[Fmpro] Alexander Courage & Earle Hagen died

Tue Jun 3 01:19:11 GMT 2008

Re Courage and Hagen
Thank you JohnB!  Very meaningful-
Best-

Robert Scott Stanton
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
zolessi at comcast.net
-----Original Message-----
From: fmpro-bounces+zolessi=comcast.net at nxport.com
[mailto:fmpro-bounces+zolessi=comcast.net at nxport.com] On Behalf Of
bipcress at comcast.net
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 4:12 PM
To: fmpro at nxport.com
Subject: Re: [Fmpro] Alexander Courage & Earle Hagen died

Re Courage and Hagen - a blurb I wrote for The European Film Score Society:
We have just recently lost two of America's finest composers for film and 
TV: Alexander Courage and Earle Hagen.
    Alexander Courage's name will live on as the composer of the immortal 
STAR TREK original series main titles theme. Courage did not do the expected

by writing within the already prescribed sci-fi traditions for musicians. 
These solid foundations had been laid down by Bernard Herrmann (DAY THE 
EARTH STOOD STILL) and Dimitri Tiomkin (THE THING). Courage instead, and 
appropriately, wrote to the dramatic aspects of the show - the ripe 
melodrama inherent in the sense of fun and wish-fulfillment that underpins 
most episodes, and also to the ever-present thread of male-camaraderie 
evidenced via the deep emotions ever-arcing between "the trio" - Kirk, 
Spock, McCoy. But even more than this Courage's luscious scores for the 
program's two pilots, THE CAGE and WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE set the pace

for the top-notch talents who would follow him in the scoring of this great 
series. The various soundtracks for the first seasons of STAR TREK exist as 
wonderful amalgams of both the silver and golden age styles of music for 
cinema. The music was unashamedly obvious in emotional, expressive intent, 
but simultaneously incorporated sophisticated (for Ted: but not innovative) 
compositional designs and orchestrations - in keeping with the musical 
developments of the post-war years. This unique combination was the 
series-contribution of Alexander Courage, and others such as Fred Steiner, 
Gerald Fried, and George Duning would fly with the concept. The STAR TREK 
theme and series music have both become profoundly iconographic and 
ingrained as lasting fixtures of our pop-cultural tapestry (remember Jim 
Carrie jousting in CABLE GUY - everyone knew, without being told, that he 
was singing from STAR TREK).
    Earle Hagen made his biggest mark with music for television, 
specifically his themes for I SPY, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, and THE MOD-SQUAD

(also classic themes for THAT GIRL and THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW). Hagen's 
magnificent I SPY theme stands tall directly alongside the other thrilling 
masterpieces of 50s/60s TV sex and violence: Basie's M-SQUAD, Mancini's 
PETER GUNN, Schifrin's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, Johnson's THE AVENGERS (British),

and Goldsmith's THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.. With his theme for THE MOD-SQUAD 
Hagen pushed the conceit even further, creating a racing, explosive anthem 
of threat and rage boiling over in urban America. All the way on the 
opposite side of the spectrum is his charmingly nostalgic and inviting theme

for THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. This whistled "walk to the watering hole" was a 
perfect fit for the sincere warmth and nurturing humanity found on the safe 
streets and in the quiet homes of Mayberry - the quintessential small town 
of the (now lost) American dream. Both of these men will be greatly 
missed. - JohnB

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark McKee" <mark at unm.edu>
To: <fmpro at nxport.com>
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 4:31 PM
Subject: [Fmpro] Alexander Courage & Earle Hagen died

> http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/30/obit.courage/index.html
>
> http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/27/earle.hagen.ap/index.html
>
> I think part of my mild resentment towards John Williams has to do with my

> suspicions that the Star Wars theme is the main reason every Star Trek 
> theme after the original sucked.  Ironically Sandy Courage and John 
> Williams were good friends.
>
> It has also occurred to me that the recent visions of what music will 
> sound like in the 24th century seems to point to a complete genocide of 
> any music of color, which wasn't the case with the original ST theme, 
> which had that groovy Latin theme in the background.
>
> As for Earle Hagen, we're not worthy! The Mod Squad theme totally rocked, 
> as did the Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith themes, but my personal fav was

> I Spy. And then there was Harlem Nocturne, what can you say?
>
> They're dropping like flies people!
>
> Mark McKee
> Multimedia Development Specialist
> Course Development Group
> New Media & Extended Learning
> The University of New Mexico
> 505-277-0691
>
> "We are a nation of laws, poorly written and randomly enforced."
> Frank Zappa - American Composer
>
> "Now the majors are what they used to think I was: history."
> Dolly Parton - American Role Model
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>
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