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On this day, September 29, 1944, Mike Post was born.
I think I wore out the "italics" button.
I sat through two episodes of "The Rockford Files" yesterday afternoon.
Mike Post
Post in 2002
Background information
Born: September 29, 1944 (age 80); Berkeley, California, U.S.
Website: https://mike-post.com/
Mike Post (born Leland Michael Postil, September 29, 1944) is an American composer, best known for his TV theme music for various shows, including Law & Order; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; The A-Team; NYPD Blue; Renegade; The Rockford Files; L.A. Law; Quantum Leap; Magnum, P.I.; and Hill Street Blues.
{snip}
Early musical career
Post's first credited work in music was cutting demos using two singing sisters, Terry and Carol Fischer. With Sally Gordon, they went on to become The Murmaids. Their first single, "Popsicles and Icicles" (written by David Gates), was a number 3 hit song in January 1964.
Post also provided early guidance for the garage rock band The Outcasts while in recruit training in San Antonio, Texas. He was the songwriter and producer for both songs on the band's first single, released in 1965, and also arranged a local concert where they served as the back-up band.
He won his first Grammy Award at age 23 for Best Instrumental Arrangement on Mason Williams' "Classical Gas", a number 2 hit song in 1968. He is also credited as the record producer for Williams' LP that included that song, The Mason Williams Phonograph Record.
Billed as the Mike Post Coalition, their track "Afternoon of the Rhino" became a sought-after Northern soul track. The single peaked at number 47 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1975.
Post also worked with Kenny Rogers and produced the first three albums he recorded with his country/rock group Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (between 1967 and 1969). Post also produced Dolly Parton's hit album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs in 1981. In 1997, he produced Van Halen's Van Halen III album.
Television theme music
One of his first jobs in television started when he was 24, as the musical director on The Andy Williams Show. Another early job was writing the theme music for the short-lived detective series Toma in 1973, but his big breakthrough (together with co-composer Pete Carpenter) came in the following year with his theme song for The Rockford Files, another series by producer Stephen J. Cannell. The theme also got cross-over Top 40 radio airplay and earned a second Grammy for Post.
"The Rockford Files" theme became a Top 10 hit in both the U.S. (number 10) and Canada (number 8). It ranks as the 85th biggest U.S. hit of 1975, and the 84th biggest Canadian hit of 1975.
Post subsequently won Grammys for Best Instrumental Composition for the themes of the television shows Hill Street Blues in 1981 and L.A. Law in 1988 as well as another Grammy in 1981 for Best Instrumental Performance for the Hill Street Blues theme, which also reached number 10 in the U.S.
{snip}
Post won an Emmy for his Murder One theme music, and had previously been nominated for NYPD Blue, among others. He has won Broadcast Music, Inc. Awards for the music for L.A. Law, Hunter, and the various Law & Order series. The theme for The Greatest American Hero (co-written with Stephen Geyer) is one of the few television themes to reach as high as number 2 as a single record on the Billboard Hot 100. The "dun, dun" sound effect he created for the Law & Order franchise has entered popular culture.
At the peak of his career, Post was the go-to composer for all of the series created by Donald P. Bellisario, Steven Bochco, Stephen J. Cannell and Dick Wolf. Due to the considerable amount of music to be created, Post operated an office with multiple staff composers, among them Walter Murphy, Velton Ray Bunch, Frank Denson, Jerry Grant and Greg Edmonson, all composing side by side in cubicles. Each would write music cues to complement specific scenes from each show in Post's signature style.
Other TV music works include The A-Team, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Blossom, The Commish, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Greatest American Hero, Hardcastle and McCormick, Hooperman, Hunter, Magnum, P.I., NewsRadio, Profit, Quantum Leap, Renegade, Riptide, Silk Stalkings, Stingray, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, The White Shadow, Wiseguy, the BBC series Roughnecks, and Philly.
In 1994, Post scored the Diagnosis: Murder episode "How To Murder Your Lawyer," designed as a backdoor pilot for a lawyer series.
In 2014, Post composed the score for the fake TV pilot Caged Heat in the All Hail the King short film for Marvel Studios.
{snip}
Post in 2002
Background information
Born: September 29, 1944 (age 80); Berkeley, California, U.S.
Website: https://mike-post.com/
Mike Post (born Leland Michael Postil, September 29, 1944) is an American composer, best known for his TV theme music for various shows, including Law & Order; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; The A-Team; NYPD Blue; Renegade; The Rockford Files; L.A. Law; Quantum Leap; Magnum, P.I.; and Hill Street Blues.
{snip}
Early musical career
Post's first credited work in music was cutting demos using two singing sisters, Terry and Carol Fischer. With Sally Gordon, they went on to become The Murmaids. Their first single, "Popsicles and Icicles" (written by David Gates), was a number 3 hit song in January 1964.
Post also provided early guidance for the garage rock band The Outcasts while in recruit training in San Antonio, Texas. He was the songwriter and producer for both songs on the band's first single, released in 1965, and also arranged a local concert where they served as the back-up band.
He won his first Grammy Award at age 23 for Best Instrumental Arrangement on Mason Williams' "Classical Gas", a number 2 hit song in 1968. He is also credited as the record producer for Williams' LP that included that song, The Mason Williams Phonograph Record.
Billed as the Mike Post Coalition, their track "Afternoon of the Rhino" became a sought-after Northern soul track. The single peaked at number 47 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1975.
Post also worked with Kenny Rogers and produced the first three albums he recorded with his country/rock group Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (between 1967 and 1969). Post also produced Dolly Parton's hit album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs in 1981. In 1997, he produced Van Halen's Van Halen III album.
Television theme music
One of his first jobs in television started when he was 24, as the musical director on The Andy Williams Show. Another early job was writing the theme music for the short-lived detective series Toma in 1973, but his big breakthrough (together with co-composer Pete Carpenter) came in the following year with his theme song for The Rockford Files, another series by producer Stephen J. Cannell. The theme also got cross-over Top 40 radio airplay and earned a second Grammy for Post.
"The Rockford Files" theme became a Top 10 hit in both the U.S. (number 10) and Canada (number 8). It ranks as the 85th biggest U.S. hit of 1975, and the 84th biggest Canadian hit of 1975.
Post subsequently won Grammys for Best Instrumental Composition for the themes of the television shows Hill Street Blues in 1981 and L.A. Law in 1988 as well as another Grammy in 1981 for Best Instrumental Performance for the Hill Street Blues theme, which also reached number 10 in the U.S.
{snip}
Post won an Emmy for his Murder One theme music, and had previously been nominated for NYPD Blue, among others. He has won Broadcast Music, Inc. Awards for the music for L.A. Law, Hunter, and the various Law & Order series. The theme for The Greatest American Hero (co-written with Stephen Geyer) is one of the few television themes to reach as high as number 2 as a single record on the Billboard Hot 100. The "dun, dun" sound effect he created for the Law & Order franchise has entered popular culture.
At the peak of his career, Post was the go-to composer for all of the series created by Donald P. Bellisario, Steven Bochco, Stephen J. Cannell and Dick Wolf. Due to the considerable amount of music to be created, Post operated an office with multiple staff composers, among them Walter Murphy, Velton Ray Bunch, Frank Denson, Jerry Grant and Greg Edmonson, all composing side by side in cubicles. Each would write music cues to complement specific scenes from each show in Post's signature style.
Other TV music works include The A-Team, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Blossom, The Commish, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Greatest American Hero, Hardcastle and McCormick, Hooperman, Hunter, Magnum, P.I., NewsRadio, Profit, Quantum Leap, Renegade, Riptide, Silk Stalkings, Stingray, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, The White Shadow, Wiseguy, the BBC series Roughnecks, and Philly.
In 1994, Post scored the Diagnosis: Murder episode "How To Murder Your Lawyer," designed as a backdoor pilot for a lawyer series.
In 2014, Post composed the score for the fake TV pilot Caged Heat in the All Hail the King short film for Marvel Studios.
{snip}
Popsicles and Icicles - The Murmaids 1963
147,214 views Aug 27, 2013
60s70sTheBest
24.9K subscribers
"Popsicles and Icicles", recorded by the Murmaids in 1963, reached #3 on the U.S. Billboard and Cash Box charts in January 1964. The Record World Chart ranked it at #1 and cited it as the chart's last #1 hit before the "British invasion". It is the only hit single by the Murmaids during their brief singing career. The teen trio, from Los Angeles, California, didn't really have show business aspirations, however, they occasionally provided back-up vocals for artists before being offered to record "Popsicles and Icicles". In the early 1960's, female groups were becoming very popular, and the Murmaids had that appealing "cotton-candy" young teen sound with their velvety-smooth voices. Unfortunately, the girls did not receive any royalties according to one of them.
147,214 views Aug 27, 2013
60s70sTheBest
24.9K subscribers
"Popsicles and Icicles", recorded by the Murmaids in 1963, reached #3 on the U.S. Billboard and Cash Box charts in January 1964. The Record World Chart ranked it at #1 and cited it as the chart's last #1 hit before the "British invasion". It is the only hit single by the Murmaids during their brief singing career. The teen trio, from Los Angeles, California, didn't really have show business aspirations, however, they occasionally provided back-up vocals for artists before being offered to record "Popsicles and Icicles". In the early 1960's, female groups were becoming very popular, and the Murmaids had that appealing "cotton-candy" young teen sound with their velvety-smooth voices. Unfortunately, the girls did not receive any royalties according to one of them.
The Rockford Files Season 1 Intro
322,905 views Sep 18, 2017
1000 Mission Street
475 subscribers
322,905 views Sep 18, 2017
1000 Mission Street
475 subscribers
Mike Post - The Rockford Files - 1974
denfabtvs
5.88K subscribers
471,573 views Jul 21, 2014
MGM - Theme from the TV series (1974-1980), starring James Garner.
denfabtvs
5.88K subscribers
471,573 views Jul 21, 2014
MGM - Theme from the TV series (1974-1980), starring James Garner.
Mike Post ft. Larry Carlton - Theme From Hill Street Blues (1981) 🎧🎼🎶🎹🎸🎺
BLETransit
9.36K subscribers
283,388 views Aug 7, 2012 #1980sMusic #MikePost #HillStreetBlues
Here is a classic TV theme for Hill Street Blues which aired from January 15, 1981 to May 12, 1987 on NBC for 146 episodes.This tune is composed by Mike Post featurin' Larry Carlton on the guitars!
BLETransit
9.36K subscribers
283,388 views Aug 7, 2012 #1980sMusic #MikePost #HillStreetBlues
Here is a classic TV theme for Hill Street Blues which aired from January 15, 1981 to May 12, 1987 on NBC for 146 episodes.This tune is composed by Mike Post featurin' Larry Carlton on the guitars!
Fri Sep 29, 2023: On this day, September 29, 1944, Mike Post was born.
Thu Sep 29, 2022: On this day, September 29, 1944, Mike Post was born.
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
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