In the world of mythology, the most popular character of all is Hercules. Half man, half immortal, his father was Zeus, king of the Gods, and his mother, a mortal woman. In order to earn his place on Mount Olympus (the hom... more »e of the Gods) he had to accomplish 12 difficult and amazing tasks! The Orininal Cartoon Cast album.« less
In the world of mythology, the most popular character of all is Hercules. Half man, half immortal, his father was Zeus, king of the Gods, and his mother, a mortal woman. In order to earn his place on Mount Olympus (the home of the Gods) he had to accomplish 12 difficult and amazing tasks! The Orininal Cartoon Cast album.
CD Reviews
Not So Mighty Hercules -- with an explanation
Bruce Eder | New York, NY | 08/27/2002
(1 out of 5 stars)
"This CD is welcome for fanatics of early 60's kiddie ersatz, but apart from the art work and some track titles has very little to offer that fans of the Mighty Hercules cartoon show from Trans-Lux will remember. Those seeking some of the lushly orchestrated music used as underscoring should look to an out-of-print Intrada CD called Creature From The Black Lagoon, devoted to the music of Hans J. Salter. The horn-laden music underscoring the scenes in which Hercules put on his magic ring and led it up to the lightning, and the heroics that followed, were all lifted from the score of the 1955 movie The Black Shield of Falworth, co-written by Salter, a suite from which -- including the "Hercules" music -- is included on the "Creature From The Black Lagoon" CD from Intrada."
Herc should save us from the fakery!
Bruce Eder | 03/21/2002
(1 out of 5 stars)
"This is not the powerful and well orchestrated music of the 60's cartoon I watched on Sunday mornings. Who was allowed to put this hoowey out?"
Don't waste your time or money!
GrandManor | Altamonte Springs, Florida USA | 02/10/2001
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Original soundtrack from the Mighty Hercules cartoon? Not even close...what a disappointment! Fans of the popular children's cartoon will feel an urge to remove (destroy) this product as soon as they hear the opening track. If you're looking for the sweeping, powerful voice of Johnny Nash, or the full orchestration that practically defined this classic, look elsewhere. What you'll find here is a milquetoast, watered-down 40's genre mishmash that even Disney would discard. If you're a Lawrence Welk fan, then this is for you; otherwise, skip this one. What a shame!"
Wished I'd listened to the clips first
Number 6 | Ajax, ON Canada | 04/14/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Can only blame myself. The audio clips and buyer reviews were all there but I leaped first. "Cast Recording"? Noooo way. This is some group re-singing the songs from the original show, but completely void of the familiar, if hokey and shrill, voices and sound effects of the cartoon. The artwork that shipped with this (seems I had to supply my own CD case) seems genuine enough. I recall that Golden Records did a lot of these cheap, brightly coloured plastic 45 RPM "homages" to TV shows back in the early 60's. I recall it because the feeling of disappointment when I played this CD was completely familiar. LISTEN TO THE AUDIO CLIPS *FIRST* and decide. It will help you avoid trying to summon the mighty Hercules to dispatch the goons who put this together. O-lympiaaaaaahhhh!"
Please understand the history of this album and then decide
Gregory Ehrbar | Orlando, FL | 08/27/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"No, this is NOT the soundtrack, nor does it contain any of the original cast voices. The actual package does not make any such claim. This is actually a "studio cast" or "second cast" album made by Golden Records in 1963.
It was common practice, for one reason or another, for children's records companies like Golden to use non-soundtrack and non-original-cast versions. Sometimes it came down to money. An album selling for anywhere from 99 cents to $1.00 does not always have the budget to access the original cast (which involves studio time, talent and musician fees and sometime travel and expenses). Sometimes the soundtrack is not cleared for recordings, so it would be expensive to re-pay all the necessary fees (1951's Disney's Alice in Wonderland was never a soundtrack album until the 1990's for these reasons).
But that's no consolation if you're looking for an album to bring you back to the childhood memories of THE MIGHTY HERCULES. Despite amazon's erroneous "soundtrack" listing, it does not sound at all like the series. Instead, it has the Jim Timmens modest-budget sound that dominated Golden Records of the early 60's. However, longtime Famous Studios composer Winston Sharples DID co-write the songs (including the infamous theme). There are very few Winston Sharples records. It also features New York session singers of the period, particularly Rose Marie Jun, who did countless commercial jingles as well as song demos for some of Broadway's biggest shows. She also co-starred with Streisand in "Pins and Needles."
So, if you do recall the Golden Records sound of your childhood, you like the cover art, you want a rare musical score by Winston Sharples which appears nowhere else, or you want to get anything connected with this cartoon, which had little merchandise as I recall, this CD is for you.
This album does feature the theme sung by the Golden Singers, and does include extra lyrics. If you want the Johnny Nash soundtrack theme, it's on "Toon Tunes:Action-Packed Anthems" on Rhino or "Television's Greatest Hits, Vol.4: Black & White Classics" on Tee Vee Toons."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1