70’s Wonder Woman TV Theme Gets a Remix by Smash Mob

  HOLLYWOOD, CA - 08/02/2017 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

The late 70’s Wonder Woman TV show (starring Lynda Carter) is sporting a sparkling new remix by the producer/composer team Smash Mob. With the Wonder Woman movie emerging as one of the biggest box office hits of the 2017 summer, all eyes are on Smash Mob and their rejuvenated take on this classic TV theme. Their additional extended mix makes certain this new joyful, ebullient version will be a staple on the dance floor. “We are thrilled to be have been the first to be allowed to take on this exciting project,” said Smash Mob’s Jason Eldridge.

Smash Mob’s other half, Frank Rogala, explained the genesis of the project, “our Australian label (Army of DJ’s) has had the rights to the master for the TV show theme for years. The original master (both the stereo mix and multi track) tapes have been lost to the sands of time. The remaining master was actually taken off a vinyl record. That makes doing a decent remix very difficult. Especially since we aren’t going to just grab a sample and stick it over a beat in an effort to associate our name with what has suddenly become such a hot property.”

Rogala explained, “The other issue for us was that the original lyrics were not very… let's say trenchant. I mean, ‘Fighting for her rights in her satin tights’ is more a 1970’s sociological comment on women’s rights than anything to do with the Wonder Woman story. Until recently no one in Hollywood took stories from comic books very seriously. So suffice it to say, before the movie came out I couldn’t muster much interest in the old TV theme song.”

Of course, no one expected that director Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman movie would become such a massive hit. “I had totally forgotten about the old TV theme until Kent Broderick, head of Army of DJ’s (and owner of the master), mentioned that he thinking about approaching several remixers with it,” explains Rogala. “At that point, I admit I became a little green with jealousy and realized the opportunity. I said, ‘hey! What about us!’”

The “remix” was composed with respect for the old school TV theme style (as originally established by the masters of TV themes Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox). Along with Wonder Woman, the duo famously composed the TV themes for Batman, The Love Boat, Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley as well as the mega smash hit song “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”

“As Smash Mob we do a lot of music for film and TV,” explained Eldridge. Smash Mob composed the theme song for the History Channel’s reality show Alone. “This is legendary stuff. For legal reasons the remix is titled Wonder Woman (TV Theme) [feat. New World Symphony], but it is actually Gimbel & Fox. They were masters of TV show themes. The royalty of Hollywood composers. So when we started work on it, we had to think long and hard of how we would handle a respectable updating of the original.”

Rogala found several remixes online, but nothing that seemed to do justice to the original. “With practically nothing available from the original session, we decided to actually try to recreate the original arrangement but with an EDM flavor. The surviving track gave hints of a great rocking arrangement that we hoped we could bring forward, to let people finally hear and experience how cool it really was. We incorporated as many live performances as possible. Including Idaho based film/tv composer Matt Vanderbough who contributes trumpet and vocalist/music therapist and multi instrumentalist Norma Nichols. Nichols performed all the soaring female vocal parts in a fast 25 minute “one take each” session,” said Rogala.

The biggest bit of luck Smash Mob had was convincing Nichols to contribute her vocals. “Norma had a vocal style similar to the original vocalist. “Without her, we might not have been able to pull this off,” explained Rogala.

Smash Mob is currently enjoying success with their Take Me For Your Ride PURE MICHIGAN music video and is currently in post production on a Westworld themed music video for their song You Can Run feat. Stephen Bannon.

Smash Mob's remix of the Wonder Woman (TV Theme) [feat. New World Symphony] can be heard on Apple Music, Spotify, Itunes, Amazon, Google Play, Deezer and everywhere music is available. To keep up with Smash Mob check out SmashMobMusic.com

Photos, music, music videos and resources for press for this release are located at:

SmashMobMusic.com/press

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