I’m a huge fan of the soundtrack from the 1982 TV series Knight Rider. The show’s iconic theme tune (and the incidental music for the first 13 episodes) was penned by Stu Phillips, but it was Don Peake who scored the vast majority of the episodes from the series’ four-year run. In the past few years, portions of Don’s Knight Rider recordings have been released to the public thanks to Hitchcock Media Records, which recognizes and caters to several fairly niche audiences with its varied and often eclectic catalog.
For much of 2011, fans of Don’s work have been abuzz with the news that the release of a huge cache of Knight Rider material was imminent. We’re talking as many as six or seven complete episode scores, easily making this Don’s most significant release yet. Unfortunately, as the expected release timeframe neared, the news tapered off until eventually it seemed like nothing was happening at all.
Well, sometimes no news is better than bad news, I’m afraid. I received word this evening from Ron Hitchcock himself that the upcoming soundtracks are on hold for the moment. Frustratingly, it seems that the material is ready to go, but the current economic climate makes funding the production of the CDs impossible for the time being. It’s a let-down for sure, though obviously classic television soundtracks are not high on anybody’s priority list in a widespread financial crisis.
We may be stuck in “wait and see” mode for now, but I’m confident that eventually those albums will see the light of day. I’ll have a review to post when they finally do land. In the meantime, browse over to Hitchcock’s site and see if there’s anything in their catalog that interests you — every little bit helps, I imagine.
