80s Cartoon Soundtracks - He-Man, Ulysses and more

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One of the strong aspects of many 1980s cartoons was the theme song and the instrumental music composed for each series. As you know, Bernard Hoffer composed the fantastic music for Thundercats but it was never released on tape or CD. Shuki Levy composed the music for many 1980s cartoons, Rob Walsh and Johnny Douglas did Transformers, and the latter also composed the music for Dungeons and Dragons. Some of this music was released on very short albums in the 80s but the majority remains unavailable

In recent years some specialist soundtrack labels have cottoned on to the fact that the music is popular and have been able to get the licences to release some of this music on CD. French label Tele 80 was able to re-release some of the short albums on CD in 2012 but fans hankered for longer releases and some have finally emerged in deluxe packages, all properly licenced. I did have a look on here for similar threads but couldn’t find one, so, here’s a rundown of the best!

I hasten to add that I’m nothing to do with the companies who released this stuff. And I am NOT a spammer. I do want to see these titles sell well though, because it encourages the companies to release more of them! There is such a long list of stuff I’d LOVE to see. If anyone wants to hear this music, please buy it and let these labels know that you want to hear more!

2015 - He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe (La La Land Records)

A 2-CD set featuring 130 minutes of Haim Saban and Shuki Levy’s music for the show. This is my favourite set because it’s prime Levy. It doesn’t have everything but the majority of stuff is there and it’s very enjoyable. The liner notes are very detailed. I’m hoping a She-Ra set follows because the music is even better than He-Man. It hasn’t sold out yet so please go get it if you haven’t already. You are in for a treat!
http://lalalandrecords.com/Site/He-Man.html

2016 - Ulysses 31 (Expert Music)

Another 2-CD set. There’ve been a few Ulysses releases but this is the ultimate version, 138 minutes of Denny Crockett, Ike Egan and Shuki Levy’s music for the show. Levy only wrote part of the music but all his stuff is in there! Just don’t try reading the extensive liner notes unless you’re fluent in French :slight_smile: Copies still available at:
https://ulysses31.jimdo.com/

2017 - Duck Tales and the Treasure Of The Lost Lamp (Intrada Records)

This one only came out last week and I had to pinch myself to believe it. David Newman’s complete score for the Duck Tales film, all 71 minutes of it. The Duck Tales theme from the end credits has been omitted but you can’t have everything. If you want a boxset of Ron Jones’ music from the series, buy this and encourage Intrada to release it (it has to come from them because they’re the only who can release Disney archive stuff).
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.10728/.f

2014 - Transformers: The Movie (Intrada Records)

Vince DiCola’s complete 78 minute score for the movie. Rob Walsh and Sony Records are working on a set of the music from the original series, but until it’s released, this should fit the bill.
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.8506/.f

2013 - Inspector Gadget (Tele 80)

Back in 2013 , Tele 80 were able to re-release the original Gadget album and include the Australian LP as well, so you get 54 minutes of Levy and Saban music on CD. If you’re in the US you can pick up a copy from Amazon.com Marketplace. French website Priceminister.com is also a good source!
https://www.amazon.com/Inspecteur-Gadget-Tele-Haim-Saban/dp/B00DLKX8PK

There are other releases from the last decade or so. Soundtrackcollector.com is a good place to start looking!

If you’re a fan of DC’s animated shows, La La Land Records have a wide range of CD releases here:
http://www.lalalandrecords.com/Site/DCAnimation.html

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Transformers: The Movie is a great soundtrack. I regularly listen to that whilst I am painting, drawing and driving etc.

I recently purchased the Starfleet soundtrack. Wonderful music. The series is great and well worth watching. :smiley:
http://starfleetsoundtrack.com/star-fleet-xb-soundtrack-mp3-teasers.html

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Is that the song/score album or the score only album?

I didn’t know about that, I thought it was all Levy! So Bliss did the music for the UK version and Levy did the music for the French version?

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Song and score album.

As far as I know Paul Bliss did all the music for the UK version. I wasn’t aware the French version had different music. It would be interesting to hear.

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Soundtrackcollector has two entries for the series. This one:

http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/title/35930/Bomber+X

with the French and Japanese music, and this one:

http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/title/90526/Star+Fleet

with Paul Bliss.

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Awesome. I will definitely check out the French version as I really want to hear it. I have heard the Japanese version before.

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Good example here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wQd1VsJC1M

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Sounds pretty good. I watched one of the French episodes earlier to hear more of the music. As much as I like Levy’s work I have to say this doesn’t compare to Paul Bliss soundtrack for Starfleet. I love Starfleet. It was the first VHS (Space Quest: The Search For F-01) I ever got along with a Fraggle Rock VHS. :smiley:

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Now that would make for a fun soundtrack release!

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There’s a copy of Bomber X on priceminister.com for 10 euros, if you’re interested. Shipping to the UK is usually 3.50 euros.

http://www.priceminister.com/offer/buy/155625300/tele-80-bomber-x-collectif.html

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Thundercats news…

MV Gerhard , co-owner of La La Land Records, who released the He-Man CD, said a few years back that he was looking into releasing Hoffer’s music. It all went quiet for a while. On the FSM forum, I asked him again the other day as to whether it was still possible. This morning he replied:

‘can’t’

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?forumID=1&pageID=2&threadID=118900&archive=0

:frown:frown:cry:cry

So that’s the end of that… oh well!

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That’s a shame. I messaged them in 2015, to their main enquiries email, I got the response: “We are trying but there are rights issues”.

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Yes, I’ve been following this ever since MV said on the FSM board in 2012: "“Since we are working on the new incarnation of T-Cats it’s only logical that we are looking into the original. Keep your fingers crossed.”

So evidently when they replied to you in 2015, they were still trying, but now it’s a no-go. Shame. Can’t win em all!

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Some other company really needs to buy Thundercats of WB. The longer they own Thundercats the more damage they are doing to the franchise. WB is the reason the Thundercats franchise is in the state it is in compared to all the other 80’s cartoon/toy franchises like Transformers, TMNT, Voltron, G.I. Joe etc. WB own a record company…surely it wouldn’t be too difficult for them to release the soundtrack themselves.

Cool thanks for the link. I was listening to one of the Japanese tracks last night and I think eventually I will try and get the Japanese and French versions.
BTW have you ever heard Brian Mays cover of the theme tune?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7GFU5ncKhU

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They’re not interested in selling 3000 print runs of soundtracks from 30 year old shows. They just wouldn’t make any money.

Suicide Squad has made 745 million dollars globally. THAT’S money. So that’s what Warners are interested in.

It also doesn’t help that Warners have no department to handle licencing for the Warner catalog. So, whenever an external company want to release a Warners soundtrack, it’s slow going.

It’s very different at Fox, Paramount, Universal and Sony.

I haven’t, but I have now! :slight_smile:

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I wonder if the soundtracks to WB’s DC movies are selling well. LOL. :wink:

Starfleet was a lot more popular in the UK than Japan. So much so UK writers came up with a second series and had arranged the funding for it and were all set to start work then they got news that the studio where all the puppets, models and sets etc. were stored caught fire and they were all destroyed in the fire. Financially they couldn’t afford to remake all the puppets, models and sets etc. ontop of the other costs for the second series.
What is really strange though is that none of the Japanese X-Bomber toys were sold in the UK like other Japanese import shows had merchandise available in the US. I think if there had been toys available the show would have been even more popular.

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Suicide Squad sold fantastically well:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Squad_(soundtrack)

Sales figures that La La Land can only dream of.

Actually what you said raises another question - how can La La Land release all the animated DC WB CDs with no issue at all? Yet everything else is real hard to get out.

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I haven’t properly seen Suicide Squad.

I don’t think there is any real issue with the Thundercats soundtrack. I just think WB literally don’t want to do anything with the franchise. Yet they don’t want to sell it in case other people could make money from it.

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La La Land Records have said they have ‘no plans at this time’ for future Shuki Levy releases. Damn :frowning:

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Now that I have the UK Starfleet soundtrack and the Brian May and Friends EP (cover of the Star Fleet theme tune) I might get the He-Man soundtrack. :smiley:

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