Music Composed By Peter Best Music Coach and Location Casting Sandra McKenzie According to the DVD commentary, Sandra McKenzie coached the cast and singing extras in their musical performances, including, most notably, John Ewart pretending to play the piano. She also supervised the recording in the field of the musical performances seen in the film. They were recorded on location rather than in the studio, and performances were then filmed to playback, a reflection of the lack of sophistication in the industry at the time, though it also helps give the numbers a kind of raw "field" energy. Peter Best cut his feature film teeth as a composer by working with feature film producer Phillip Adams on the low budget experimental 1970 drama Jack and Jill: a postscript. Best went on score the two Barry McKenzie films. He would become one of the major contributors to the revival of screen music in Australia, with scores for films such as Muriel's Wedding, the first two Crocodile Dundees and Bliss. He has also had a successful career in the advertising game. He did several scores for Tim Burstall's films, starting with the score for Burstall's The Child episode of the four part portmanteau feature Libido, followed by Petersen and then End Play. He has a short (at time of writing) wiki here, and should not be confused with the original drummer for The Beatles. (Below: Peter Best)
The song known as "Tap, Tap" sung in the film by John Ewart and John Meillon became a minor hit after its release on a 45:
45 (Stereo) Albert Productions AP-11423 1977 Also released as Albert Productions AP-720 1977 Produced by Peter Best Side A: Picture Show Man (2:45) (Peter Best) (Albert) Side B: Tap Tap (2:05) (Peter Best) (Albert) Vocals: John Meillon and John Ewart It was also published as a two page printed music score for piano by Albert Publications in 1977. Meillon and Ewart performed the song on the night of the 1977 Australian Film Institute Awards, broadcast live from the Regent Theatre Sydney on ABV-2, and Ewart even incorporated the tune into the Big Bang Show, a revue which ran at Sydney's Speakeasy theatre restaurant (Sydney Morning Herald, June 2nd 1977). It
also turned up on television variety shows. Lyrics for the Picture Show Man song that runs over the head credits: (Man's voice, singing) Rolling through a sunburned country Rising at the break of day Brightly shining beams of sunshine Chasing all our cares away And as the sun goes down In another little town you can hear the people sing (chorus aaah) We want to see the things we've never seen All shining on the silver screen Give us the hero and the heroine To lift us from the world we're in Man's voice, speaking: I guess we like to make folks happy, make them smile when skies are grey give them little dreams to live for Then singing: Then pack up and drive away and as the sun goes down in another little town you can hear the people say
Voices singing: We want to see the things we've never seen Shining on the silver screen You've got the hero and the heroine To lift us from the world we're in The song "Tap Tap" turns up in the body of the film, sung first by John Ewart, then by Meillon, and then sung by the audience as the theatre goes up in flames. It also turns up at the end, sung by Meillon, and leading into the end credits. Tap tap on my window Could it be That you are still in love with me Knock knock on my door Oh could it be That you don't want to set me free You are by my side in spirit In my lonely room I see your face And then I hear it (At this point at the end, the full orchestra takes up the tune, and end titles roll. When Meillon sings it in the body of the film, the lyrics continue) Ring ring on my bell Or could it be
That you are still in love with me Cooing in my ears Or could it be That you don't want to set me free You are by my side in spirit In my lonely room I see your face And then I hear it Tap tap on my window Could it be That you are still in love with me Knock knock on my door Oh could it be You do not want to set me free There we went again There we went again (Meillon ends the song by gesturing, arms wide, and concluding) We went...