Texaco Star Theater (comedy-variety hosted by Milton Berle)

    (NBC Primetime, 1948 - 1953)

    [aka: "The Milton Berle Show";

     The first mega-hit TV show, which caused sales of TV sets to
     take off, proving that television was not just a passing fad...
     derived from a radio show of the same name on NBC and CBS from
     1932 - 1948 which featured hosts other than Berle sponsored by
     the Texaco Oil Company.
          
     This is the FIRST of 4 comedy-variety shows which were hosted
     by Milton Berle (known as "Mr. Television" because of the way 
     his first show caught the public's imagination and influenced 
     the growth of the medium in the late 1940s and early 1950s);
     
     Although we may remember "Uncle Miltie" as being the first big
     comedy TV star, he had a 13-year career on network radio that
     began a dozen years before his first TV series -- his radio 
     series was heard from 1936 - 1949; And a fact that not many
     people know was that he was supposedly the first person ever
     seen on a US TV transmission of an "all-electronic system" as
     opposed to a mechanical TV system; This was an experiment that
     took place in 1928. (Lights for television in those days were 
     so hot that they used a toy "Felix the Cat" figurine most of
     the time instead of a real person for testing the RCA-Victor 
     system...but somehow Milton withstood the heat, and went on
     to the bright lights of fame some 20 years later on TV.)
 
     His SECOND series was the "The Buick-Berle Show" (NBC, 1953-56),
     which see...

     The THIRD was "Milton Berle Starring in The Kraft Music Hall"
     (NBC, 1958-59), which see...and

     The FOURTH series was "The Milton Berle Show" (ABC, 1966-67)
     which got slaughtered in the ratings by The Man From U.N.C.L.E.]

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Open Theme 1: "We Are The Men of Texaco"

    [Texaco Oil Co. jingle, used as an opening,
     aka: "The Texaco T.V. Star Theatre Theme Song",
     aka: "The Texaco Star Theme"]

     Composers: Bernard ("Buddy") Arnold, and
                Heywood ("Woody") Kling

     1978 Publishers: B. Arnold and H. Kling (ASCAP)

     1998 Publishers: Milbud Music (ASCAP)
                         of Los Angeles, CA; and
                      Heywood Kling Publisher (ASCAP)
                         of Los Angeles, CA

     Copyright Date:
     Renewal   Date:

     Recordings:
                CD - "TeeVee Toons: The Commercials"
                TVT Records TVT 1400 CD (1989)

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Open Theme 2: "Texaco Opening / Allen Roth"

    [Copyright application states "portions derived from the 
    'Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2' by Franz Liszt"; also references
    "We Are the Men of Texaco", aka "Texaco Star Theatre T.V. 
     Theme Song", listed above...]

     Arranger/Adapter: Allen Roth (no affiliation found)

     Original Claimant: [employer of work for hire:] Texaco, Inc.

     Orig. Publisher:

     1998 Publisher: [no publisher listed in ASCAP or BMI]

     Original Creation Date: 1948

     Copyright Date: [month and day NA], 1976; Eu 672 692.
     Renewal   Date:

    [new words, some music]:
     Revision Copyright Date: July 10, 1981, PAu-359-618.
     Revision Renewal   Date:

     Recordings:

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Closing Theme 3: "Near You"

    [a 1947 pop song, which became Milton Berle's signature theme,
     for many years to come.]

     Composers: music by Francis Craig (ASCAP), with
                lyric by Kermit Goell (ASCAP)

     1978 Publisher: Supreme Music Corp. (ASCAP)

     1998 Publisher: Warner Bros., Inc. (ASCAP)
                    (Warner Bros Music Division)
                     c/o Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., of
                     Los Angeles, CA

     Copyright Date: (1947, on sheet music)
     Renewal   Date:

     Recordings: 
                 78 and 45rpm singles by 
                 Francis Craig and his Orchestra, with
                         vocal chorus by Bob Lamm
                 (78rpm) Bullet 1001
                 (45rpm) Dot 45-16038 (1947)
                 (45rpm) MCA 2710

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New Sponsor Logo Theme 4: "New Corporate Logos (Texaco)"

    [above is the title as listed in the 2001 ASCAP ACE
     Repertoire Database; apparently these were variations
     on a short phrase used as an introduction to the show]

     Composer: William Strickland (ASCAP)

     1978 Publisher: [not listed in the 1978 ASCAP Index
                      of Performed Compositions]

     2001 Publisher: [listed without publisher in the 2001
                      ASCAP ACE Repertoire Database]

     Copyright Date:
     Renewal   Date:

     Recordings: 

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New Main Theme 5: "Star Theater (Op/Cl Theme)"

    [above is the title as listed in the 2001 ASCAP ACE
     Repertoire Database; most likely this is a new arrangement
     of the New Sponsor Logo #4 above in combination with other
     THEMEs for the show...arranged by Roy Eaton]

     Composers: William Strickland (ASCAP) and
                Roy Felix Eaton (ASCAP/BMI)

     1978 Publisher: [not listed in the 1978 ASCAP Index
                      of Performed Compositions]

     2001 Publisher: Rhahm Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
                        of Roosevelt Island, NY

     Copyright Date:
     Renewal   Date:

     Recordings: 

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