Back when I was a tyke, I loved to watch the old movies.  And, thankfully, living in New York, there were  a plethora of stations.  Some dedicated their programs to sitcoms, others to quiz/gift shows, some to local spots, and some to movies.

Two local stations (OK, they really were national stations) managed to convince the movie studios that offering old movies on TV would not dilute the value of their films.  So they were able to share wonderful movies with an appreciative audience.

Sometime around 6 PM, the first program aired was “The Early Show”.  That was a CBS event (to the best of my memory).  They then switched to conventional TV fare.  So, I jumped to WOR-TV (owned by General Tire- and then became RKO), so that around 9, I could be mesmerized by  “The Million Dollar Movie”.  Around 11 or so, we could watch “The Late Show”.  And, then, around 1ish in the morning, we had “The Late Late Show”.   (Then the station swent off the air, broadcasting a pattern (I seem to recall it was an Indian on what appeared to be a 78 rpm record.)

Each of these movie programs had their own theme song. At the time, I never knew the names of them.  And, I don’t recall all the theme songs, but I do recall that that the 9 PM slot (The Million Dollar Movie) used “Tara’s Theme” with “The Syncopated Clock (repeated) introducing the 11ish movie [The Late Show].  I also believe that it was “The Typewriter” that heralded the Late Late Show.  The CBS music choices were made by the program manager of the network (Richard Doan).  Since RKO owned “Gone with the Wind”, Tara’s Theme was the easy choice.

I was young and had never seen “Gone with the Wind”, so I had no of its association with Tara’s Theme.  But, I loved the sound of it.  As well as the Syncopated Clock and The Typewriter.

Max Steiner, the composer of Tara’s Theme, became known as the “father of film music”, having written some 300 theme songs for RKO and Warner film studios.  But, believe it or not, I am far more interested in the other two musical themes.

Nope. These tunes were composed by Leroy Anderson.  Leroy Anderson was a Cambridge (MA) resident  that served as army intelligence officer (drafted in 1942) in the Second World War and then became a composer.   And, his music was the type that Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops favored.  (When I was attending grad school in Cambridge, I routinely devoured the Boston Pops performances.)  As a matter of fact, it was Fiedler who convinced Anderson to devote his work to such music.  And, Anderson often arranged other music for the Boston Pops.

 

But, the Syncopated Clock was written by Anderson when he was assigned to the Pentagon (and living in Arlington VA). It premiered in Boston before the end of the war (28 May 1945).  He wrote a slew of other songs and passed away in 1975.

.By the 1960s, I was studying jazz guitar.  And, one of the first books I was given to perfect my technique was “The Music of Leroy Anderson”.  Who knew this was the composer of the music that had entertained me for years before I learned to play jazz guitar.

I learned how to play each of Leroy Anderson’s tunes.  From “The Typewriter” to “The Syncopated Clock”,   And, every time I played those tunes, I recalled the wonderful movies I enjoyed night after night, long before I knew a thing about the composer.

(By the way, my father never learned how to type correctly.  He was a two fingered maestro.  But, he could keep up with “The Typewriter”.  I am thankful that I taught myself how to type- using a 2X6 board with the keys painted on it.  It’s why I use a heavy hand to this day- since there was no give on the board.)

Here’s to you, Leroy!  Thanks for decades of pleasure.