Tag Archives: The Invaders

The Invaders

For our second volume of music from classic Quinn Martin television shows, we chose The Invaders, the short-lived (two seasons, 1967-68) science-fiction series that starred Roy Thinnes as an architect who stumbles upon an alien invasion of Earth and then has endless trouble convincing anyone of his story. Dominic Frontiere wrote the theme and three scores, which occupy the first of our two discs. The second disc consists of suites from all of the other scored shows, including music by Duane Tatro, Richard Markowitz, Irving Gertz and Sidney Cutner. The colorful 20-page booklet was designed by Dan Goldwasser (who also designed this website for me). This was all possible because The Film Music Society, a vital film-music preservation organization, is the home of an estimated 500 reels of QM music, saved when the company went out business back in the early 1980s.

Dominic Frontiere dead at 86

We got the sad news about Dominic Frontiere’s death through an offbeat source: a paid death notice that appeared in the Los Angeles Times. It took an entire day (including calling every funeral home in the Santa Fe area) to confirm the news, and in that time I assembled an obituary that covered the high points of his long career. Frontiere composed several classic themes of 1960s TV — including The Outer Limits, 12 O’Clock High, The Flying Nun, Branded, The Invaders, and The Rat Patrol — as well as such memorable movie scores as Hang ‘Em High and The Stunt Man. He won an Emmy and a Golden Globe and even his forgotten shows had great themes (I especially love The Immortal, Search and his miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors). Here is the obituary I wrote for Variety.

Hosting AYS’s Goldsmith concert

JGAYSTZonecoverI was delighted to be asked to moderate a panel, and host a concert, devoted to the music of Jerry Goldsmith. The American Youth Symphony has launched a three-year exploration of Goldsmith’s music, debuting new suites and examining his impact on film music via discussions with friends and colleagues. The afternoon symposium was highlighted by an amazing, live-to-picture re-creation of Goldsmith’s famous Twilight Zone score “The Invaders.” I invited five experts to talk about Jerry and his early years in TV. David Newman conducted new suites from Planet of the Apes, The Sand Pebbles and A Patch of Blue during the evening concert. The Film Music Society sponsored the symposium and published a piece about Jerry and Twilight Zone for attendees. An overview is here.