Search - Various Artists :: Big Sounds: Ember Soundtracks And Themes

Big Sound takes a look at the themes and soundtrack music released by the British independent label Ember in the 60s and 70s. In the late 50s music business entrepreneur Jeffrey Kruger partnered with Danziger Productions to provide them with music for the many TV and cinema productions emanating from their Elstree studios. Kruger in turn commissioned talented musicians like Tony Crombie and Bill Le Sage to provide compositions. When Kruger founded Ember in 1960, he started releasing some of this material, both for retail consumption and in the Ember Mood Music Library series targeted at production companies. Ember issued albums dedicated to the TV series International Detective and Man From Interpol, showcasing the compositional talents of Edwin Astley (best known for The Saint themes) and Tony Crombie respectively. Other TV music appeared on singles, including Richard The Lionheart by the Ronnie Howard Orchestra, and Armando Sciascia s themes for two Granada series, The Liars and The World Tomorrow. A 1966 Ember LP included Bill Le Sage s theme for The Cheaters and a Tony Crombie composition for the film The Spider s Web. The appointment of John Barry as associate producer and head of A&R brought the film soundtracks to the action movie Zulu and drama Four In The Morning to Ember, for whom Barry also recorded hit single versions of two James Bond themes, 007 and From Russia With Love . Big Sound also contains generous selections from the soundtracks to the 1967 film The Penthouse (featuring original music by John Hawksworth, rounded out with two Mark Wirtz recordings) and the 1971 film You Can t Have Everything (aka Cactus In The Snow) featuring music by Joe Parnello and Rudy Durand.