Soundtracks

Soundtracks can contain numbers from a musical, the original score to a film, or simply a collection of popular songs that were used (often quite briefly) in a Hollywood blockbuster. The best of these often achieve popularity in their own right, selling millions of albums, spawning Top 40 singles, and winning critical acclaim. Most of the artists in this category are composers who've written for stage and screen. Bernhard Hermann is rightly famous for the beautiful orchestral work he contributed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. Other composers, such as Quincy Jones and Mark Isham, employ jazz or electronics to create non-orchestral soundtracks. Henry Mancini found widespread international popularity with his movie and television scores. His jazz theme (and accompanying album) for the Peter Gunn TV program sold in the millions and kicked off a string of television soundtrack albums. TV theme songs, from Welcome Back Kotter to Mission: Impossible often linger in the public consciousness long after the shows they introduced have been forgotten.