whatever he may do
He'll always be a friend of mine
(Who?)
Doctor Who! |
If you look way up in the sky above
And you see a little streak of light
You could almost say 'twas an early bird
As it moved on through the night
But even that early bird can't move
So what can it be?
And this is what I'll say to them
If they should ask of me
It's Who
(Who?)
It's Who
(Who's Who?)
It's Doctor Who of course!
That streak of light up in the sky
Means that he's off once more
It could be Mars or Venus
But whatever he may do
He'll always be a friend of mine
(Who?)
Doctor Who! |
/ Compilation releases
- Who's Dr. Who Compilation CD, October 2000: Cherry Red / RPM Records RPM 200.
In October 2004, fan Stuart Palmer began to distribute VCDs of
The Dalek Chronicles, animated CGI featurettes dramatising the famous 1960s comic strip. As a bonus feature on the release of Episode Nine: The Archives of Phryne (AV10, July 2006), he included an animated version of this song, with a cut-out Tovey "singing" the lyrics (first in front of a starfield, and then the TV test card), TARDIS fly-bys, floating photographs of the Hartnell and Cushing Doctors, and occasional pop-up words. "In 1965, Roberta Tovey who played Susan in the two Dalek films unleashed a terrible curse on mankind," read the introduction screen. "This is that curse..." The disc was distributed free via the
Altered Vistas website.
This was one of two singles to spring from the highly successful 1965 Aaru Movie, Dr Who & the Daleks. Sung by actress Roberta Tovey and co-written by the film's incidental music composer, this apparently in-character novelty song has become a classic reminder of 60s Doctor Who, and its release highlights the power of Dalekmania (or rather of Polydor's faith in the public's desire for cash-ins). The songs innocence is only spoilt by the rather dubious B-side, where Tovey makes an older man promise to wait for her to grow up so that they can be together... or something. It's such a frightening experience we've only dared play it once.
In the 1990s Who's Who was dubbed over a compilation of clips showing Doctor Who companions in the highs and lows of fashion. This 0'35" edit contained three cuts, linking the opening bars, the middle instrumental section, and Tovey's final chorus before the repeat-to-fade. First matched for the 1992 TV documentary 'Resistance is Useless', the novelty soundtrack remained with the clips when they were lifted into subsequent TV documentaries. The clips are as follows:
The introductory line "I dig your fab gear" from The War Machines 1 / Zoe from The Invasion 8 / Victoria from The Web of Fear 1 / Jo from The Sea Devils 3 / Steven and Dodo from The Bomb / Sarah from The Hand of Fear 1 / Leela from The Robots of Death 3 / Zoe, Jamie and Isobel from The Invasion 5 / Jamie from The Moonbase 4 / Tegan from Resurrection of the Daleks 2 / Susan from The Pilot / Ace and Mel from Dragonfire 3 / Sarah from The Brain of Morbius 1 / Zoe and Isobel from The Invasion 2 / Dodo from The Bomb / Jo is told to "change out of that ridiculous garb" from The Daemons 4.
Released on video in 1994 (as part of 'More Than Thirty Years In The TARDIS', BBCV 5403), the sequence was last seen during Channel 4's 'Top Ten TV Sci-Fi' on 13 October 2001, where several clips were replaced with alternative shots of Peri from Planet of Fire and Romana from The Ribos Operation (apparently also taken from 'More Than Thirty Years'), and Who's Who was replaced by a 0'20" extract from Dance of the Daleks.
In 1993, Marvel's Doctor Who Yearbook featured a 'Terrible Tunes' Top 10, listing a chart of Doctor Who tributes hand-picked by MC 'Hammie' Howe (better known as author and collector David J Howe). Who's Who, by "the diminutive starlet Roberta Tovey", was described as "bouncy". The track was also mentioned in a Doctor Who Top Ten within Chris Howarth and Steve Lyons' Completely Useless Encyclopaedia in 1996, where it came eighth. "Ostensibly a film spin-off", they decided, "yet the lyrics refer to 'a man with long grey hair', and of course Peter Cushing's hair in the movies was rather short. Now, William Hartnell sported long white hair, so we seem to have a combination of the two characters. In our opinion, young Roberta was striving to reconcile the Who universe with this well-meaning, bridge-building song of peace."
1968 - Who's Dr. Who?
Frazer Hines: Who's Dr. Who?
7" vinyl single, October 1968
Major Minor MM 579
A. Who's Dr. Who?
B. Punch and Judy Man
Who's Dr. Who written by L. Reed & B. Mason
Punch and Judy Man written by T Scott
Produced by Tommy Scott
Musical Director: Nicky Welsh
--> Lyrics
He has a time machine
To travel through the ages
To take a look at history
He simply turns the pages
He knows a Prince or two
And kings are two-a-penny
He never thinks of money no
Although he hasn't any
They all say
Who - oo - oo is Doctor Who
Where is he from
What does he do?
They wonder
Who - oo - oo is Doctor Who
So I ask you
Who's Doctor Who? |
There's magic in his hand
You ask and he may show it
He simply elevates a stone
Where you and I would throw it
He's been to yesterday
And somehow we all follow
I wonder where we are today
Or where we'll be tomorrow
They all say
Who - oo - oo is Doctor Who
Where is he from
What does he do?
They wonder
Who - oo - oo is Doctor Who
So I ask you
Who's Doctor Who? | La la la la la (etc)
They wonder
Who - oo - oo is Doctor Who
So I ask you
Who's Doctor Who? |
/ Compilation releases
- Who's Dr. Who Compilation CD, October 2000 (Cherry Red / RPM Records RPM 200)
This pop song, performed by Frazer Hines (apparently in character, although
accent-less, as Jamie McCrimmon) followed two earlier attempts by Hines to
conquer the charts with his Doctor Who persona. Time Traveller, finally
released in October 2000 on the Who Is Dr Who compilation, was a
rock-'n'-roll-blues number penned by Frazer's brother Ian, shelved and
forgotten in 1968. The second track, Jamie's Awae in His Time Machine, was
written by the prestigious Alex Harvey, and although Hines remembers its
release, nothing appears to have hit the shelves until the follow-up, Who's
Dr Who?, a novelty track by Barry Mason and Les Reed featuring Frazer's
nephews and producer Tommy Scott's sons on backing vocals. After this, Hines
was gently reminded by his agent that perhaps he should be concentrating more
on his career as an actor than as a pop star, and Jamie hasn't visited the
studio since.
The track was mentioned in a Doctor Who Top Ten within Chris Howarth and
Steve Lyons' Completely Useless Encyclopaedia in 1996, where it came seventh.
"Frazer thought the popularity of Jamie would help him to achieve an ambition
of pop-stardom", the book claimed. "The record-buying public thought
otherwise." In November 2003, the instrumental intro to the song was featured
within UK Gold's 'Doctor Who @ 40' weekend, playing as an example of the
records the programme had spawned; and in March 2005, the sing-a-long chorus
concluded a documentary about Jamie McCrimmon on The Mind
Robber DVD, playing over the end credits.
When David Bailey wrote a feature on Doctor Who related records for Doctor
Who Magazine (Issue 309, September/October 2001), he interviewed Frazer Hines. "I began to think, 'Actually, I'm going to be a millionaire pop star!", Hines remembered. "Les Reed and Barry Mason have just written these two hit singles, and I'm going to have the third one...' Well, I was the only flop they ever had!"
1969 - Dr Who (Bongo Herman & Les)
Bongo Herman and Les: Dr Who
7" vinyl single, 1969
Explosion (subsidiary of Trojan) EX2002
Released in Jamaica credited to The Crystalites (pictured, without sleeve), with the record code scratched into the vinyl: FDH 7134 RIL (vocal side) FDH 7138 DH (instrumental side). The copy obtained by TME has the instrumental track as SIDE A, which may be a label mis-print.
A: Dr Who Pt One
B: Dr Who Pt Two
(Former) address Trojan / B&C Recordings Ltd
326 Kensall Road, London W10 5 BL, England
--> Compilation Releases (Pt One only, as 'Doctor Who')
 The Undertaker UK 12" LP, 1970 (Trojan TBL 114) |
 For a Fistful of Dollars CD reissue, 1993 (Jamaica Gold JMC 200.211) |
 Mod Reggae: Volume 2 3CD box set, August 2005 (Trojan TJETD287) |
 Reggae Action 2CD compilation, February 2006 (Pulse PDSCD638) |
Bongo Herman and Les, real names Herman Davis and Les David, were members of
The Crystalites during the Undertaker sessions in 1970. The duo played all
the percussion on that LP, together with colleague Larry McDonald. From 1971
onwards, Bongo and Les were supported by a third percussionist, Eric 'Bingy
Bunny' Lamont, and also recorded for other producers, including Harry
Johnson, Winston Blake, Harry Mudie and Lee Perry - who produced his own
Doctor Who tribute with I Roy & The Upsetters in 1973.
In the sleeve notes to the Fistful of Dollars CD, producer Derrick Harriot
explains that "The number Dr. Who comes from a TV series which was very
popular in Jamaica. People rushed home to watch that science fiction show."
The single opens with a number of howls and screams, and a booming
announcement: "From out of the unknown, here comes: Doctor Who!". A short
drum roll introduces a laid-back bass and organ track, with occasional
interruptions from the vocalist ("I like it!") and an organ tune that
closely resembles the structure of the Doctor Who theme without actually making use of the melody. The B-side begins
with the same eerie introduction and proceeds to offer a stripped-down
version of the same track, without the organ melody and vocals. It's quite good, but aside from the opening dialogue (and the title, of course), it doesn't seem to have much to do with Doctor Who!
1972 - Who is the Doctor
Arranged, produced and written by
Rupert Hine and David Maclver
|
Jon Pertwee: Who is the Doctor
7" vinyl single, plain sleeve, December 1972 Purple PUR III
A. Who is the Doctor
B. Pure Mystery
Reissue #1: US 7" vinyl single, TARDIS picture sleeve, 1983 BBC/Gemcon BBC 453
B. The Sea Devils Malcolm Clarke
Reissue #2: 7" vinyl single, sunset picture sleeve, June 1985 Safari DOCTOR 1
B. Doctor...? Blood Donor
|
--> Lyrics
I cross the void beyond the mind
The empty space that circles time
I see where others stumble blind
To seek a truth they never find
Eternal wisdom is my guide
I am the Doctor
Through cosmic waste the TARDIS flies
To taste the secret source of life
A presence science can't deny exists
Within, outside, behind
The latitude of human minds
I am the Doctor | My voyage dissects the course of time
"Who knows?" you say - but are you right?
Who searches deep to find the light
That glows so darkly in the night
Toward that point I guide my flight
As fingers move to end mankind
Metallic teeth begin to grind
With sword of truth I turn to fight
The satanic powers of the night
Is your faith before your mind?
Know me - am I the Doctor? |
/ Compilation releases
 Who is Dr Who Compilation CD, October 2000 (Cherry Red / RPM Records RPM 200) |  Purple People compilation CD, June 2004 (Purple PUR326). 20 tracks from the vintage Purple label - including a digitally remastered Who Is The Doctor. |
/ Fan Video
In October 2004, fan Stuart Palmer began to distribute VCDs of
The Dalek Chronicles, animated CGI featurettes dramatising the famous 1960s comic strip. As a bonus feature on the release of The Pentaray Factor (AV06, June 2005), he included a tribute to Jon Pertwee, with the complete version of his 1972 single accompanied by a collection of scrolling photographs from his era - one from each televised story. The disc was distributed free via the
Altered Vistas website.
This exceptional track was written and released as though it were a Deep
Purple single, and is the only Doctor Who tribute track to star an
in-character Doctor. Over a prog-rock arrangement of the Doctor Who theme, the Doctor tells us how completely brilliant he is in booming, echoing tomes - the first time that the theme tune had been given lyrics (of sorts)! A 1983 re-issue celebrated the series' Twentieth
Anniversary (alongside re-issues of Bullamakanka's Doctor Who is Gonna Fix It
and Peter Howell's K9 & Company) with an edited soundtrack suite from The
Sea Devils on the B-side (lifted from the successful BBC Records LP Doctor Who
- The Music), and a second re-issue appeared on the Safari label in 1985.
During the second leg of their 1998 European tour, Deep Purple incorporated
the Doctor Who theme into a performance of Strange Kind of Woman at Sofia,
Bulgaria, on 28th November. A review of the concert could be found at the
Deep Purple website for a short time, where it was stated that the rendition
- apparently exclusive to this performance - was the work of Steve Morse (on
guitar) and Roger Glover (on bass); though whether it bore any resemblance to
the version recorded some 26 years earlier, we will never know!
The track was restored by Mark Ayres for the Cherry Red compilation Who Is
Dr Who in 2000, and digitally sourced from the original master tapes by Deep
Purple themselves for release on a retrospective CD of the Purple label's
multi-artist releases in 2004. Almost the full track played over the
end credits to the 1994 video documentary, 'More Than Thirty Years in the
TARDIS' (BBCV 5403), and was also used over the credits of 'Russell T Davies:
Unscripted' (tx: BBC Four 11/04/05), a special TimeShift programme devoted to
the writer's television career, particularly his influence by and eventual
production of Doctor Who.
1973 - Doctor Who (I Roy & The Upsetters)
I Roy & The Upsetters: Doctor Who
Jamaican 7" vinyl single, 1973
Panther Records P68
A. Doctor Who
B. Doctor Who Version
--> Compilation releases
 Wizdom 1971-75 Australian 12” Vinyl LP (Ascension Records ANLP001), CD (ANCD 001). Compiled by Pip Chalmes. |  Chapter 2 of Words CD, October 1999 (Trojan CDTRL425) |
The vocalist on this strange Jamaican record talks his way through the whole track, with only the occasional discernable word. From what can be made out, he is advising his girlfriend, who has flu, to go and see the doctor, WHO will make her better. Perhaps he does mention the programme in one of his rambles, but since the music (which is tuneless reggae) and the vocals (which are mad) don't seem to make any sense, only the title links this crazy 7" to the British sci-fi show we're supposed to be talking about.
1978 - I am a Dalek
The Art Attacks: I am a Dalek
7" vinyl single, picture sleeve, February 1978
Albatross TIT 1
A. I am a Dalek
B. Neutron Bomb
Steve Spear - guitar
M.S. - bass
J.D. Haney - drums
Edwin - vocals
--> Back cover / Lyrics
Welcome back to planet Earth
[-]
Welcome back to radio
[-]
Oh, I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek
Innovate (Exterminate)
Copulate (Exterminate)
Exterminate (Exterminate)
Kill!
A rubber robot [-]
And little rubber wheels,
I never had had much fun with girls
I don't know how it feels!
Cos I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek
Innovate (Exterminate)
Copulate (Exterminate)
Exterminate (Exterminate)
Kill!
And now I'm on your TV screens :
Invasion in your homes
I wish that I could go and live
[-] In Wales! | I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek
Innovate (Exterminate)
Copulate (Exterminate)
Exterminate (Exterminate)
Kill!
Here we go again!
I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek, I am a Dalek
Innovate (Exterminate)
Copulate (Exterminate)
Exterminate (Exterminate)
Kill!
Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!
You will be exterminated
You will be violated
You will be [-]
Out of control! Out of control!
Exterminate! (etc)
(fades out) |
/ Compilation releases
 Outrage & Horror CD / limited edition 12" Vinyl , November 1996 (Overground Records OVER 58CD); includes original studio version and live recording |  Punk Rock Rarities Volume 2 CD compilation, 1996 (Anagram Records (subsidiary of Cherry Red) CD PUNK 83) |
Punk rockers The Art Attacks made their debut on vinyl in late 1977, on the LP Live at Vortex, contributing live tracks Animal Bondage and Frankenstein's Heartbeat.
Also released at the same time was the legendary Beggars Banquet compilation Streets which included the band's Arabs In 'Arrods, as well as artwork by vocalist Edwin Pouncey under the guise of 'Savage Pencil'.
Their first solo single, I am a Dalek, came out in early 1978 on the Albatross label, and saw a noisy and energetic band thrashing between three chords and screaming their little hearts out impersonating Daleks. It's like the Sex Pistols meets pop culture!
The record is quite highly prized these days, not so much for the Doctor Who connection but because it is (apparently) thought of as an important punk record, particularly because of Pouncey's involvement. Happily this interest has resulted in some good remastered re-issues, and the track can currently be downloaded from iTunes and other online mp3 stores - an unusual boast for a vintage Doctor Who tribute! - and a live version was released on the Art Attacks' Outrage & Horror compilation in 1996.
The band's second single Punk Rock Stars was issued by Fresh Records (FRESH 3) in late 79, long after the band had split.
