Who Are Those Composers? ~ Keith Mansfield

Keith Mansfield was born in 1943 in London, England. He is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the Grandstand theme for the BBC. His other works include "The Young Scene" (the original 1968 theme to The Big Match), "Light and Tuneful" (the opening theme for the BBC's coverage of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships), "World Champions" (the closing theme for NBC's coverage of the same tournament), and "World Series" (used for the BBC's athletics coverage). One of his library music recordings, "Teenage Carnival", was used as the theme to the cult 1960s ITV children's television series Freewheelers. He has also composed film scores for British movies such as Loot (1970) and Taste of Excitement (1970), and the western Three Bullets for a Long Gun (1971). He also scored the closedown of ITV Granada in the 1980s, before it switched to 24-hour television.

To U.S.A. audiences, Mansfield is probably best known as the composer of the tune "Funky Fanfare" used for underscoring in the "Astro Daters" series of snipes produced by the National Screen Service in the late 1960s. That song has also been used during the opening credits of the show "Pit Boss" on Animal Planet. Astro Daters "Our Next Attraction" was featured prominently in two films by Quentin Tarantino, "Kill Bill" and "Grindhouse". A vocal version of "Funky Fanfare" entitled "House Of Jack" was also recorded by James Royal in 1969.

MANSFIELD, Keith [6/?/1941, Slough, Berkshire, England, U.K. -     ] – composer, songwriter, married to Barbara Helen Mansfield [19??-2008] (19??-2008), married to actress, singer Salena Jones (Joan Elizabeth Shaw) [1944-    ].

3 Bullets… for a Long Gun - 1970