TCM Names "Star Wars," "Hard Day's Night" Among Film's Most Influential Soundtracks


Use Article Email Facebook Digg Twitter Buzz Up! Share
January 28, 2010 11:14 a.m. EST

Topics: Movies, Arts, Culture and Entertainment, Music
Anthony Jones - Celebrity News Service Reporter

Los Angeles, CA, United States (CNS) - With it being awards season and the Grammys taking place on Sunday, Turner Classic Movies has made a list of the 15 most ground-breaking and influential film soundtracks.

The list includes some of the most unforgettable music scores to appear in film. The earliest, Max Steiner's career-establishing work for 1933's "King Kong." The last groundbreaking soundtrack according to TCM is 1977's "Star Wars" soundtrack by John Williams. You can start humming that now.

Appearing twice on the list is Bernard Herrman for 1951's "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and his score for 1960's "Psycho," whose screeching violins became as iconic as Hitchcock himself.

A few major pop acts are credited with some of the most influential soundtracks as well, including The Beatles' "Hard Day's Night," Isaac Hayes' "Shaft" score, and the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack by The BeeGees.

"It is nearly impossible to think of certain films without remembering their music scores. Casablanca, Laura, An Affair to Remember, The Magnificent Seven - the list is endless," said TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne. "Our list celebrates the most memorable and groundbreaking soundtracks, the ones which took the art of film music to new levels and made the most lasting impact on the world of movies."

This year's Grammy nominations includes nod for the soundtracks from "Twilight," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and Disney/Pixar's "Up," among others.

TCM's 15 Most Influential Movie Soundtracks:

King Kong (1933) - Composer: Max Steiner

Alexander Nevsky (1938) - Composer: Sergei Prokofiev

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - Composer: Bernard Herrmann

Blackboard Jungle (1955) - Music Adaptor: Charles Wolcott

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) - Composer: Elmer Bernstein

Psycho (1960) - Composer: Bernard Herrmann

A Hard Day's Night (1964) - Musical Director: George Martin; Songs: John Lennon, Paul McCartney

Goldfinger (1964) - Composer: John Barry

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Composer: Ennio Morricone

The Graduate (1967) - Composer: Dave Grusin; Songs: Paul Simon

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Musical Consultant: Patrick Moore; Music Editor: Frank J. Urioste

Shaft (1971) - Composers: Isaac Hayes and J.J. Johnson

American Graffiti (1973) - Music Coordinator: Karin Green

Saturday Night Fever (1977) - Composers: Barry, Maurice & Robin Gibb and David Shire

Star Wars (1977) - Composer: John Williams


Copyright © 2003 - 2010 AHN - All rights reserved.
Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.
License real time content for your website, business, digital signage network or publication.

[ Close ]

When publishing articles from AHN we require that you follow several simple rules and that you abide by our Terms and Conditions.


You are free:

  • To use and display the provided article text on a website or blog.

Under the following conditions:

  • You must display and attribute the article in the manner specified by AHN (but not in any way that suggests that we endorse you or your use of the work).
  • You may not remove ads, logos or tracking information from the article.
  • You may display the article on a website, but you may not use the article for any other commercial purposes.
  • You may not alter, rewrite, transform, or build upon the article.
  • You may only use provided the javascript code to request the article from our systems.

Copy and paste the following into your blog entry or the HTML on your page.
It will automatically deliver the article as the page loads.

Need more news? visit FeedSyndicate for all of your content needs

This is a BETA service and subject to change or cancellation.