Peter Thomas is best known for his work as a soundtrack composer. While he has done numerous scores, his most lauded work is probably the soundtrack he created for a German sci-fi television series Raumpatrouille Orion [Space Patrol Orion].
Thomas often recorded with what was dubbed the Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra. The "orchestra" itself was a revolving door sort of group which featured various jazz and session musicians from around Germany. While his compositional style was sometimes unconventional, he was anything but controlling, as illustrated in this anecdote told by Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra member Ingfried Hoffman:
Thomas often recorded with what was dubbed the Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra. The "orchestra" itself was a revolving door sort of group which featured various jazz and session musicians from around Germany. While his compositional style was sometimes unconventional, he was anything but controlling, as illustrated in this anecdote told by Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra member Ingfried Hoffman:
"...he came with a beer coaster into the studio on which he had written a few basic ideas. The rest was up to us. Only later did we realize the large degree of freedom he gave us made his music possible."
Thomas was also a technical innovator which gave his music a certain sound not found elsewhere at the time. In addition to things like his lauded use of the vocoder at the beginning of the Raumpatrouille Orion theme, he also worked alongside his sound engineer Herr Wicha in order to create a synthesizer they dubbed the "Tho-Wi-Phon." This revolutionary 12-oscillator synthesizer was so innovative that, as legend has it, the CIA actually became interested in the frequency range of the instrument and adapted elements of its design for use in sub-sonic weaponry. The synthesizer itself can be viewed on display in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
Futuremuzik, features the music of the Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra. I wanted to post the complete soundtrack to Raumpatrouille Orion, but that album is digitally distributed by a number of services. The good news is that this compilation does feature the legendary Raumpatrouille theme (listed as "Space Patrol"). Not only that, but you also get to sample "Gods from Strange Planets" which comes from Thomas' score for Chariots of The Gods?, a documentary based on Erich von Däniken's book of the same name. This compilation is a nice entry point for those unfamiliar with his work and remains one of my own most played albums.
Tracklist:
1) Space Patrol
2) Bolero on Moon Rocks
3) Lancet Bossa Nova
4) Evil Magician
5) Sinister Monk
6) The Spell of the Sinister One: Penelope/Fingertips/Brutal Beat/The Family Crypt/The
Corpse
7) Curse of the Hidden Vault
8) The Hound of Blackwood Castle
9) The Hunchback of Soho
10) Caught at Midnight
11) Monster
12) Happening in White
13) Theme for Airport
14) Gods From Strange Planets
15) Pardon me, Ms. Carmen
16) Traitors
2 comments:
hey, this is one of my favourites, great compilation of peter thomas work.
Wow, thanks a lot man!!
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