Web Site Links
- ASCAP
Repertoire Index -- search the current
repertoire of the ASCAP performing rights society, by
title, or by composer.
- BMI
Repertoire Index -- search the current
repertoire of BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) performing
rights society, by title, or by composer.
- Robert
Farnon Society Web Site -- the official Web Site
of the longest-running light music society in the world,
devoted not only to music by Robert Farnon, but all light
music composers. Worldwide members enjoy the informative
periodical newsletter "Journal Into Melody" as well as
the Robert Farnon Society Record Service -- which is the
source of one-of-a-kind Mood Music CDs as well as British
and American CDs of light music. Run from the UK by David
Ades and other staffers and volunteers, since 1956.
-
Percy Faith Discography -- features a
large Percy Faith discography compiled by Alan Bunting in
the UK.
- The
Percy Faith Pages
-- with articles about the life and music
of Percy Faith and his orchestra.
-
The Bernard Herrmann Society -- features many
articles about this legendary film & TV composer and his
work.
- Elmer Bernstein Web Site --
the "official" site includes a filmography and discography
of the composer's works for film and television, plus
other information and merchandise.
- John
Williams Web Pages -- includes a filmography and
discography of this master film composer's works, and
other information. The site is well maintained in
thorough detail, by professor Jeff Eldredge of
Seattle.
- The
FilmScore Monthly Web Site -- Web Site of the
periodical magazine of Film (and some TV) music including
new releases, film composing assignments, and articles
about film and TV composers. The site is updated
frequently, and attempts to cover current film music in a
comprehensive manner as does the magazine founded by
Lukas Kendall. They also sponsored a series of limited
releases of classic film score CDs, and sell the CDs and
some film music books and soundtracks from their
site.
- SoundTrack Net
-- film score information and new releases, a
project of Ellen Edgerton and others in the UK.
- Intrada Web Site
-- Web Site of a Berkeley, California company
which includes a retail record store specializing in
soundtracks, and a record label ("Intrada"). The store,
run by Douglass Fake and Jeff Williams does stock most of
the current soundtrack CDs and a few more collectible
items. Their record label re-records film soundtracks in
Europe in collaboration with Bruce Broughton, Jerry
Goldsmith, Basil Poledouris, David Shire, and other
contemporary film composers. Their CD productions have
included a few gems from the past, including Miklos
Rosza's score to "Julius Caesar".
Books
- Who Wrote That Song? by Dick Jacobs. First
edition 1988. Betterway Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 219,
Crozet, VA 22932 USA. ISBN 1-55870-108-7.
-- A large format book (8 1/2 x 11) originally available
in both paperback and hardcover. This reference was
written by a former Decca/Coral/Roulette Records A &
R man and producer/arranger. It is a good representative
list of 12,000 mainstream pop songs, going all the way
back to the 1920s. It includes year the song was
introduced, composers names, and names of artists who
introduced and revived the song. Mentions song uses in
films. Has a composer cross-reference.
- The Oxford Companion to Popular Music 1993
edition, compiled by Peter Gammond. Published by Oxford
University Press, New York and London.
-- A medium paperback book which has thumbnail
biographies on a wide range of composers and performers
of popular music of the "English speaking world", which
means the US and Great Britain. Some info on composers
who are not listed in other references.
- The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary Third (1966)
edition, compiled and edited by the Lynn Farnol Group.
Published by The American Society of Composers, Authors,
and Publishers, New York.
-- This medium-sized hardcover book, now out of print,
does give unique biographical information about 5,238
composers who happen to belong to ASCAP performing rights
society (as opposed to BMI.) Since ASCAP is the oldest
such organization, most light music composers belong to
it directly, or indirectly through affiliations with the
British equivalent. The only weakness is that it seems to
favor songwriters, rather than instrumental media
composers. When credits for TV and film are given, they
can be skimpy, compared to the song titles. But still
this is a unique series, which is not published every
year. Three other editions came out in 1948, 1952 and
1980, and all are hard to find (except in the library, of
course.)
- The ASCAP Index of Performed Compositions 1978
edition, published by The American Society of Composers,
Authors, and Publishers, New York.
-- a veritable telephone book-sized directory of small
print titles listed every ASCAP composition which showed
up in surveys of performances on radio and TV and wired
music systems in 1977. The great thing is that it also
lists themes, logos, and cue music for TV...along with
composers and publishers for each listing. The weakness
is that it kept track of everything in uppercase text,
and often truncated titles, to fit the fixed-length data
entry field of an ancient data processing system. An
earlier survey took place in 1954. They don't publish
them every year, and of course, now the database is
online via the Internet.
- Music Master: The 45rpm Record Directory in
Two Volumes, by Paul C. Mawhinney. First Edition, 1982,
published by Record-Rama Sound Archives, 4981 McKnight
Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15237. ISBN 0-910925-02-X.
-- with the assistance of a computer expert Gene James,
record store owner and collector Paul Mawhinney assembled
a mammoth listing of 200,000 titles recorded on 45rpm
singles and EP records. This mammoth project is printed
on two huge (8 1/2 x 11) paperback volumes (resembling
two telephone books)--one for Titles and the other for
Artists. Each volume is over 1,000 pages!! The pages are
unfortunately cheap acidic newsprint, so may not survive
in the years ahead. It is a one-of-a-kind project, which
yields collectors invaluable information about this
format of recording.
- TV Theme Soundtrack Directory--and Discography
with Cover Versions by Craig W. Pattillo. First
edition 1990. Braemar Books, P.O. Box 25296, Portland, OR
97225 USA. ISBN 0-9612044-2-7.
-- One of the most interesting surveys of TV music, in
this small soft bound book, Pattillo makes an attempt to
list theme titles whenever possible, including some rare
second themes and alternate themes. Sometimes the music
director credits for shows are given, instead of the
composer's names, which can lead to confusion. Shows many
years of work, a major resource for TV music
collectors.
- Television Theme Recordings: an Illustrated
Discography, 1951 - 1994 by Steve Gelfand. First
edition 1994. Popular Culture, Ink., P.O. Box 1839, Ann
Arbor, MI 48106. ISBN 1-56075-021-9.
-- A large format (8 1/2 x 11) hardcover book, with a
shellac cover, with thumbnail reproductions of most of
the LP and EP album covers of television music. The focus
in this book is on the available recordings, rather than
the composers. Not as many second theme titles or
alternate titles as Gelfand, but this is another major
resource for TV music collectors.
- TV's Biggest Hits: The story of Television Themes
from "Dragnet" to "Friends" by USC professor Jon
Burlingame. First edition, 1996, by Schirmer Books, an
imprint of Simon & Schuster Macmillan, New York. ISBN
0-02-870324-3.
-- This medium-sized hardcover book is one of the first
books on the subject from a major publishing house. As
opposed to Pattillo and Gelfand who produced reference
books, this book has pretensions of entertaining you with
"the story" of television themes. Perhaps the
organization of the information is its weakest point--it
is anecdotal, grouped by genre (perhaps a concession to
the publisher)-- Cop and Detective Shows, The Westerns,
Fantasy and Sci-Fi.
As a collector, of course I find any stories about themes
fascinating, but I'm not sure how many members of the
general public will see it that way. Still, hats off to
professor Burlingame for his efforts and research. As
disorganized as it may seem, it included many interviews
with composers and producers, which shed more light on
some of the incestuous music re-packagers of the early
1950s, and other obscure topics.
- The Complete Director of Prime Time Network TV
Shows: 1946 - Present by Jeb H. Perry. Third edition,
1985, by Ballantine Books, of New York.
-- The mid-sized book from a large paperback press offers
a newsprint survey of TV series, starting in the very
early days. A paragraph or two describes each show, and
gives credit to the celebrities who hosted or acted in
the show. It is one of the few TV survey books which has
taken time to include the music theme credits with
composers listed. Later editions exist. This one serves
me fine, since I favor the early days of broadcasting
anyway.
- Total Television: a comprehensive guide to
programming from 1948 to the present by Alex McNeil.
Second edition, 1984, by Penguin Books, of New York. ISBN
0-14-00.7377-9
-- This paperback reference includes not only the
night-time shows covered by other books, but also gives
coverage to the many shows which were syndicated
nationally to local stations (not usually shown on
networks), as well as Daytime and Saturday Morning
shows.
- Syndicated Television: the First Forty Years, 1947
- 1987 by Hal Erickson. First Edition, 1989, by
McFarland & Co., Inc., of Jefferson, North Carolina
and London, England. ISBN 0-89950-410-8
-- This hardback reference includes much valuable detail
about the lesser-known series which were "First-Run
Syndicated" directly to local stations (not shown on
networks first.) Includes some background about the
production companies and producers of these often
low-budget series.
- Universal Television: the studio and its programs
1950-1980 by Jeb H. Perry. First edition, 1983, by
Scarecrow Press, of Metuchen, New Jersey and London,
England.
-- This reference work is a survey of series produced by
Universal Television and its Revue Studios production
wing. It was compiled with the assistance of the New York
City Television Information Office (prior to the Museum
of Broadcasting), and some help from MCA/Universal. It
contains a few composer credits among the credits it
lists. But the disappointment is that it is not
consistent in listing composer credits for main title
themes, or separating that from a general music director
credit.
- On The Track: a guide to contemporary film
scoring by Fred Karlin and Rayburn Wright. First
edition, 1990, by Schirmer Books, a division of
Macmillan, Inc., New York.
-- This huge hardcover book (8 1/2 x 11 inches, 856
pages) is the most comprehensive look behind the scenes
of scoring music for film and television yet. It is
written by authors who work in the field, and contains
interviews with major film/tv composers, printed excerpts
of manuscript scores, a discussion of music production
budgeting, concepts of the artistic and technical sides
of writing music. An amazing achievement for both music
students and others interested in seeing some "real
world" material.
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