Jon Burlingame – författare

With hundreds of interviews conducted over a 35-year span, this book is the most comprehensive history of television scoring to date.Music composed for television had, until recently, never been taken seriously by scholars or critics. Catchy TV themes, often for popular weekly series, were fondly remembered but not considered much more culturally significant than commercial jingles. Yet noted composers like John Williams, Henry Mancini, Jerry Goldsmith and Lalo Schifrin learned and/or honed their craft in television before going on to major success in feature films.Oscar-winning film composers like Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman and Maurice Jarre wrote hours of music for television projects, and such high-profile jazz figures as Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck and Quincy Jones also contributed music to TV series. Concert-hall luminaries from Aaron Copland to Leonard Bernstein, and theater writers from Jerome Moross to Richard Rodgers, penned memorable scores for TV.Music for Prime Time is the first serious, journalistic history of music for American television. It is the product of 35 years of research and more than 450 interviews with composers, orchestrators, producers, editors and musicians active in the field. Based on, but vastly expanded and revised from, an earlier book by the same author, this wide-ranging narrative not only tells the backstory of every great TV theme but also examines the many neglected and frequently underrated orchestral and jazz compositions for television dating back to the late 1940s.Covering every series genre (crime, comedy, drama, westerns, action-adventure, fantasy and sci-fi), it also looks at music for animated series, news and documentary programming, TV-movies and miniseries, and how music for television has evolved in the era of cable and streaming options. It is the most comprehensive history of television scoring ever published.

The story of the music that accompanies the cinematic adventures of Ian Fleming's intrepid Agent 007 is one of surprising real-life drama. In The Music of James Bond, author Jon Burlingame throws open studio and courtroom doors alike to reveal the full and extraordinary history of the sounds of James Bond, spicing the story with a wealth of fascinating and previously undisclosed tales. Burlingame devotes a chapter to each Bond film, providing the backstory for the music (including a reader-friendly analysis of each score) from the last-minute creation of the now-famous "James Bond Theme" in Dr. No to John Barry's trend-setting early scores for such films as Goldfinger and Thunderball. We learn how synthesizers, disco and modern electronica techniques played a role in subsequent scores, and how composer David Arnold reinvented the Bond sound for the 1990s and beyond.The book brims with behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Burlingame examines the decades-long controversy over authorship of the Bond theme; how Frank Sinatra almost sang the title song for Moonraker; and how top artists like Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon, Duran Duran, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, and Madonna turned Bond songs into chart-topping hits. The author shares the untold stories of how Eric Clapton played guitar for Licence to Kill but saw his work shelved, and how Amy Winehouse very nearly co-wrote and sang the theme for Quantum of Solace.New interviews with many Bond songwriters and composers, coupled with extensive research as well as fascinating and previously undiscovered details--temperamental artists, unexpected hits, and the convergence of great music and unforgettable imagery--make The Music of James Bond a must read for 007 buffs and all popular music fans. This paperback edition is brought up-to-date with a new chapter on Skyfall.

The story of the music that accompanies the adventures of Ian Fleming's intrepid Agent 007 is one of surprising real-life drama. In The Music of James Bond, author Jon Burlingame throws open studio and courtroom doors alike to reveal the full and extraordinary history of the sounds of James Bond, including: -- How the "James Bond Theme" was written at the last minute for Dr. No and how it became the subject of controversy, ending in a libel trial 40 years later in London's High Court;-- How Bond composer John Barry invented a new kind of action-adventure music for movies, and how despite writing immensely popular scores for "Goldfinger", "Thunderball", "You Only Live Twice" and eight other Bond films, he never received a single Academy Award nomination for his Bond music;-- How the "Goldfinger" soundtrack battled the Beatles and "Mary Poppins" to the top of the American charts and bested both in 1965;-- How "Thunderball" went through two songs, three singers, and its own courtroom showdown, before it ended up with a title tune;-- How top artists like Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Nancy Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon, Sheena Easton, Duran Duran, a-ha, the Pretenders, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow and Madonna were convinced to record for Agent 007;-- How changes in the Bond sound reflected what was happening in pop and rock circles, from the twangy guitar of the Sean Connery era to a more sedate sound for Roger Moore, synthesizers for George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton, and a more contemporary approach for Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig;-- How Frank Sinatra planned to sing "Moonraker" but didn't, then Johnny Mathis did (with a different lyric), only to be replaced by Shirley Bassey; -- The untold stories of how Eric Clapton played guitar on "Licence to Kill" but saw his work shelved; and how Amy Winehouse very nearly co-wrote and sang the theme for "Quantum of Solace."Each chapter contains the full backstory of the music for one Bond film and concludes with a reader-friendly analysis of the score itself, pointing out noteworthy musical sequences from the impact of New Orleans jazz on the "Live and Let Die" score, to the trendy disco in "For Your Eyes Only," to the electronica approach that proved disastrous in "GoldenEye." New interviews with many Bond songwriters and composers, coupled with extensive research, fascinating and previously undiscovered details -- including tales of temperamental artists, unexpected hits and surprising convergences of great music with unforgettable images -- make The Music of James Bond must reading for 007 buffs, popular music fans, and all who are in music and the movies.