Thursday, August 25, 2011

Super ‘70s and ‘80s: Sea World superheroes water ski show—Clark Gault, composer

Introduction to series “Super ‘70s and ‘80s.”

Introduction to subseries “Sea World superheroes show” (including list of interviewees).

SWSH = Sea World superheroes


What was your role with the SWSH show?

I was the music composer.


How did you get the job?


Back then, Sea World was an independent company based in San Diego and everyone was hired based on word of mouth.


What were you doing before that?


I was not a full-time employee, but hired on a contract basis to do music writing. I did all of the music writing for all three Sea Worlds at that time.


How long did it take you to score the show?


Not sure, but I probably spent 40-50 hours writing, maybe 10-15 researching the music. I had to use libraries and find rerun TV shows to record themes.


What (if any) pieces of existing music were incorporated into the score?


Sea World didn’t want to pay royalties, so all my music was similar to the original themes but legally original.


That's one big Aquaman.

Were you at the show on a regular basis?


All music at that time was put on tapes that were very much like 8-track tapes. They had multiple tracks that could be selected for playback. Similar systems were used in most radio stations of that time. I wrote an intro, looped body, and short ending to all music used in the parks.


Have you stayed in touch with anyone you met or worked with at the SWSH show?


It’s been many years, and I don’t really remember any names.


Has anyone else interviewed you about the SWSH show?


I was contacted by a book author and supplied a few original scores (printed). This is the name I wanted to find, but my correspondence was on a previous email I no longer have because of moving and the book is packed away. [NOTE: I presume this is Age of TV Heroes.]


What was your first thought when you heard why I was contacting you?


That someone else actually remembers this.


What are you doing these days?


I’m partially retired, but still write music on a freelance basis.

Next:
Dan Kibbie, co-writer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for bring back some wonderful memories.