Two for Tuesday: Hoyt Curtin

Two for Tuesday 1 Minute

Hoyt Curtin was a composer and the primary music director for Hanna-Barbera Studios from 1957-1965 and 1972 until his retirement in 1986. He wrote much of the stock music heard during the cartoons, as well as several theme songs during that time, among them….

“Meet The Flintstones” from The Flintstones.

The theme song from Top Cat.

And the theme song from Jonny Quest.

And you can add theme songs for Josie and The Pussycats, The Jetsons, Super Friends, The Smurfs and The New Scooby-Doo Movies. A couple of his tunes were part of the soundtrack for Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space, though he didn’t like to remember them. He scored a number of movies, including 1979’s C. H. O. M. P. S.. He died in 2000 at the age of 78.

Hoyt Curtin, your Two For Tuesday, September 24, 2019.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

25 thoughts on “Two for Tuesday: Hoyt Curtin”

  1. Pingback: The “Geez, October Already?” Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  2. I find it amazing that I’ve listened to these songs for years and didn’t have a clue who wrote them. Wow, such a talent and appears he had a very successful career.

    Like

  3. I loved the Flintstones song (all of those really) – I think he had very creative bones! 😉 Nice choice for the 2 for Tuesday. PS – I think he’s a better jingle writer than Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men ;-)!

    Like

    1. Hanna and Barbera heard about Curtin when he was a jingle writer for Schlitz, “The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous.” I would certainly hope he was a better jingle writer than Charlie Harper.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. I remember Flintstones and Top Cat but didn’t watch Johnny Quest. We have the “Flintstone House” down the road from us. Controversy over whether or not the owner can put dinosaur statues out in front. The neighbors say it is too distracting.

    Like

    1. Jonny Quest wasn’t on that long (less than a season), and we never watched it, either. How big are these statues your neighbor wants to put outside? I mean, I can understand lifesize…

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Who doesn’t love the Flintstones. I remember Top Cat but not by much and would like to see some more. I need to YouTube the show. Love the Jetsons and Superfriends but never watched Johnny Quest. I don’t blame him for not wanting to be known for Plan 9

    Like

    1. I think more people missed Jonny Quest than saw it. We never watched it.

      Top Cat was on for a couple of years, then disappeared until Ted Turner bought Hanna-Barbera (they were part of MGM) and put all the H-B cartoons on Cartoon Network, and even then Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons etc. are on Boomerang, a premium cable network that we didn’t get. Too bad, because those are the cartoons I want to see…

      Like

  7. Just the Flintstones theme alone is enough for anyone’s career…He had to make a fortune off of that one. I like the others to… but The Flintstones never go away.

    Like

    1. “The Flintstones” was definitely the most successful of any of the shows he wrote themes for. How much money he made off of it is anyone’s guess, but I’m sure he managed quite a comfortable life after that. The thing that impresseds me the most is how dedicated he and the other theme-writers were to their craft. No matter how successful any of their themes were, they just kept their heads down and kept at it. There’s a lesson there somewhere…

      Liked by 1 person

      1. In the long run their songs are just as much in the fabric of our generations than hit songs on the radio…just like the Gilligan’s Island theme… everyone knows them.

        Like

        1. And yet, a lot of people don’t think of them as “music.” Some have been successfully turned into hits (“Where Everybody Knows Your Name” from Cheers, the theme from “SWAT,” etc) but by and large they aren’t long enough to qualify in a lot of people’s heads. The whole point of this series is to bring the composers to the forefront.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Also Welcome Back Kotter…it became number one.
            Oh I always have because like regular songs on the radio they take me back to a place and time.

            Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.