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Discovered composers & publishers of music themes


promoguy98

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Dallas...was TM Productions based there? I would have said JAM but it doesn't sound quite like them.

 

Yeah TM had crossed my mind. Agree that it doesn't sound like anything JAM has done. Others that crossed my mind were Loomis Productions and didn't want to rule out the possibility of it being a random small package from Toby Arnold or even Stephen Arnold from when he was solo during that period of time. The only other major players that I can think of based in Dallas or who did sessions in the city would be Ken R., Firstcom or VTS.

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Yeah TM had crossed my mind. Agree that it doesn't sound like anything JAM has done. Others that crossed my mind were Loomis Productions and didn't want to rule out the possibility of it being a random small package from Toby Arnold or even Stephen Arnold from when he was solo during that period of time. The only other major players that I can think of based in Dallas or who did sessions in the city would be Ken R., Firstcom or VTS.

 

While not complete or exhaustive, this incomplete list of TM reference reels from the '80s does not include any Shreveport TV stations.

 

We have some additional ones that aren't on there (WPDE with Get to Know Us) but we don't have everything that is (e.g. KDRV with Spirit of Ohio or KOLD with Spirit of Texas). (Speaking of that list last year I landed a 1.8 second partial sample of

, which the list has (look for the "Action News" snippet) but the NMSA will not take it as proof because it's too short.)
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Any clue as to who did the WMAQ 1997 News Theme?

 

That one would be a super win for one of us to figure that on out. The instrumentation has always reminded me of a different package I've heard before, I just can't pinpoint the sound. I'm surprised that it's remained a mystery for so long.

 

 

While not complete or exhaustive, this incomplete list of TM reference reels from the '80s does not include any Shreveport TV stations.

 

We have some additional ones that aren't on there (WPDE with Get to Know Us) but we don't have everything that is (e.g. KDRV with Spirit of Ohio or KOLD with Spirit of Texas). (Speaking of that list last year I landed a 1.8 second partial sample of

, which the list has (look for the "Action News" snippet) but the NMSA will not take it as proof because it's too short.)

 

Ah thanks Raymie. I had to pull up one of those WPDE clips from that era

just to get another laugh or two. Nothing more exciting that a retro news car blazing up and coming to a bouncing and screeching halt as the reporter bolts from the vehicle with a story so exciting that he leaves his door open, but somehow forgets his 60 pounds of early 80's camera gear haha
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Here's a weekend find and share of a 2 part anniversary song campaign. KCCI, A Proud Tradition. KCCI used a song in 1980, presumably from Tuesday Productions to promote their 25th anniversary. I say presumably because it's not listed in BMI/ASCAP as far as I can tell, but they were using Tuesday throughout much of late 70's and well into the 80's.

 

The cool thing about their 25th and 50th anniversary songs, to me, is how they spent the time to rework many of the same lyrical ideas from the 1980 campaign into the 2005 composition. The lead vocals of the 50th anniversary song is none other than Wayne Nelson who was Tuesday Productions' Creative Director and is today, the owner of the company. A ton of stations could learn from how KCCI branded their anniversaries and tied them in together. Kudos to that station for actually keeping up with their history, their image songs, the records of what they've done and tapping into that rich legacy in a very consistent way. It doesn''t get much more powerful than that! Perhaps if they haven't had a lot of turnover, we'll see a reworked third version of the song for their 60th anniversary next year. If so, that's how you do it!

 

Here are the videos:

25th anniversary -

50th anniversary -

 

audio only in my shared folder.

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A big mystery is who composed WFLA's "The Spirit of Tampa Bay"? I believe this theme may be related to KYW's "Believe in Yourself" as there was a video with KYW's Diane Allen doing a newsbreak and the KYW theme had the same keyboard notes as was used in WFLA's promos with TSOTB.

 

There is a connection to Collier Concepts as they were noted as producers of WFLA's promos using TSOTB.

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That one would be a super win for one of us to figure that on out. The instrumentation has always reminded me of a different package I've heard before, I just can't pinpoint the sound. I'm surprised that it's remained a mystery for so long.

 

To be honest, that theme always reminded me of the

. Don't know why, it just did.
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A few themes I've always been wondering about:

  • KMOL 1979
  • KTVY 1980
  • KSAT 1987
  • KMOL 1993
  • WJBK 1984
  • Us Viewing You (WJBK 1985/6-88)

KMOL 1979 and KTVY 1980 sound like they came from the same composer. For some strange reason, I'm wanting to think these were commissioned by "Klein &"...

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No, I don't believe that any of those are Klein &.

 

To my ear, KTVY 1980 seems to have been done in Dallas. I definitely recognize one of the singers in the promo. I initially thought it might have been produced by Otis Conner, but when I linked him to the promo on Facebook, he said he wasn't responsible for it. (He did, however, confirm to RNYN that he had done WROC 1992 - that came from me noticing that it sounded like a package he did for KCBS-AM here in San Francisco, which I remember from my childhood.)

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Could it be a possibility that Telesound created "The Spirit of Tampa Bay" for WFLA in 1982?

 

Back when WFLA was commemorating their 50th Anniversary in 2005, their website had a mini page with station timelines and mini flash vids from their history. One of those videos was a promo for Bob Hite during the "Gapped 8" era in 1981-82 and in the background music for the promo was the "Channel 5 and You" image theme that WCVB in Boston used in the late 70s which I'm sure was created by Telesound. Which makes me wonder if WFLA used "And You" for newscasts instead of "Hello News" during that era but then again they used 615's "Power News" for newscasts but used Gari's "Turn To" for image promos from 1985-1992.

 

The mystery of Tampa Bay TV newscast elements (sans WTVT) continues.... Someday I'll get the guts to contact Rocky Glisson or someone at Channel 8 and ask about it.

 

 

 

 

WFLA_1981.jpg

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Could it be a possibility that Telesound created "The Spirit of Tampa Bay" for WFLA in 1982?

 

Back when WFLA was commemorating their 50th Anniversary in 2005, their website had a mini page with station timelines and mini flash vids from their history. One of those videos was a promo for Bob Hite during the "Gapped 8" era in 1981-82 and in the background music for the promo was the "Channel 5 and You" image theme that WCVB in Boston used in the late 70s which I'm sure was created by Telesound.

 

If someone has access to BMI/ASCAP listings, that could narrow it down a bit. That promo is about the only glimpse into that brief era, aside from a few clips of Dick Crippen and Suzanne Bates from 1981.

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If someone has access to BMI/ASCAP listings, that could narrow it down a bit. That promo is about the only glimpse into that brief era, aside from a few clips of Dick Crippen and Suzanne Bates from 1981.

 

ASCAP/BMI and the Copyright Office don't have everything. And only the latter covers the 1980s well.

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By all means, try to contact station people (and former station people, if you know of any)

 

A correction - I don't think that WCVB song was Telesound. Yes, the "Channel 5 and You" slogan started with Telesound and "And You", but there are ASCAP and Copyright listings for a "Channel 5 and You" song by Harley Flaum and Tom Sellers (Radio Band of America, same people who did the American Airlines jingles - and WHAS 1975, which I found on the WAAY alumni site labeled as "Radio Band of America News Open" and "Radio Band of America News Close")

 

That WCVB song doesn't sound anything like Telesound's own And You song, so I'd assume it is the one by Flaum and Sellers. (Maybe they could have done The Spirit of Tampa Bay too - would be best to talk to WFLA staff/alumni, seeing as Flaum passed on in 1994 and Sellers in 1988.)

 

The only thing with the name "Spirit of Tampa Bay" in the Copyright Office is some song written by Anna Billion Brown, with a registration date of June 16, 1986, and Date of Creation also listed as 1986. The Channel 8 campaign debuted well before 1986. Brown is often co-credited with someone named Floyd Franklin Underwood, but none of either of their copyright listings suggest any TV work. So it's probably an unrelated composition.

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OK, I just came across this. This is WPGA, the former ABC affiliate in Macon, Georgia. Probably never going to find the answer for this piece of crap but thought I'd throw it out there. And you all thought KIEM was bad…

 

 

My answer would be production music. The newscast was produced by INN out of Davenport, Iowa.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Any clue as to who did the WMAQ 1997 News Theme?

 

 

 

That one would be a super win for one of us to figure that on out. The instrumentation has always reminded me of a different package I've heard before, I just can't pinpoint the sound. I'm surprised that it's remained a mystery for so long.

 

 

 

Hmm maybe it's a Gari theme afterall..haha he seemed to be inspired by the show.

 

Per a longtime WMAQ employee that I talked to several years ago when I was touring the station with then-ad manager Joe Gerzema (now at FOX Sports Detroit), the WMAQ 1997 news theme from the Cheatwood era was, indeed, a Gari package. The package name was the nondescript "WMAQ Custom News Package".

 

I submitted that factoid to the NMSA eons ago, but they never corrected it.

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Per a longtime WMAQ employee that I talked to several years ago when I was touring the station with then-ad manager Joe Gerzema (now at FOX Sports Detroit), the WMAQ 1997 news theme from the Cheatwood era was, indeed, a Gari package. The package name was the nondescript "WMAQ Custom News Package".

 

I submitted that factoid to the NMSA eons ago, but they never corrected it.

 

I went back and channeled my inner Gari and listened to the full in-the-clear theme on the Southern Media site. The overall sound is different than most of Gari's late 90's sound, I do hear some of Gari and (Danny Pelfrey/ Rick Rhodes who have co-wrote tons of scores with Gari) especially towards the end of the track. Besides the double bass drum hit at :58 which is a Gari staple, I'm reminded of the Pelfrey/Rhodes signature sound that is featured on "Rescue Squad" from Killertracks.

 

http://www.killertracks.com/#/browse/browsed-results.aspx?selectedLabelId=8&PageNo=9&SelectedCDId=633

 

I would guess that it was a Gari / Pelfrey / Rhodes creation obviously under the Gari marketing/sales banner.

HMMMM, come to think of it, I'm also reminded of the Good News "Storm Center" theme towards the ending as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldWCXC5PX_8

 

 

There's actually a cut of the original series of Enforcer that sounds nearly identical to the ER theme.

 

Ahhh, I "thought" there was another variation of Gari's ER-esque theme that sounded even closer to the real thing. Thanks for jogging my brain. I'll check and see if NewsMusicNow has it once he gets his site back up. Down at the moment.

 

 

Gari lifting from TV show themes is also evident in

, whose music sounds strongly like
.

 

LOL I can hear it... he just needed to extend that closing note and hold it for an additional 10 to 15 seconds like the soap theme did.

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On the subject of unidentified Chicago themes from 1997 - the Copyright Office lists a "News 2 Chicago theme" by John F. Ovnik (Deaf Dog Music, though they aren't mentioned on the registration), created and registered in '97. I'm guessing this was the short-lived theme in between Enforcer and the Non-Stop custom?

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On the subject of unidentified Chicago themes from 1997 - the Copyright Office lists a "News 2 Chicago theme" by John F. Ovnik (Deaf Dog Music, though they aren't mentioned on the registration), created and registered in '97. I'm guessing this was the short-lived theme in between Enforcer and the Non-Stop custom?

 

Nice catch. Yeah, that sounds to me like it could be Deaf Dog.

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Here's a quick weekend discovery. Phil Kelly was the composer asked by Stephen Arnold to create what was the first theme suite of the Signature package. Check out his Soundcloud where the early news theme #1 is featured. It's the full 5 section piece (2m 30secs) with edit points on the 30's where many of the cutdowns where made. No idea if he was involved in the faster and slightly different variation that was the original late news theme suite.

 

In the description Phil describes it as a TV news promo featuring sequenced material combined w/ live horns and strings.

 

Phil Kelly Soundcloud

https://soundcloud.com/graypencil/01-tv-news-music-composed-for

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