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Move Closer To Your World... Why It Works


Jess

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Some time ago, I read a comment on one of my YouTube videos with a full Action News close, and it really caught my attention. I've never heard this part articulated before, but it makes perfect sense.

 

 

 

What makes MCTYW stand out is it's different from all the other news themes, it's not generic. It's loud, in your face, but that quiet moment before it goes into the singers is magic. Other local stations wish they had news themes as good as Move Closer To Your World.

The emphasis is mine - because he's totally right. You have the loud, marching band music in the beginning, but then all of a sudden it segues into the acoustic guitar. And those few seconds, right before the singers, are indeed powerful and magical. It's not what you expect, and it fits.

 

And that's when it hit me. That's when I realized why Move Closer To Your World works. Why it's still a great theme in 2013.

 

It's somewhat derisively stated as "Philadelphia Loves Its Bongos"... but that's the thing. What makes Move Closer To Your World work is THE INSTRUMENTATION. The bongos. The complex drums. The marching band feel. The magical acoustic guitar moment. Hell, those long three-minute closes with the piano solos. THAT'S what works. That's what makes it so distinctive.

 

The only other theme where the instrumentation is that crucial - at least that I can think of -

In fact, Doctor Who is one of the very, very few themes in all of television that are as iconic and great as MCTYW. It's haunting and exhilarating and memorable at the same time - and it's all due to the magnificent work done by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. While the theme was composed by Ron Grainer, when he heard it he was so astonished he asked if that was really what he composed. (Derbyshire replied, "Most of it".)

 

And... honestly, if MCTYW ever gets updated, which I wouldn't mind? Doctor Who is what you have to look to. Like 6's attempt to orchestrify the theme in 1996, they tried a John Debney orchestral version that didn't work. But when they brought the series back, Murray Gold performed perhaps the PERFECT revision of the theme. The original Delia Derbyshire work was combined with

. Even the
done in 2010, with a new melody and new synthesized sounds composed by Gold, works extremely well.

 

THAT'S how a new MCTYW should sound like. A combination of past and future. How you do that, I don't know. But if you can take one of the all-time classic television themes and revive it THAT faithfully, you can do it for MCTYW. I'd love to see someone try it.

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MCTYW is like one of the most iconic news themes of all time. Bar none. Back then, your typical news theme were the use of synthesizers, teletype sounds and tickers and such. But MCTYW use brasses, bongos, piano solos, and the vocals who's singing the melody. It was out of the ordinary at the time.

 

I would be damned if someone attempts to do a redo that would severely desecrate the style and characteristics of the original theme. If folks go ahead and study each of the old songs and focus on the instrumentation and the instruments that were used at the time, and try to use most of those instruments, like the original, almost to the tee, then you'll probably have a winner. But if you just want an update, like the unsucessful 1996 highly-orchestrated theme, that's when you'll have problems. Although, to me it wasn't all that bad for a musical standpoint, but for something that many folks are use to, it didn't have that punch that the original theme had. So they brought that old theme back.

 

Personally, I wouldn't ever want to see an update, because the current "remastered" open and bumper the station used is already "attention-grabbing" as it is. I would never alter the themes they're playing now. My thing is, "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It". If anyone tries to attempt to do a redo, fine, if they do the proper homework. And yes, THE proper homework has to be done. It cannot be rushed like some theme songs today. But if an update of the theme eliminates the style, the substance and the characteristics as the original, never play that song on the air. It would be as worst as them playing Jeff Kaye's final VO track on the air.

 

One of my favorite cues from MCTYW is the

, although I would never see WPVI use this cue. And talk about the longevity. 41 years!! Wow! That's magic right there. Although I would love to see WPVI use one the full length (not just the 1 minute) closing cues, I wouldn't want the station to get it updated AT ALL. It can be played for another decade and it would still sound as good as it was last night. It is good AS IS.

 

At least WPVI cares about the traditional and historical overtones and legacies of its theme music. Unlike other stations that I know......

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I will probably get booed at for this, but I don't care. My take is that MCTYW is way past its prime and it is a dated theme that should've been put to pasture 30 years ago. The only reason it is has been around this long is because they didn't drop it when they should have (late 70's-early 80's) so when they updated it (the attempt to update it was horrible BTW) in 1996, some people with too much time on their hands wrote or called the station to complain about a piece of music so they were forced to switch back. But do you think of they dropped it in, say, 1978 or 1979-ish, people would've complained then? Probably not. The original commissioning station (WNAC, later WNEV and now WHDH) used it for only two years, look at what they have now. KTRK used it for 10, now they have Eyewitness News. It has only stuck around this long because they have managed to keep it this long. If I was CSD at WPVI, my first move would be to have the full theme updated by someone like Stephen Arnold, 615 or inthegroove to keep the signature, but give it a fresh modern sound. The people who complain are complaining about something trivial.

 

I just think is theme is out of date, this is 2013, but this sounds like something straight out of the 70's and has always been one of my least favorite news themes. I've never understood why they just don't update everything and not a few cuts (the 615 updates they use for a couple of stingers). Ignore those people who complained over a piece of music. It's just music. The world is not going to end because WPVI dropped piece of music.

 

Remastering something over and over that was essentially performed in the early 70's doesn't work, because it still is dated. Maybe if they re-performed every little second of the piece of music and got new people to sing at the end, my sentiments with the theme might change.

 

Also I think the best news theme by Al Ham is Part of Your Life. I like that theme better than MCTYW. That theme is the one that should've stuck around, not MCTYW.

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I will probably get booed at for this, but I don't care. My take is that MCTYW is way past its prime and it is a dated theme that should've been put to pasture 30 years ago. The only reason it is has been around this long is because they didn't drop it when they should have (late 70's-early 80's) so when they updated it (the attempt to update it was horrible BTW) in 1996, some people with too much time on their hands wrote or called the station to complain about a piece of music so they were forced to switch back. But do you think of they dropped it in, say, 1978 or 1979-ish, people would've complained then? Probably not. The original commissioning station (WNAC, later WNEV and now WHDH) used it for only two years, look at what they have now. KTRK used it for 10, now they have Eyewitness News. It has only stuck around this long because they have managed to keep it this long. If I was CSD at WPVI, my first move would be to have the full theme updated by someone like Stephen Arnold, 615 or inthegroove to keep the signature, but give it a fresh modern sound. The people who complain are complaining about something trivial.

 

I just think is theme is out of date, this is 2013, but this sounds like something straight out of the 70's and has always been one of my least favorite news themes. I've never understood why they just don't update everything and not a few cuts (the 615 updates they use for a couple of stingers). Ignore those people who complained over a piece of music. It's just music. The world is not going to end because WPVI dropped piece of music.

 

Remastering something over and over that was essentially performed in the early 70's doesn't work, because it still is dated. Maybe if they re-performed every little second of the piece of music and got new people to sing at the end, my sentiments with the theme might change.

 

Also I think the best news theme by Al Ham is Part of Your Life. I like that theme better than MCTYW. That theme is the one that should've stuck around, not MCTYW.

 

I disagree that it's past it's prime, but I do think one of the main reasons it's still in place is because of the '96 incident. Had that not happened, I'd bet that there would have been an update (or full dropping) of the them within that last decade.

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If I was CSD at WPVI, my first move would be to have the full theme updated by someone like Stephen Arnold, 615 or inthegroove to keep the signature, but give it a fresh modern sound.

 

I suppose you wouldn't want a Gari take? I can understand why, Frank has little to no say now and his son took NS2K+ and, well...Chris Gari'd it up. Arnold would keep that 'Marching Band' feel, but make it modern; 615 would add tons more percussion and strings, and would make it 'scarier'; and ITG would 'Pride' it up.

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I suppose you wouldn't want a Gari take? I can understand why, Frank has little to no say now and his son took NS2K+ and, well...Chris Gari'd it up. Arnold would keep that 'Marching Band' feel, but make it modern; 615 would add tons more percussion and strings, and would make it 'scarier'; and ITG would 'Pride' it up.

 

Not really, I've never really been a fan of Gari. Their newest stuff is OK, but not the best and I wouldn't pay for it if I was a CSD. This is Home, particularly this cut, sounds a lot like production music, particularly
. I mean, not a good idea if you're using production model as your model. The new cuts of Enforcer aren't terrible, but they're not good either. I don't care for the NS2k+ updates, and I get to put up with his bad bad bad updates of One and Only on KSAT (going on ten years those cuts, but they've had the same CSD since 1997 so the look and feel of that station has not changed much over the years).

 

I think Gari would completely ruin MCTYW if they were to update it. You definitely hit the nail on the head with the others though. Arnold would be my pick if I could update it, they would also be my pick to update WJZ's Chroma Cues, keeping that newsy feel but adding a modern take.

 

But, I don't think they could update it. I'm not sure who owns the rights to Al Ham's packages, as I don't know if he either sold them to somebody else, deeded them to his estate, or otherwise. They would have to get permission from the rights holders before they could update it, but they probably won't. Oh well. If I ever went to Philly, I wouldn't watch WPVI, primarily because they have this music, and it gives me the sense of them being behind the times. Much like the fact they still refer to their live shots as coming from the "Action Cam". I would more than likely watch Fox 29 or NBC 10, as they indicate that they like to be ahead of the times.

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But, I don't think they could update it. I'm not sure who owns the rights to Al Ham's packages, as I don't know if he either sold them to somebody else, deeded them to his estate, or otherwise. They would have to get permission from the rights holders before they could update it, but they probably won't. Oh well. If I ever went to Philly, I wouldn't watch WPVI, primarily because they have this music, and it gives me the sense of them being behind the times. Much like the fact they still refer to their live shots as coming from the "Action Cam". I would more than likely watch Fox 29 or NBC 10, as they indicate that they like to be ahead of the times.

 

Despite their use of "Action Cam", its cousin "VIA SATELLITE", and their music, you would be pretty damn surprised at how advanced they actually are these days. They were the first local station in the country to get a Perceptive Pixel, their weather graphics are impressive, their set is pretty damn nice, they were the first to have an HD chopper, their graphics push the limit of what VizRT can do... etc. Maybe you could have made that case in 2000 when they were using a magnetic weather board, but you cannot say that 6 is behind the times. At all.

 

Hell, they produce the city's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

 

6ABC is a unique television station. They've started using "The One And Only" as a slogan and I can't think of any other station where that fits more.

 

 

 

ABC owns the rights to MCTYW.

 

 

Do they also own the rights to the other Al Ham themes?

 

As far as I know, only MCTYW.

 

WPVI insists that the theme was composed by Walter Liss and not Al Ham. Liss was a president or a high-ranking executive at the ABC O&Os, but I don't think he has any musical recording experience. His name is likely on there so that ABC retains the copyright. As far as how it got on there, remember they remastered the theme in 1994 or thereabouts.

 

It's nothing new in the television business. Saban Entertainment is the example I keep bringing up. All of their awesome themes for DiC are credited to Haim Saban and Shuki Levy. Haim Saban, by his own admission, had little to no involvement in those themes - they were all Shuki Levy's work. But Saban got the royalties, which made him a millionaire, until Power Rangers made him a multimillionaire, and then fleecing Michael Eisner made him a billionaire. Ironically, the same is true of Shuki Levy with Saban Music's work in the 1990s. As head of the music department, he got the credit for everything they did, but by that time he was doing other work for Saban. The themes to Power Rangers and X-Men, two of the best of the 90s, were all Ron Wasserman.

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Let's not forget, former ABC Owned Television Stations president Walter Liss was also the co-writer of MCTYW. The records is on the ASCAP repertoire. There was a book out there entitled "News is People: The Rise of Local TV News and the Fall of News from New York". On Page 128 of the book, it states that Liss was the one that wrote the actual lyrics to MCTYW. He probably didn't have much of the musical background as Al Ham had. The records also state that he co-wrote Part Of Your Life as well.

 

I'm not sure if its true or not, but since Liss was one of the heads at ABC, that's probably the reason why ABC have rights to MCTYW.

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While the instrumentation is a big reason that Move Closer To Your World works, I don't think that's the main reason it works. What makes MCTYW work is the lyrics. That's what makes me want to listen to the theme again and again. If the call by the singing hippies to move closer to your world doesn't move you, you need a heart transplant because like The Grinch at the start of his story it's two sizes too small.

 

The lyrics also drive home the mission of quality television news organizations, like Action News. They invite you to take a little bit of time to move closer to your world and see it more clearly, whether you consider your world to be a big market like Philadelphia, a small market like Scranton, or the world at large.

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Curious to know as to how the whole arrangment deal works since ABC owns the copyright. Here are a few questions and thoughts that come to mind.

 

At one time, 615 had a disclaimer on the demo that said that ABC owns the melody (or either owns the arrangement) not sure which.

 

A handful of composers have recreated the themes, according to the NMSA. Using Cliff Schwarz as an example, would his version be a cover? derivative? or what? Did he have to request permission first or was something like this simply a matter of working out a publishing/writer royalty percentage with ABC?

 

Surely someone knows the general gist of how this works. This isn't the first news/station theme that has ever been covered by another company or an independent composer.

 

Other examples would be the the logo that ultimately CBS bought the publishing rights to. (PNP, Enforcer, etc) and the "Working for You" logo, which has had covers of the motif by at least 3 different composers. That's just to name a couple of quick examples that come to mind. I'm sure there are many more.

 

Anyone who can shed some light on how this process works? And the difference between a cover-remake, derivative and a work that comes awfully close?

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I think the best news theme by Al Ham is Part of Your Life. I like that theme better than MCTYW.

 

I'm glad I'm not alone on this.

 

I mean, MCTYW is great, but I like that one better. I think that more stations need to have their own theme to claim, like WPVI. WBBM has Enforcer. WPVI has MCTYW. WLS has NS2K+. WAFB has Newschannel. You get my point. More stations need an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. WPVI found a formula that works. They modernize, but they have never changed. While MCTYW is a great theme, the music alone is not what makes it so great. WPVI using it forever makes it great.

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I mean, MCTYW is great, but I like that one better. I think that more stations need to have their own theme to claim, like WPVI. WBBM has Enforcer. WPVI has MCTYW. WLS has NS2K+. WAFB has Newschannel. You get my point. More stations need an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. WPVI found a formula that works. They modernize, but they have never changed. While MCTYW is a great theme, the music alone is not what makes it so great. WPVI using it forever makes it great.

 

The reason WBBM, WLS, WAFB work is because they have managed to update the theme over the years with the same signature but still having a fresh sound. I'm not against MCTYW's lyrics or signature, just the fact they've used the same exact sound and singers for 40+ years. Certainly they could change it. WPVI is owned by Disney, I'm sure there's an influx of young talent there who could re-sing the MCTYW lyrics that close out the newscast. That, and having somebody recompose and rearrange the theme, would give it a fresh sound bringing it into 2013, while keeping an iconic signature around for years to come.

 

Another long-used song that manages to work nearly 20 years after it was composed is KRON's Instant Classics. This is a theme that does not need to be updated and still sounds great 20 years after it was composed. I can't say the same for MCTYW 43 years after it was composed.

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