HORIZON 9 by The British Stereo Collective

On Friday the 31st of May 2024, I headed off to Manchester to meet with the team from Starburst Magazine in order to discuss the logistics of ‘Starburst: The Album’. Before attending the meeting, I met with Grahame Alexander Robertson of Cult Edge (who produce all those cool Blake’s 7 books and magazines). Grahame asked if I was interested in creating an album of music based on Blake’s 7, in the absence of an actual soundtrack release. The idea intrigued me. I said it was entirely possible and filed it at the back of my mind.

Then, on July 17th 2025, Grahame, having had a bit of fun with a picture of Servalan and Carnell, (looking all synth-duo-like) posted a mock cover to an imagined 1980s synth-pop record by ‘Federation’ and wrote “If anyone could make this 1980 synth pop banger a reality, it’s @BritStereoColl”. I replied, asking if this was a gauntlet and he said “Consider it thrown”.

Thus, ‘Marked to Kill’ was born, with vocals provided by the amazing Jane Bailey. The red vinyl 12 inch single is now on release and on its way to customers. The radio edit and extended dance mix are included as bonus tracks on the album.

Shortly after completing ‘Marked to Kill’, I wrote and recorded a piece of incidental music to serve as the B-side. This was the jumping-off point to finally begin writing and recording the accompanying album, which was at first daunting – as I was beginning completely from scratch – but then all progressed surprisingly quickly. I began by downloading all the music from the first series from a YouTube DVD rip, so that I could study what instrumentation and musical styles were used. I then distanced myself from this so that I wasn’t TOO influenced.

The album also gave me the opportunity to add new strings to my bow, so to speak, in the use of the Zither I bought from a local charity shop. This can be heard on ‘Night Raid on the Compound’ and ‘Celestial Drift’.

And so, here it is: a soundtrack to a TV show that never existed, but which might feel vaguely familiar...

Huge thanks to Jane for the fantastic vocals.

Huge thanks to Paul Jackson (who you will have seen many times on Top of the Pops when he was the bass player in the original line-up of T’Pau) for playing bass on ‘Gambler’s Paradies’.

And the biggest thanks must go to Grahame Alexander Robertson, who set this all in motion.

Phil Heeks draws inspiration from classic ‘70s/80s TV theme compilations, film soundtracks and sound effects LPs.