Song:The Gremlin Rag
Album:Original Motion Picture Score: Gremlins
Jerry Goldsmith is one of the all time great film composers. You've heard his music in dozens of films since the 60s. His score from the 1984 film Gremlins is a fan favourite but unfortunately it has been treated very poorly by Geffen Records. He was born Feb. 10, 1929 in Los Angeles and studied at the University of Southern California where he was taught by legendary film composer Miklos Rosza. In 1950, he started out as a clerk in the CBS music department and started writing scores for radio and TV including the theme for The Twilight Zone. In 1960, he left CBS for Revue Studios and wrote the theme for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. In 1963, he was nominated for his first Oscar for John Huston's film Freud. This got the attention of 20th Century Fox music head Alfred Newman and he hired Goldsmith. Over the years he has scored dozens of films but is particularly known for scoring science fiction films including Planet Of The Apes, Poltergeist and many others. He won his only Oscar for The Omen in 1976. Of course Gremlins was a very popular horror comedy directed by Joe Dante and produced by Steven Speilberg. Fans love the music but try and find it. Geffen Records released a soundtrack EP that contained very little of Goldsmith's music. It was released on CD in 1993 but is now out of print. The Gremlin Rag is not on the Gremlins 2 soundtrack. The small Mogwai label released an expanded CD of Goldsmith's Gremlins score in 2000 but it appears the record company is kaput and the CD is unavailable. You might find a copy on eBay. Too bad. Jerry Goldsmith continued to score films until his death from colon cancer on July 21, 2004 at age 75. His final film was Looney Tunes: Back In Action in 2003. Here's the trailer for the 1984 film Gremlins.
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