Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther Theme)

Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent 7 Theme)

Lalo Schrifin (Mission; Impossible Theme)

John Barry (James Bond Theme)

Ennio Morricone (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly)

Quincy Jones (Sanford & Son Theme)

Can't think of any other obvious examples. Nothing comes to mind for Jerry Goldsmith, Johnny Mandel or Jerry Fielding aside from personal favorites...

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"I used to worry about losing my mind. Now that I've lost it I don't worry about it anymore." -Wavy Gravy

For a single theme's recognition by the masses (and not just the film-score niche audience), I would say that Mancini's "signature" might be "Moon River" over his PINK PANTHER theme.

For Goldsmith I'd say GREMLINS, the POLTERGEIST lullaby, or The Waltons theme would be general-audience triggers today over PATTON. And since TV is the real broad market, immortality for Mandel and Fielding respectively lie with the themes from M*A*S*H* and Hogan's Heroes.

What I have identified above are not my subjective favorites. However, I find I also should remind that Barry is not the James Bond Theme's official composer. But as I consider "Goldfinger" the most iconic song from the Bond series, either that or "Born Free" would be Barry's anthem tunes.

John Williams (Jaws)

Jerry Goldsmith (The Waltons theme)

Johnny Mandel (M*A*S*H theme)

Jerry Fielding (Hogan's Heroes)

And an obvious one I forgot to mention...

Bernard Herrmann (Psycho shower scene)

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"I used to worry about losing my mind. Now that I've lost it I don't worry about it anymore." -Wavy Gravy

A bit back in the day, but for those of us (now, sadly, old enough!) to remember, Miklos Rozsa and his music from SPELLBOUND entered the public consciousness. Maybe, too, Ernest Gold's theme from EXODUS. Lots of radio play at the time.

Amusing topic, Knives! Here is my list:

Maurice Jarre (Lara's theme from Doctor Zhivago)

Nino Rota (The Godfather, or may be Romeo and Juliet, or may be Amarcord, or may be...)

Max Steiner (Gone with the Wind)

Dimitri Tiomkin (High Noon)

Bill Conti (Rocky)

Alex North (The love theme from Spartacus)

Harold Faltermeyer (Axel F, from Beverly Hills Cop)

Brad Fiedel (The Terminator)

HAWAII FIVE-O by Morton Stevens.

Batman (Neal Hefti)

Route 66 (Nelson Riddle)

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"I used to worry about losing my mind. Now that I've lost it I don't worry about it anymore." -Wavy Gravy

Moross' "Big Country"
Vangelis' "Chariot of fire"
Moroder's "Top gun"
Zimmer's "Rain Man"
Steiner' "Summer place"
....
By the way, sparse in recent decadies!

1. Jerry Goldsmith: Star Trek March from "The Motion Picture"
2. Sylvester Levay: Airwolf- Theme
3. Stu Phillips: Knight Rider- Theme
4. Alan Silvestri: Predator- Theme
5. Mike Post & Pete Carpenter: The Rockford Files-, Magnum,pi.- & The A-Team- Theme
6. Ron Grainer & Delia Derbyshire: Doctor Who- Theme
7. Hans Zimmer: He`s A Pirate
8. Arthur B. Rubinstein: Blue Thunder- Theme
9. Brad Fiedel: Terminator- Theme

Once listened and I never forgot. Neither tune nor composers.

WorkingWK, I withdraw my challenge as to what should stand as Mancini's signature. I based my reasoning in favor of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY's "Moon River" on its fame, sales of its album (and endless number of cover recordings), and long-term popularity, decades after the song won an Oscar. However, after working a crossword puzzle yesterday in which the answer for "Henry Mancini theme" turned out to be "PINK PANTHER," I concede that the number of sequels in that series, and of decades since the deaths of Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards, and the composer himself, make this the obvious choice for Hank's posterity after all.

Some more titles:

Bruce Broughton (Main title from Silverado)
Georges Delerue ("Grand choral" from La Nuit Américaine [Day for night])
Angelo Badalamenti (Main theme from Twin Peaks)
Sherman brothers ("Chim Chim Cheree" from Mary Poppins)
John Ottman (Main theme from The Usual Suspects)
John Carpenter (Main title from Halloween)
Alan Silvestri (Main theme from Back to the Future)
Pierre Bachelet ("Emmanuelle song" from Emmanuelle)
Nico Fidenco ("Emanuelle's Theme" from Emanuelle nera [Black Emanuelle])
Leonard Rosenman (Main title from East of Eden)
Michael Nyman ("Chasing sheep is best left to shepherds" from The Draughtsmans Contract)
James Horner ("My heart will go on" from Titanic)
Ron Goodwin (Main title from Where eagles Dare)
David Arnold (Overture from Stargate)
John Morris (Main title from Young Frankenstein)
Richard Rodney Bennett (Overture from Murder on the Orient Express)
David Raksin (Main theme from Laura)
Marvin Hamlisch (Main theme from The Way We Were)
Alfred Newman (Main title from How the West Was Won)
Anton Karas (Main theme from The Third Man)
Mikis Theodorakis ("Zorba's dance" from Zorba the Greek)
Michael J. Lewis (Main theme from Theatre of Blood)
John Scott (Main titles from The Final Countdown)
Francis Lai (Main theme from Love Story)
Krzysztof Komeda ("Lullaby" from Rosemary's Baby)
John Addison (Main title from Torn Curtain)
Trevor Jones (Main title from The Last of the Mohicans)