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Discovered composers & publishers of music themes


promoguy98

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I recently found out something. The theme that KENS used from VTS Productions during the 1980s and the 1990s could be connected to the "Clearly The One" campaign that the station used during the 1980s. In fact, I believe that the KENS theme could have been titled "Clearly The One" since KENS aired promos under that name.

 

I'm including a link to each video that includes the four-note "Clearly The One" signature.

 

(Clearly The One promo - version #1)

(Clearly The One promo - version #2)

(Clearly The One promo - version #3)

 

Look at the comments: we have confirmation of this from Hal Brown himself.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have a theme ID for the

radioman1968 posted in March, and it isn't even in the NMSA yet.

 

After a clue from the comments and some experimenting in Audacity it turns out that the theme is a section of Autobahn by Kraftwerk (more specifically 1:12-1:27 or so) that's been sped up by about 35% (33 1/3 to 45 speed).

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I've always wondered who composed the theme music for All News Channel, particularly the music package it used from c. 1995 to 2002.

 

 

I also read that this about the music used on ANC (this excerpt from Wikipedia isn't referenced, so I need confirmation on this):

"In addition, since ANC's newscasts never contained any copyrighted music (by design), stations broadcasting the ANC feed could stay on the air longer without increasing their ASCAP, Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), and/or SESAC fees."

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  • 2 months later...

TVPMM Vault recently uploaded the NBC Background Music Library 1970

 

When I clicked on Tabloid by Frank Denning (NBC Background Music -112), I knew it was the exact theme music heard on WTLV and other markets in the 1970s (mainly NBC affiliates).

 

WTLV 1972 News Theme is Identified as Tabloid by Frank Denning.

 

If you have a membership with TVPMM Vault...

  • log on to the site
  • Click on Drama
  • Click on NBC Background Music 1970
  • Click on Tabloid

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Bumping this up. Apparently, if you believe the NMSA, the WTLV 1972 theme is now called, "Production Music: Tabloid" by Frank Denning. Would love to know who found that and how.

 

This is my first post on here in quite some time, but I discovered it, almost by accident. I am a subscriber of the Museum of Television Production Music (http://www.tvpmmvault.com), and recently a collection of pieces from the NBC Background Library were added. I was aware of this music because I had posted
that used the theme, so I recognized it immediately when I heard it. It also corroborates a story posted in the comments of the YouTube video, which said that the music had been provided by NBC. According to the record label, the collection dates from about 1970, and the full 2:16 track is available for listening through the TVPMM site.
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I may be the reason that was posted to TVPMM in the first place. I emailed the curator to confirm whether "Patterns", aka "WCVB 1974" (which had already been posted in full on the page for the game show Jackpot) came from the NBC library (which I suspected because it turned up on William S. Burroughs' "Dead City Radio", and the liner notes specifically mentioned use of production music from the NBC library), and if so, which volume did it come from? I asked so I could pass the info along to NMSA (and because I had been buying what few NBC library records I could find on eBay searching for it - but none of the ones I found had it).

 

He confirmed it did, which volume it was from, and within a couple days he had added the entire record to the Vault (which is something he did on his own, I didn't ask him to or anything). I listened to it and was blown away to hear Tabloid (which I had already had a suspicion came from the NBC library, but I had no idea it was on the same volume!)

 

Curiously, both tracks ended up on at least one non-NBC affiliate (Patterns on WCVB, Tabloid on WLAC) - clearly the library was not network-exclusive.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

OK, so this is really interesting:

 

The NMSA has found the composer for the "WTSP 1983 News Theme" used from 1983-1989. It is not Tuesday Productions, as I long suspected.

 

It's William Douglass Benge.

 

Anybody know any information about this composer???

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OK, so this is really interesting:

 

The NMSA has found the composer for the "WTSP 1983 News Theme" used from 1983-1989. It is not Tuesday Productions, as I long suspected.

 

It's William Douglass Benge.

 

Anybody know any information about this composer???

 

I found it in the Copyright Office under the title "Stay in Touch with Ten". It appears to be the image song. He appears to be more commonly known as Doug Benge.

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I believe it was dated 1983; I found it too, but I was always waiting to try to get in contact with Doug Benge and confirm. But I've been busy with my day job, so I haven't had much time to investigate these days.

 

Benge was a composer based out of Indianapolis. The website for his company, BengeMark Music, was still up until some time last year. Not sure if he was using that name for his company in '83.

 

NMSA updates info when they update it, I guess.

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This is interesting.

 

I am on the hunt for WTLV 1989, one of my favorite news themes of all time.

 

I found this in the Copyright Office:

 

"We're Makin' Good Things Happen: WTLV 12"

Created: 1987 (May 11)

Composer: VTS Music (L. Earl Grizzell, Hal Brown and D. Bradley Kelly)

 

This is interesting, though it seems just a touch early. It does line up with an open we have including the slogan "Making Good Things Happen for the First Coast", but that open is from 1987/88.

 

Of course, there's also a known package from Shelly Palmer called "The Works" that was done for WTLV. But what is what here? There is also another unidentified theme, the less memorable 1992, which doesn't sound like a major job...

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I'll have to investigate this. I had wondered if WTLV 1989 was The Coast ('TLV was acquired by Gannett in 1988, and Gannett commissioned multiple packages from The Coast, and later Third Street, both for KARE and KUSA)

 

But now I do wonder. The Coast stuff of that period didn't have a big orchestra, but this seems to. (And Grizzell and VTS were both involved in the fantastic orchestral update to Grizzell's KCRA theme. I'll definitely have to ask Hal Brown.)

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Here's what I know about WRTV:

 

- Tuesday did something for WRTV in 1979, it's listed in the Copyright Office. It doesn't say whether it's news or anything (literally, the title is just "WRTV"). I thought it might be the 1979 news theme, but the only source I have for identifying themes, former Tuesday CEO Tom DiNoto, did not recognize it off-hand. (That doesn't necessarily mean they didn't do it, but it does mean the lead has gone cold.) It says "Words and music" so the actual registration is probably for a song - but could said song be tied to a news theme? I guess we'd have to find a promo from '79 first...

- Michael Randall did something for WRTV that's listed in ASCAP as "Station Style News Theme". And no, this is not the Michael Karp theme, because ASCAP also has a separate entry for "Station Style News" which lists Karp as composer. Could Randall have done the 1984 theme?

- VTS Productions did the 1990 "Making a Difference" package.

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I just found a lead on WVIT, but not that theme.

 

WVIT News Theme, composed by Lance Lenhart and published by Pinnacle Group Publishing.

 

Pinnacle was formed by Kurt Bestor and Sam Cardon when they left Non-Stop Music. It composed KSL/KSFY 1998. Lenhart is credited with no other news themes, but he composed a backing track for the Children's Miracle Network telethons run in recent years and composed for various video games on which Bestor and Cardon were involved. I suspect this is the 1998 theme.

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I just had a bit of epiphany about WVIT's 1989 theme. The instrumentation and melody is very reminiscent of Michael Randall's work around that time. Just a hunch, but I think it's a good one.

 

Ah yes, Scott Dorval. He's the chief at KIVI now. I've always wondered about that theme too.

 

Here's two themes that I was wondering about.

WHIO 1995: (1:12)

 

 

WCPO 1995: (their first theme as an ABC affiliate)

 

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