Joe 90

Annotator Ralph Titterton acknowledges at the outset that the '60s British marionette children's series Joe 90 "was not the commercial success of the [producer] Gerry Anderson series that preceded it," and that may help explain why Reynold da Silva's Silva Screen Records, in coming out with soundtrack versions of such other Anderson series as Thunderbirds, overlooked it for some time. But, like the other series, it employed Barry Gray as composer, and programs do not succeed or fail because of their music. Gray's work, collected here in more than 78 minutes of cues, is perfectly adequate, if not inspired. Gray is an eclectic who has no problem writing generic music for a chase scene or a thrilling climax, but who likes to throw in a lot of musical flavors. His main theme, with a twangy guitar leading the way, is very much of its late-'60s era, but he will also introduce any one of a number of unusual instruments -- banjo, Spanish guitar, accordion -- to change the sound of his music. And he uses quotes from the American and French national anthems as well as "The Volga Boatmen" to set the geography of his scenes. At other times, he will provide music in various styles, from classical to country. This is not great writing, but it no doubt worked well when applied to the adventures of the nine-year-old title character who roamed the world having science fiction/spy adventures. ~ William Ruhlmann

絶好調、大人気、 ジェリー・アンダーソン＋バリー・グレイのSFテレビ・ サントラ、次は、これだ!! 『ジョー90』(1968) テレビ・サウンドトラック 音楽　バリー・グレイ 原案・作　ジェリー・アンダーソン 9歳の天才少年が活躍する奇想天外なSFマリオネー ション。ちょっとサーフ・ロックを思わせるゴキゲンなビート で展開するテーマ、『サンダーバード』的なフレーズ も飛び出すも、オーケストラも基本的には、ポップス 感覚に軽快。もちろん、このコンビのファン、特撮ファン は必携の待望盤。 (C)馬場敏裕