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The Composer Of One Of TV's Most Famous Theme Songs Has Died
You may not instantly know the name Lalo Schifrin, but you definitely know his most famous song.
Strike a match and think of the original TV theme to "Mission Impossible." Schifrin wrote the tune for the CBS show in 1966, a striking piece of music that earned him a Grammy and also an Emmy nomination. But like some moments of great inspiration, incredibly, the piece almost wrote itself.
"Schifrin said it took him just three minutes to put the theme together, and he composed it without seeing any footage from the show.
“Orchestration’s not the problem for me,” he told the New York Post in 2015. “It’s like writing a letter. When you write a letter, you don’t have to think what grammar or what syntaxes you’re going to use, you just write a letter. And that’s the way it came."
Schifrin's distinctive tune was also used in the Tom Cruise films of the same name and he wrote numerous other movie and TV themes over the years, including the opening to Starsky & Hutch.
He was 93.
Lalo Schifrin, Acclaimed Composer of ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Mannix’ Themes, Dies at 93
- mace
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Re: The Composer Of One Of TV's Most Famous Theme Songs Has Died
The Mission Impossible theme was released as a single in 1967. It peaked at #41 on the Hot 100.
- newsguy1
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Re: The Composer Of One Of TV's Most Famous Theme Songs Has Died
He did tons of other movie soundtracks including Bullitt, Cool Hand Luke, Dirty Harry and Magnum Force and Kelly's Heroes along with the TV themes for Mannix and Starsky and Hutch.
He apparently wrote Mission Impossible in just a few minutes with only a verbal description of what the show was about.
Reminds me of Isaac Hayes who is said to have written the theme from Shaft in about 10 minutes with a group of session musicians on hand to improvise.
The only thing he told them was the theme should be hard driving and funky.
- Doug Thompson
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Re: The Composer Of One Of TV's Most Famous Theme Songs Has Died
To bring Lalo Schrifin's passing back to radio, it was legendary LA DJ Gary Owens who named Lalo's 1968 album, "There's A Whole Lalo Schrifin Goin' On."
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- Easily Amused
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Re: The Composer Of One Of TV's Most Famous Theme Songs Has Died
newsguy1 wrote:
He did tons of other movie soundtracks including Bullitt, Cool Hand Luke, Dirty Harry and Magnum Force and Kelly's Heroes along with the TV themes for Mannix and Starsky and Hutch.
He apparently wrote Mission Impossible in just a few minutes with only a verbal description of what the show was about.
Reminds me of Isaac Hayes who is said to have written the theme from Shaft in about 10 minutes with a group of session musicians on hand to improvise.
The only thing he told them was the theme should be hard driving and funky.
For 'Bullitt', I recall reading that there was music intended to accompany the entire car chase, but Schifron stated that it would only detract from the drama. Once the Dodge accelerates away and McQueen pursues in the Mustang, the track ('Shifting Gears') ends. I don't know if this account was exactly how it happened, but it did result in Lalo having to do that much less composing. No dummy, he! 😁
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Re: The Composer Of One Of TV's Most Famous Theme Songs Has Died
Another TV theme composer is gone. You probably have no idea who Mark Snow is, but you almost certainly know his most famous work - the theme from The X-Files. The composer recalls he got lots of suggestions from series creator Chris Carter - and proceeded to ignore them all.
"I just said, “I have an idea: why don't you” — I didn't say, “Why don't you get lost, and I'll take it from here,” which I implied — [but I said,] “I have an idea. Why don’t you go about your business and I’ll go about mine. We’ll start right from scratch. We’ll throw all this away.” So he said, “OK, good Idea.” And he leaves. And I turn and I put my hand, actually my elbow [and] forearm on the keyboard. And there was this sound effect. This delay echo effect. … I said, “Oh, that’s pretty good.”
While it was iconic in North America, the truth is out there - it was released as a single in Europe and went to #1 in France and #2 in Britain.
Snow's famous theme survives him along with his other work in movies and TV. He was 78.
Remembering Mark Snow: A brief oral history of ‘The X-Files Theme,’ from the strange real title to the surprising connection to a Smiths song to the missing lyrics
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Thread Starter- Muffaraw Joe
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Re: The Composer Of One Of TV's Most Famous Theme Songs Has Died
WBGO's morning show host Gary Walker had Schifrin in as an on air guest several times during his career...in fact on this morning's show, they paid tribute to Lalo with an on air special today.
WBGO is in Newark N.J. and is a jazz station, similar to Jazz.FM, only a lot better.
Here is the link to the show they did about Schifrin.
The world would be so good if it weren't for some people...