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Posted: |
May 25, 2019 - 5:20 PM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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I know there's another thread about this, but Robocop told me to post here or get my balls shot off. So I'm here. After overdosing on the absolutley amazing THE SENTINEL, I listened to this for the first time for a bit of light relief. I haven't heard it all yet, but I intend to post some inconsequential rabbits as I go through the set, much as I did with FSM's stellar "TV Omnibus" years back. First impressions - (Be watchful - these will be contradicted by me myself I on the second, third and fourth listens) - it's pretty good/ great, and I think me myself I coincide with Yavar on one or two things. But I'm not sure of that yet. Pay attention. Disc 1 kicks off with Goldsmith's BARNABY JONES pilot episode. 20 minutes of sheer brilliance. I had hardly any recollection of the series, so I didn't really expect it to be such a gritty listen. Goldsmith doing TV at the top of his game, when he could do very little wrong, even (especially?) when he thought the project was awful. So (seemingly) effortlessly cool, and the few minutes of drama are totally up there with his best big-screen work. Some of it reminded me of "Antonio's Death" from PAPILLON. I'll bet Jed Clampett never even heard of Henry Chariot. The Broughton BARNABY J seemed very good indeed on first listen. Solidly good stuff, but it hasn't ingrained itself in my brain yet. Two scores by Dave Grusin, for DAN AUGUST, close CD1. I enjoyed this a lot. It's just a touch generic (it sounds like "TV music" with the lead-ins to the commercial breaks etc), but it's still good. I love how the musicians have a lot of freedom in the jazzier tracks. It's real music done by real people. Some of the material put me in mind of Quincy Jones in the way the brass seemed to squawk - a lot of little quirks in the approach and in the walking bass behind the heavy rhythm (I thought of Q's "KILLER BY NIGHT" - on the FSM label with Johnny Williams' NIGHTWATCH - buy this, nutmegs). I'll go back to it of course. On first listen I think I even prefer it to the Grusin material for ASSIGNMENT: VIENNA, on FSM's previously-mentioned "TV Omnibus", which was more kind of standard sounding generic. Disc 2 starts with Lalo Schifrin's MOST WANTED pilot score. Good enough. The most enthralling tracks are probably - as the liner notes state - the deleted material for the hijack scenes. Almost on a par with the best bits of DIRTY HARRY or MAGNUM FORCE. The rest of it seems fairly typical Lalo in suspense mode - see-sawing high strings, stuff like that. I still never get tired of that double-bass figure that he used in every score - the octave-jumping thing that you can do with your acccoustic guitar Christmas present, by just moving one finger a bit. I did start listening to CANNON, but I must admit that the name "John Parker" never sounded exotic enough for me. What a stupid thing to say, I know. So, pretending he didn't have that name, I tried to like CANNON. I just got in to the the first few tracks, but then I had to go back to listen to Gil Mellé's THE SENTINEL again. Not that Parker's CANNON is bad. I can't say that, because I haven't heard it all yet. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUT... I remember as a kid I never really thought that Cannon was cool. The other crippled detectives were. Ironside was in a wheelchair. I imagined not having to walk to school. Longstreet was totally blind. I imagined just sitting there and getting people to do things for me. Columbo only had a glass eye, the same raincoat, and was uncombed, but we all wished we were as intelligent as him when we were at school. Cannon was just fat. So the CANNON music annoyed me a bit on the tracks I heard. The John Parker scores on the FSM set for ASSIGNMENT: VIENNA were the ones which most annoyed/ least impressed me. So, still to do the whole CANNON, then the Mystery themes, then listen to it all again. And then update my thoughts here. And then listen to THE SENTINEL again.
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I invite you to give the Cannon scores a serious second take because the early seventies arrangements are still engrossing and each score features versatile cues. Agreed, Thomas..!
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Posted: |
May 26, 2019 - 5:31 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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BUUUUUUUUUUUUUT... I remember as a kid I never really thought that Cannon was cool. The other crippled detectives were. Ironside was in a wheelchair. I imagined not having to walk to school. Longstreet was totally blind. I imagined just sitting there and getting people to do things for me. Columbo only had a glass eye, the same raincoat, and was uncombed, but we all wished we were as intelligent as him when we were at school. Cannon was just fat. That still beats being an old git who likes drinking milk... Even if he's also a bit of a forensics guy and has Catwoman for a secretary/daughter-in-law... Ah yes! Barnaby Jones' "disabled" gimmick was age! And drinking milk! What an old tosser. I wonder if that's why Jerry Goldsmith said to his agent, "I can't do this. It's awful"! Well, he did it and it's a terrific score. To clarify the John Parker issue, I was only in the mood for the first two tracks. I will of course listen to the whole thing umpteen times, which is what I do with everything (unless it's truly abysmal). My former comments were based largely on having listened umpteen times to his ASSIGNMENT: VIENNA scores and never really liking them. I should really be listening to CANNON now, and of course the rest of the disc, then the whole thing again and again, then THE SENTINEL again. And ROSEMARY'S BABY arrived (the CD, not the devil-sprog) the same day, and I haven't even heard any of that yet. What am I doing here posting all this shite?
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Posted: |
May 26, 2019 - 10:06 AM
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By: |
Rollin Hand
(Member)
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According to imdb, Cannon has the following composers: Johnny Parker (9 episodes, 1971-1975) Tom Scott (4 episodes, 1971-1974) Robert Drasnin (4 episodes, 1973-1975) Patrick Williams (3 episodes, 1971-1975) Duane Tatro (3 episodes, 1973-1975) Albert Harris (2 episodes, 1974-1975) George Romanis (2 episodes, 1974-1975) Artie Kane (1 episode, 1972) Michel Mention (1 episode, 1972) John Elizalde (1 episode, 1974)
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To clarify the John Parker issue, I was only in the mood for the first two tracks. I will of course listen to the whole thing umpteen times, which is what I do with everything (unless it's truly abysmal). My former comments were based largely on having listened umpteen times to his ASSIGNMENT: VIENNA scores and never really liking them. Well, following Dave Grusin is tough. Yeah... I'm going to try to hear the Parker scores as an entity in their own right. No comparisons, open mind and all that. It'll be difficult though. Here goes. Back later. It's ok not to like it. I don't either. Never apologize!
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Posted: |
May 26, 2019 - 3:23 PM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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I finally got to the end of this set. Good stuff. I should say that although my intention was to get through CANNON unscathed, I ended up checking how many of the composers represented are still alive. It's amazing! If the computer is to be believed, they're all still alive except for Jerry Goldsmith. Duane Tatro is 92, John Parker 92 or 93. And the others are no spring chickens either. But I digressed. Don't forget, this is a "first impressions" series of posts. I have the right to modify my views on subsequent listens, which I will subject myself to in the name of science. So, without further beating about the bush I did something a bit nutty. Since CANNON has two scores represented (20 mins and 15 mins), I pretended that I was listening to an old LP that I'd picked up in a shop in 1977. On that level I quite enjoyed it, but as yet it hasn't at all clicked, and may never do so. There are some goodish moments, but overall I find it kind of characterless and charmless. Due to the fact that CANNON's disability was being fat, the tuba is used to portray him. According to the liner notes, William Conrad didn't like that idea and wanted something more "jaunty". Well, for me it's both. Tuba-based AND jaunty. There are some what sound like comedic moments representing obesity, but there's still quite a lot of variety over and above. It's just that it sounds SO generic that my mum, sorry, I mean girlfriend, told me to "turn the bleedin' telly down". I'm still trying to work out what it is that doesn't grab me here. I suppose it may do on future listens, but for now it sort of reminds me of watching TV when I was getting into this stuff, being underenthralled, and then seeing the credits "Music by Jack Elliott and Allyn Ferguson", or "Music by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter". I never got into that kind of anonymous/ bland/ annoying sound. Surprisingly (to me), these CANNON scores are from 1971 when everything else was great. It's getting the death penalty, but will wait on Death Row for another forty years while I re-evaluate my initial reaction. Then for the last few minutes of Disc 2 I did an even nuttier thing than imagining that I'd bought an LP in 1977 - I actually imagined that it WAS 1977 and I was taping those brief themes onto a cassette tape, wondering whilst listening whether or not to keep them on or scrub them. Here are my thoughts based on one listen - THE MANHUNTER (Duane Tatro) - "Keep it on - it's quite interesting although I can't find the typical TV show hook." CARIBE (Nelson Riddle) - "Keep it on - it's alright." BERT D'ANGELO/ SUPERSTAR (Patrick Williams) - "Keep it on - it's really good, but those monkey noises are a bit annoying." TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED (David Shire) - "Keep it on! It's great and scary!" More bollocks to follow after the second listen.
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The Watt Bombardment
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Just got back from the gym and after my "back" workout (deadlift, bent-over barbell row, seated cable row) and I sweated over the two Cannon scores and the track "After the Fall" from "The Salinas Jackpot" gave the extra shot of adrenaline. I usually need something a little more fast paced for back day, but I'll give those a shot!
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Posted: |
May 28, 2019 - 2:53 PM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Cannon looked like he needed a few sessions at the gym himself, although he'd probably have had a heart attack. Had time to listen to Disc 1 again - Only the second shot, but it's becoming pretty great already. The Goldsmith BARNABY JONES is superb from start to finish. It's just so imaginitive and full of cool percussion effects, a driving momentum and the right amount of griity action. I always loved his POLICE STORY pilot score on the Prometheus CD, but this is just as great. One question - What are the contents of Track 13 ("Barnaby 2, 3, 4 and 5)? After only two listens I can't be sure, but it sounded just like repeated material from previous tracks. I suppose they must be different takes with subtle changes which I haven't picked up on yet... The early Broughton BARNABY JONES is top-quality stuff too. Excellent scoring, but it somehow seemed a little out of place with the other bed partners in the set. Glad it's on it though. It's the earliest Broughton I "know", although I must have heard some of his work on episodic TV without realising it - certainly without realising that he would go on to find a certain fame and popularity in his '80s big-screen successes. He showed he had the chops back in '78 with BARNABY JONES. All this great Goldsmith and Broughton music for a milk-supping geriatric. DAN AUGUST is supremely great. I like these scores even more than the work he did on ASSIGNMENT: VIENNA. They're funky and they're jazzy. The first one's a little bit more funky in general than the second, leaning towards the "Mr Connection" theme from THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE. I think I like the second score even more. It's got more jazz piano, muted trumpet and shimmering strings, although it still uses that funky Main Title rhythm a fair bit. Shades everywhere of his best film work too - EDDIE COYLE, CONDOR, YAKUZA... Fantastic. I hope to catch a second listen of Disc 2 towards the end of the week. First reaction is that Disc 1 is stronger, but it's got the advantage that I've heard it twice now. Let's see how I get on with the on-first-listen "good but routine" Lalo, the "strangely unappealing" Cannon, and the "short n' sweet" collection of themes. Thinking back to my first go at Disc 2, I was intrigued enough by how unusual the Duane Tatro theme for THE MANHUNTER was that I looked into Tatro's biographical details. This guy's amazing! I'll have to check this out. I had a quick look at his Main Titles for THE HOUSE ON GREENAPPLE ROAD (a QM TV Movie), and they're pretty startling. And he's still alive, apparently. As is John Parker. I mentioned this previously, but the only deceased composer on the whole set is Jerry Goldsmith, and the latest score on the set is from more than forty years ago. Oh wait, Nelson Riddle died ages ago, but the cumulative age of the alive ones is still 958. Someone asked somewhere if the Donald J. Ellis credited on trumpet is "our" Don Ellis. Seems likely. He was Donald Johnson Ellis. I just learned today that he played that wild, maddening trumpet stuff on ROSEMARY'S BABY, and I learned that because I read the CD liner notes, from the CD of ROSEMARY'S BABY that I got the same day as this Quinn Martin Collection, the LLL ROSEMARY'S BABY that I haven't even heard yet because I was listening to the Quinn Martin Collection and to Gil Mellé's superb score for THE SENTINEL, which came in on the same day, in the same package, from La-La-Land. Why am I here talking about scores when I should be bloody well listening to them? Goodbye!
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I hear he was part of Mark R. Levin's fictional group "Fatties United, or: FU".
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