Three UFO Century 21 Mini-albums

The Century 21 range of mini-albums were a staple of every Gerry Anderson fans record collection in the 60s. Each release was a 33rpm EP and featured "21 minutes of adventure". Although the 21 minute tag was correct, the term 'adventure' was more loosely applied. Some were abbreviated audio adaptations of episodes of Thunderbirds whilst others saw the listener taken on tours of Marineville and NASA rocket launches courtesy of Troy Tempest and Steve Zodiac respectively. Sometimes they were even canon-blasting original adventures for Lady Penelope and Captain Scarlet. 

For some reason, Century 21 stopped producing their mini-albums following Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons. 

There are those of us who would've appreciated the range going on throughout the later Gerry Anderson productions...

Space: 1999 mini-albums - 21 Minutes of Moon Madness!

I haven't done any mini-albums for a while but I was reminded of the final four that the failing company (which had been sold off to K-Tel) released in the mid-seventies. 

They were based on the popular Space: 1999 and featured specially recorded performances by the three main stars - Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and the other one. 

Sadly the entire range was swiftly withdrawn from sale shortly after their release following complaints from parents about the John Koenig one. Can't think why... 

They occasionally turn up in charity shops but not as records.

Into Action with John Koenig!

Alan Carter's Fitness: 1999

Dr. Helena Russell sings Space Nursery Rhymes!

The Other One

What Brand of Cigarette Did Lady Penelope Smoke?

There's a lot that is different in the new ITV 'Thunderbirds Are Go' series when compared to its sixties predecessor. 

For one thing, none of the characters chain smoke like they used to...

Thunderbirds Mini-album Adventure Not Being Remade.

That disappointing moment when you discover that your childhood heroes don't agree with your politics... 

Crossroads Mini-album Adventures from Century 21 Discovered in Skip!

There was a skip of stuff at the bottom of the street where I live. I had a rummage through it as any good citizen would and what did I find...? A selection of old single records no less. So I scraped the now rancid baked bean juice from them and took them home.

There were fourteen of them in all - mostly original sixties releases. In amongst them was a pleasant surprise!

An original Century 21 mini-album!

Sadly, it was not that 'Doctor Who' Dalek one with the odd narration on it. It was one of the very rare 'Crossroads' ones that I'd only heard talk of in very exclusive and hushed conversations at comic marts. 

If I recall correctly, Century 21 tried their hand at releasing non-Gerry Anderson material back in the mid-sixties and they dipped their toes into new markets with a handful based on the ATV soap opera. 

Needless to say, it didn't really catch on. I mean, who wanted to pay and listen to a show in sound only when they can watch it four nights a week for free on the telly. 

I put the record on and found it to be crap. They used a dreadful 'space-age' version of the 'Crossroads' theme performed on a theremin and the narration by 'Sandy' was inaudible - either due to poor mixing or the actor's adenoids. 

Pretty shit day really...

More "rare" Century 21 Mini-albums here.

TV21 - Today's News Tomorrow from Yesterday!

Paper arrived this morning...

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More From Those Robot People of the Planet Skaro

Here's a few more pages of Dalek madness from the 1960s....

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(If you can't read the text, you will let me know....!)

Unreleased Century 21 Mini-albums Uncovered...

In the mid-sixties, you couldn't move for Century 21 mini-albums - 7 inch 33rpm records each with "21 minutes of adventure". The likes of Scot Tracy and Lady Penelope narrated bite sized audio cut downs of classic Thunderbirds rescues whilst Steve Zodiac and Venus kidnapped a young boy and played sound effects from the moonshot to him. There was even a chance to go on a date with Troy Tempest...!

No Gerry & Sylvia Anderson puppet series was left untouched... except perhaps 'The Secret Service'. (We don't talk about the priest and his little gardener any more...)

There were a few that didn't get released. They tried to make them more instructional at one point but the arrest of Captain Zodiac and Dr. Venus and their subsequent trial put paid to that. 

One oddity was their 'Daleks' record - a laboured re-telling of "Doctor Who's" battle with the Daleks on the planet Mechanus featuring the soundtrack of the final episode of 'The Chase'. It was narrated by an enthusiastic David Graham and book-ended by Eric Winstone's dance band version of the Doctor Who theme. They were going to do another Dalek themed one for Christmas and prepped a cover for it - until someone told them that the series' special Christmas episode - which occurred halfway through a mammoth twelve part Dalek adventure - had replaced the Daleks with a silent movie skit that wasn't really suited to audio... despite Tristram Cary's fun music. 

Here's a selection from the archives. As always, none of this was ever released. It was just another dream episode...!