Stu Phillips - Buck Rogers In The 25th Century - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1979)

Stu Phillip's score to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century came only a year after his triumphant sci-fi epic score to Glen A. Larson's Battlestar Galactica. Buck Rogers was also a Larson production and, like Galactica, was initially targeted for the small screen. Yet with Universal's huge investment in Larson's efforts around Galactica, and coupled with the Star Wars-driven passion for space operas from movie-goers, the gallant Buck Rogers (played here by Gil Gerard) was diverted from the small screen to the big screen, and subsequently re-tooled into a TV pilot for a 2-season TV series. Phillips chose an approach that combined heroics with good-humored suspense, giving Buck Rogers a musical scope that befitted the pilot's breezy tone. The score was heavy on brass, with the largest sessions featuring six trumpets, three trombones, two bass trombones, and five horns. But apropos Larson's light touch on the material (Gerard's winking performance, Erin Gray sexy turn as Wilma Deering, and a little robot voiced by Mel Blanc) the music could not get too serious. When the Larson's title song ('Suspension') did not fully integrate with the score, Phillips wrote his own James-Bond-ish theme for the action scenes, adding rock and roll drums for a contemporary feel. Packed with themes, from the heroic, to the sultry (for Princess Ardala), to amusing (for Twiki), to downright sinister (Dead City/Attack of the Mutants), Stu Phillips delivered a colorful, energetic sci-fi score that proudly sits alongside his work for Battlestar Galactica. This release features the program from the original LP that was released by MCA, remastered for optimal sound with 21st century technology. The album more than captures the fun, fast-moving energy that made Buck's pilot score a highlight of Phillip's television career, a prolific body of work that would also include Knight Rider, The Fall Guy, and Automan.