Film and Television Scores, 1950–1979

Hollywood film scores underwent a supersonic transformation from the 1950s through the 1970s. This genre-by-genre overview of film and television soundtrack music covers a period of tremendous artistic and commercial development in the medium. Film and television composers bypassed the classical tradition favored by earlier screen composers to experiment with jazz, rock, funk and avant-garde styles. This bold approach brought a rich variety to film and television productions that often took on a life of its own through records and CDs. From Bernard Herrmann to Ennio Morricone, the composers of the “Silver Age” changed the way movie music was made, used, and heard. The book contains more than 100 promotional film stills and soundtrack cover art images.

Kristopher Spencer is the founder of ScoreBaby.com, and lives in Royal Oak, Michigan. Spencer blogs at http://silver-age-soundtrax.blogspot.com/

Kristopher Spencer
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 376
Bibliographic Info: 148 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2008
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3682-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5228-6
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1

1. Crime Jazz and Felonious Funk      5
2. Spy Symphonies      57
3. Sexploitation Serenade      85
4. Staccato Six-Guns      127
5. Sci-Fidelity and the Superhero Spectrum      167
6. A Fearful Earful      222
7. Rockin’ Revolution      282

Epilogue      330
Bibliography      337
Index      341

“valuable…fascinating, informative, and illuminating reads”—Soundtrax.