Powerhouse (song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Brunswick 78 rpm issue of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse"

Powerhouse” is a 1937 instrumental musical composition by Raymond Scott, probably best known today as the iconic “assembly line” music in Warner Bros. animated cartoons. In posterity it is by far the most famous of Scott's compositions, but in its time it wasn't as popular as his “The Toy Trumpet” nor as frequently recorded by other artists as “Twilight in Turkey.”

In scripted comments read on the First Anniversary Special of CBS Radio's Saturday Night Swing Club, on which the Raymond Scott Quintette performed, announcer Paul Douglas indicates that “Powerhouse” was first premiered on that program sometime in January or early February 1937.[1] Scott's Quintette (actually a sextet) first recorded "Powerhouse" in New York on February 20, 1937, along with three other titles. It was first commercially released on the Irving Mills-owned Master Records label as Master 111 (mx. M-120-1) and coupled with another Scott composition, “The Toy Trumpet.” It was later reissued in the 78 era on Brunswick 7993 and Columbia 36311, with the same take issued on all releases.[2] Both titles remained in Scott’s repertoire for decades, both were adapted in Warner Brothers cartoons by WB music director Carl Stalling along with a dozen other Scott titles, and both have been recorded by numerous other artists. Stalling, who spiced his scores with “Powerhouse,” dozens of times never created a complete version of the work; his adaptations exist as truncated quotations.

The United States publisher of the title is Music Sales Corporation. Outside the U.S., the title is controlled by Warner/Chappell Music.

Structurally, “Powerhouse” consists of two distinct - and seemingly unrelated - musical themes, played at different tempos. Both have been used in numerous cartoons. The first theme, sometimes referred to as “Powerhouse A,” is a frantic passage typically employed in chase and high-speed vehicle scenes to imply whirlwind velocity. The slower theme, “Powerhouse B,” is the “assembly line” music, which sometimes accompanies scenes of repetitive mechanical activity. “Powerhouse” in its entirety places “B” in the center while “A” opens and closes the work in the sequence A-B-A.

[edit] Use in Cartoons

The first use of “Powerhouse” in a cartoon occurred in the 1943 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short Porky Pig’s Feat, directed by Frank Tashlin. It was subsequently featured in over 40 other Warner Bros. cartoons. The most well-known “assembly-line” usage of “Powerhouse B” occurs in Bob Clampett's Baby Bottleneck (1946), in which newborn babies (of various species) are processed on a conveyor belt in time to the melody.

The Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies cartoon Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century contains Stalling's lengthiest adaptation of the "Powerhouse A" section, clocking in at one minute and twenty-five seconds.

The original Raymond Scott Quintette recordings, including “Powerhouse,” were licensed in the early 1990s for use in soundtracks on The Ren and Stimpy Show, and can be heard in twelve episodes. Various passages of the tune have been arranged for use in The Simpsons, Duckman, The Bernie Mac Show, and The Drew Carey Show (in a brief scene involving an animated character). An entire 1993 episode of Animaniacs, "Toy Shop Terror," was set to Warner Bros. music director Richard Stone’s arrangement of the composition. "Powerhouse" also served as bumper theme music for the Cartoon Network from 1997 to 2002, and can be heard as a systematic rock theme in the 2004 feature film Looney Tunes: Back in Action.

[edit] Recent performances, recordings, and usages

"Powerhouse" was adapted without attribution by composer James Horner in the soundtrack of the 1989 film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. The Horner composition, titled "Power Play," resulted in legal action by Scott's U.S. publisher, Music Sales Corporation, against Walt Disney Pictures for failure to credit the work's original composer. The dispute was ultimately settled out of court.

In recent years, “Powerhouse” has been recorded by jazz clarinetist Don Byron on his album Bug Music, pedal steel guitarist Jon Rauhouse, The Metropole Orchestra, The Beau Hunks Sextette, The Coctails, and jazz guitarist Skip Heller. The title, as arranged by Michelle DiBucci, has been in the repertoire of Kronos Quartet since 1994.

The rock band Rush adapted part of “Powerhouse” in their 1978 song “La Villa Strangiato” (5:49 into the track) on their Hemispheres album, as did Soul Coughing in their song “Bus to Beelzebub” from the album Ruby Vroom. The tune has also been appropriated by They Might Be Giants (on the song “Rhythm Section Want Ad”), Devo (on “Fraulein”), and others. Other contemporary artists who have recorded versions of "Powerhouse" include Thelonious Moog, The Tiptons (with Amy Denio), the Grammy-nominated string ensemble Quartet San Francisco, and Steroid Maximus (featuring J. G. Thirlwell).

In 2006-2007, the “assembly line” theme was used in a highly choreographed commercial for the Visa check card. The commercial, entitled "Lunch", was staged in a manner intended to be reminiscent of the song’s cartoon uses.

[edit] External links

Personal tools
Languages