Walter Murphy - from "A Fifth of Beethoven" to "Family Guy" theme song
01-17-06 | 01:29 PM
#1
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Walter Murphy - from "A Fifth of Beethoven" to "Family Guy" theme song
I've watched the end credits many times, but finally the name Walter Murphy rang a bell with me. I looked it up, and sure enough, Walter Murphy scored a #1 hit single in the 70's with A Fifth of Beethoven, a discofied version of the symphony.
Where on Earth did Seth McFarland dig Murphy up? Great job, Murph!
Where on Earth did Seth McFarland dig Murphy up? Great job, Murph!
01-17-06 | 03:28 PM
#2
DVD Talk Hero
Granted you've seen some of the shows references, it's a pretty natural pick 
01-17-06 | 03:32 PM
#3
It's not like McFarland grabbed him from obscurity:
Guy's been pretty busy.
Oh, and I had that "Fifth of Beethoven" single.
Composer - filmography
(2000s) (1990s) (1980s) (1970s)
1. Badda Bugs (2005)
2. Baseball Taz (2005)
3. Beach Bunny (2005)
4. Daffy Contractor (2005)
5. Dancing Pepé (2005)
6. Deep Sea Bugs (2005)
7. Duck Suped (2005)
8. Executive Tweet (2005)
9. Full Metal Jackass (2005)
10. Guess Who's Coming to Meet the Parents (2005)
11. Reaper Madness (2005)
12. Scheme Park (2005)
13. Slacker Quacker (2005)
14. What's Hip, Doc? (2005)
15. Starsky & Hutch (2004) (song "A Fifth of Beethoven")
16. Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas (2004)
17. Museum Scream (2003)
18. Cock-a-Doodle-Duel (2003)
19. Duck Dodgers in Attack of the Drones (2003) (V)
20. My Generation G... G... Gap (2003)
21. "Family Guy" (1999) TV Series
... aka Padre de familia (USA: Spanish title)
22. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) TV Series (all episodes season 1, 1997)
... aka Buffy
... aka Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Series
23. Wiseguy (1996) (TV)
24. "Profit" (1996) TV Series
25. Crow's Nest (1993)
26. "The Commish" (1991) TV Series
27. The Lady Forgets (1989) (TV)
28. Tricks of the Trade (1988/I) (TV)
29. "Stingray" (1986) TV Series
30. "Hunter" (1984) TV Series (musical score: 1990-1991) (theme arrangement: 1990-1991)
31. Raw Force (1982)
... aka Kung Fu Cannibals (USA)
... aka Shogun Island
32. The Night They Took Miss Beautiful (1977) (TV)
33. The Savage Bees (1976) (TV)
(2000s) (1990s) (1980s) (1970s)
1. Badda Bugs (2005)
2. Baseball Taz (2005)
3. Beach Bunny (2005)
4. Daffy Contractor (2005)
5. Dancing Pepé (2005)
6. Deep Sea Bugs (2005)
7. Duck Suped (2005)
8. Executive Tweet (2005)
9. Full Metal Jackass (2005)
10. Guess Who's Coming to Meet the Parents (2005)
11. Reaper Madness (2005)
12. Scheme Park (2005)
13. Slacker Quacker (2005)
14. What's Hip, Doc? (2005)
15. Starsky & Hutch (2004) (song "A Fifth of Beethoven")
16. Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas (2004)
17. Museum Scream (2003)
18. Cock-a-Doodle-Duel (2003)
19. Duck Dodgers in Attack of the Drones (2003) (V)
20. My Generation G... G... Gap (2003)
21. "Family Guy" (1999) TV Series
... aka Padre de familia (USA: Spanish title)
22. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) TV Series (all episodes season 1, 1997)
... aka Buffy
... aka Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Series
23. Wiseguy (1996) (TV)
24. "Profit" (1996) TV Series
25. Crow's Nest (1993)
26. "The Commish" (1991) TV Series
27. The Lady Forgets (1989) (TV)
28. Tricks of the Trade (1988/I) (TV)
29. "Stingray" (1986) TV Series
30. "Hunter" (1984) TV Series (musical score: 1990-1991) (theme arrangement: 1990-1991)
31. Raw Force (1982)
... aka Kung Fu Cannibals (USA)
... aka Shogun Island
32. The Night They Took Miss Beautiful (1977) (TV)
33. The Savage Bees (1976) (TV)
Oh, and I had that "Fifth of Beethoven" single.
01-17-06 | 03:43 PM
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I read an article that said that MacFarlane (not McFarland) was a big fan of musicals, which would explain not just the theme song but a lot of the musical numbers on the show in general.
01-17-06 | 08:28 PM
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From: Ontario, Canada
While I'm certain he is a good composer for "Family Guy", I couldn't stand his Buffy season 1 music...but I figure that his cheesy horror movie synth approach was intentionally silly, as it fit the tone of that first season.
