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Think “Pink!” Once again, it’s the anniversary of Henry Mancini’s birth.
Like any great film composer, Mancini always knew just how to set the tone – as demonstrated at the links below.
Musical hook for grappling hook
Perambulating with pachyderms
Sunday night by flashlight
Early morning elegance
Gunning for Blake Edwards
“CBS Sunday Morning” salute (featuring John Williams)
Mancini medley led by the Master
Gone, but not forgotten. Thanks, Hank. You helped make it a great age.
I had the good fortune to see Mancini conduct the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra 2-3 times in the early 1970s at the now-defunct summertime Mississippi River Festival. What a showman he was! Highlights that I remember include the Peter Gunn theme, the Pink Panther theme, the Baby Elephant Walk, They’re Off! from The Great Race, and his own arrangement of Nino Rota’s Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet with him at the piano. On one particularly hot evening, he removed his white jacket after the first number and said “All right, let’s get to work!” He ended every concert, appropriately enough, with Moon River. The audience loved him! And he gave us all very special memories.
Mather Pfeiffenberger He used to come to the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia, but I never saw him. Silly me.
I was a kid unknowingly listening to big people music. Then in the late 70’s I was a bit older watching Peter Sellers as the inspector and thinking……..that music sounds familiar.Media: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1491461899234373&set=p.1491461899234373&type=3
Ah! Another favorite! I should have added that. “The Inspector,” the Saturday morning cartoon, revives Mancini’s previously underutilized theme from “A Shot in the Dark.” This guy really knew how to write a hip earworm, and while evocative of a certain era, it never really goes out of style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RC_ZWU18Jg
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