"I Spy" a Set of Soundtrack Reissues from FSM

“I Spy” a Set of Soundtrack Reissues from FSM

February 24, 2011 By Mike Duquette — No Comments

Film Score Monthly’s latest release is a nice reissue of a pair of LPs from the classic comedy I Spy.

The show, riding high on a wave of ’60s spy mania thanks to the likes of James Bond, was a deft blend of action and comedy, featuring a groundbreaking pair of actors as secret agents: Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. It was the first major role for a black actor on television, and through all their jet-setting adventures, Cosby’s race was smartly never even acknowledged, let alone played for laughs.

Earle Hagen, known for providing music for other shows produced by the show’s executive producer, Sheldon Leonard (including the iconic, whistled theme to The Andy Griffith Show) recorded an ambitious body of music used during the show’s three-season run. When the show got its own soundtrack releases, though (an album apiece on Warner Bros. and Capitol), Hagen re-recorded his music with many of the same players used for the show itself.

In 2002, FSM released the first soundtrack CD of I Spy, but utilized the original recordings from the show, as only one LP was up for licensing. Now, in a bold, cross-licensing set, both LPs have been included on one CD, which will not be pressed in limited quantities. Film music historian Jon Burlingame contributes new liner notes alongside reproductions of the original notes (written by Cosby himself for the second album).

Go to FSM’s site to order your copy and hit the jump for the full track list.

Earle Hagen, et al., I Spy, Vol. 2 – The LPs 1966-1968 (Film Score Monthly Vol. 14, No. 3, 2011)

I Spy
Tatia
Hi Yo Scotty
Angel
Away We Go to Tokyo
Rickshaw Ride
Away We Go to Mexico
Ah So! *
The International Set
Another Kind of Blues
Fiesta del Sol
The Wonderfulness of You *
Made in Hong Kong
I Spy
Over the Wall
Montezuma’s Revenge
Islands in the Sea
The Golden Age
The Voice in the Wind **
To Florence with Love *
Sophia
Rots of Ruck
There’s No Escape
Domingo
The International Set

Tracks 1-13 released as Warner Bros. LP WS-1637, 1966. Tracks 14-25 released as Capitol LP ST-2839, 1967.
* denotes music composed by Hugo Friedhofer. ** denotes music composed by Earle Hagen and Gene Lees.

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Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.