Something for the weekend: the theme from Mission Impossible. I watched the show regularly when I was a kid, although the plot lines, deliberately, were so convoluted that I normally found myself hopelessly confused by the end. It did not escape me that most of the team members seemed to be famous, with their faces on magazine covers, which seemed like an odd group for members of an undercover mission team.
Bonus:
I’m puzzled. I do not recall the plot lines being all that convoluted. I remember Cinnamon on magazine covers, not the others.
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The theme was composed by Lalo Schifrin. Satisfactory, but this was a better one. Not sure it could be rendered on strings.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AwtXYa8tCk
“The regular agent line-up during the first season consisted of:
Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain), a top fashion model and actress
Rollin Hand (Martin Landau), a noted actor, makeup artist, escape artist, magician, and “man of a million faces”
Barney Collier (Greg Morris), a mechanical and electronics genius and owner of Collier Electronics
Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus), a world record-holding weight lifter
The agents’ fame in their private careers never compromised their identities during missions.”
Showing yet again the distinction between the fictional and the real.
The composer passed away about 2 weeks ago. Interesting to read that for the 1st MI movie John Williams was slated to write the musical score. However, he didn’t want to use a TV theme so they replaced him. I wonder how surprised Mr Williams was.
Unlike this article, The Hollywood Reporter detailed Mr Schifrin’s background as being born to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother.
https://wgntv.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-lalo-schifrin-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme-dies-at-93/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17510233360106&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwgntv.com%2Fentertainment-news%2Fap-entertainment%2Fap-lalo-schifrin-composer-of-the-mission-impossible-theme-dies-at-93%2F
Well, we do know that Clark Kent hides his secret identity by wearing glasses, so why shouldn’t other famous people get away with it too?
Ironically, each agent being famous for something… enabled them to act covertly.
If someone focuses on your profession, ..they don’t expect anything else.
Amusing you’d post this today; I was just watching some videos about Michael Corleone last night.
Trying to keep the unusual rhythm of 5/4 time is difficult. I find it next to impossible to tap my foot five times per measure for very long. It throws me off balance, even though I enjoy listening to the melody.
My mind wants to impose a regular 4/4 time on the melody. I wonder how the musicians manage to discipline themselves to do something so different from the rhythm of almost any other song they play.
I also enjoy the jazz piece, Take Five, by Dave Brubeck.
Brubeck became a Catholic late in his long life. He said he didn’t convert “from” any other religion. He said he had no religion at all until he became Catholic.
One of the best pieces in 5/4, although I really can’t think of more than a couple more: “Take Five” and Jethro Tull’s “Living in the Past” (my theme song). Maybe “Smeceno Horo” by Planxty, but that’s probably in 10/8.
Correction: I just listened to “Smeceno Horo” and it’s definitely in a triple meter. I’m thinking of a different Horo but can’t recall the title.
While probably not in the mold of Mission Impossible, there are stories out about famous people who were spies. There are various articles online about this. I’m not sure how accurate the online lists are.