Between this and the sight of Ben Gardner’s disembodied head surging from within the hull of a wrecked vessel, I was put off idyllic beach holidays for life. After two hours of conditioning my young, impressionable mind to associate Jaws with its ominous jingle, the Great White sprung forth from the choppy waters with absolutely no musical accompaniment or prior warning.
Speaking of which, Williams wasn’t done yet by a long chalk, and his most dastardly trick was reserved for the film’s grand finale. Sharks are known for being instinctual creatures and, while traditionally a little less groomed for roughness, piss one off in its realm and it’ll know not how to relent until the tuba subsides. Personally, it just said “SWIM LIKE FUCK!” to me as I didn’t need a degree in marine biology to suss out that 30 ft of fearsome predator was approaching. Alternating between F and F sharp to masterful effect, the Great White’s well-oiled theme has been suggested to mimic both its heartbeat and its victim’s respiration. John Williams was the culprit here as his composition tapped into fears I didn’t even know existed yet, and astonishingly, he and tuba player Tommy Johnson secured my consternation with a grand total of two notes. My ears had now been opened and, the very moment my father took me to see the Jaws I & II double bill at my local movie house, I wished they bloody hadn’t. As a result, my memories of Tales of the Unexpected are far sweeter than it probably deserves. On its own, Ron Grainer’s theme tune may have been little more than quaint, but fused together with the unforgettable sight of nude female silhouettes prancing suggestively against a flaming backdrop, it became the soundtrack to my sexual awakening. However, there is one thing about it that I still remember as plain as day. It wasn’t bad, but paled in comparison to the far more sinister Hammer House of Horror and I’d struggle to recall more than a handful of 112 episodes from its decade long run. Brainchild of the great Roald Dahl and largely based on his short stories, this suspenseful anthology series belied its low-budget origins by attracting guest stars the likes of Peter Cushing, Susan George, Janet Leigh, John Gielgud, John Mills, Denholm Elliott, Joan Collins, Ian Holm, Charles Dance, and Jennifer Connelly, among countless others. One of my very earliest audio/visual recollections is a British television series that aired right through the eighties by the name of Tales of the Unexpected. While music has always played a poor second fiddle to film to me personally, it’s a whole different bandstand when the two are married together intelligently. Charlie Kelly “Dayman (Fighter of the Nightman)” Bruno Nicolai “La coda dello scorpione – Sequence 1” Harry Manfredini “Friday the 13th (End Theme)” Harry Manfredini “Friday the 13th (Main Theme)”
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