Five For Friday: Some More TV-Related Instrumentals

I have five TV-related insrumentals I wanted to share with you today. One is a theme song from a show, the other four were used in commercials in the ’60’s.

1. Alan Hawkshaw, "Blarney’s Stoned": This was used as the theme song for the BBC program Dave Allen At Large. Allen was an Irish comedian who insisted that his shows not be issued on DVD after his death. Can’t imagine why: they were hilarious.

2. The Brass Ring, "The Disadvantages of You": I had forgotten about this one. This was used as the song that played during ads for Benson & Hedges cigarettes. The disadvantage was that the cigarettes were so long they were frequently broken by the smoker. The Brass Ring was a group of studio musicians led by saxophonist Phil Bodner, similar to bands such as The Tijuana Brass and other "Now Sound" instrumental pop groups from the ’60’s.

3. The T-Bones, "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In)": This was the music for commercials for Alka-Seltzer in the early-to-mid ’60’s. The studio recordings were done by The Wrecking Crew, the elite studio musicians, including Glen Campbell, Tommy Tedesco, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, and Plas Johnson. Eventually permanent members were chosen for the group, and three members, Danny Hamilton, Joe Frank Carollo, and Tommy Reynolds, eventually formed a group that had a couple of hits during the ’70’s.

4. Bob Crewe Generation, "Music To Watch Girls By": This was originally composed by Sid Ramin for a series of Diet Pepsi commercials in the mid-’60’s. Crewe, who had worked with Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons, had his own record label, DynoGroove Records, and worked with artists such as Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, ? & The Mysterians, and Lesley Gore.

5. Rossini: William Tell Overture, Final: A very familiar tune, this was used as the theme for both the TV and radio versions of The Lone Ranger, but was also used in the ’60’s in advertisements for Lark cigarettes and Jeno’s Pizza Rolls.

The "New Sound"… hmmm…

That’s Five For Friday for July 30, 2021.