KPM influences on the Simpsons

[sean karolus]

I was skimming through an old Brownsleeve (KPMLPB 0020, dated 1962) when I stumbled into a couple of tracks which are reminiscent of themes from the Simpsons. The strongest case is Ocean Terminal by Ralph Dollimore (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=537J65e05ik) vs The Simpsons Theme by Danny Elfman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fttst9dG6Ko), especially the bits at 0.35-0.38. and 1.08-1.10, respectively. There's another example, namely Happy-Go-Lively by Lurie Johnson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1EoYx6Ldzg) vs this tune from Last Exit to Springfield by Alf Clausen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMB2y47QFDY) or this one from Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3NoAq5hIZ4) though the association is more tenuous. Any thoughts on this? Do you know of any other possible influences that KPM records might have had on the Simpsons?

[Retronic]

Never noticed before but yes!

[KPMFan1000]

Never thought of it that way, but it's most likely a coincedence.

[nidostar]

I'm sure composers get inspiration from other people's work. They hear a particular sequence and then modify it to suit their purposes and avoid any copyright claims. The great John Williams must surely have done this. The string section in the Star Wars theme is not unlike Mars, the first movement in Holst's Planet Suite. And what about Alfred Newman's opening theme to the 1953 movie How To Marry A Millionaire (ht**s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wdy8cVmuc4)? Sound familiar? And I love this invasion of Prokofiev's The Montagues and Capulets (ht**s://www.classicfm.com/composers/prokofiev/imperial-march-orchestra-prank/).

[Lord Thames]

Matt Groening did put together a tape for Danny Elfman to illustrate the kind of thing he wanted for a theme to the Simpsons - I know the theme from The Jetsons was on it, and you can really hear the influence there.

[Retronic]

On that note you can hear how Goblin considered some of the library pieces Romero selected for Dawn of the Dead for his working track of the film in their final soundtrack.

[AverageLibraryMusicFan]

What's more ironic is that they actually used music from Sam Spence in one episode.

[Retronic]

I watched an episode yesterday- first time in years and it had a library track in it- Strange Dream by Gary Bellington from Chappell. It was on Kitsch Pop 3 CD tagged hip, slow and sleazy, no doubt where the music editor sourced it from.