Author
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Topic: Mike Post - King of TV Themes
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Norman McCay
Oscar® Winner
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Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, NewsRadio, Law & Order, Doogie Howser, L.A. Law, Hunter, The A-Team, CHiPs, Magnum P.I., and countless others. This man has done it all. He's what I consider to be the John Williams of television.How do you like that?! One man who nearly composed ALL of the most memorable themes in television! It's one thing that Mike Post is a genius, it's another when he'a musical god!
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posted 02-14-2000 10:57 AM PT (US) ip
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H Rocco
Oscar® Winner
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I'm a huge fan of Mike Post. As I've written in numerous other TV threads, I especially like one of his least-remembered themes, BAY CITY BLUES, one of Steven Bochco's first shows after HILL STREET BLUES hit, about the travails of a minor-league baseball team. Premiered around 1983, and was actually the first show that Bochco promoted in terms of its flashes of male dorsal nudity, ten years before NYPD BLUE. Not a very good production, didn't really deserve to last (and didn't), but had a terrific cast including early roles for Dennis Franz and (drumroll) Sharon Stone, who, as I remember, was married to the team's star pitcher who was also a chronic bedwetter. (People forget how sophomoric Bochco can be when left to his own devices ... I think the best years of HILL STREET were when he had his mitts relatively off them and Walon Green was running the writing staff; and NYPD BLUE is more David Milch's work than Bochco's.)Anyway, Post's never collected the BAY CITY BLUES theme, which vexes me, but I understand it -- nobody much remembers the show, but it's one of my favorite TV themes ever. The obscurity of BAY CITY BLUES makes me wonder how many other neglected gems lie within the Post tele-ography ... Around the time of HILL STREET BLUES, Post indicated he wanted to break into movies, but this only yielded four projects over a two year period: DEEP IN THE HEART, RIVER RAT, RUNNING BRAVE and (adapted score only) RHINESTONE. Hey, being the king of television isn't such a bad thing. In terms of the royalties, it probably pays better, too. (Joel Silver coaxing Danny Elfman into doing the TALES FROM THE CRYPT theme: "Come on, you KNOW you get paid every time the damn thing airs!") NP: "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Sz106" by Bela Bartok -- very atmospheric, but it's mixed too low. This was written in 1936, I see, and I can hear certain antecedents to Goldsmith's early work -- I know he's a big Bartok fan, which is one reason I took a pile of his stuff out of the library the other day. So far so good. [This message has been edited by H Rocco (edited 14 February 2000).]
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posted 02-14-2000 11:06 AM PT (US) ip
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dantoris
Oscar® Winner
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One of my favorite Mike Post themes is "Renegade," for the cheesy-but-enjoyable Lorenzo Lamas series.
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posted 02-14-2000 07:28 PM PT (US) ip
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Scott
Oscar® Winner
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Awesome composer.
Scott
NP:Bolero
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posted 02-15-2000 07:32 AM PT (US) ip
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Jack
Oscar® Winner
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Don't overlook his frequent partner, Pete Carpenter.
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posted 02-15-2000 01:26 PM PT (US) ip
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H Rocco
Oscar® Winner
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The late Mr. Carpenter worked with Post on any number of his themes -- I didn't mention him because I wasn't sure exactly of the nature of their collaboration. I think Carpenter was more the arranger/conductor, though Post has been credited as a conductor elsewhere (mostly he seems to score his stuff while playing keyboards while watching the show in question -- I saw documentary footage of him doing this for LAST AMERICAN HERO, for example.)Post and Carpenter's great themes include THE A-TEAM and the underrated TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY.
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posted 02-15-2000 01:42 PM PT (US) ip
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Marcelo Ferreyra
Oscar® Winner
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I like very much Mr Post.
I have the CD of The A-TEAM and I recomended
this very much.
Is a re recording of the television score
released by Silva.
I wish they where more scores by Mr Post
around.
Any way,we have the themes in the TVToons compilations.
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posted 02-15-2000 08:55 PM PT (US) ip
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