"TV Guide" Top Television Themes
| TV Guide Top Television Themes | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Warren Barker and Frank Comstock | |
| Released | 1959 |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Records |
| Genre | Big band, pop |
| Label | Warner Bros. |
TV Guide Top Television Themes is an LP of twelve musical themes from popular television programs of the late 1950s.
Origin and concept
In May 1959, Warner Bros. Records announced the release of an album produced in cooperation with the weekly television program listings magazine TV Guide.[1] Warner was said to be intrigued by the growing popularity of TV theme songs and the "fresh, new sounds and extraordinary harmonies to be heard in these themes," and "asked the editors of 'TV Guide' to select a list of 12 outstanding TV shows whose themes are rapidly being written into our music folklore."[2]
The record incorporated four themes from programs running on each of the three television networks ABC, CBS, and NBC. Promotional tie-ins that accompanied the release included featuring the album on the TV shows whose themes are heard, and distributing more than 500 copies of the album to TV columnists.[1] By year's end, "TV Guide" Top Television Themes became the fifth best-selling album in the first year of the label's operation.[3]
Reception
In its May 18, 1959, issue, Billboard magazine listed "TV Guide" Top Television Themes among its Spotlight Winners of the Week, describing it as having outstanding sales potential that could turn it into a big seller, with plenty of musical value.[4]
Reviewing the album, The Cash Box magazine complimented the "swinging big band renditions" of "Mickey Mouse Club," "The Real McCoys", and "Playhouse 90," concluding that in light of "the present TV theme trend, this set could do exceedingly well."[5]
HiFi Review said, "The arrangements are good big band jazz, and stereo even goes television one better by spreading the sound out beyond the confines of a 21-inch screen."[6]
Track listing
| Track | Title | Composers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The D.A.'s Man" | Frank Comstock | NBC |
| 2 | "Perry Mason" | Fred Steiner | CBS |
| 3 | "77 Sunset Strip" | Jerry Livingston, Mack David | ABC |
| 4 | "Pete Kelly's Blues” | Ray Heindorf, Sammy Cahn | NBC |
| 5 | "Mickey Mouse Club" | Jimmie Dodd | ABC |
| 6 | "Maverick" | David Buttolph, Paul Francis Webster | ABC |
| 7 | "Peter Gunn" | Henry Mancini | NBC |
| 8 | "Have Gun – Will Travel" | Bernard Herrmann | CBS |
| 9 | "Richard Diamond" | Pete Rugolo | CBS |
| 10 | "Playhouse 90" | Alex North | CBS |
| 11 | "The Real McCoys" | Harry Ruby | ABC |
| 12 | "M Squad" | Count Basie | NBC |
References
- ^ a b "Warner Bros. Issues 'TV Guide' Album". The Cash Box. New York, NY. May 16, 1959. p. 33 – via World Radio History.
- ^ "TV Guide" Top Television Themes (LP record). Vol. W 1290. Hollywood: Warner Bros. Records. 1959.
- ^ "First Year Builds Big for WB Label". The Billboard. New York, NY. November 2, 1959. p. 3 – via World Radio History.
- ^ "Spotlight Winners of The Week". The Billboard. New York, NY. May 18, 1959. p. 28 – via World Radio History.
- ^ "Album Reviews". The Cash Box. New York, NY. June 6, 1959. p. 28 – via World Radio History.
- ^ Stanley Green (August 1959). "Stereo Entertainment: Theater, Screen, TV". HiFi Review. New York, NY. p. 72 – via World Radio History.