There was a late night local show on Channel 2 here in Tulsa called 'Fantastic Theater'. It was a vehicle for showing old horror movies. The host was Peter Hardt (actually, Oktoberfest's Josef Hardt). He had an authentic German accent. He would introduce the movie and provide spooky commentary at commercial breaks. Anyone remember that? The thing that is driving me crazy is the music. It was all early synthesizer, spiced up with odd bubbling and clicking sounds. Just hearing it was frightening. What was it? I haven't succeeded in finding out. I called Channel 2, but no one there knew. A friend of mine knows Josef Hardt himself, but he didn't know either. I thought I once heard that it was called 'Quiet Village' by Les Baxter, but that is actually classic 'Exotica' music of the late fifties, with jungle sounds and percussion, part of the 'patio culture' of the time. Does anyone have any memory of this?
You mean someone else watched that? (Unless I'm thinking of something else, that was how I spent my late Saturday nights while I was growing up in Tulsa -- in the early 1960s.) I wasn't yet ten years old, and a lot of the movies were what would be prime fodder these days for MST3K, but for me at least, the die was cast on those late Saturday nights glued to the tube watching KVOO's cheesy sci-fi movie of the week. (Now, at the end of the millennium, with the Sci-Fi Channel, these are good times. :-) I remember bits and pieces of the music, and I'd appreciate it if anyone else could track down a cite for it. I haven't heard it used anywhere but on Fantastic Theater -- and that was 35 years ago... --PLH, talk about yer basic blast from the past
How interesting! I don't remember that show, when was it on? I do remember the old Zeppa Pop Mazoti (or however you spell it) and a few others that weren't so popular. I could really get into this old local media trivia stuff! Here's a weird request... back when I was a little kid (late 60's & early 70's) I have very fond memories of sitting at my grandpa's house and watching the 10:00 pm news on Channel 6 with Clayton Vaughn and the puppet, King Lionel. Anyway, during the closing credits they showed video of the fountains at Southroads Mall and the old Southland mall and there was some kind of music playing in the background. I can't even remember how it goes but I've always remembered that it made me feel very comfortable and safe and reminded me of my grandfather. Well, that's enough of me crawling into my memories (ha ha) Does anybody else remember these things?
Well, Tim, as it happens, I actually appeared on the "The Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting" on Channel 6 in 1971. Mazeppa (now Hollywood character actor Gailard Sartain) was on live that evening, as he tirelessly reminded the viewers. The repetition finally penetrated the rapidly dimming consciousnesses of me and a couple of friends. We conceived the bold plan of driving down to the studio. When we arrived, Mazeppa was out at his van having a smoke (don't ask). He waved us in to be the focus of a skit conceived on the spot. I'm sorry to report that I can't remember the setup, but the punchline spoken by us was "We didn't throw any snowballs". Probably the actual punchline was a slow pan of our less-than-alert visages. At least my dad and brother at home watching thought so.
I don't remember the music you mentioned, but I do have a postcard of Lee Woodward and King Lionel. You've given me the idea to post some of this stuff I have on the internet. If and when I do, I will put the URL out here.
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