(ABC Saturdays, from 1949; Syndicated, from 1959) [Moe and Jerome (Curly) Howard and Larry Fein fashioned a slapstick comedy team known as The Three Stooges. They appeared first on vaudeville stages, and later in movie shorts -- over a period from the 1920's through the 1940's -- primarily for Columbia Pictures. Although the shorts were for theatrical release, 1950's television stations broadcast the movie shorts in various ways, mostly as local weekend shows from syndicated packages (sometimes with cartoons.) In this way the use of the "Stooges" was similar to that of "Laurel and Hardy" shorts in the earliest days of the medium, hungry for any and all visual fillers. Their brand of physical humor -- the comically stylized violence -- the "nyuk-nyuks" and "whoop-whoop-whoops," eye-pokes, the dubbed sound effect slaps and head conks -- may have been a source of parental disapproval during the 1920's and 1930's. But by the early television era, they had been around a few decades, so everyone knew the exaggerated hits were just a comic effect -- in some ways very much like a "live cartoon." So most children learned to view them that way. If a team of actors today tried that on a kids show, they would probably be seen as excessive and pulled off the air. An interesting background on the writer of the Theme 1 below: Contributor Ellen Chiri-Bakaleinikoff, daughter-in-law of the writer confirmed he did compose "The Three Stooges Theme"; and that although some people may confuse Mischa Bakaleinikoff with Vladimir Bakaleinikoff, the two are not the same person; To clarify this she wrote: Vladimir was Mischa's brother, and was conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Another musical Bakaleinikoff brother was Constantin, who was RKO Pictures Music Director.]
[above title as listed in the National Music Publishers Assn. Harry Fox Association (HFA) "Song List"; ASCAP title variations are: aka: "Three Stooges"; aka: "3 Stooges Theme"; aka: "Three Stooges Theme";] Composer: Mischa Bakaleinikoff (ASCAP) [professional name of Mikhail Romanovich Bakaleinikov] 1978 Publisher: Columbia Pict. Now S B (ASCAP) [refers to Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. Inc.] 2000 Publisher: Columbia Pict. Now S B - F D (ASCAP) [refers to Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. Inc. Film Division.] 2018 Publisher: Shapiro Bernstein Film Division c/o Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc. of New York, NY Copyright Date: Renewal Date: Recording:
[This THEME is verified by airchecks...only the verse theme melody is used, which is combined with the nursery rhyme ending tag "Hickory Dickory Dock" (see below); The medley may have been put together by Lyle ("Spuds") Murphy (see Theme #4 below) The original authors of "Listen To The Mocking Bird", from which the THEME was adapted, were Richard Milburn and Septimus Winner who used the pseudonym "Alice Hawthorne". Publisher and copyright information for this song from the "Book of World Famous Music" by James Fuld]: Composers: music by Richard Milburn (not affiliated), lyric by Alice Hawthorne (not affiliated) [pseudonym of Septimus Winner], and adaptation by Lyle ("Spud") Murphy (ASCAP) [professional name of Miko Stephanovic] Original Publisher: Winner & Shuster (no affiliation), of Philadelphia, PA 1997 Publisher: [Public Domain] Copyright Date: April 17, 1855; Renewal Date: Recording:
[this nursery rhyme tune is interpolated as an Ending Tag after the theme medley with "Listen to the Mocking Bird" (see above; The arranger may be Lyle ("Spud") Murphy (see Theme #4 below)] Composer: *Traditional* [Nursery tune] Original Publisher: [Public Domain] 1997 Publisher: [Public Domain] Copyright Date: Renewal Date: Recordings:
[ASCAP title variation: "Three Blind Mice"; NMPA title variation: "Three Blind Mice (from the 3 Stooges 'Fright Night')"... which was a 1947 short film (18 min. in length). Two sets of writers were credited in ASCAP with this THEME, both with Ortala Le Clerc Germaine (French SACEM). The other writer in set #1 was John M. Leipold (ASCAP, and in set #2 the other writer was Edward H. Plumb. We will combine credits below. The National Music Publishers Assn. garbled the names, crediting someone named "Leipole, Grigor"] Composers: *Traditional* [Nursery tune], with adaptation by Ortala Le Clerc Germaine (French SACEM/ASCAP), and John M. Leipold (ASCAP), and/or Edward H. Plumb (ASCAP) 1978 Publisher: Bourne Co. (ASCAP) 2000 Publisher: Bourne Co. (ASCAP), of New York, NY Copyright Date: Renewal Date: Recording:
[above is the title in the ASCAP database in 2018; aka: "Three Blind Mice (the nursery rhyme tune)" NMPA title: "Theme From 'The Three Stooges'" -- credits "Spuds Murphy"; NMPA title variation #1: "Three Blind Mice (Trad.)" NMPA title variation #2: "Love At First Bite"; ASCAP Title in 2018: "Three Stooges Theme (Three Blind Mice)"; The Three Stooges film "Love At The First Bite" was filed for copyright in 1950; it is believed to be the source of this THEME.] Composers: *Traditional* [Nursery tune], with adaptation by Lyle ("Spud") Murphy (ASCAP) [professional name of Miko Stephanovic] 1978 Publisher: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. Inc. (ASCAP) 2000 Publisher: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. Inc. (ASCAP), of New York, NY 2018 Publisher: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. Inc. (ASCAP), of New York, NY Copyright Date: Renewal Date: Recording: