Soundtrack specialty label Intrada releases the first-ever soundtrack from 2009 Planet Of The Apes: The Series, featuring music and the series title theme by Lalo Schifrin, and additional music by Earle Hagen.
Prolific film and TV composer Joe Harnell, whose memorable themes introduced audiences to such shows as The Incredible Hulk, the original V miniseries and The Bionic Woman, dies of heart failure at the age of 80. Before breaking into film music, he toured America and Europe with the Glenn Miller Air Force Band, and then landed numerous gigs as a musical director for such legendary talents as Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Beverly Sills, Judy Garland, and Lena Horne. He also released over a dozen albums of his own piano compositions. A three-time Emmy nominee for Best Dramatic Score, his atypical choice of a somber solo piano for the main titles of The Incredible Hulk was the beginning of a long partnership with writer/producer Kenneth Johnson, who also utilized his talents in V and Alien Nation, among other shows. He was also a film scoring lecturer and teacher in residence at the University of Southern California.
La-La Land Records releases Bear McCreary’s soundtrack from the first season of Sci-Fi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica reboot. Released by popular demand from the show’s fan base, the soundtrack displays the series’ rapidly evolving, complex musical direction, including the unusual dual main theme tunes (one used for broadcast in the UK, one used in the US).
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Paul Hester, former drummer for Split Enz and Crowded House, is found dead at the age of 46 in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Though police say the death is not “suspicious,” they rule it a suicide. Hester was a mainstay of the Melbourne music scene in the 80s when he auditioned to fill the vacant drum seat in Australian/New Zealand supergroup Split Enz. He joined the group for its 1984 tour, and only recorded one album, 1985’s See Ya Round, in the studio with Split Enz before the band broke up. He joined Neil Finn in a quest to launch a new band which, with the addition of bassist Nick Seymour, was eventually christened Crowded House and scored a #2 on the Billboard charts in early 1987 with “Don’t Dream It’s Over”. He recorded and toured with Crowded House until 1994, when the rigors of touring – and impending fatherhood – convinced him to return to Melbourne with his family.
La-La Land Records releases the first soundtrack CD in the Farscape Classics series. The CD contains Guy Gross’ music from the episodes Revenging Angel and Eat Me.
The Duran Duran CD Astronaut is released.
The William Shatner CD Has Been is released, featuring guest appearances by Brad Paisley, Henry Rollins and Ben Folds.
The R.E.M. album Around the Sun is released, featuring the single “Leaving New York”.
The soundtrack of the 1967 movie OK Connery is released, with music by Ennio Morricone. The movie is better known to fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 as Operation Double 007.
The Brian Wilson album Smile, based on songs and concepts from an unfinished Beach Boys album, is released.
The soundtrack CD Space: 1999 Year One is released – five years to the day after the date the moon is blasted out of orbit, according to the series’ opening credits.
The Alan Parsons album A Valid Path is released, featuring guest appearances by Shpongle, Roger Waters, The Crystal Method and John Cleese (!).
The Finn Brothers album Everyone Is Here is released, featuring the singles “Won’t Give In”, “Nothing Wrong With You” and “Part Of Me, Part Of You”.
La-La Land Records releases a 50th anniversary CD of Akira Ifukube’s soundtrack from the original 1954 Japanese version of Godzilla.
The video game soundtrack album Katamari Fortissimo Damacy is released in Japan, featuring many of the jazz and swing inspired songs from the Playstation 2 game Katamari Damacy.
The Levinhurst album Perfect Life is released, featuring the single “Hope”.
Film Score Monthly releases a CD of music from the TV series Logan’s Run, with music by Laurence Rosenthal, Jeff Alexander, Jerrold Immel and Bruce Broughton.
The dada album How to Be Found is released.
La-La Land Records releases the soundtrack CD from the two-part Sci-Fi Channel miniseries rebooting Battlestar Galactica, with music by Richard Gibbs and Bear McCreary. The music from the miniseries sets the template for the scoring of the early episodes of the weekly series, though the musical style of the show expands rapidly under the direction of McCreary (Gibbs opts not to return for the series).
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The video game-inspired album The Mario & Zelda Big Band Live CD is released in Japan, featuring live big band renditions of many of the themes from the Super Mario Bros. and Legend Of Zelda game series.
The first volume of Michael Giacchino‘s selections from the soundtrack of the TV series Alias, is released.
The Tori Amos comiplation album Tales Of A Librarian is released, including newly re-recorded versions of previously released songs. The album only covers her material from her years with Atlantic Records.
The Eric Woolfson concept album, Poe: More Tales Of Mystery & Imagination, is released, based upon the works of Edgar Allan Poe (and forming the musical backbone for a stage musical still in the works).
The soundtrack from The Matrix Revolutions is released, consisting primarily of Don Davis’ score from the final movie in the trilogy.
The Strokes release the album Room On Fire, featuring the single “Reptilia”.
In Japan, Koichi Sugiyama releases the album Symphonic Suite Gatchaman, though it does not accompany any new Gatchaman anime projects.
Celebrating 40 years of Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Devils’ Planets – The Music Of Tristram Cary is released, including the complete underscores from The Daleks (1963/64), The Daleks’ Masterplan (1965/66) and The Mutants (1972); the marks the release of the earliest episodes of Doctor Who for which the complete music score still exists. The album quickly sells out and becomes a coveted collectors’ item; this is also the final Doctor Who archive music release from the BBC’s in-house label, and the last Doctor Who television soundtrack music to be released prior to the new series soundtracks.
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