#11 The Quinn/Martin Quartet Offensive ...Tonight's Episode: Dick Gunn (demos)

w/ Guest Star: Jim Carroll
This was a cartoon concept we conceived and sent to MTV & Nickelodeon, along with a short set of music demos to accompany the story line. We did the music when we got some MIDI gear last year and wanted to tune up the system. The networks didn't call back.

The Project:
Dick Gunn
A film noir cartoon following the exploits of Dick Gunn, Private Eye. Each week, the ethically challenged Gunn would get mixed up in a sensational new caper, backed by a soundtrack of smooth, Mancini-esque jazz and Badalamenti grooves voiced by a series of artists (poets, writers, musicians), changing with each episode. The demo, ...Tonight's Episode: Dick Gunn, features author/singer Jim Carroll's voice, who acts as Gunn's inner monologue. Since we only made cheap demos, you have to imagine we cobbled together a hard swinging band with a horn section, since we had neither. Click the MP3 player and you'll hear the whole thing, barely 16 minutes. If you're stoned, you might even be able to see the cartoon. Download it all below. It's WLFC... but it's a Q/M Production.

Listen

Prologue (0:34) Guest Star: Jim Carroll 
Dick Gunn, a troubled P.I. with a suspended license, hits the city. 
The Dick Gunn Theme (3:33) 
Every successful private eye has a theme song. But, bum luck gumshoe Dick Gunn ponders how really naked the city can be without a full-time secretary. A band version plays under the credits. We asked for Magic Band drummer, John French. 
Act I: Cool Blue Frequency (2:58) Guest Star: Jim Carroll 
It's a police term for the hypnotic blue noise a criminal's brain produces when he's in the act of engineering a crime. Like the one Gunn undertakes when he breaks into his new girlfriend's Lower East side apartment to confirm his jealous suspicions. She winds up dead. Enter, city District Attorney Fred Steiner. 
Act II: Fred Steiner, D.A. Theme (1:46) 
Unbeaten advocate of the people, Fred Steiner, is called in to prosecute Gunn. Of course, he has his own Perry Mason-styled theme song, since his character will probably be spun off for his own series sometime in the fall. 
Act III: Angelo's Stride (4:31) Guest Star: Jim Carroll
Out on bail, Gunn finds himself in the middle of a bank job gone bad. Lt. Mario Angelo, is called in. With his funky gate and itchy trigger finger, he shadows Gunn against the illuminated audio/visual backdrop of the NYC Jazz Festival. 
Epilogue: End Credits (2:38) 
As the closing theme unwinds, the credits should be read by the guy who did the voice over for TV's The Fugitive. We canned the original "End Credits" music to replace it with this newer, fake German jazz fusion version. Since the plan was to do a new "End Credits" improv for each show, we included a recent one here. 

Free 320
LOSSLESS

11 comments:

member said...

High,
another of our golden oldies now out there on emtyblaukraut.
Emptyblaukraut is just our own label for all the free improvising music projects where stolle & member are involved. Stolle & Member are two guys from different towns - karlruhe and frankfurt/m. We're making free improvised music together since 1993. "Stolle & Member" as a duo is our central project, mostly studio performances... "The Whole" is our Rock Trio, with Christian on drums and sometimes Damo Suzuki (ex-CAN) on vocals, mostly a Live Act, MIRG is our experimental, electroacoustic quartet with our friends Marcus and Steffi from our great past free Impro Experimental Project Lay De Fear (1993-96). Lay De Fear was our strongly telepathic playing beginning of free impro music. The Core of the Band where Stolle, Member and Chris and sometimes up to 10 other people.
Under the name of emptyblaukraut comes the music of all of these projects and some others. We will jump in time and styles and projects. But the Beginning of it all was a time journey through the music of Stolle & Member on our myspace site and so we started with our old Stolle & Member stuff...
Enjoy
and of course I am enjoying your music.
luv
member

We're Late For Class said...

We like the way you guys think. Do something... do anything... do everything. We've gotten a bunch of your stuff and loved the experimental/free-form sounds of Gojira - and especially the Faust-ian "mit händen und füssen." We're gonna get more.
Very cool.
WLFC

member said...

High there,
we made an overdub of "Galerienmusik Pt. 2". Take a look on our site.
Have fun and enjoy
Stolle & Member

We're Late For Class said...

Fantastic guys,
Can't wait to hear it.
We'll post it here ASAP.
Cheers,
WLFC

Catasto Elettrico said...

Hi folks,
first of all, we are since now unable to download this one(and we tried from the beginning), while the download stops at last minute and says "file unreadable". So may be useful to upload it once again, in case it should happen to someone else too? (or send us a copy by mail? 22 MB should be possible...)
Second, we are glad to inform you of the publishing of our fourth release, Ode. We would like if you should listen to it.
Cheers
Catasto Elettrico

We're Late For Class said...

Hi Casasto,

Thanks for the note. We put a new link up and it should be working now OK. You can also download each song individually, too, by clicking on the song title or MP3 Player.

And thanks for the heads-up on #4. We'll getit right away.

WLFC

Anonymous said...

Another nifty blast for the old speaker system. But what is a Quinn Martin production without that booking voice sternly declaring, "Tonight's guest star (long pause) Nehemia Persoff"?
Thanks for another nice listen.

We're Late For Class said...

Trust us Rev, we *looked* for that guy. We would have moved him into the basement if we'd found him. As for Nehemia Persoff... that's as obscure as one can get. Good one. Thanks again for listening.

Anonymous said...

I'll make it slightly less obscure: I meant to write "booming" voice. Sans spellcheck I am nobody.

Okay, I'll make it not obscure at all: The voice belonged to legendary lard-ass William Conrad of Cannon/Jake and the Fat Man fame. Was the star of Gunsmoke on radio - too portly for TV. Who wants an obese Marshall anyway? He'd never chase you - he'd just toss hot lead at you from the old equalizer...
Old "Buffet Counter" Bill also narrated The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle. It's a living...

We're Late For Class said...

Hi rev,
We we'ren't confused, just astounded. and yes... we do want to do a Jake & The Fat Man trilogy

Anonymous said...

Send it to Adult Swim on Cartoon Network? Hmmm?