Racket Squad (crime drama)
(Syndicated, 1950;
CBS Primetime, 1951 - 1953;
Syndicated)
Opening Theme 1: "Racket Squad Main
Title"
[aka: "Racket Squad Theme";
Papers in the composer's estate including cue sheets and a
license agreement with "Showcase Productions" at Hal Roach
studios, all verify that Alexander Laszlo supplied music
for the first nine (9) episodes of "Racket Squad" including
the Racket Squad "Main Title" opening music; this would have
been during the time it was first syndicated in 1950, before
being picked up by the CBS network; Even though Laszlo's opening
cue with it's strong three-note statement was heard later, it was
listed on cue sheets attributed to David Gordon's pseudonym
Melvyn Lenard, and later to Leon Klatzkin music editor; it's
probable that this mistake was not caught in time for credit
on subsequent cue sheets, but ASCAP eventually corrected it;
Researcher Paul Mandell found a cue sheet listing the Laszlo
MT as only :08 seconds, which would have been only enough time
for two statements of the opening three-note motif; So it's
probable that this cue from Laszlo was edited onto another
cue from a different source for the longer Main Title visual
sequence that was aired;
In contrast to Laszlo's usual practice, this cue does not
have a "Structural Music" library number, so apparently this
recognizable three-note figure was "retired" so it was not
available via his library for other productions;
Whatever this cue was, it may have originated in a pre-1945
B-picture scored by Laszlo. Two possibilities are scores from:
"The Glass Alibi" (Republic) and "Follow That Woman" (Paramount
Studios) from which other interior cues licensed to "Racket Squad"
were derived...or even from one of the "Charlie Chan" movies that
Laszlo scored during the same period;
A total of only six cues were licensed by Laszlo for the series
first nine shows. The 5 other cues which were part of the same
license to "Showcase Prod." for Racket Squad were only used as
interior cues for episode scoring; they were:
1. "Chula" [aka: "Mexican Tango"]
from "Structural Music" Vol. 3 # 5x14
2. "Explanation" from "Structural Music" Vol. 4 #16x26
3. "In Angry Mood" from "Structural Music" Vol. 9 #10x20
4. "Serious Dialogue" from "Structural Music" Vol. 15 #16x27
5. "No Escape From Fate" from "Structural Music" Vol. 15 #16x28
Composer: Alexander Laszlo (ASCAP)
[professional name of Sandor Totis]
Original Publisher: Guild Publications (ASCAP)
1997 Publisher: The Regents of the University of California
of Oakland, CA, on behalf of [o/b/o]
Alexander Publications (ASCAP)
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
Closing Theme 2: "Parade Of The
Chessmen"
[The first publisher of this work was David Gordon's Marlen
Music Company, which may be one reason Gordon's pseudonym
Melvyn Lenard was listed at one time on cue sheets as composer
of the THEME; After this march became so popular that Gordon
published band and organ sheet music of it, he credited the
actual composer -- the tireless workhorse Joe Mullendore]
Composer: Joseph ("Joe") Mullendore (ASCAP/BMI)
Original Publisher: Marlen Music Company (ASCAP)
1997 Publisher: Gordon Music Company, Inc. (ASCAP)
Creation Date: 1955, in folio book from Gordon Music
Copyright Date: March 29, 1955; EP 88 432.
Renewal Date: Sep. 30, 1983; RE 177 488.
Recordings:
From the MUTEL music library
[original version]
78rpm reference disks in the Capitol "Q" Series library
Q-12: cut 3: Theme No. 6 - LONG VERS.(Dramatic-March)
Q-3: cut 1: Theme No. 6 - OPENING (Dramatic-March)
Q-3: cut 2: Theme No. 6 - CLOSING (Dramatic-March)
LP - "Impact" (1959)
RCA-Victor LPM/LSP-2042
by Buddy Morrow and his orchestra, with
arrangements by Ray Martin
Opening Theme(s) 3: "Racket Squad Main Title"
[aka: "Delusions" in the MUTEL Music Service library]
[Author Paul Mandell of Brooklyn, NY, has researched the
ASCAP Cue sheets filed with early and later episodes of this
series;
The first 7 episodes list Alexander Laszlo as composer of
the :08 second opening part of the Theme #1 (above.) Later
episodes have three music cues used during the opening --
(:18), (:05), and (:05) seconds -- all with the same title,
crediting "Melvyn Lenard" as the composer. This name was a
pseudonym for publisher David Gordon, whose Gordon Music
Company published some of MUTEL's music under the name
Marlen Music. Later, Leon Klatzkin's name was substituted
in the ASCAP repertoire database. Klatzkin was the music
editor for David Chudnow's MUTEL Music Service.
Paul Mandell says the original MUTEL library title was
"Delusions". Mandell says he has compared the later episode
Theme(s) 3 with the Opening Theme 1, written by Laszlo, and
has found it to be the identical music.
The probable explanation is that this cue was edited into
smaller pieces used during the later season opening. So the
psuedonym "Melvyn Lenard" was used for MUTEL to collect ASCAP
royalties during later seasons of the series until this mistake
was rectified;
This researcher did an exhaustive search of both Laszlo's
"Structural Music" manuscripts, or business files in the Laszlo
estate; and did not locate a cross-reference to any cue in
Laszlo's "Structural Music" library which he used for re-cycling
cues, so it may have been retired after its use on Racket Squad]
Composer: originally credited to Melvyn Lenard (ASCAP)
[pseudonym of publisher David Marvin Gordon], and
later credited to Leon Klatzkin (ASCAP)
Original Publisher: Marlen Music Co. (ASCAP)
1997 Publisher: Bourne Company (ASCAP)
of New York, NY
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
From the MUTEL Music library
[original version]
78rpm transcriptions in the Capitol "Q" Series library
Q-171: cut 3: THEME No. 428 - OPENING (Mystery)
Q-171: cut 4: THEME No. 428 - CLOSING (Mystery)
Q-190: cut 2: MOOD No. 428 (Mystery)
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