The German film and television composer Peter Thomas (1925-2020) is hugely popular and quite beloved in his home country, but he remains bafflingly little known elsewhere. Unlike Italy’s Ennio Morricone, France’s Georges Delerue and Michel Legrand or even the great contemporary Spanish film composer Alberto Iglesias, Thomas rarely helmed big-budget international co-productions and Hollywood never seemed to come calling.
Outside of Germany, Thomas was probably best known for the cult horror classic The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967, with Christopher Lee), the quasi-documentary Chariots of the Gods? (1970, but not released in the U.S. until 1974)1 and its little-seen sequel Mysteries of the Gods (1976).
At home, though, Thomas was well known for his propulsive, catchy, sometimes even kitschy music for some of the country’s most popular film series (they were not yet called “franchises”): the Edgar Wallace krimi (crime) films of the sixties and the FBI agent Jerry Cotton films, starring American actor George Nader, made between 1965 and 1969.
Thomas also scored many popular German TV series between the sixties and the eighties, most notably the “Star Trek”-like “Raumpatrouille” (a.k.a. Space Patrol).
Combining his love for American jazz with a notorious sense of humor, Thomas crafted a signature sound that resonated resoundingly with post-War German audiences. With Thomas, the music was always as entertaining as the entertainment it was enhancing. Like fellow bandleader James Last, Thomas was also tuned in to the sounds coming out of American (and, later, British) popular music of the day as well.
Scores of records – from soundtracks and pop music to novelty discs and library music – were issued in Europe by the Peter Thomas Sound Orchester, a moniker that suggests what you were getting was more than just music. It was an experience. The orchestra was a loose amalgam of German studio musicians, including some of the biggest names inside and out of the studios.
Over the years, such legends as Charly Tabor, Klaus Doldinger, Albert Mangelsdorff, (American) Jiggs Whigham, Jan Hammer, Ingfried Hoffmann, Sylvester Levay, Max Greger, Siegfried Schwab, Klauss Weiss and Keith Forsey have passed through Thomas’s orchestra. Anyone with a passing interest in music over the last half of the 20th century is bound to recognize a few names here.
The music of Peter Thomas began making its way out of Germany in the CD age, when compilations of his music finally began to appear. Thomas’ re-emergence at this time was helped in no small measure by the renewed interest in easy-listening music from the fifties and sixties. In the so-called “Bachelor Pad” or “Lounge Music” craze, Thomas was accepted by a whole new generation as one of the easy-listening pioneers.
For the last several years, the German All Score Media label has been celebrating Peter Thomas’ centenary – he was born on December 1, 1925, in the Weimar Germany city of Breslau, now known as the Polish city Wroclaw – by issuing beautifully restored discs of the amazingly prolific German maestro’s classic work.
Since Thomas’ death at age 94 on May 17, 2020, All Score has issued memorial sets of the composer’s soundtracks to Bruce Lee The Big Boss (a.k.a Fists of Fury, 2020 – a revision of their 2010 release) and Winnetou Und Sein Freund Old Firehand (a.k.a. Thunder on the Border, 2021).
The label has also previously issued such Thomas music as The Best of Edgar Wallace (2000), Van De Velde: Die vollkommene Ehe (The Perfect Marriage)/ Das Leben zu zweit (Every Night of the Week): Music From Two German Sex Education Films (1968/69) (2009), Jerry Cotton – FBI’s Top Man (2010 – a set I was fortunate to have written liner notes for), and Die Weibchen (The Females) / Oh Happy Day (Seventeen And Anxious) / Engel, Die Ihre Flügel Verbrennen (Angels With Burnt Wings): Music for Three Films by Zbyněk Brynych (1970) (2015).
Each of the following discs was curated and compiled by the incomparably thorough and knowledgeable Christopher Klaese. Here are four additional titles in All Score’s beautifully-curated Peter Thomas memorial.
Steiner – Das eiserne kruez 2: Music from the Original Soundtrack (Revised) (1979): The prolific Mr. Thomas had a reputation for off-beat, sometimes outright wacky music. He certainly had a way for scoring fun. But he has not really had his proper due for the more serious work he did in such symphonic scores as Steiner – Das eiserne kruez 2.
This World War II-era German-American co-production gathered such heavyweights as Richard Burton (as Sgt. Steiner), Robert Mitchum, Rod Steiger and Curd Jürgens. Released in the United States as Breakthrough, the film is meant to be a sequel to Sam Peckinpah’s 1977 Cross of Iron. When Cross of Iron star James Coburn pulled out of the sequel, Richard Burton was brought in and the American producers dropped the connection.
Director Andrew V. McLaglen (1920-2014) seemed to specialize in war pictures, directing such similar and impressively-cast fare as The Wild Geese (1978) and The Sea Wolves (1980) – both scored by British composer Roy Budd – and Return from the River Kwai (1989, scored by Lalo Schifrin), among many others.
Thomas’ well-rounded score mixes brooding original cues, melodic miniatures all, with imaginative adaptations of several other composer’s themes. In such originals as “The Iron Cross,” “Friendship Melody,” “Tank Attack” and “Waiting for the Explosion,” Thomas employs a mournful harmonica, a reminder of how the war film is not altogether unlike a Western. (Thomas, who rarely worked in the Western genre, delivered a typically Spaghetti Western score to the 1966 Karl May adaptation Winnetou and His Friend Old Firehand.)
Steiner is not the sort of thing that fans of the Edgar Wallace or Jerry Cotton films are likely to expect. This an altogether more somber piece, befitting the sober nature of the story at hand. The martial cues are to be expected, but Thomas delivers some real beauties here, notably in the “Steiner Theme,” “Colonel Rogers Theme” and “Friends in Peace.”
Adaptations of pieces by Liszt (the charming “Liebestraum Swing”), Fleischmann (the haunting “Wiegenlied”), Offenbach (the cliched “Can Can”) and Weber (“Victory Swing”) help add a useful sense of time and place. But Thomas’s anachronistic use of electric bass and electric guitar (“Colonel Rogers Theme,” “Friends in Peace”), while seemingly devised for a late seventies audience – feels incongruous to the film’s 1944 setting.
Unless, that is, Peter Thomas was post-modern before post-modern was cool. And that’s pretty cool, too.
Edgar Wallace: Music from the Original Movies (Revised): Germany’s Rialto Film produced (or co-produced) no less than thirty some Edgar Wallace films between 1959’s Der Frosch mit der Maske (The Frog With the Mask) and 1972 (two Italian-German co-productions marketed in Germany as part of the Edgar Wallace series, What Have They Done to Solange and Seven Blood Stained Orchids, are otherwise more accurately considered as part of the Italian giallo cycle).
Of these, Thomas scored a remarkable 18 of the Edgar Wallace krimi films made between 1961 and 1971, beginning with Die seltsame Gräfin (a.k.a. The Strange Countess, with Joachim Fuchsberger and Klaus Kinski) and continuing through Die Tote aus der Themse (a.k.a. Angels of Terror, with Uschi Glass). German composer composer Martin Böttcher (1927-2019), best known for scoring many Karl May Westerns in the sixties, scored much of the remaining Edgar Wallace films.
More than a few Edgar Wallace music compilations have been put out over the years. None is definitive. But this one updates a set All Score issued in 2002 called The Best of Edgar Wallace. There, Thomas shared the bill with other Edgar Wallace film composers, Martin Böttcher and, on the CD version, Nora Orlandi. Here, it is all Peter Thomas.
Most of Thomas’ Edgar Wallace main title themes are here, with several of the series’ other notable themes. Seven themes here were previously unreleased and include such colorful titles as “Requiem for Crooks,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Final Fight,” “The Hump,” “Hit Him Where it Hurts,” “Bossa for Jane” and “Nora.” It all swings with a tongue-in-cheek energy, like Neal Hefti and Nelson Riddle’s “Batman” music, but with stronger sense of jazz. It is as kinetic as it is playful.
Years later, George Clooney, in order to set the proper atmosphere for his 2002 directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, chose period-specific music from the likes of Martin Denny, Yma Sumac, Esquivel and many others. He also selected not one but several pieces from Peter Thomas’ remarkable score to the 1964 Edgar Wallace adaptation, Das Verrätertor (Traitor’s Gate), including this disc’s “Theme for Lucy.”
Derrick & Der Alte: Music from the Original TV-Series (1974-1984): This disc compiles much music – from two German television programs – that has never been previously available before. It’s a joy to behold and one that is well worth hearing and savoring.
“Derrick” was a hugely popular hour-long German crime drama, initially starring Horst Tapper as Munich’s Detective Chief Inspector Stephan Derrick. He and his loyal assistant, Inspector Harry Klein (Fritz Wepper), worked together to solve murders in and around town.
“Derrick” ran for an incredible 25 seasons between 1974 and 1998, airing 281 episodes. The only American crime series that has it beat is “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” which is now in its 27th season. Britain’s “Midsomer Murders” is currently in its 25th season and looks like it’s headed for more.
Many great German composers worked on this long-running series, including Frank Duval, Martin Böttcher and Max Gregor. Even such notable musicians as clarinetist Rolf Kühn, Passport saxophonist Klaus Doldinger, drummer Klaus Weiss and keyboardist Roland Kovac contributed to its legacy. Thomas scored seven episodes of “Derrick” between 1974 and 1977. Of this disc’s 19 tracks, 12 are from “Derrick.”
In 1976, Polydor issued two singles of Peter Thomas’ music from “Derrick.” The first was Sabrina’s “Ohne Dich Ist Es Nacht,” backed with Thomas’ superb “Opium” (both from the “Tod des Trompeters” episode of “Derrick”). Each of these is included here. “Opium,” it should be noted, riffs off of Richard Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” enjoying a renaissance at the time due to Deodato’s massively popular jazz-funk riff of the theme, also known as “2001.”
There was also a 1976 single release of “Happy Andy,” a song from the 1976 “Derrick” episode “Auf eigene Faust.” credited to “Andy der Strassenmusikant,” the character played in the episode by Andy Marx. But while Derrick & Der Alte features no less than three cues from this particular episode, “Happy Andy” – b/w a song called “Happy Peter” (both tunes, and a version of “Ohne Dich Ist Es Nacht,” were featured on a 1977 Thomas compilation called Die Großen Orchester Der Welt) – is not among them.
Fans of Peter Thomas in the 21st century are likely already familiar with two of “Derrick”‘s best tracks, “Opium” (with lyrics by “Gil Francropolus,” a pseudonym for Thomas’ wife Cordy) and the future-fusion banger “Milky Way.” Both made their first CD appearance on the superb 1998 collection Moonflowers and Mini-Skirts, a disc Thomas himself raved was “The best compilation of my work ever.” At least, maybe to that point.
“Der Alte” (a.k.a. “The Old Fox”) is another German detective program, where an older detective, who is physically slow but mentally sharp, helps younger, less experienced detectives solve crimes. When the show debuted in 1977, the older detective, Chief Inspector Erwin Köster (Siegfried Lowitz, until 1985) aided the younger detective, Michael Ande (Gerd Heymann, who played the part until 2016). Remarkably, the show is still on the air.
Quite a few of the same composers who worked on “Derrick” – notably Frank Duval – also worked on “Der Alte.” Thomas himself scored nine episodes of the show between 1977 and 1985, including the first episode, “Die Dienstreise” and the series’ initial main theme (it has since changed).
Most of the seven “Der Alte” themes heard here are being released for the first time. Only “Der Alte” and “Go” have been previously available. The “Der Alte” main theme gets several interesting variations as well. These tracks are mostly electrified, disco-oriented crime jazz and brim with the delight of Thomas’ lively musical imagination. From what is here, though, it sounds as though there is plenty more worthy “Der Alte” music that remains to be heard.
Der Kommissar: Music from the Original TV-Series (1969-1972): “Der Kommissar” was a German police procedural with Kommissar Herbert Keller (Erik Ode) as its main character. Each episode had its own group of suspects, and Kommissar Keller was tasked with figuring out what happened by his sheer reasoning. The show ran for eight seasons and 97 episodes between 1969 and 1976. Herbert Jarczyk, who died three months before “Der Kommissar”‘s January 1969 premiere, provided the series’ theme music.
Peter Thomas scored 23 episodes of the show, starting with the eighth episode (“Der Tod fährt 1. Klasse”) in May 1969 through 1973. The CD, which has six bonus tracks not available on the LP version, contains themes from 13 of these episodes. Most of the tracks have not been previously released.
Among the standouts here is the fetching “Du lebst in deiner Weit (Highlights of My Dreams),” which was featured in Thomas’ score to the 1971 “Der Kommissar” episode “Als die Blumen Trauer trugen.” In this particular episode, the song was “sung” by actor Silivia Lukan, but was actually voiced by German Schlager music singer Daisy Door (a pseudonym for Evelyn von Ophuisen, a name chosen for its similarity to Doris Day).
Ms. Door re-recorded the song with bandleader Mladen Franko and it was released as a single in 1971, becoming a rather substantial hit and selling over 500,000 copies in only three short months. The version heard here is the one Ms. Door sang for the TV program. Incidentally, the original 45 was backed by a tasty instrumental number, helmed by Peter Thomas (and sounding very much like something by jazz trombonist Kai Winding), called “Jericho Angels.” To my knowledge, “Jericho Angels” has never appeared anywhere else. It would have made a terrific bonus track here.
The CD kicks off with the frequently compiled and utterly manic “The World is Gone,” from “Der Kommissar”‘s above-mentioned eighth episode: a rock-meets-R&B number that’s sung – or, hysterically narrated – by a crazed-sounding Joe Quick, he of the equally-unhinged Edgar Wallace main-title theme “Der Hund von Blackwood Castle.”
Other highlights here include “Jet-Set-Lady” (an alternate version of a song that was also used to promote the Audi 80 on German TV at the time) and the familiar “Hello I Love You”-like “Papierblumenmörder” (I wonder if this song goes by another name?).
Thomas fans will also no doubt revere such jazzy gems as “Grausamer Fund,” “Melodie fur eine Teekanne” (which hints at the forthcoming 1974 Neil Sedaka hit “Laughter in the Rain”) and the Tijuana Brass-inflected “Folksfest.” Such cues – read, more filmic – as “Raubzag,” “Tod am Bahndamm,” “Tour des Wucherers” and “Miethai an Land” are notable as well.
For those who, like this writer, remember the eighties-era “Der Kommissar,” a 1981 hit for the Austrian artist Falco and a 1982 hit for the British group After the Fire, it is worth noting that this “Der Kommissar” – surprisingly! – has nothing at all to do with either the songs or the videos of those Der Kommissars.
Coming in May 2026: All Score Media continues its series (its seventh, actually) of Peter Thomas-celebration releases with Raumpatrouille Orion – Music from the Original TV-Series (Revised). This groundbreaking and legendary TV show was the German equivalent of “Star Trek,” which premiered on American TV just eleven days before “Raumpatrouille”‘s September 17, 1966, German debut. But while the American series ran for a full three seasons, “Raumpatrouille” only ran for seven episodes of one season. Peter Thomas scored all seven episodes.
(The show was fully billed as “Raumpatrouille – Die Phantastischen Abenteuer Des Raumschiffes ORION,” or “Space Patrol – The Fantastic Adventures of the Spaceship ORION,” here shortened to “Raumpatrouille Orion.” According to IMDb, there are plans for a “Raumpatrouille Orion” film, based on the TV series, although nothing seems to be official as of yet.)
A soundtrack album for Raumpatrouille was originally released in Germany on the Phillips label in 1966. The disc featured 18 tracks and was consistent across various reissues over the years, including its 1989 CD debut on the Polyphon label. A 1996 CD release of Raumpatrouille on the Bungalow label added three bonus tracks to the original program (“Mars Close Up,” “Hedono” and “Moontown”). This is the version of the soundtrack that I have.
In 2003, Bungalow issued what it called Raumpatrouille: The Complete Music, a CD included in the limited-edition DVD box set called Raumpatrouille Orion Alpha. This set did away with – or possibly retitled – the three bonus tracks from the earlier set, but added a full 10 new bonus tracks: “Mars Menuet,” “Enter the Crew,” “Attention: Frogs!,” “Vision Gamma,” “Calling Earth,” “Invasion?,” “Till the Blue Moon,” “Sneaky Robots,” “Last Minute” and “Lonesome Astronaut.”
A 2010 issue of Raumpatrouille Orion on the German Bavaria Sonor label featured the original 18 tracks plus a whopping 14 bonus tracks (including one titled “Camerata”), none of which match the bonus titles from the previous two CD releases.
All Score’s upcoming LP and CD release of Raumpatrouille Orion claims to be based merely on the original 18 LP tracks plus four never-before issued tracks (three of which were not ultimately used for the series), working in collaboration with Thomas’ son, Philip: “McLane in Command,” “Hyperion 29 Out of Control,” “Gaurdians of the Law” and “Space Patrol (Original TV Version).” But there is a little more here than meets the ear.
Both of All Score’s LP and CD issues of Raumpatrouille Orion contain the new bonus tracks, but the LP has only 19 tracks, knocking out the original LP tracks, “Lancet Bossa Nova,” “Starlight Party” and “Position: Overkill.” The CD restores those tracks plus seven of the 10 tracks from the 2003 Bungalow set (missing here are “Mars Menuet,” “Sneaky Robots” and “Lonesome Astronaut”) and, oddly, “Camerata” from the 2010 Bavaria Sonor release.
This dizzying set of circumstances, however, doesn’t make All Score’s upcoming release more than well worth hearing. This ranks with Thomas’ music for Edgar Wallace and Jerry Cotton as some of his most popular, notable and sample-able-ever material. I can’t wait to hear it myself.
Endnotes:
- I am proud to have co-produced, with my good friend Matthias Künnecke – who has worked on several other discs discussed here – and written extensive liner notes for the 2009 CD release of Chariots of the Gods?, with a stunning 10 bonus tracks and the inclusion of Thomas’s terrific 1974 re-recording of the main theme (a.k.a. “Returning to the Stars”), recorded, but never released, in the U.S. ↩︎
Much to my surprise, following the release of the Chariots of the Gods? CD release, Maestro Thomas sent to me – from his home in Lugano, Switzerland – this page from the March 2, 1974, issue of Billboard magazine, with his lovely, personalized inscription. I was as awed for his kindness and generosity as for having the original ad all those years later. R.I.P., Maestro Thomas.