(NBC Primetime, 1959) [Jack Webb, producer/star of "Dragnet" (1951 - 1959 in its first incarnation), was an fan of early Jazz; This series was begun the year Dragnet ended, and was a "pet project" for Webb set in 1920s Kansas City, home of early Jazz. This music is what may sound like to some people as "Dixieland" Jazz, and is usually associated with New Orleans; But, oh well, Webb was a fan. He hired Dick Cathcart to lead an 8-piece group which played music backgrounds as well as to be seen on screen; William Reynolds played a trumpet player in the group. Cathcart also wrote the music for Webb's 1953 radio series by the same name which only lasted 3 months on the air; The character "Pete Kelly" helped people in distress in his spare time...this may have been a labor of love for Webb who probably deserved a vacation...but audiences found this historical indulgence a bit disinteresting...so the TV series wasn't long-lived either.] The TV Theme below was originally written for a motion picture by the same name that Jack Webb produced in 1955.
Composers: music by Ray John Heindorf (ASCAP), and lyric by Sammy Cahn (ASCAP) [professional name of Samuel Cohen] Original Publisher: Mark VII Music (ASCAP) 2001 Publisher: Mark VII Ltd. (ASCAP) c/o WB Music Corp. a div. of Warner-Chappell Music, Inc. of Los Angeles, CA Copyright Date: June 30, 1955; EP 90 847. Renewal Date: [not found] Recordings: LP: "This Is Your Life" (1958) Von Dexter and his Orchestra Imperial LP-9051