Hooked on Classics 3: Journey Through the Classics

Hooked on Classics 3 (Journey Through the Classics)
Compilation album by
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Released1983
GenreClassical crossover
LabelRCA Records
ProducerJeff Jarratt, Don Reedman
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra chronology
Hooked on Classics 2: Can't Stop the Classics
(1982) 		Hooked on Classics 3 (Journey Through the Classics)
(1983) 		Hooked on Classics 4: Baroque
(1984)

Hooked on Classics 3 (Journey Through the Classics) is the third album in the Hooked on Classics series, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Louis Clark. Released in 1983 by RCA Records, the album continues the series’ distinctive blend of classical repertoire with contemporary rhythmic backing, designed to make orchestral music accessible to a wider audience.[1]

Background

In the early 1980s, Hooked on Classics became an unexpected musical phenomenon. Conceived by producers Don Reedman and Jeff Jarratt and arranged by Louis Clark of the Electric Light Orchestra, the project combined excerpts of well-known classical works with a steady disco beat.[2] Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the album was released in 1981 and its opening track reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Inspired in part by the success of the Dutch production team that produced Stars on 45, which popularized disco medleys of familiar pop hooks, Reedman and Jarratt applied the same formula to classical repertoire, creating a new crossover project.[1]

Reception

The Hooked on Classics series was commercially successful in the early 1980s, appealing to audiences unfamiliar with classical music. While some classical purists criticized the disco-style drum machine backing, the albums were praised for their creativity and for introducing orchestral repertoire to new generations.[1]

Album details

Attribute Information
Artist Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Louis Clark (arranger)
Series Hooked on Classics (3 of 4)
Release year 1983
Label RCA Records
Producer(s) Jeff Jarratt, Don Reedman
Genre Classical crossover, classical disco
Chronology Preceded by Hooked on Classics 2: Can't Stop the Classics (1982); followed by Hooked on Classics 4: Baroque (1984)

Track listing

No. Title Length Works featured
1 Also Sprach Zarathustra 1:12 Richard Strauss – Also Sprach Zarathustra
2 Journey Through the Classics (Part 1) 3:50 Charles Gounod – Ballet Music from Faust; Felix Mendelssohn – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Dance of the Clowns); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat, K.447 (Allegro); Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 7 (Presto); Tomaso Albinoni – Concerto a 5 in D, Op. 7 No. 1 (Allegro); Henry Purcell – Trumpet Tune; Camille Saint-Saëns – Samson and Delilah (Bacchanale); Jean Sibelius – Finlandia
3 Hooked on Haydn 2:54 Joseph Haydn – Trumpet Concerto in E-flat
4 Hooked on Romance (Opus 3) 4:17 Erik Satie – Gymnopédie No. 2; Frédéric Chopin – Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2; Alexander Borodin – Nocturne from String Quartet No. 2; Francisco Tárrega – Recuerdos de la Alhambra; Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 2; Camille Saint-Saëns – The Swan; Johannes Brahms – Symphony No. 3; Clark – Siciliana
5 Viva Vivaldi 4:00 Antonio Vivaldi – Concerto for Diverse Instruments in C major, RV 558 (Allegro Molto); Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 7 No. 11, RV 208; Concerto for 2 Mandolins in G major, RV 532; Concerto for 2 Oboes in A minor, RV 536 (Allegro); Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 7 No. 11, RV 208a (Allegro)
6 Dance of the Furies 3:28 Christoph Willibald Gluck – Orfeo and Euridice (Dance of the Furies); Antonio Vivaldi – Summer (The Four Seasons, Op. 8 No. 2, Presto)
7 Scotland the Brave (Hookery Jiggery Jock) 3:50 Traditional Scottish medley including Scotland the Brave, Loch Lomond, Amazing Grace
8 Journey Through the Classics (Part 2) 3:57 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – The Snow Maiden (Dance of the Tumblers); Bedřich Smetana – The Bartered Bride (Dance of the Comedians); Jean Sibelius – Karelia Suite (Alla Marcia); Joseph Haydn – String Quartet in D Major “The Lark” (Finale, Vivace); Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique” (Scherzo, Allegro molto vivace); Gioachino Rossini – The Barber of Seville (Largo al Factotum); Otto Nicolai – The Merry Wives of Windsor Overture
9 Journey Through America 3:24 Traditional American medley including The Star-Spangled Banner; Oh! Susanna; Marching Through Georgia; Yankee Doodle; When the Saints Go Marching In; Deep in the Heart of Texas
10 Hooked on Marching 3:11 J. F. Wagner – Under the Double Eagle; John Philip Sousa – The Stars and Stripes Forever, King Cotton; Traditional – The British Grenadiers; Kenneth Alford – Cavalry of the Clouds; Hall – Officer of the Day; Safroni – Imperial Echoes
11 Symphony of the Seas — Traditional naval medley including The Sailors’ Hornpipe; Anchors Aweigh; Drunken Sailor; Blow the Man Down
12 Hooked on Rodgers & Hammerstein 3:37 Selections from Oklahoma!, Carousel (June Is Bustin’ Out All Over), South Pacific (There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame), The Sound of Music (Do-Re-Mi); Oklahoma! (Reprise)

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hooked On Classics: the 1980s crossover phenomenon". Classical Music. 2025-08-27. Retrieved 2026-01-04.
  2. ^ Forde, Eamonn (April 29, 2016). "Philip Kives of K-Tel – the man who invented the compilation album". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
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