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Discovered composers & publishers of music themes


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Wally Wawro, who was Director of Creative Services at WFAA in the 80s/90s, referenced it on another forum:

 

" We went in a different direction with some "consultant driven" news package in 1992 or so (that sucked beyond belief) "

 

But he didn't say who did it. When I PMed him about it, he said he thought he had a DAT copy which would have identified the composer, but that he really didn't want to think about that package. (It's clear that he really, really didn't like it.)

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Wally Wawro, who was Director of Creative Services at WFAA in the 80s/90s, referenced it on another forum:

 

" We went in a different direction with some "consultant driven" news package in 1992 or so (that sucked beyond belief) "

 

But he didn't say who did it. When I PMed him about it, he said he thought he had a DAT copy which would have identified the composer, but that he really didn't want to think about that package. (It's clear that he really, really didn't like it.)

 

that's too bad, I thought that was a pretty awesome theme, that went well with the graphics at the time. I hope he didn't throw away the master tape, but I'm not a Texan or from the DFW area, so I don't know the whole back story.

 

Although they had to make some change because The Spirit was sounding dated at that time, and it didn't look right since the graphics actually launched before the theme change (and it looked so ahead of its time too.)

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I've made a major find: Telemundo 1999 (which in actuality is from fall 1998) was composed by Mike Greene.

 

This find was made by putting the

from Alain Hernandez together with ASCAP's repertory and this page from the Mike Greene site. He notes that he not only did the featured orchestral piece but themes for the news and sports shows. It's worth noting that the news theme is musically related to the rest of the image theme.

 

That said, this theme has been revised, and much like Turning Point used to suffers from a "lumping" problem in the NMSA. There are several versions:

 

-the 1998 original

-a 2001 revision that was introduced with the newer, flatter logo (KTMD, Sample 2)

-

(which is claimed to be Frank Gari???) but which I don't think I've heard for any other Telemundo station
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I thought it was established that Gari only did music for Telenoticias, not the actual Telemundo network.

 

And how does Mark Roumelis fit into all this? He is listed in BMI for "Noticiero Telemundo Opening", "Noticiero Telemundo Closing", "Noticiero Telemundo WSCV Opening" and "Noticiero Telemundo WSCV Closing". Roumelis' LinkedIn says he worked at Broadcast Video, Inc. from 1996-2001. BVI was a Miami-based company that had a music division called Rockin' Chair Creative Sounds, which is listed in multiple articles as having done music for Telemundo.

 

For example, this article from May 1998 doesn't mention news, but it does mention Telemundo.

https://web.archive.org/web/20061024060240/http://digitalcontentproducer.com/mag/video_five_guys_four/

 

I'm wondering what Roumelis did now that we know about Mike Greene. Perhaps Roumelis only did a version for WSCV?

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The WFTV 1988 News Theme was not commissioned by WFTV, as some people have thought, though the composer was The Coast Productions. Per someone I know whose father worked at the station as promotion manager, it was commissioned by WKJG (now WISE) in Fort Wayne in 1986 to coincide with the redesigned NBC peacock, and was called "People You Can Count On". It also had an image campaign of the same name (you can hear a brief clip of it under KDLH in the NMSA).

 

WKJG used the package until 1989, when they changed the newscast name from "NewsCenter 33" to "33 News" and adopted the "24 Hour News" format that was common on stations at the time.

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Anyone want to speculate on KDKA in the 80s?

 

Conventional wisdom says News Image / News Image Plus from Tuesday.

 

I get that the signature matches.

 

But the signature also matches the notes of their 'KD and You' slogan.

 

The cuts they use don't match any used by other News Image stations...so it was a custom job. But by whom?

 

They did two versions - one around 1984, the other an update around 1987.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2EdmkkMGk

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Anyone want to speculate on KDKA in the 80s?

 

Conventional wisdom says News Image / News Image Plus from Tuesday.

 

I get that the signature matches.

 

But the signature also matches the notes of their 'KD and You' slogan.

 

The cuts they use don't match any used by other News Image stations...so it was a custom job. But by whom?

 

They did two versions - one around 1984, the other an update around 1987.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2EdmkkMGk

 

If the only argument is that the signature matches, then you could say that the package is "360" from 360 Music.
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No, he's arguing that may well NOT be News Image. I've been thinking the same thing.

 

There are a couple other themes in NMSA which are like that. For example, the WVEC 1987 cuts based on the Turn To signature - which are listed as Turn To News, but which could possibly be from someone else, because I think they sound just a little too cheap to be Gari.

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There are a couple other themes in NMSA which are like that. For example, the WVEC 1987 cuts based on the Turn To signature - which are listed as Turn To News, but which could possibly be from someone else, because I think they sound just a little too cheap to be Gari.

 

Those updates came about 1990... maybe late 89.

 

There are other Turn To updates only used by sole stations, like WMC... but those have the classic Gari early 90s sound. The later WVEC theme definitely has a unique sound.

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No, he's arguing that may well NOT be News Image. I've been thinking the same thing.

 

There are a couple other themes in NMSA which are like that. For example, the WVEC 1987 cuts based on the Turn To signature - which are listed as Turn To News, but which could possibly be from someone else, because I think they sound just a little too cheap to be Gari.

 

I was supporting his fact, but I was just saying how vague it sounded. Regarding the whole Turn To... there are a lot of updates to that: the Australian one, the KYW one, the WMC one, the WVEC one, maybe even some more that I can't think of. I wish more was known about them.
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I've tried to find KPRC Custom Package on Toby Arnold's site, but maybe you guys have better luck finding it.

http://www.taamusic.com/

 

I've been through that site a good bit and unfortunately there has never been any KPRC Custom Package featured. It'd be cool to hear more of it.

 

a couple of Toby Arnold related things... the header of their site now says royalty free stock music, their collections used to be licensed or bartered only. Also, I find this odd..there's a cut under their Lifestyles I library titled: "East to West" that is used in Stephen Arnold's Global Village, minus the 3 note news package melody. Not sure how that transpired unless SAM bought a cue from the same writer.

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It is likely that the WCCO 1989/90 theme was locally made.

 

The source for this is a Star-Tribune article from 1990 about Jeff Victor, who was a member of a 1980s Twin Cities rock band and a keyboardist for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1990. Quote:

 

"Victor, a self-taught keyboardist who has studied music theory, also does studio sessions, recording such things as the Channel 4 news theme."

 

The article is from January 12, 1990. We need to get in touch with this guy!

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I really want to know who made their 1983 theme.

 

WCCO is a strange bird.

 

There's their 1978 theme, the 1983 theme which is seemingly an evolution of it, "The Best News of All" which was produced by a Twin Cities ad agency (and is lumped in with the 1983 theme), the 1989 theme which seems to be a local job, the 1993 theme, and they commissioned three news themes in the 2000s. On top of that, a few random packages, a hand-me-down from KCBS, and the Everyday package which resulted in near-identical looks at WCCO and WTMJ.

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Looking at WCCO's history they didn't seem too big on syndicated pkgs until after CBS took control. The majority of their stuff before then was local. They had a couple Mayoham packs and the Wow & Flutter theme but they didn't begin using a Gari or 615 theme until after CBS took control.

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The Best News of All is very likely an evolution of the 1983 theme - it has the same 5-note signature (which was itself based on the 1978 theme).

 

And there was that ID on the WFRV open with the 1983 theme.

 

I am guessing Carmichael Lynch was the agency behind the 1983 theme too. Possibly 1978 also. (How did you find out about them? Did you find an article somewhere mentioning them?)

 

Of course, who produced the music itself is still a mystery...

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The Best News of All is very likely an evolution of the 1983 theme - it has the same 5-note signature (which was itself based on the 1978 theme).

 

And there was that ID on the WFRV open with the 1983 theme.

 

I am guessing Carmichael Lynch was the agency behind the 1983 theme too. Possibly 1978 also. (How did you find out about them? Did you find an article somewhere mentioning them?)

 

Of course, who produced the music itself is still a mystery...

 

Thanks, Broadcasting (see page 54, 3rd column). WCCO was the only local station to be a client for an Effie award winning campaign that year.

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