We have had a few threads about individual releases/film scores, but I thought I would start a thread where we could talk about it all.
To get things started, does anyone have the Futuremusik or Moonflowers and Miniskirts comps? I have both. The Moonflowers and Miniskirts is great and has a that pop,funk sound right out of the 1960's and 1970's (the back cover of the cd digipack says as much). Futuremusick has lots of cues from his albums Kriminal Filmusik and Peter Thomas Film Musik. My favorite is the 2 cd set of music from the Jerry Cotton series; 100% Cotton Great 60's action jazz. His westerns are also very good.
Thomas was one of the best known film composers in Germany during the 60s & 70s. He is probably best known for the scores he did for the immensely popular (at least in Germany) series of Edgar Wallace crime films that were a staple of German cinema (and later TV) at that time. He usally wrote some cool jazz-oriented piece for the main title sequence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xywmtcqvJ-g (Zimmer 13 - entire movie - the main title starts after a short pre-credit sequence where you can a hear a typical example of his suspense movies)
But if you lsiten to these examples you might realize what problem I have with him as a film composer. Stylistically these films belong to the Film Noir genre. An American counterpart would be something like Farewell My Lovely with Dick Powell (admittedly not quite as good but still very entertaining). But the one thing you would never get from Thomas is dark and brooding. These scores feel more suited to a comedy than a thriller (even though there is a lot of comic relief in these films). As good as he is with this kind of easy listening music his talent did not lie in dramatic scoring. When called upon to do just that you generally got something rather mediocre.
While there are a few nice tracks on the CD it's a disappointing score especially compared to Ernest Gold's terrific score for the Sam Packinpah directed first film.
That being said anyone growing up during the 60s & 70s in Germany grew up with Peter Thomas music. The music might not cut it as dramatic scoring but it is an indelible part of the soundscape of your youth. The music is part of what makes the charm of these old movies.
To conclude here is his most famous piece of music for the the 7-part TV series Raumpatrouille (Space Patrol) which has cult status in our country. It's cheesy, not particularly well written, has laughable sets and effects, a totally inappropriate music score (think Star Wars with a Neal Hefti score) - and it is absolutely wonderful.
Thomas was one of the best known film composers in Germany during the 60s & 70s...
Thank you for your post.
I became familiar with his music only in the 1990s via CDs and LPs, so I never heard any of this within the context of the films.
The one exception to this is "Chariots of the Gods," which I saw in the theatre and which I subsequently got on LP and (expanded) CD. What do you think of this? It contains a lot more atmospheric music than what you typically get on a Peter Thomas record.
What do you think of his music separated from the films? I find it to fascinating instrumental pop music. "Bolero on the Moon Rocks" sounds like nothing else I've ever heard.
And I would love to see a Star Trek episode scored by Neil Hefti!
Peter Thomas forms one of my first "conscious" film music memories. It was CHARIOTS OF THE GODS, the one Onya mentions above. It was a supporting feature to something I saw on the big screen way back in about... 1971? Anyway, the bold theme stuck with me throughout the years (although I never sought out any of his soundtrack work) and - lo and behold - through the wonderful SF invention wot be "U-Toob", I just heard it again for the first time in 43 years, and yes, it was as I'd remembered it!
Peter Thomas forms one of my first "conscious" film music memories. It was CHARIOTS OF THE GODS, the one Onya mentions above. It was a supporting feature to something I saw on the big screen way back in about... 1971? Anyway, the bold theme stuck with me throughout the years (although I never sought out any of his soundtrack work) and - lo and behold - through the wonderful SF invention wot be "U-Toob", I just heard it again for the first time in 43 years, and yes, it was as I'd remembered it!
All I have is the album Space Patrol, soundtrack to what appears to be a German mini-series.
I like it well enough- all very 60s, space-age, bachelor pad music.
I'm guessing that's the German tv series, Raumpatrouille – Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffes Orion (translation: Space Patrol – The Fantastic Adventures of the Spaceship Orion), also known as Raumpatrouille Orion, and Space Patrol Orion. It seems only seven episodes were planned.
The series is available in Germany and the the episodes are on youtube.
This thread reminded me of how much I've enjoyed some of Peter Thomas' work on Miniskirts and Moonflowers and Warp Back to Earth 66/99. (In part because Stereolab did a cover of his work.)
So I was just giving Chariots of the Gods a spin - and suddenly realized that the theme is almost identical to Lee Holdridge's Beastmaster! (They go different places, and one's funkier and the other is epicer, but I'd swear to god, or at least the chariots of the gods, that I was listening to the same soundtrack if I didn't know better.)
Peter Thomas - Chariots of the Gods (theme starts at :27)
Lee Holdridge - The Beastmaster
Play 'em both at the same time if you don't believe me - which I just did - it was cool, kind of Peter Thomas Overdrive!
