Bob Thompson (musician)

Bob Thompson (b. 1924, San Jose, California) was a composer, arranger, and orchestra leader from the 1950s through the 1980s. Active in Los Angeles, Thompson was a recording artist for RCA Victor, scored film and television soundtracks, and wrote commercial jingles.

Thompson is considered a prime exponent of what has belatedly been termed "Space age pop," or "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music." This style of breezy, experimental orchestral music became popular in the 1950s and 1960s following the introduction of the long-playing microgroove record and the advent of high-fidelity and stereo home audio systems, which allowed enhanced sonic reproduction.

Thompson's albums as a bandleader are Mmm, Nice!, Just for Kicks, On the Rocks (all on RCA Victor Records) and The Sound of Speed (Dot Records). He composed, arranged, and conducted orchestra for such artists as Rosemary Clooney, Mae West, Julie London, Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, Duane Eddy, Judy Garland, Jerry Lewis, Van Dyke Parks, and many others.

His classic RCA Victor albums, recorded in Los Angeles, featured many of the top session talent from the late 1950s west coast jazz scene, including drummer Shelly Manne, percussionist Emil Richards, alto saxophonist Bud Shank, trombonist Frank Rosolino, trumpeter Al Porcino, guitarist Al Hendrickson, and bassist Red Callender.

Thompson received several Clio Awards for excellence in advertising music and a Grammy Award nomination in 1959 for Best Performance by an Orchestra.

Thompson composed the score for the film Thumb Tripping (1972) and the title theme for The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960). He contributed arrangements for the films Picnic (1955), Seven Men from Now (1956; title theme), The Long Hot Summer (1958), and I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968).

External links

• Bob Thompson website
• Bob Thompson Interview from Cool and Strange Music Magazine #14
• "Hey Mr. Space Man", article from San Francisco Chronicle, 2005
• "Return of a Space Age Swinger", article from Atomic Magazine, 2002