Pink Panther Theme – Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian

The great Peter Sellers was born on this day in 1925. He was a very funny man who is known for films like Dr. Strangelove, Being There, Murder By Death and The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu. He is best known, of course, for his role as the bumbling Chief Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther series.

The first movie of the series was called simply “The Pink Panther,” which was released in 1963. The soundtrack of the film featured Henry Mancini’s musical score, and the instantly recognizable theme song.

The soundtrack entered entered the Billboard Pop Album Chart on April 24, 1964 and reached number 8 on the chart. It remained on that chart for 41 weeks. The album and title song were nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best Album or Original Score and Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

The Theme from The Pink Panther was released as a single and it was a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. It starts with a soft minor piano chord followed by a triangle and a jazzy percussion rhythm. It is the melody that almost everyone knows from the moment they hear it. The tenor saxophone is played by Plas Johnson Jr.

The theme was also used for the Pink Panther cartoon show.

The soundtrack was called one of the greatest film scores of all time by the American Film Institute. All it takes is one listen to understand why ….

Today is National Saxophone Day!

If you think about it, the saxophone is one of the most important instruments in pop music. As I think about some of the great early rock and roll songs, almost all of them had saxophone solos in them. Bill Haley and the Comets, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner, and many other artists used a saxophone in their songs. I could probably post about 100 links to songs that have great sax solos!

Even well into the 80’s, songs featured the saxophone. Careless Whisper by Wham, Just the Two of Us by Bill Withers, Who Can it Be Now by Men at Work, Urgent by Foreigner, and The Heat Is On by Glenn Frey all have a prominent sax in them. Heck, even Kenny G had instrumental hits in the 80’s.

In honor of National Saxophone Day, how about a few songs you may know and a few you don’t that feature the sax ….

Hand Clappin’ – Red Prysock

My dad introduced me to this one! Wow!

In The Mood – The Glenn Miller Orchestra

A classic

Walkin’ With Mr. Lee – Lee Allen

One of the great 50’s instrumentals

Honky Tonk Part 2 – Bill Doggett

Another great 50’s cut

Sax Alley – The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen

Five To Go – Nebraska Wind Ensemble

Ok, I know you probably don’t know this one. I played this my Junior year of high school. Some cool cats played the sax on this one. Hearing this takes me back to 1987!