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Matthew Dobbins's avatar

Fanfuckingtastic! Chock full of edifying and entertaining content. The description of The Marketts sound is music in itself. Looking forward to the post on Benny Powell (and your others). Thanks.

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Delene's avatar

I hate to disagree with you, but I shall. Batman is way down the list. The Peter Gunn theme has got to be the best ever and I've never even seen the show. Usually I will shun the popular but it won a Grammy! It was such a hit Mancini put it out as an album. Everyone has their own tastes and the industry is more about moolah than music, but the very first album of the year was "The Music From Peter Gunn" beating out Judy Garland and Sinatra. Frankly I'm not sure that Hefti didn't at least subconsciously (and maybe with a little help from bennies) channel a little Peter Gunn while writing Batman. Anyway, glad I got that off my mind. Batman? I would have to put Hawaii 5-0 and maybe even Sanford and Son ahead of Batman.

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MP's avatar

Great post! Never heard of him before. Listening now to Atomic Basie. Always loved the soundtrack of The Odd Couple, although I guess it makes me realize now I have been a man “of a certain age” for quite some time. Oh well, the young generation doesn’t know what they are missing. Their loss.

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John Bianchi's avatar

Great essay! Hefti was possibly my favorite movie soundtrack composer, turning out memorable gems like "Sex and the Single Girl", "Barefoot in the Park" and "Girl Talk" from the movie "Harlow", in addition to many others. And yet as you say, few non-musicians know who he is. It's good to see your assessment recognizing his talents and significance.

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Paul Tatara's avatar

His work with Basie alone should make him better-known than he is! He just seems like a cool guy to me, too. You can hear a sense of humor in his music.

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John Bianchi's avatar

Yes! Lil' Darlin and You're Cute are masterpieces.

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