THE MUSIC OF DARK SHADOWS

by Billy Ingram

Yeah, I was one of those kids that ran home from the bus stop to try to catch the last 10 minutes of Dark Shadows. Fortunately, all the best stuff happened in the last act but it led to some confusing Mondays when I'd miss the resolution of the Friday cliffhanger.

But 10 minutes of Dark Shadows 5 days a week was not enough so I sampled the Dark Shadows comic book from Gold Key but it was really lame. So was the board game.

But the Viewmaster set was pretty groovy with the 3D stereoscopic photos taken in the living room set at Collinwood, and elsewhere. I still have it here somewhere.

I bought the soundtrack album and it blew me away. The music by Robert Cobert was as important to the mood of Dark Shadows as any character, the Old House or the great house at Collinwood; ethereal, spooky, at times sweetly romantic. I don't think there's ever been a more effective horror soundtrack, as a body of work it stands as one of the most unforgettable of the decade.

The Dark Shadows soundtrack album (The Original Music of Dark Shadows) spawned a minor hit single the summer of 1969, 'Quentin's Theme,' perhaps you remember it. The instrumental single (Billboard #13 pop chart, #3 easy listening) didn't come directly from the album but was recorded by the Charles Randolph Grean Sound. That single was backed by another re-recording of an album tune, '#1 at the Blue Whale,' named for the sleazy and exceedingly smokey waterfront bar in Collinwood, basically a lame attempt at contemporary 1960s juke joint music.

There were lyrics on the album version of 'Quentin's Theme' spoken by the actor who played Quentin Collins, David Selby.

The Robert Cobert Orchestra / David Selby version of the song was also released as a single, the B side was probably the weakest cut on the album, 'I'll Be With You Always' with spoken word by Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins. 'Quentin's Theme' was covered by several crooners at the time including Andy Williams.

The original soundtrack broke into Billboard's top 20 national album chart in 1969 and is still is one of the top-selling TV soundtracks ever.

Other singles were released from the soundtrack album but none struck a cord. The Charles Randolph Grean Sound followed up their success with 'Josette's Music Box' backed by 'Back at the Blue Whale' both cribbed from the soundtrack but the 45 rpm disc failed to chart.

Meanwhile the Robert Cobert Orchestra released a syrupy strange 'I Wanna Dance with You' with vocals by Selby and series co-star Nancy Barrett (Carolyn Stoddard) in 1969 backed with the 'Theme from Dark Shadows'; 'Ode To Angelique' with 'Missy' on the flip side followed in 1970.

The hauntingly lovely 'Ode To Angelique' was heard on the TV show however none of these follow up singles were found on the soundtrack album. Thus ended the brief run of Dark Shadows music releases - for a while anyway.

Back to the original soundtrack, there were some choice cuts on that album, especially the recitations by Jonathan Frid set to Robert Cobert's creepy music. Those ominous poetic readings stand out as some of Frid's finest work, like 'I Barnabas.'

Pretty cool, huh? Another standout was 'When I Am Dead,' written by dead English romantic poet Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894) set to the love theme from the series.

I was a budding actor as a youngster so these recitations really reverberated with me - like 'Epitaph' set to one of the show's eerie signature themes. If this doesn't put you in a suicidal mood I don't know what will! This was another necromantic Rossetti poem, she was apparently fascinated with what might go on after death, as you lay in your coffin, so her somewhat rare darker writings were a perfect fit for this project.

Here's a Jonathan Frid piece, 'Meditations,' set against one of the lighter themes. I don't know the source of this poetry, probably written for the album.

There were cuts that weren't spoken over like 'A Darkness at Collinwood,' if you watched the show you'll surely recognize this music. It was updated slightly for House of Dark Shadows. When a character was being stalked this was the music that would rise up and swell behind the scene.

In 1986 some enterprising small record company came out with a Dark Shadows soundtrack Volume 2. It contained the music beds that Jonathan Frid spoke over without the overdubs in addition to other seminal music sepulchers from the show. Two more volumes followed, I bought the first and it's the best soundtrack for a Halloween party ever. Just music from the series unadorned, magnificent. All of the various soundtracks were collected in DVD form.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

Hit Shows of the Seventies: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy / Gene Roddenberry in the 1970s / 1977-1978 Superhero & Science Fiction TV Shows / Patrick Duffy of Dallas Interview / Best Season of Dallas Ever? / Ken Berry Interview / TV Show Book Tie-Ins / Kathy Garver Interview / Mary Kay Place Albums of the 1970s / Bruce / Caitllyn Jenner? / Bill Cosby - WTF?!? / Emmy Award Multiple Winners / Mary Kay Place Albums of the 1970s / That Girl & TV's Single Working Women / Star Trek Animated / Dark Shadows / Dark Shadows Movies / Dark Shadows Novels / Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson / Dawn Wells / Betty White : An Appreciation / Gavin McLeod / The Next Step Beyond / The Music Dark Shadows / 1970 TV Shows / Mike Connors Remembered / Mike Wallace, Virginia Graham & Jim Longworth / Dick Clark / Carson Tonight Show / 1973 TV Shows / Thriller / Post Modern Sitcoms / Remembering Dick Van Patten / TV Dating Shows / The Jacksons TV Show / Fall Previews of the 70s / Lance Link, Secret Chimp / Star Wars Holiday Special / Alias Smith and Jones / 1977 Year in Review / Top Ten 1970-76 / The Rockford Files / All in the Family / Sam Hall (Dark Shadows) Interview / Actor Ed Nelson / Death of Archie / Battlestar Galactica / Wonder Woman / Network Jingles / Class of '74 / Happy Days / Good Times / Mr. Bill / Dinah! / Maude / Doris Day Show / Pamelyn Ferdin Interview / The Bicentennial Minute / Jingles & Catch Phrases of the 1970s / Early Cable TV 1970s / TV commercials for Women / TV Moms / Country Music TV Shows of the 1960s & 1970s / Betty White Show / Ron Palillo / Shirley Jones Interview / Tom Bosley / Rodney Dangerfield / How Sanford & Son Ended / Sanford & Son Spin-Off Grady / Great Memoirs / Virginia Graham Show / The "N" Word on TV / 10 Classic Comedy Routines You Have To Laugh At Before You Die / Hollywood Squares / 1970's Teen Idols & The Hudson Brothers / TV Stars with 3 Hit Shows / The Rookies / Unsold Pilots / Jackie Cooper / The Good Guys / Match Game / Make Room For Granddaddy / Mannix & Gail Fisher / Bette Midler in the 1970s / Bonus 1970's Stuff: Silent Star Marion Mack / Biff Burger / 1970s Fast Food Chains / Latin Casino / Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire / 1970's Daytime Talk Shows / The Fess Parker Show / Love, Loss & What I Watched

It is what it is!

THE MUSIC OF DARK SHADOWS

DARK SHADOWS

Dark Shadows on DVD

Amazon Prime - unlimited streaming
of your fave TV shows and movies!
Get your FREE 30 Day Trial!

PR4 & PR5 Pages for Advertising

Lost Kid Shows / Movie Stars on TV / Saturday Morning Shows / Video Vault / TV Goodbyes / Fabulous Fifties / Unseen Scenes / Game Shows / Requested Forgotten TV Shows / The Super Sixties / More Modern TV Shows / The New * * Shows / 1980's Wrestling / TV Blog

Classic TV on the Internet!