Fanderson, the official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society, have released the soundtrack for the puppet series Stingray on CD for the first time. The double CD has a total of 54 tracks consisting of over two and a half hours of Barry Gray’s original music for the series.

Remarkably the soundtrack for Stingray, which was first broadcast on television in 1965, has never been released before on CD, or even vinyl, with only the theme music and Aqua Marina, the end credits song, being readily available so this double album marks a major coup for the fan club.

Over the years Fanderson have released many soundtrack albums of Barry Gray’s music from the various Anderson series. Their licensing agreement with copyright holder ITV Global Entertainment means that only 1000 copies can be pressed and that they can only be sold to Fanderson members. This means that once the albums sell out, as most previous releases have done, they become highly collectible and often sell for over £100 on internet auction sites.

Indeed at least one copy of the new Stingray album has already appeared on eBay with the seller obviously hoping that some gullible buyer would not realise that it would be cheaper to join Fanderson for one year and buy the album directly from them than it would to be to pay his seriously inflated starting price. The album was removed from sale after Fanderson contacted the seller directly while the club have already noticed an increase in new membership applications since they started advertising the new album for sale.

Due to the limited nature of the release the cost, £29.99, is high but this is not some knocked up fan CDR but a fully realised double album with a full colour glossy 28 page booklet included, making it a better product than many soundtrack albums you would buy on the high street.

A one year membership of Fanderson costs £25 in the UK, £28 in Europe and £31 for the rest of the world for which, in addition to the access to their impressive sales list, members get three copies of their A5 glossy full colour fanzine FAB and a membership premium of an exclusive perpetual Century 21 Diary. The diary which is formatted as one week to one page is a tribute to the TV21 diary that Letts produced during the 1960s and is filled with colour photos from the various Gerry Anderson TV series. For the comics fan, the diary includes the cover of one Anderson related comic per week, from the obvious TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope to the less well known New Captain Scarlet and Space Precinct titles.

• More details about the Stingray soundtrack album are available on the Fanderson website which also includes details of how to join the club.

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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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Categories: Uncategorised

Tags: Barry Gray, Fanderson, Gerry Anderson, Music, Stingray