Dammit - Lukas, with you calling it quits, I guess we'll never see another volume of this set. Don't take this as a backhanded compliment, but this one was amazing - I actually didn't like a greater percent than I did, but I would buy another volume in a heartbeat. There is just too much here to give a thumbs down, it's one of the weirdest sets I have in my collection. Just the collection of talent alone is worth having this set for!
I was also really looking forward to Volume Two, but I don't know if it would have ever come about since I don't think Volume One was much of a seller. Still, this set exemplifies for me what the FSM label was all about and I'm just glad we got Volume One because frankly, where else would it have come from?!
Just want to chime in that I love this set and was looking forward to Volume 2.
Listening to 70s TV music takes me back to my childhood. I was a strange kid. I would actually hum my own underscore when I played with my toys, and I would mimic the type of atonal background music that was popular on TV shows at the time. I had no idea who Jerry Fielding, Dave Grusin and Leonard Rosenman were - but their music was an indelible part of me.
Santa gave me this for Christmas. I have listened to whole thing. Love all of it except that godawful Sweet Georgia Brown score. My favorite so far is Assignment Vienna, being that I love the 70s cop show sound. George Duning's Then Came Bronson is very nice. Can't wait for Volume II.
Santa gave me this for Christmas. I have listened to whole thing. Love all of it except that godawful Sweet Georgia Brown score. My favorite so far is Assignment Vienna, being that I love the 70s cop show sound. George Duning's Then Came Bronson is very nice. Can't wait for Volume II.
You do realize discussing previous releases--especially "holy grails"--is frowned upon here, right? Don't let it happen again.
That's the one score I completely skip over, but Fielding had kids to feed and bills to pay blah blah blah, so I guess I can forgive the "Sweet Georgia Brown" transgression.
The Grusin "Assignment" scores are tremendous. I'd like to see the series to "see" the music in context, but I doubt they'll ever see release.
What did you think of the Don Ellis score for The Deadly Tower? Is dissonance your bag?
That's the one score I completely skip over, but Fielding had kids to feed and bills to pay blah blah blah, so I guess I can forgive the "Sweet Georgia Brown" transgression.
Well, that little Fielding score has really grown on me since the first listening. I think it's a little gem and has all the trademarks which make his composing so great and always a little better than others would have written.
Well, that little Fielding score has really grown on me since the first listening. I think it's a little gem and has all the trademarks which make his composing so great and always a little better than others would have written.
SHIRTS/SKINS is one of the best scores of the set. The sense of percussions is fantastic. SHIRTS/SKINS is designed for those who like THE SUPER COPS.
What did you think of the Don Ellis score for The Deadly Tower? Is dissonance your bag?
I saw that film when it first aired on TV. I'm a big Don Ellis fan. I have most if not all of his Columbia LPs. I will have to listen more to the Deadly Tower to provide any detail, but I really liked it based on the first two spins.
Shaky cam twenty-five years before its overuse by lesser filmmakers!
So much of that movie's imagery is burned into my brain and it's some disturbing stuff. I don't think Kurt Russell could have been considered a child actor after that role.
I got the film from Warner Archive as a necessary prerequisite to getting the Omnibus set. Alas, I then discovered that the film decided to shamefully distort a couple key matters for the sake of making a totally unnecessary point about racism against Hispanics. They did this by (1) playing up Officer Martinez as a constant victim of discrimination even to the point of making his non-Hispanic wife a Hispanic and (2) zapping out of existence Officer Houston McCoy who played an equally big role in taking down the sniper. It turned out, both of them sued the film's producers afterwards. The result of the Martinez suit was a disclaimer at the beginning acknowledging that the relationship with his wife was fictionalized. Officer McCoy's suit was unsuccessful.
"Phantom Of Hollywood" by contrast (also available from Warner Archive) is a much more interesting film, especially it's fascinating look at the MGM backlot in its dying days.
As for the CD set, it is a great concept that IMO is handicapped by the fact that most of the material falls in the category of stuff that as TV properties is unknown even to the most hardcore of TV buffs, which is more a comment on how MGM, apart from "The Man From UNCLE" wasn't the studio turning out memorable long-lasting TV material. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it's out there but a similar kind of "Omnibus" for material from Universal during this time period would IMO have appealed to a much wider audience.
Well, that little Fielding score has really grown on me since the first listening. I think it's a little gem and has all the trademarks which make his composing so great and always a little better than others would have written.
SHIRTS/SKINS is one of the best scores of the set. The sense of percussions is fantastic. SHIRTS/SKINS is designed for those who like THE SUPER COPS.
If one is an American of a certain age, they might think of the Harlem Globetrotters circa the 1970s, who were everywhere, pop culturally speaking. They even had their own Saturday morning cartoon show.
Here's their funky opening tune (1970-72):
Then, they became super-heroes in 1979. Note the generic suckage of this theme, quite different than the transplendent beauty of the first one, proof once again how much better 1970-75 was compared to the Disco-and-George Lucas-drenched second half of the decade:
Thankfully, I now also associate "Sweet Georgia Brown" with Anita O'Day's heroin soaked performance in Jazz on Summer's Day...
Music Composed and Conducted by Jerry Fielding Theme: “Sweet Georgia Brown” by Ben Bernie, Kenneth Casey and Maceo Pinkard Recorded May 24 and 25, 1973 Aired October 9, 1973 Orchestrations by Greig McRitchie, Lennie Niehaus and Jerry Fielding
Notice the names of the orchestrators! All were working on a Peckinpah/Fielding project.
