Fortran 5 has been played on NTS over 10 times, featured on 14 episodes and was first played on 7 May 2017.

Fortran 5 was a band from the early 90s, similar to such other acts of the time as The Orb, Fluke and Underworld. Their sound was mainly pop/electronic, but were notable in particular for their offbeat cover versions of Pink Floyd's "Bike" and Derek & The Dominos' "Layla".

The core members of the band were David Baker and Simon Leonard, who previously recorded as I Start Counting and went on to record as Komputer.

The vocals on "Bike (Sid Sings Syd)" were provided by cut-up vocals sourced from Sid James, whereas the vocals on "Layla (Derek Sings Derek)" were provided by British actor Derek Nimmo.

Simon Leonard also wrote a book called Fortran 5, which was published by Malice Aforethought Press.