Big Brother UK TV Theme


The Big Brother UK TV Theme is the opening theme for the British reality TV series Big Brother, written and produced by music duo Elementfour in 2000. Following the success of the first UK series that year, the theme was released as a single and became a hit in September 2000 when it reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart.
The original theme was used through the first five series of Big Brother, however was later replaced by a revamped version from the sixth series onwards. Versions of the theme continued to be used throughout Channel 4's run of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother and was retained when both shows moved to Channel 5 in 2011.
In July 2016, it was revealed that the track was the 14th highest-charting TV theme of all time in the UK.

Background and release

The original name for the track, as evidenced by promotional copies, was "Tast-E", and this was before the duo had settled on a collective name for themselves either. "Tast-E" was released in Australia on CD, Belgium as "Element Four" and Greece.
The theme was also featured on the soundtrack for the first series, which was released that same year.

Composition

In September 2010, Gray said to Leo Hickman of The Guardian "I came up with the basic melody while babysitting my five-week-old daughter,". "I was rocking her with my toe under my keyboard as I was playing around with chord structures. I suppose it took three days to write.", with Oakenfold adding that he is proud of their "iconic piece of music". The single version sold nearly 300,000 copies and reached number 4 in the charts in September 2000, Oakenfold stresses, "without it even being play-listed by Radio 1". "Channel 4 took a leap of faith to use it. It's not a limp piano line; it's really quite heavy and electronic. I would say the programme and its music have changed culture, not just television."
In August 2011 Oakenfold, asked if he was happy that the theme had been retained by Channel 5, told Digital Spy "Of course I was. I'm very proud of my track and it's become quite an iconic piece of music." Questioned on whether he received royalty cheques every series, Oakenfold laughed "Everyone does - of course. That's the way it works if you write music."

Track listing

Compilation appearances

Release history

''Big Brother - The Original Soundtrack''

The soundtrack is a compilation of contemporary and classic dance tracks featured in the first series.

Track listing

;Disc 1
  1. "Big Brother Theme" – Elementfour
  2. "Phat Planet"– Leftfield
  3. "Breathe" – The Prodigy
  4. "Going Out of My Head" – Fatboy Slim
  5. "Push Upstairs" – Underworld
  6. "Tell Me Why " – Paul van Dyk
  7. "Dooms Night" – Azzido Da Bass
  8. "Reach Out" – Midfield General
  9. "Freeze" – Cut La Roc
  10. "Der Schriber" – Timo Maas
  11. "Be U 4T" – Peace Division
  12. "Heaven Scent" – Bedrock
  13. "Belfast " – Orbital
;Disc 2
  1. "Porcelain" – Moby
  2. "Finished Symphony" – Hybrid
  3. "The Man with the Red Face" – Laurent Garnier
  4. "Brown Paper Bag" – Roni Size
  5. "The Future of the Future " – Everything but the Girl
  6. "King of My Castle" – Wamdue Project
  7. "I See You Baby" – Groove Armada
  8. "D*Votion 2000" – D*Note
  9. "Clubbed to Death" – Rob D
  10. "Les Nuits" – Nightmares on Wax
  11. "Swimming Pool" – Rae & Christian
  12. "Slip Into Something More Comfortable" – Kinobe
  13. "Big Brother Theme" – Elementfour