Jeopardy! "fake" think music

[Gus]

So my dad hands me a CD saying that one of his friends who burns CDs for him copied a CD just for me! Television's Greatest Hists, Volume II. Track 32 on the CD is marked "Jeopardy", so I play it, and it's that one recording of the think music that, as far as I know, has never been used on the actual TV show, the one that's heavy on the woodblock and the glockenspeil and the muted trumpet and low on the bass line. So that got me thinking (which is quite an accomplishment ;-) ...

What's the history behind this particular recording of the think music? It seems to be everywhere except the show itself. Was it actually intended to be used on the show, or was it a cover by some people who needed the think music for something? Who recorded it, anyway?

Since you hear it all the time, I'm guessing it's in the public domain*, so here's a copy of it if for some reason you have no idea what I'm talking about.

* EDIT: See later post.

[Clay Zambo]

It sounds to me like a MIDI'd recreation of the original--the flute seems particularly artificial, and notice how the tympani notes at the end have far more reverb than the rest of the track.

By the way, to the best of my knowledge the original is NOT in P.D.

[snowpeck]

That particular version was made especially for that CD.  The Television's Greatest Hits people did that for a lot of the themes on the CDs they made.  Instead of bothering to license the actual versions used on TV, they got the rights to make new recordings (presumably cheaper) and used a syntesizer to make them.

Greg

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Gus\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 05:19 PM\'] Since you hear it all the time, I'm guessing it's in the public domain [/quote]
 HUH???

See, this kind of thinking is what gives the music industry fits.  There are a lot of songs I hear "all the time", but I sure don't assume that puts them in the public domain!

As for that particular recording, a LOT of the tracks on the Television's Greatest Hits albums are simply covers by studio musicians trying to duplicate what the original sounds like when the original isn't available for whatever reason.  The problem is that when radio stations, ballparks and other public arenas want a cheap collection of TV themes for their use, they'll pick up something like the TGH sets, so THAT'S the version you hear at those places.

[uncamark]

A good number of the themes in the first few volumes of "TV's Greatest Hits" were recreations, not the originals--the "J!" think music is one of them.  Thanks to the great success of that series, the fake version's received more mileage than the original, which has never been commercially released, AFAIK.

[tvrandywest]

Right on, Matt. You hear "Happy Birthday" everywhere and even THAT is not in the public domain!

Releasing compilations is a complex undertaking. It includes paying for the use of the musical composition as well as licensing the PERFORMANCE. TVT recreated themes because they were unable/unwilling to negotiate license fees for the performances (sometimes referred to as the "masters"). As just one of many examples, it's the same reason that Chubby Checker has re-recorded "The Twist" a dozen times for the various compilation CDs and cassettes you can buy at the car wash. "The Twist" and all the Cameo-Parkway record company's "masters" are owned and tightly controlled by Allen Klein.

It's a fascinating and complex world I spent a few months in as producer of one of the CDs in the "Cruisin'" series. Tracking down ownership of some masters can be a fulltime job; over the years some have changed hands many times. Some are controlled by the lawyers handling the estates of deceased musicians. Others are owned by third parties far removed from their creators, having been transferred as assets in bankruptcy proceedings.

"Oldies But Goodies" empressario Ary Laboe has a whole thriving business he created years ago from buying the masters of many big hits, and subsequently marketing and licensing them for motion pictures and TV commercials in addition to his own compilation albums.


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[tommycharles]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 05:55 PM\'] are owned and tightly controlled by Allen Klein.
 [/quote]
 The same Allen Klein that acted as Ringo/George/John's manager for a while in the 70's (rumored to be a contributing factor in the breakup)?

Oh, and here's an interesting fact I ran across the other day: apparently Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" is in the public domain....kinda. The song is, but the famed intro isn't. I can't imagine why/what kind of legal hassles that someone must have gone through to do that.

T

[tvrandywest]

[quote name=\'tommycharles\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 03:18 PM\'] The same Allen Klein that acted as Ringo/George/John's manager for a while in the 70's (rumored to be a contributing factor in the breakup)? [/quote]
 The same. A friend, who is another poster on this board, is pals with a relative of Klein's; a nephew iirc. At Thanksgiving dinner we talked trash while others talked turkey.   ;-)

Randy
tvrandywest.com

[drmusic_99]

It's usually easy to differentiate the fakes from the real thing. The worst travesty, BTW, is the TVT version of "The Beverly Hillbillies" theme (with Entertainment Tonight a close second, and how many hundreds of radio stations have used THAT recording?)

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 05:15 PM\'] A good number of the themes in the first few volumes of "TV's Greatest Hits" were recreations, not the originals--the "J!" think music is one of them.  Thanks to the great success of that series, the fake version's received more mileage than the original, which has never been commercially, released, AFAIK. [/quote]
So, was the fake think music the one used on SNL's Celebrity Jeopardy sketches?

[Gus]

Okay, maybe I was wrong about the PD part. Still, some quite interesting reads here. Thanks, all.

[Robair]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 04:59 PM\'] The problem is that when radio stations, ballparks and other public arenas want a cheap collection of TV themes for their use, they'll pick up something like the TGH sets, so THAT'S the version you hear at those places. [/quote]
 "Entertainment Tonight", which sucks anyway, dug its own grave in my eyes last Friday, when they used the Tee Vee Toons version of the "Captain Kangaroo" theme backing their quickie 8-second obituary of Bob Keeshan.

Christ, Bennifer got a bigger funeral over there than the Captain did.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Robair\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 08:35 PM\'] [quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 04:59 PM\'] The problem is that when radio stations, ballparks and other public arenas want a cheap collection of TV themes for their use, they'll pick up something like the TGH sets, so THAT'S the version you hear at those places. [/quote]
"Entertainment Tonight", which sucks anyway, dug its own grave in my eyes last Friday, when they used the Tee Vee Toons version of the "Captain Kangaroo" theme backing their quickie 8-second obituary of Bob Keeshan.

Christ, Bennifer got a bigger funeral over there than the Captain did. [/quote]
 Mark Goodson got only a 10 second mention on ET when he died in December 1992, but a story on Howard Stern took the whole show. I remember them spending a minute or two on Jack Barry's death when he died 20 years ago.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Robair\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 08:35 PM\'] [quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 04:59 PM\'] The problem is that when radio stations, ballparks and other public arenas want a cheap collection of TV themes for their use, they'll pick up something like the TGH sets, so THAT'S the version you hear at those places. [/quote]
"Entertainment Tonight", which sucks anyway, dug its own grave in my eyes last Friday, when they used the Tee Vee Toons version of the "Captain Kangaroo" theme backing their quickie 8-second obituary of Bob Keeshan.

Christ, Bennifer got a bigger funeral over there than the Captain did. [/quote]
I remember reading that last year, ET did a birthday tribute to a celebrity who had died about a year earlier. I'm sorry, I can't defend a show that does such careless reporting. That is inexcusable.

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Jan 29 2004, 08:53 PM\'] I remember them spending a minute or two on Jack Barry's death when he died 20 years ago. [/quote]
Twenty years ago, Entertainment Tonight was truly an entertainment news program and not the piece of tabloid crap it is today with its shouting anchors, scandal sheet mentality, et.al.
By the way, Jann Carl needs to be kicked off a cliff.