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La-La Land’s latest batch of archival soundtracks celebrate a prolific television composer of the ’60s and an orchestral film score from recently deceased pioneer of electronic music.

In the first season of Netflix’s cult sketch comedy series I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, an oafish party guest (played with boorish perfection by Tim Heidecker) aggravates some new friends during a game in which people try to guess famous names out of a hat; all of his selections are mostly made-up “obscure” jazz musicians. But one fact, mentioned as an aside, is 100% real: composer Jack Marshall did write the recognizable theme for the semi-scary sitcom The Munsters – and LLL and Universal Studios have partnered to unleash a trove of Marshall’s scores for it and several other Universal/Revue-produced series, part of the studio’s ongoing multi-label Film Music Classics Collection.

On The Munsters – which ironically aired on CBS while the similar The Addams Family was part of ABC’s prime-time line-up – a typical American family attempted to fit in with the rest of suburbia. Well, maybe not “typical”: good-natured dad Herman Munster (Fred Gwynne) was a hulking Frankenstein’s monster, his wife Lily (Yvonne de Carlo) and father-in-law Grandpa (Al Lewis) were vampires, and their son Eddie (Butch Patrick) a budding werewolf. (Only niece Marilyn, played by Beverly Owen and Pat Priest, looked human.) Their antics at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, from monsters kept as pets to spooky hearses in the driveway, were accompanied by Marshall’s upbeat score, including that swingin’ theme song that was interpolated into Fall Out Boy’s 2015 Top 40 hit “Uma Thurman.”

La-La Land and Universal had previously released Marshall’s last Munsters work – the score to the 1966 film Munster, Go Home!; this 2CD set, produced, edited and mastered by Mike Matessino, includes 79 minutes of score from the series as well as a disc of Marshall’s work on an assortment of TV Westerns from the ’50s and ’60s – all from original elements in the studio’s vault. Matessino and Jon Burlingame have co-written notes, included in a package designed by Jim Titus. This set is limited to 2000 copies and should hopefully (if fan interest persists) open the door for more great television scoring work from this era.

Next, it’s from the dusty halls of Mockingbird Lane to the chilling moors of England for a unique adaptation of Emily Brontë’s immortal novel Wuthering Heights. This 1992 picture was notable for its inclusion of the complete story – including the “second generation” ending usually left out of most film versions – as well as introducing moviegoers to British actor Ralph Fiennes in his film debut as Heathcliff.

Tasked with the music was Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Yellow Magic Orchestra mastermind who’d succeeded as a film composer in the ’80s with works like Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and The Last Emperor. A thrilling, symphonic work, Sakamoto’s score is available from La-La Land for the first time since its original release in Japan; it features five previously unreleased bonus tracks and serves as a fitting tribute to the renowned musician, who lost his near-decade long battle with cancer less than three months ago. The reissue is produced and art directed by Dan Goldwasser, with mastering by Doug Schwartz and new liner notes by John Takis; it’s limited to 1000 copies.

Both releases are available to order now from the label.

The Munsters: Television Music of Jack Marshall (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1617, 2023)

Disc 1: The Munsters Season 1 (1964-1965) (1-17) and Season 2 (1965-1966) (18-34)

1. The Munsters Main Title (Season 1)
2. Episode Credits (Season 1)
3. Munster Masquerade
4. My Fair Munster
5. Pike’s Pique
6. Low-Cal Munster
7. Low-Cal TV Music
8. Knock Wood, Here Comes Charlie
9. The Midnight Ride of Herman Munster
10. Family Portrait
11. Grandpa Leaves Home
12. Grandpa’s Call of the Wild
13. Wild Radio Music
14. All-Star Munster
15. Eddie’s Nickname
16. Country Club Munsters
17. The Munsters End Title (Season 1)
18. The Munsters Main Title (Season 2)
19. Episode Credits (Season 2)
20. Herman’s Child Psychology
21. Herman, The Master Spy
22. Scuba Dive Radio
23. Bronco-Bustin’ Munster
24. Herman Munster, Shutterbug
25. Happy 100th Anniversary
26. Operation Herman
27. Lily’s Star Boarder
28. John Doe Munster
29. A Man for Marilyn
30. Herman’s Driving Test
31. Will Success Spoil Herman Munster?
32. Herman Picks a Winner
33. Herman the Tire Kicker
34. The Munsters End Title (Season 2)

Disc 2: The Deputy Season 1 (1959-1960) (1-7) and Season 2 (1960-1961) (8-13); Wagon Train: “Charlie Wooster – Outlaw” (1963) (14-16); The Virginian: “Image of An Outlaw” (1968) (17-25)

1. The Deputy Theme
2. The Johnny Shanks Story
3. The Return of Simon Fry
4. The Big Four
5. Big Four Saloon
6. The Next Bullet
7. Hang the Law
8. The Jason Harris Story
9. Bitter Root
10. Meet Sergeant Tasker
11. The World Against Me
12. The Means and the End
13. The Example
14. Charlie’s Plan
15. Execution March/Protruding Tongue
16. Sleepwalking/Scotty/Bella
17. Rafe and Ben
18. Image of An Outlaw/Exercising Horse *
19. Liz and Rafe
20. Abandoned Cabin/Liz and The Virginian
21. Dejected Men/Abe and Rafe
22. Stagecoach
23. Rafe Galloping
24. Rafe Strangles Angie/Liz Riding
25. Western Country and End Title *

* contains The Virginian theme written by Percy Faith

Ryuchi Sakamoto, Emily Brontë‘s Wuthering Heights: Music from the Motion Picture (Limited Edition) (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1623, 2023 – original film released 1992)

1. Main Titles/Haunted House/Ghost
2. Home/Growing Up
3. Omen
4. Unwelcome Heathcliff *
5. Cathy and Edgar
6. Where is Heathcliff?
7. Jealousy *
8. Christening
9. Betrayal
10. I Am Heathcliff
11. Grange
12. The Plot
13. The New Owner/The Last Kiss
14. Heathcliff and Isabella *
15. Switching Sides
16. Elopement/Hallucination
17. Isabella the Abused
18. Wasted Lives
19. Catherine Dies
20. The Young Catherine (co-composed by Davy Spillane)
21. Letter
22. Subjugation
23. The Marriage
24. The Recognition *
25. Hareton and Catherine
26. Catherine’s Return
27. Beckoning
28. Main Theme/End Titles
29. Main Theme (Piano Version)
30. Catherine Dies (No Bells) *

* previously unreleased. All other tracks released on Eastworld TOCT-6691, 1992