Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Jerry Goldsmith Themes

[dalesaundersfoot]

Looking at the recent UK DVD releases. This theme was only used in both the start and end credits of 'Jonah and the Whale', and the end credits of 'Time Bomb'.

[veiga44]

Cool theme!!!

[keedee]

I don't mean to knock Goldsmith, but his Voyage theme is a bit tedious. Sawtell's is more interesting melodically with a nice tempo

[myleftnutts]

@keedee Agreed!!!. however i don't think it was ever meant to be the main title theme. just like when Mr.Goldsmith was told by the paramount suits to rewrite the "Star Trek ToS" main title theme by "A.Courage" that theme was best suited for "Star Trek ng". IF u decide that u wan't to hear the 1 main title theme that made "Mr.Goldsmith" a immortal composer go listen to "Chinatown" the main title theme off the soundtrack CD.

[keedee]

@myleftnutts Yes! A tremendous talent!! He left behind an awesome body of work! I was always partial to his 'Planet of the Apes' score.

[wahoo76]

@myleftnutts > however i don't think it was ever meant to be the main title theme...

So it just happened to time out perfectly? Gimme a break! Of course it was meant to be the main title theme! It works perfectly with the slow moving Seaview in the murky depths.

[luridplanet]

I just watched episode "Jonah and the Whale", with Goldsmith's music cues and theme. The music is excellent throughout. I still prefer the original though

[Beamshipcaptain]

I actually love this piece by Jerry Goldsmith for the season 2 opener, it was more dark, and eerie and mysterieous, more evocative of season 2's more science-fictiony-themed episodes.

[joshweiss01]

@Beamshipcaptain It shows that Goldsmith was a genious. As you say it is more moody and dark. Allen probably was impressed by Goldsmiths work on the Man From UNCLE and lured him away to do this work which he apparently didn't like. Paul Sawtell was one of the old school composers; his theme is well done but florid. I prefer Jerrys theme to his, but then (and I will make no friends here) I prefer Goldsmiths S.T. next gen.and movie theme to the original Al Courage S.T. that I found cloyingly sweet

[mikethegent]

@Beamshipcaptain THIS ONE.....would have been perfect with the first season with the black and white episodes.....

[luridplanet]

Not bad. Sounds weird like the outer limits or invaders

[kitchenaut]

Ah well, at least he improved for Star Trek the Motion Picture and Innerspace.

[mavivirgie]

WHY DID THEY CHANGE THE THEME SONG IN THE SECOND YEAR FOR A FEW SHOWS IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE THE FIRST THEME WAS MUCH BETTER A BEAUITFUL SONG

[schs1977]

I must have missed this on FX Network. I loved this show as a kid. I remembering watching this with my Dad. Does anyone remember what night it was on? I'm thinking it was on Sunday night.

[TooleMan87]

@schs1977 Voyage was on Monday night at 7:30 during its first season, 1964-65, in black and white. It then ran on Sunday night a 7:00 for three years, in color. Local stations may have moved it to different times.

[schs1977]

@TooleMan87 - Good to know. Well at least I was 1/2 correct!!

[TooleMan87]

@schs1977 I'd say you were 3/4 correct. ;-)

[jnpies]

@schs1977 Yes, for me, it was Sunday night at 7pm, I think. Someone else mentioned Monday night, but I never viewed it at that time. I remember only Sunday, and every episode was in color, too. A great series !!!

[mavivirgie]

This version sucks why did they change it for a few shows

[wahoo76]

This is a great theme, tho I love the other one, too. On my OST cd, they don't have that "whipping" sound effect, which I could do without.

[TooleMan87]

I wonder if the distortion I hear near the end of the opening theme played any part in the decision to drop this theme and go back to the original. Every video of this show has distortion in that passage.

[thephotoplayer]

I doubt it. Knowing a company as cheap as Fox, they would have left it in, distortion and all. More likely, Allen had a say and stuck with Schefter/Sawtell's "nautical" intro because it fit in with the theme of the show.

[Cindylover1969]

Considering that between '77's "Star Wars" and '80's "The Empire Strikes Back" Williams only did one movie for Fox ("The Fury"), while 1979 was the year Goldsmith scored "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," your sources are *sorely* mistaken. Like most major players, they weren't under contract to ANY studio by that time.

[Cindylover1969]

Yeah, they were under contract (Williams was working at Universal TV before Fox).

"I've never heard John Williams talk about Irwin Allen and his days working on Irwin's shows. I wonder what he'd say."

I recommend Jon Burlingame's book on TV music - he does indeed talk about his days at Fox.

[dafmurray]

Cindylover1969, apparently both Williams and Goldsmith were still under contract at 20th Century Fox by 1979. Ridley Scott wanted the composer who worked on the Duelists to score Alien, but realised there was no hope of that with both Williams and Goldsmith associated with Fox.

[spacepatrolman]

There are people who didnt like irwin allen because he used to burn lizards with cigarettes to make them fight in prehistoric movies.

[Cindylover1969]

Yes, but quite a lot of composers worked on "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (although I'm sure Goldsmith's sole score was tracked as much into the show as the others) . And despite his penchant for changing his show's themes, he basically left William alone...

[TooleMan87]

I've never heard John Williams talk about Irwin Allen and his days working on Irwin's shows. I wonder what he'd say. I'm sure Irwin helped launch William's career.

Incidentally, I saw "Johnny Williams" credited for the music on another show that pre-dated Voyage et al. I think it was a Fox production from the early 60's. I wonder if composers were under contract to studios in those days.

[Cindylover1969]

Irwin Allen always gave Jerry Goldsmith short shrift compared to John Williams (Williams did "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno," Goldsmith did "The Swarm")...

[TooleMan87]

Yes, but Goldsmith's music was used for three seasons of Voyage. Irwin was cheap, no doubt about it, and John (Johnny) Williams was a younger, less well-established composer who probably worked cheaper than Goldsmith. The monetary aspects probably played into IA's decisions to use one composer instead of another more than taste or ability.

[X4RAR]

HI both, TV dave 007 is 100 right I have them both on tape.

Why on earth did FX never show season 3/4?

The FX prints were generally very good as well but the colour pilot was a fuzzy NTSC analogue copy

[tvdave007]

The Goldsmith music worked well as incidental music in the episode, but was strange as a theme.

[TooleMan87]

I agree. And while I like the Goldsmith opening better than the closing theme, but both are way too slow-moving for an action/adventure show like Voyage. The Sawtell theme is upbeat and triumphant, and has the feeling of the sea through the use of strings.

There's probably a good story, lost to the ages, about how the Sawtell theme returned after one or two episodes. As a 10-year-old, I was overjoyed that Voyage was back for a second season in 1965, but when I heard that music, my heart sank.

[TooleMan87]

(Pun intended)

[TwinbeeUK]

Well said, The Sawtell theme is an amazing piece of music in its own right, despite the length. Know of any other classics produced by Sawtell?

[tvdave007]

This theme was not used when Channel 4 in the UK ran the entire series in 1990/91. The theme did crop up however, when FX Channel started on Sky in 2003/04 and ran about 50 episodes. They also showed Eleven Hours To Zero In Colour, where the C4 showing was in B/W.

[TooleMan87]

I'll have to pull out my Channel 4 copies to see if that's true. But the Goldsmith themes were used as described during the original run of the series in 1965 on ABC in the US. I remember being shocked and disappointed on the first viewing of "Jonah and the Whale" (such things had tremendous gravity to a 10-year-old).