Walter Schumann

Walter Schumann was a composer and orchestra leader best known for composing the Dragnet theme. The theme's familiar "dun de dun-dun" sting was often parodied by the Muppets and others, and used directly on contemporary comedy records, including some used on Sam and Friends. He organized his own troupe of twenty singers, called The Voices of Walter Schumann, for album recordings, again used occasionally on Sam and Friends. The vocal group included Marni Nixon, a prolific vocal dubber for film musicals including Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and Deborah Kerr in The King and I. 
Schumann was an arranger, composer, or bandleader on radio series The Eddie Cantor Show, A Date with Judy, and others, and as musical director for the Armed Forces Radio Service. He scored four Abbott and Costello comedies including Buck Privates Come Home and Africa Screams. After the "Dragnet March" gained national attention, more dramatic work followed for Charles Laughton's directorial efforts, providing music for the 1953 Broadway play John Brown's Body and Night of the Hunter.
==Records used==
*January 2, 1957 (transcription date for later use): "The Ballad of Roger Boom" (1956), The Voices of Walter Schumann with soloist Kenneth Harp.Shemin, Craig. Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show. BearManor Media, 2022. p. 276
*July 23, 1957 (transcription date): "Dragnet Goes to Kindergarten" written by Steve Allen, performed by Ricky Vera. Credit for actual Dragnet theme to Schumann, but no direct participation otherwise.ibid. p. 284 
*December 26, 1958: "Christmas Tree" from The Voices of Christmas (1955 album). The Voices of Walter Schumann with soloist Bill Lee.ibid. p. 320
*May 22, 1959: "St. George and the Dragonet" (1956) with Stan Freberg and Daws Butler. Orchestra directed by Schumann, of his own Dragnet theme.ibid. p. 376
*December 22, 1959: "Christmas Tree."ibid. p. 416
==Sources==
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Category:Musical References