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HBO Sign-Off


JSngry

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I don't know about this one, but a lot of those early HBO sing on / off, were composed and recorded here in Rochester at Jay Studios. They used all local musicians including those from the Rochester Philharmonic.

Ferdinand Jay Smith (He composed the first HBO "Feature Presentation" jingle, which went with the now notorious "HBO in Space" introduction sequence), the producer took song-writing credit for all of those, as he does for his advertising agency..

Big royalty bucks!

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Yeah, whatever. It's an unusually "different" piece of music for what it is, interesting harmonies.

I haven't heard that in a long time- interesting! It's been a long time since the sign-off days!

How 'bout that orchestration, eh?

The harmonic ambiguity from 0:25 - finish is gorgeous...major? minor? sus? just exactly where we landing here...or are we landing anywhere?...very "dissolving", as I guess befits the function.

I remember all kinds of signoffs, but nothing as musically "interesitng" as this.

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To beat this to death, here's another HBO theme from Ferdinand Jay Smith:

HBO

Well, see, that's what I mean, that's well-done, obviously, but also very "corporate". It tells you what you need to know and makes sure that you will know it.

That sign-off is more like a hidden Gary McFarland or Pat Williams stealth job...totally non-corporate...warm, inviting, it lets you go...

If the same guy wrote both, hey, that's some skills right there, some serious craft.

Other contemporaneous corporate sign-offs:

Disney:

Cablevision:

Family: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGAbJGhKDW4...feature=related

Showtime:

no music there...

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Yes, the finish is incredible. I've FWD'd it to several of my music comp buds.

Thanks for sharing and taking the potential heat from the local curmudgeons , Jim.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Don't really want to go there about the other, because I relish when our tastes, interests, etc, diverge, almost as much as as I do when they intersect.

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hmmm....I didn't see HBO in 1979...but here's some from 1982:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdJovzTgB2s...feature=related (kinda vaguely similar, some melodic contours...?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhiggJUT0SQ...feature=related

0:41-0:45, maybe?)

I can hear it in a few of them, but really, as a WTF? piece, that sign-off really stands alone, imo. If it was more variations on a theme, hey, kudos!

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Ok, the sighoff begins w/the minor3-2-1 motif of the main theme, only now its 4-3-2 (if the thing would ever go to that major key...)...that much I got...

The more I listen to this thing, the hipper it gets, listening for all the possible derivations of the main HBO theme motif...good stuff in a highly unlikely place!

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