Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Mort Garson 1924-2008

The synth genius passed away last Friday at the age of 83 in San Francisco. He put out a slew of electronica albums in the 60's and 70's but TV fans of my generation remember him best for writing game show themes, the best known of which was perhaps the theme to the long-running "Gambit". Thick with electronic textures and gee-whiz effects, Garson's electronic themes became the template for many similar game show themes such as "Concentration" (Edd Kalehoff) and "Spin-Off" (Nick Nicholson).

In a world where so much game show music is out there, relatively few Garson cuts have made it onto the trading circuit (Those that have included his "Gambit" open and close, and the later "Magnificent Marble Machine" and "Battlestars".)

The man is gone, now let his music live on (all you music hoarders out there).

UPDATE: There is more Garson music out now. I guess someone was listening. If you go to The Television Production Music Museum and click on "Listen" and then click on "Mort Garson", you will be duly rewarded. The unknown cut #4 is the "Baffle" theme, and if you look hard enough you will find one other "Baffle" cue.

1 comment:

Dave Mackey said...

Since this post, the two "Baffle" cues (closing theme and one phrase play cue) have been broken out into their own section and are no longer considered "unknown" cues. The entire "Baffle" music library consists of opening theme, Baffle Booth cross, sound down, sound up, four phrase play cues, spiel cue, bonus round win and closing theme.