HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY
to our magical, marvelous, magnificent maestro EARLE HAGEN. Today marks his 88th birthday!!
Our beloved Earle is one super special guy ...
Not only is he an amazingly talented man - he is also an amazing juggler. While he was scoring all that wonderful "I SPY" music we love so much, he was also doing "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.," "That Girl," and began "The Mod Squad" in 1968.
Simply put, Earle's music IS the heart and soul of "I SPY"!! As has been said before, just try watching an episode of "I SPY" with the sound turned off .... and you will quickly see how his music truly brought "I SPY" to life - with its rhythm and power and joyfulness and its suspense and intrigue and romance. His music gave "I SPY" its jazzy polish and patina - it gave "I SPY" its coolness!!!
And speaking of "I SPY's" music, ahhh.... the "wonderfulness" of the theme he created for us .... perfection!!!
Here's a quick link to the theme (as always, remove the "X" at the end when you get to the site .... or copy and paste the second link - and remove the "X" from the beginning.) Sorry Network54 just won't recognize .mp3 or .wav links as is.
http://www.barbneal.com/wav/tvthemes/ispy.wavX
- or -
Xhttp://www.barbneal.com/wav/tvthemes/ispy.wav
And fortunately, besides the great "I SPY" DVDs, we also have the terrific CD and albums out there, too ... so we can appreciate all of his great "I SPY" music on its own .... and his music, while enhancing the stories each week, stands alone so beautifully!!
Of course, we love Earle for his "I SPY" music - and though many of us are familiar with his other television work, head on over to IMDB and check out his extensive credits in movies, as well as TV.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006120/
Of course, we are not the only ones who appreciate Earle .... his peers have honored him with many awards - including his Emmy for "Laya"!!!
... and "THE" I SPY Emmy - in person!
And in 2003, Earle was also honored with a Star on the Palm Springs "Walk of Stars"
- (right next to Elvis and Cheetah the Chimp - really. 
)
And here's a few photos of Earle with his lovely and charming wife Laura and some others you may recognize ....
Earle and Sheldon
And 'ol Kelly Robinson himself singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Earle at his 85th Birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl!!
For more on Earle, check out his interviews from the "Archives of American Television" on Google Video
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=earle+hagen
his website
http://www.earlehagen.net/
and his terrific book "Memoirs of a Famous Composer Nobody Ever Heard Of"
Earle Hagen is a wonderfully warm, amazingly astute, and fantastically funny fella .... and we wish him the very happiest of birthdays ever!!
All our heartfelt wishes,
Tatia (and the FORUM gang)
....
