The song I’m searching for is NOT the opening music. That has been covered in a couple of other threads, and (I think) in one of Cecil’s articles. What I am trying desperatley to find out is the name of the music that played when ever there wre factories running in the Looney Tunes, and Tom and Jerry as well I believe. The song has been stuck in my head all week, but I can’t think of how to find it with no title or autor name to attach to it. I will be most grateful for any info you guys come up with.
What you are looking for may be a selection titled “Powerhouse,” performed under the direction of Raymond Scott, apparently for Warner Brothers. This selection includes sequences of four notes rising on the scale. Dr. Demento has played it on his show, and I recorded it on February 9, 1992. I hope this helps.
Powerhouse it is - but it was NOT written for Warner Brothers - it was among the many pieces from many styles that the WB’s music director ‘sampled’ (to use a modern term) for the various cartoons. It is by Raymond Scott, off an album called Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights
Check out Amazon.com for purchasing info (they’ve got it for about 12 bucks, US).
One thing I learned from Chuck Jones’ book “Chuck Amuck” is that Carl Stalling started his muscal career as a piano-organist at silent movie theaters. In theory, when a film came to the theater, it was suposed to have sheet music to be played along with the film. But as often as not, no sheet music was provided. So, Stalling often had to improvise music for movie scenes that he was seeing for the first time… OR, he’d have to size up the tone of a scene quickly, race through his mental Rolodex, and quickly come up with a piece of music he knew would fit the scene.
When you think about it, what better on-the-job training could there be for a guy who’d eventually be writing movie/carton soundtracks?
Anway, Stalling didn’t write “Powerhouse,” (Raymond Scott did) but he popularized it. He’d heard the piece before working for Warner Brothers, and found that it fit nicely with scenes of factories and automation.
