And indeed, being that one is so enraptured with the most prominent stimuli of the dialogue, set pieces, plot, and characters, it’s entirely beneficial to listen to the songs on compact disc as they stand on their own, similar to the way the selections have augmented other lauded series such as Grey’s Anatomy and Rescue Me, converting fans to those shows' “universes” via the music alone.
Ironically, it seems no accident that after writing these words, I did further research and discovered that Mad Men’s soundtrack utilized the outstanding veteran talents of Alexandra Patsavas, the Grammy nominated music supervisor who not only worked on Grey’s and Rescue, but on the music driven The OC and Gossip Girl as well.
With Weiner’s liner note admission that the “source music should be derived from popular music of the time, and more specifically music that the characters in this show would know” — and thus by extension the audience as well — the thirteen tremendously intoxicating tracks of the album sweep you up in the sounds of the early '60s.
Therefore, it’s only fitting that Vic Damone sings the lines “And oh! The towering feeling!” and “The overpowering feeling!” by kicking off Mad Men’s soundtrack on one of the album’s boldest and most romantic tracks, the classic Lerner and Loewe number “On the Street Where You Live,” from My Fair Lady. Simply put, Damone offers you a voice you can float away on with a far more breathtaking interpretation of the piece than Lerner and Loewe could have ever imagined.
While “Volare” by The McGuire Sisters and “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)” by Julie London never top the versions recorded by Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra respectively, in such a male driven show, it’s a great way to — as former first lady Abigail Adams would say — “remember the ladies.”
Intriguingly by approaching these numbers with the sunny and relentlessly upbeat styling one would find in toothpaste ads or in the soundtrack of a Doris Day movie (“Volare”) or via London’s frothily flirtatious Bossa Nova like, “Fly Me,” it does make one imagine what life was actually like for the female gender before the sexual revolution. Thereby some of the deceptively carefree offerings pose interesting questions “without ever telling the audience what to feel,” as Weiner wrote in the album notes he’d advised the show’s composer David Carbonara to do with his own original scores.
![Mad Men - Season One [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vhtc7Lj0L._SL120_.jpg)
Article comments
1 - Manuel Rodriguez
Here's a bit of trivia for you. The opening string-orchestra-theme music from "Mad Men" is actually stolen from the first six bars of the introduction to an arrangement by Enoch Light (of Enoch Light and the Light Brigade) of "Autumn Leaves". The introduction which eventually was used as the "Mad Men" theme quits where the "Autumn Leaves" tune begins and then just repeats for another 8 bars with a heavy Latin/Rock percussion track superimposed over it. I just happened to be listening to the CD "The Most Beautiful Music in the World" by Enoch Light and the Light Brigade when I suddenly recognized the theme music from "Mad Men" (but without the heavy percussion). Curiously, the CD (PRD 5109) was released on the Project3Records label in 1992. The actual recording may be from the 1970's or even earlier (it is discontinued now). Enoch Light recorded in the early 1960's for the Command label (subsequently bought by American Broadcasting Company). So he was certainly prominent during the time frame in which "Mad Men" takes place.
2 - Jen
Wow, that is fascinating. You have a great ear for music. Now I can't wait to check out that particular track... interesting. Thanks for the post and Happy New Year!