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Tony Mottola is the oneman orchestra who supplies music for Danger — Tues., 10 P.M. EST CBS-TV. Sponsor: Amm-i-dent Toothpaste
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for DANGER
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M 10
It's a crucial moment in a Danger drama, and you're staring at your television screen. Suddenly the tension becomes almost more than you can bear, heightened by the sound of an eerie musical note that hangs in the air and then dies out mournfully, like the last echoes of a scream. That's your reminder that somewhere, out of camera range, Tony Mottola and his guitar are doing their unusual job in their usual exciting way.
Tony is the one-man orchestra for the Danger series, the first of the dramatic programs to depend upon a single instrument for its theme and mood music. For Tony there are no horns or woodwinds to help sustain a mood, no cymbals or tympany crashes to accent the climax. Everything must be told melodically on the strings of his guitar.
"One of the most interesting things I have ever done," he says. "I get more of a thrill out of this job than any other."
This music is his responsibility from start to end. And it's something completely new in television. On the Friday preceding the Tuesday telecast he meets with the producer, Charles Russell, to discuss the script's musical requirements. Over the weekend, Tony does his composing and scoring. By Tuesday, music and story must fit together as though planned by one mind.
For a story of Chicago gangsters, he may decide on a raucous boogie-woogie medley. For a drama revolving around a monstrous, plotting child, he has satirized nursery songs. Whenever you listen carefully to his music you'll notice that he uses a different theme or phrase for each player, so that whether you're aware of it or not, his guitar is subtly assisting each characterization. It's a really fascinating procedure, when you actually begin to pry into it. Notice the music the next time you hear Danger.
When the music makes your hair
bristle and your spine tingle, you can
hold Tony Mottola responsible
What does Tony do in his spare time? Watch television with Mitzi (who was his childhood sweetheart) and three offspring: Joanne, seven; Bernice, five; Tony Jr., three.