Scoring Star Trek Part 12: Gerald Fried's "Friday's Child" Episode 32
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- Опубліковано 3 лют 2023
- This discussion is on the music composed by Gerald Fried for TOS episode 32 "Friday's Child". Season two of Star Trek TOS would not have been as impactful without the outstanding "trifecta" of works by Gerald Fried for this episode, as well as "Catspaw" and "Amok Time". The scores for these shows were reused again and again, helping to give season two its unique "signature".
Outstanding musical analysis of one of the finest TV series in history.
Superbly insightful and entertaining.
Excellent stuff, thank you!
Love what you do!
What a wonderful tribute and study of the music of the second season. Really liked this one. Thank you.
Great work! These orchestrations really communicated high stakes. At 4:55 - reminded of the Goldsmith cue from Chinatown when Jake picks up his hat and puts it on after sucker punching Mulvehill... same flow.
WONDERFUL!!!!!!
Excellent!
@7:35 Regarding the musician roster, the list for this episode is available on page 5 of the season 2 booklet included in "Star Trek: The Original Series Soundtrack Collection" from La-La Land Records.
Thanks Neil. Always appreciate your input!
Excellent production Dave. Thanks for your time and effort in setting this up.
It was a pleasure. Thanks for watching!
Just awesome. Thanks for doing these.
Thank you for this, David! A young person interested in film and TV composing would be well advised to watch your insightful presentations of the masterful works of Fried, Kaplan, Steiner, et. al. You’re the first person that I've heard or read, who has also pointed out the essential contributions of the Star Trek music editors. I can hardly wait to see your video on George Duning.
OMG, yes! The finest music in television history! The music is the cast member who doesn't get recognized for the strength of their performance the way that actors do.
The 60s we're a unique time for TV music. The best musicians and composers on the planet were cast together in a system with steady work.
I like the way you put that - "the cast member who doesn't get recognized". Well said, and I couldn't agree more. Thanks for the comment!
It was used in the 3rd season episode _The Tholian Web_ where Chekov screamed like a madman.
Indeed it was, but that was the season 3 library recording, so it was a different performance.
I knew I had heard it in another place. Perfect for that scene with Chekov going mad! Good catch.
Hey man, have totally enjoyed your thorough, clever, inciteful, educated and lovingly done analysis of the scores. Good stuff! And Merry Christmas!
Very kind, thanks! Hope you're having a great Christmas, and best to you in the new year.
My last one for the day (promise!), figured I might as well finish going through the Gerald Fried stuff. Between the melee of this episode, Kirk fighting Finnegan in Shore leave and Kirk fighting Spock in Amok Time, Fried really knew how to make some frantic fight music - perhaps Fried is short for Frenzied!
I don't think I ever realised that "Arrows" and "Forfeit" were separate cues, the way they were used together so much, I always took them as part of the same piece.
Friday's Child is an episode that I have changed my mind about many times, I remember thinking it OK enough as a kid, then into my teens deciding I didn't like it, then the last time I saw it a couple of years ago deciding that it's pretty decent after all. Fried's music was of course a key part of that - let's face it, Fried's entire season 2 output, it's impossible to imagine any other music in its place. After Courage & Steiner (I wouldn't dare to say which way round they should go!), Fried has to be the most important composer in Trek, and it's all down to his season 2 work.
Curious that you singled out "I've Got You Under My Skin" as an example of a record featuring musicians from this session - by coincidence, three decades later, on Deep Space Nine, holographic singer Vic Fontaine sang that very song to Odo and Kira.
So appreciate your comments. I would agree Gerry Fried's season two music probably is the largest single composer "footprint" of the season, and in great company of Steiner and Kaplan's works. Just staggering.
The choice of "I've got You Under My Skin" was because that particular trombonist, Milt Bernhart, is playing that particular solo! He often played on Star Trek sessions. Plus, it's Sinatra/Cole Porter. It just rocks!
Awesome video
I like your little stinger, the end of Donald Fagen's Greenflower Street. One of my favorite albums.
Ha! One of mine also. You're only the second to identify it!
The ability to compose music has always struck me, a mere mortal, as one of the most singular and mysterious of human endeavors. “Friday’s Child” has never ranked among my favorite TOS episodes (nor that of D.C. Fontana, who objected to Roddenberry’s rewrites), and tbh I don’t much care for many of the shows its cues were tracked into either. But none of that takes away from the music itself, which was just everything a fun, colorful ‘60s TV space opera could ask for. Modern Trek could stand a bit of that, frankly.
RIP Mr.Fried.
Indeed. I just saw that. Very sad news. Just a terrific human being.
@@davidpage9355 Was he the last TOS composer?
@@MetaTrek yes he was. I had just shared this video with him, which he enjoyed. I wished him a happy birthday and had no response. But what a life well lived.
@@davidpage9355 It's the end of an era. How wonderful that you were able to share the video with him, and that he knew people still remembered, and loved, his work. We love your work too. My wife and I look forward to watching each of your videos as they come out.
I'd love to watch your analysis for the "Lost in Space" theme by John Williams ( just because I'd love to hear your comments and data about that impossible flute) and for the "The Invaders" by Dominic Frontiere to know what makes it so frightening.
Hmm.. interesting. I'll have a listen to both. But there's a lot more Trek music to get through first! Thanks for watching.
@davidpage9355 Thank you so much for your exposition.. one question.. The Trumpet Voluntary in Friday's Child that plays into the fade to end credits..? was this the first time it was included and was it by Gerald Fried?
Kras perished without honor. He was so dishonorable that he made his stuntman take the kligat for him...😉😁
😆 good one!
Did you know that one of the Red Shirts in Obsession was pre composer Basil Poledouris.
Yeah! Saw that in the notes of the collectors CD set! While a student at USC. Cool tidbit.
You should do a follow up to this segment with a comparison to Gerald’s music for the Mission: Impossible episode entitled “Trek”.
It was the first episode shot for season 2 of M:I and also a Desilu show.
The music from both episodes is very similar
I will check it out!
Hi David. I'm so glad I found these videos on the music from Star Trek! Thanks for all of your work. Do you share/sell your transcriptions? I'd love to have them for study purposes.
Hey James. First, thanks for checking it out and for your comments! I don't think I would be able to make the transcriptions available, at least not for sale as the scores are still under copyright. CBS/CID allows me to use the music but I can't monetize it. But also, I'm just not wanting to take that on as a sub project.
I would say that some of my most rewarding moments have come from working on these pieces and just digging into what I hear that these men put in there. I don't think I've gotten everything exactly right, but the process of identifying motifs and their adaptations has been illuminating and I'd encourage anyone with a music background and a computer to give it a try!
I had no idea that the pregnant woman was Julie Newmar (Catwoman) !!!
😆 She was great!
I don't much like the episode, "Friday's Child" but I do like several of the episodes its music was subsequently used in during Season 2. I guess the composers knew they weren't just scoring one episode, but creating cues to use throughout the season. Perhaps that's why the music seems a little exaggerated for some scenes in this episode, like with Scotty. I guess it's a good thing this episode had several dramatic and action/battle scenes to score.
Note: "Friday's Child" has a code of 32, and was the third episode produced for Season 2, while it was the eleventh to air.
Also, I had been thinking that "Spock's Brain" was the first Season 3 episode to air, though the sixth to be produced. Who decided they should lead with what's considered one of the worst episodes? Maybe they lost their brains, too? It makes me wonder how many people didn't watch Star Trek that season after seeing that episode. "The Enterprise Incident" aired 2nd (produced 4th) and is generally considered the best of Season 3. While "Elaan of Troyius" was produced first, it introduced the Klingon ship but aired 13th, I'm told due to the special effects shots needed.
Pretty sure we've heard echoes of Gerald Fried's "Distress Signal" in Jerry Goldsmith's score for "Planet of the Apes"
There's one I never saw. Will need to check it out.