This great little jingle was originally composed by an American production house, with four new Canadian versions created by Thinkmusic for radio and one for TV. This one is my favorite of the pool.
This recording session was a ton of fun.
This was presented as part of a new business pitch, trying to put a new spin on the company’s established soundmark.
The Mayor referred to is Mel Lastman, former Mayor of Toronto.
Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
Lyrics & music by Asher Ettinger & Sonny Stone. Vocal by Elise LeGrow.
The year was 1955
And the man who would be Mayor
Opened up his Bad Boy store
And now he’s everywhere…
There’s a Bad boy in my kitchen
A Bad boy in my hall
There’s a Bad boy in my bedroom
He’s the baddest of them all
That Bad Boy does my dishes
My home sweet home’s complete
Who’s better than Bad Boy?
Nooo-body
There’s a bad boy in my basement
Doing the laundry
The Bad Boy furnished my Living room
And financed my TV
A Bad Boy won my heart
His prices can’t be beat.
Who’s better than Bad Boy?
Nooo-body
Who’s better than Bad Boy?
Nooo-body
Tony Kosinec sparkles on this spot.
We developed the concept together; he then left the room and returned a few minutes later with this gem.
He did the vocal too.
Get your caboose down to
The Ottawa Train Yards
So much to
Choo-Choo-choose
At The Ottawa Train Yards
All aboard
To the biggest stores, yeah
Shop Shop
Next Stop
Ottawa Train Yards
Shop Shop
Next Stop
Ottawa Train Yards
Shop Shop
Next Stop
Ottawa Train Yards
This assignment not only provided an opportunity to explore South African music and vocal genres, it raised my already high esteem for Nelson Mandela to the highest possible level. An extraordinary man who has shown the world what inspiring leadership can achieve.
Inspired by a New Year’s greeting message I was sending to a friend, this song was created in a single quick sitting, then set aside for a year before completing the arrangement and production.
Everything about scoring this 65 episode series was a joy, particularly working with the show’s creator, Alyse Rosenberg.
Theme song words and music by Tony Kosinec and Asher Ettinger. Produced by Thinkmusic.
Series produced by Insight Productions, originally aired on Global and Disney Channel.
In 2002, I conceived and created Acid Opera, a CD of electronic based re-conceptualizatons and interpretations of arias and Art Songs.
Acid Opera ranks among the very finest work produced by Thinkmusic.
Habanera, from Bizets’s Carmen, is among the most famous of all operatic arias. It is also a superb lyric on the subject of Love. Here it is set in its original key with lyrics both sung and spoken in both French and English; the electro-tango setting retains the spirit of the original with a whole new spin.
Patricia O’Callaghan – vocal, Tony Kosinec – engineer. Asher Ettinger – arrangement, orchestration, programming.
This is the final, climactic scene of this mini series where Joan Of Arc is burned at the stake.
In his music briefing at the production’s outset, the producer requested that leitmotifs* be created and employed throughout the film and that these leitmotifs be incorporated and superimposed with each other in the final scene. Composing this way is a bit like playing chess on multiple levels simultaneously. For those taking in the entire film, experiencing these themes in superimposition during this finale makes for a very powerful and satisfying conclusion to this extraordinary story.
Rarely does a film composer have an opportunity to score for a large scale climactic scene of this length, a scene with an almost complete absence of dialogue after the first minute of this nine minute cue.
Charlotte Church supplies the beautiful soprano voice of Joan, Christian Duguay’s direction and shooting provided a huge canvas with which to work.
For more on the back story of the music scoring for this movie, please read my summary diary of the project (originally published by Playback Magazine) on the www.ashermusic.ca website.
*leitmotifs are themes/sounds that have specific associations with characters and events.
Performed in 2009 by Elise LeGrow.
Recorded at Thinkmusic, Tony Kosinec – engineer
Composed by my friend, the late Diane Heatherington, this is a modern day classic that Elise LeGrow made all her own with a bass vamp that never gets tired.
Simply titled ‘Joan’s Theme’, it set the tone for the entire rest of the 130 minute symphonic score. Once composed, we decided to have a young soprano sing the principal melody line. After many auditions failed to find the sound we were seeking, we contacted the extraordinary Charlotte Church who agreed to lend her angelic voice and tremendous skill to our score. She sang this from a studio in Wales as she was directed from a studio here in Toronto. Singing this melody is an impressive feat at any age, especially at the tender age of 14.
For more on the back story of the music scoring for this movie, please read my summary diary of the project (originally published by Playback Magazine) on the www.ashermusic.ca website.