Music by
Bruce Smeaton
Special thanks to Dave Hetherington and the
New Harlem Jazz Band with John Ellis and John Withers
David Atkins provided the choreography for a number of dance numbers (including one that
runs under the film's end credits), and the jazz band is featured on screen in the biggest
dance routine:
Bruce Smeaton:
1981-83 were years when Bruce Smeaton was much in demand for the scoring of feature
films and high end television drama.
As well as the period- and jazz-inflected Squizzy Taylor, he did Monkey Grip in 1982, together
with the TV mini-series 1915, and in the United States, Barbarosa with director Fred Schepisi
Back at the beginning of his career, in 1973, Bruce Smeaton had composed two of the
segment scores (The Husband and The Priest) for the portmanteau feature film Libido (and
also the music for the ABC TV miniseries Seven Little Australians), before doing the score for
Peter Weir's The Cars That Ate Paris, and then moving on to do David Baker's The Great
Macarthy.
Smeaton became a major award-winning Australian composer for film and television, who
immediately after working on Picnic at Hanging Rock would go on to work on a series of
classic Australian feature films, including Fred Schepisi's The Devil's Playground and The
Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith.
Working with Schepisi on The Priest episode for Libido helped prepare Smeaton for the more
expansive score he did for The Devil's Playground, and it's arguable - because his work on
Picnic tended to be overshadowed by the pan flute gambit - that the film was the first real
chance for Smeaton to do an expressive work that aided the atmosphere and emotion of a
fully effective drama.
With The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Smeaton continued in expansive mode, and because
of the film's substantial budget, the score was one of the few in the early revival that could
afford to be laid down at the old Anvil Studios near the village of Denham in Buckinghamshire,
with a British orchestra, the National Philharmonic, formed exclusively for recording purposes.
Smeaton would continue to work with Schepisi, after the director went to Hollywood
(Barbarosa, Iceman, Roxanne), and he also became involved in various television shows,
such as The Boy in the Bush, A Town Like Alice, 1915, and Five Mile Creek.
Around the same time as doing the score for the 1981 animated feature Grendel Grendel
Grendel, Smeaton also did the underscore for (…maybe next Time) and The Earthling (or at
least the version designed for the Australian cut).
Smeaton's relatively short wiki - at time of writing - is here.
(Below: Bruce Smeaton in 1988)
(Below: Smeaton as he turns up in the DVD 'making of' for Picnic at Hanging Rock):
(Below: in the 'making of' for Summerfield. Adding the hat changes everything)
The score was released on LP:
LP Astor ALPS 1073 1982
Music by Bruce Smeaton
Produced by Bruce Smeaton
Recording Engineer: Robin Gray
Recorded at Allan Eaton Sound, Australia
NHJB - New Harlem Jazz Band: Sandro Donati - Trumpet, Bob Gilbert - Reeds, Chris
Ludowyk - Trombone, Neil Orchard - Piano, Chris Farley - Banjo, Bill Morris - Tuba, Richard
Opat - Drums
Trio - Dave Hetherington: Clarinet, John Withers: Banjo, Alan Stott: Sousaphone, John Ellis:
Bass Saxaphone
All titles published by Chappell
SIDE 1:
1. Theme From Squizzy Taylor (2'06") Dave Hetherington with NHJB & Orchestra
2. Richmond Rag (3'10") NHJB
3. In The Pink (1'42"), Dave Hetherington with NHJB and John Ellis
4. Unnatural Urges (Variations Of Theme) (1'58") Trio
5. Lapse Of Luxury (2'21") Orchestra.
6. All Them Bubsies (3'06") NHJB.
7. Dolly Dear (Variation Of In The Pink) (1'16") Guitar and Orchestra
8. Melbourne Bitter (5'13") NHJB
9. Sumpin For Nuffink (Variation Of Theme) (1'01") Trio
SIDE 2:
1. Squizzy Taylor (2'55") NHJB
2. The Fitzroy Push (2'23") NHJB with Dave Hetherington and John Ellis.
3. La Lounge Lizard (3'04") Trio
4. Dead All Over (3'32") Orchestra
5. Ida Up, Ida Down (Variation Of In The Pink) (0'57") Trio and Orchestra
6. Coburg Castle (Variation Of Theme) (1'33") Trio
7. In The Red (Variation Of All Them Bubsies) (4'55") Trio (Not shown on LP cover)
8. Collingwood Clover (3'20") NHJB
9. Just So Long (Variation Of Theme) (1'10") Trio and Orchestra
The main theme was also released on 45:
Side A:
Theme From Squizzy Taylor (2'06") (Bruce Smeaton) (Chappell) Dave Hetherington with
NHJB and Orchestra, The New Harlem Jazz Band
Side B:
Richmond Rag (3'10") (Bruce Smeaton) (Chappell) NHJB, The New Harlem Jazz Band
The main theme also turned up as track 17 of a CD compile of Smeaton's music, CA/CD 836
224 4/2 1992: