Day: March 5, 1977

Score Wars

Star Wars scoring sessionAt Anvil Studios in Denham, England, John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra convene for the first recording session for the Star Wars soundtrack. Over the course of the next 11 days, and with director George Lucas in attendance in the recording booth, all of the music for Lucas’ movie is rehearsed and recorded. Williams and Lucas had been introduced by their mutual friend Steven Spielberg, with whom Williams had worked on 1975’s Jaws (whose score had gone on to win Williams his second Oscar); Lucas’ original plan was to “score” Star Wars entirely with classical pieces. The first scene scored by Williams and the LSO is the rapid-fire chase through the Death Star, culminating in Luke and Princess Leia swinging across a chasm; other pieces recorded on the first day include the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the iconic theme music.

More about Star Wars soundtracks in Music Reviews

Future Cop: Fighting O’Haven

Future CopThe first weekly episode of Future Cop airs on ABC, starring Ernest Borgnine (McHale’s Navy), Michael J. Shannon, and John Amos (Good Times), based on a successful pilot movie aired in May 1976.

More about Future Cop in the LogBook