PARK AVENUE BEAT

It may have been that first note of the haunting orchestral violin introduction. Or maybe it was the steady rhythm of the bass line. I recall thinking, as an aspiring young trumpet player, that one day I would hit the notes heard throughout the mesmerizing melody. That melody, the theme from the hit television series, Perry Mason, means many things to me. Most notably, it serves as a trigger for memories of Grand Pop and Grand Mom on Virginia’s eastern shore.

The TV show originally aired from 1957 until 1966. It was later revived in 1973, for less than one season. It was cancelled due to poor ratings. For the revival, the theme was genericized. This proved, in my mind, that nothing was finer than the original composition.

Composer Fred Steiner wrote the original theme song and called it “Park Avenue Beat.” Its alluring and pulsing rhythm fit the show’s suspenseful courtroom character perfectly. From the mid-50s through the mid-60s, there were several brassy-styled, big band theme songs. One of my all-time favorites was the theme from Peter Gunn, by Henry Mancini. The edgy, expressive, and blaring horn section was right in step with what was happening in jazz music at the time. It was the essence of cool, without a doubt. There were other TV songs I loved, like the smooth and sophisticated theme from Route 66 by Nelson Riddle, the bold sound of The Fugitive soundtrack by Pete Rugolo, and The Untouchables theme, also by Nelson Riddle. Each song caught and held my blossoming interest in music. I’m convinced those horns had something to do with the attention I surrendered.

There weren’t many television stations on eastern shore Virginia in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and poor television reception was the norm where my grandparents lived. Reception quality was driven by the strength of a signal that your rabbit ears, external television reception devices, could capture. They were called rabbit ears because of the two adjustable (fore, aft, up, down) metal extension rods that protruded as high as 39 inches and rotated 360 degrees on a movable base, which typically sat on top of the television cabinet. They looked like rabbit ears. Sometimes, reception was so bad that the image projected on the TV screen resembled something from a snowstorm. The family joke about TV reception at my grandparent’s--and many other people’s homes, was always something related to how bad the weather was in Perry Mason’s courtroom. No matter the antenna adjustment, the picture was rarely sharp enough to see all that was going on. That’s very different from today’s 4K & 8K full-ultra high definition displays. Some say many human eyes can’t discern between 4K and 8K, but it’s available if you care to spend the money. In large screen format, I imagine the feeling would be like sitting in the courtroom with Perry Mason. Impressive technology to say the least.

The first time I heard “Park Avenue Beat” was in 1958 when my sister and I had a long summer vacation with our grandparents. On Saturday night, things got very quiet in the living room as everyone stopped what they were doing to focus on the suspense to follow. I listened attentively as the Perry Mason theme song filled the room with its big city sound, causing each of us to imagine what it was like to see the big man, Raymond Burr, in the courtroom. The music, the man, and the show were spellbinding. For nine seasons.

In the early seasons, Perry Mason was broadcast right about my bedtime. Mom and Dad let me stay up long enough to hear the theme song. I wish I knew what they thought about my interest in that song. Anyway, I never told them about the times Grand Pop and Grand Mom permitted my sister and me to stay up late to watch a full episode of Perry Mason with them. It was our secret -- and one of the highlights of that vacation in rural Virginia.

Grand Pop died in 1967, one year after the show was canceled. Fond memories of both he and the show live on forever.

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