Lalo Schifrin

Secret Agent Composer and Jazz Artist

If you’re a Mission Impossible cultist, you likely know the theme song for the television classic. Composer Lalo Schifrin is single-handedly responsible for this musical concoction, which nearly defines the entire spy genre. Schifrin is an Argentinian Jew who expressed his musical precociousness at the age of six. His instrument of choice has been the piano and while he has formal study in the classics he has leaned toward jazz. Schifrin tried his hand at mainstream academics, as well. In fact, he studied Law before he gave himself over to his musical urges and talents. Schifrin made the acquaintance of jazz great Dizzy Gillespie while he was in his twenties and was given a number of career changing opportunities to collaborate with Gillespie which he gladly accepted.

Movie Composer

In 1960 Schifrin made the move from Argentina to New York City where he took a job as pianist with Gillespie’s jazz band at the time. But Schifrin had already made a name for himself and in 1963 MGM solicited his services as move composer. He packed up and moved to Hollywood. Under MGM Schifrin is musically responsible for such blockbuster television scores as Mission Impossible, Mannix, and Man from UNCLE. His film score credits include, Tango, Cool Hand Luke, Rush Hour, Four Musketeers, Dirty Harry, Amityville Horror and Bringing Down the House, among a slew of others. Today Schifrin is highly regarded among a range of musical genres. He is jazz and classical all rolled into one very accomplished composer/conductor package.

Schifrin’s musical career ahs garnered him dozens of Grammy and Oscar nominations. He now holds four Grammys and recently was accorded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Abominable (Soundtrack):

1. Pre-Title Sequence
2. Main Title
3. Animal Mutilations
4. Preston’s Memories
5. Abduction
6. There Is Something Out There
7. Monster Vision
8. Preston and Amanda
9. The Cave
10. Squatch Revealed
11. Rampage
12. Setting the Trap
13. Rappelling
14. Escape Attempt
15. Off-Road Rage/Final Battle
16. The Survivors
17. Searching the Woods
18. One Blade of Grass
19. Girls Next Door
20. Otis Leaves
21. Rampage (Alternate)

Amityville Horror (Soundtrack):

1. Amityville Horror Main Title
2. Father Delaney
3. One Year Later
4. Screams
5. The Windshield
6. Kathy’s Dream
7. The Staircase
8. The Babysitter
9. At the Park
10. The Window
11. The Ghost
12. The Wall
13. Bleeding Walls
14. The Axe
15. The Crucifix
16. Postludium
17. Amityville Horror End Credits

Best of Mission: Impossible Then and Now (Lalo Schifrin and John E. Davis, Soundtrack from the TV Show):

1. Mission: Impossible (Main Title)
2. The Plot
3. Ready
4. Rollin
5. Time
6. Sleeping Phelps
7. More Plot
8. Mission: Impossible Theme
9. Bower Hotel
10. Check Out Time
11. The Trick
12. Signal Light
13. Kate Thomas
14. Tape Machine
15. Good Job
16. Mission: Impossible End Credit
17. Mission: Impossible ‘88 Main Title
18. Tricky Ears
19. This Is the Chase
20. Croc Bait
21. Not Worth It
22. Nice Boat
23. Bait the Hook
24. Hot Time
25. I Guess It Is
26. Freak Time
27. Whacko Time
28. Melt Down
29. Framed
30. Coffee
31. Ring Around the Finger
32. Mission: Impossible ‘88 End Credit
33. An Interview with Peter Graves
34. Mission: Impossible Theme (ft. Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra)

Bullitt (Soundtrack):

1. Bullitt, Main Title
2. Shifting Gears
3. Ice Pick Mike
4. Cantata for Combo
5. Room 26
6. On the Way to San Mateo
7. Just Coffee
8. Main Title
9. The Aftermath of Love
10. Ice Pick Mike (Record Version)
11. Hotel Daniels
12. Bullitt, Guitar Solo
13. The First Snow Fall
14. Room 26 (Record Version)
15. The Architect’s Building
16. Song for Cathy
17. Music to Interrogate By
18. End Credits

Caveman (Soundtrack):

1. Caveman (Main Title)
2. The Kissing Plant
3. The Horn Lizard
4. Tyrannosaurus Rex
5. Homo Erectus
6. Pterodactyl
7. William Tell Overture
8. March of the Caveman
9. Prehistoric Dance
10. Caveman (End Title)

Dirty Harry (Soundtrack):

1. Prologue/The Swimming Pool
2. Main Title
3. Harry’s Hot Dog
4. No More Lies, Girl
5. Scorpio’s View
6. Red Light District
7. Scorpio Takes the Bait
8. The Cross
9. Goodbye, Callahan
10. The Stadium Grounds
11. Floodlights
12. Dawn Discovery
13. Off Duty
14. The Strip Club
15. Liquor Store Holdup
16. City Hall
17. The School Bus
18. End Titles
19. Floodlights (Take 1)
20. City Hall (Alternate)
21. The School Bus (Alternate)
22. The Swimming Pool (Original Version)/Scorpio’s View (Parts 2 and 3)

Enter the Dragon (Soundtrack):

1. Theme from Enter the Dragon
2. Sampans
3. Monk
4. Gentle Softness
5. Big Battle
6. Han’s Island
7. Human Fly
8. Bamboo Bird Cage
9. Broken Mirrors
10. Theme from Enter the Dragon (Reprise)

The Hellstrom Chronicles (Soundtrack)

1. The Hellstrom Chronicle (Life Evolves)
2. Primeval Beginnings and the Deadly Traps
3. Horror Montage and the Harvester Ant Community
4. Metamorphosis
5. The Termite World
6. African Drums, Moths and Communication
7. The Acts of Love
8. Bees, Wasps and Mayflies
9. Rampage of the Driver Ants
10. The Hellstrom Chronicle (Finale)

Insensatez:

1. The Wave
2. Insensatez
3. You and Me
4. Lalo’s Bossa Nova
5. Silvia
6. Murmurio
7. Maria
8. Rapaz de Bem
9. Samba Do Perroquet
10. Rio After Dark
11. I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover

Letters From Argentina:

1. Tango del Atardecer
2. Pampas
3. Tango Borealis
4. Danza de los Montes
5. Tango a Borges
6. Resonancias
7. La Calle y la Luna
8. Malambo de los Llanos

Magnum Force (Soundtrack):

1. Main Title
2. The Cop
3. Harry’s Ostinato
4. Magnum Force
5. Stakeout
6. The Crooks
7. Harry’s New Friend
8. The Pimp
9. Rogue Gun
10. Recreation
11. Warm Enough?
12. Palancio
13. Last Dance in Sausalito
14. The Faceless Assassin
15. Potrero Hill
16. The Bullet
17. Execution Squad
18. Mailbox
19. Early is Late
20. Briggs
21. Confrontation
22. Finale

Mannix (Soundtrack):

1. Mannix (Title Track, Short Version)
2. Hunt Down
3. The Shadow
4. Sao Paolo After Dark
5. Turn Every Stone
6. Warning: Live Blueberries
7. Beyond the Shadow of Today
8. The Girl Who Came In With the Tide
9. The Edge of Night
10. Curtains for a Murder
11. The End of the Rainbow
12. You Should Have Known
13. End Game
14. The Vienna Incident
15. Fear
16. Mannix (Long Version)
17. Mannix Showdown (Bonus Track)

Piano, Strings and Bossa Nova:

1. The Wave
2. Insensatez
3. You and Me
4. Lalo’s Bossa Nova
5. Silvia
6. Murmurio
7. Maria
8. Rapaz de Bem
9. Samba no Perroquet
10. Rio After Dark
11. Time for Love
12. Four Leaf Clover

Rollercoaster (Soundtrack):

1. Prologue, Montage
2. Portrait of Harry
3. Rollercoaster
4. Reflections in the Window
5. Penny Arcade
6. Movement from String Quartet (Young Man’s Theme)
7. Magic Carousel
8. One Track Mind
9. Cotton Candy
10. That’s Him
11. Tension Rock
12. Merry-Go-Round
13. Calliope of Death
14. Another Side of Harry
15. Apple Turnover
16. Persistence
17. Children’s Ride
18. The Chase
19. Stars and Stripes Forever
20. Magic Carousel-End Title

Rush Hour 2 (Soundtrack):

1. Rush Hour 2-Main Title
2. Out of the Way
3. Mu Shu Parlor
4. Parlor Fight
5. Undercover Agents
6. Isabella
7. Lil Darlin’
8. Shiny Stockings
9. Nevada Mood
10. The Cosmo In Las Vegas
11. Like Father, Like Son
12. The Sword and the Spear
13. The Dragon and the Treasure

Tango (Soundtrack):

1. Tango del Atardecer
2. Calambre
3. El Choclo
4. Tango Barbaro
5. Caminito
6. Tango Lunaire
7. La Cumparsita
8. Recuerdo
9. Los Inmigrantes
10. A Fuego Lento
11. Quejas de Bandeneon
12. A Juan Carlos Copes
13. Nostalgias
14. A Don Augustin Bardi
15. La Represion
16. Flores del Alma
17. Picante
18. Tango para Percusion
19. Corazon de Oro
20. Tuegols and Jimenez-Zorro Girls
21. La Yumba
23. Tango del Atardecer (Reprise)