Beginning a look at Matt Helm collectables I start with this LP record I spotted. Its on You Tube of you want to listen, the Theme from the Silencers.
I love how the producers have thrown together the cover image, two starlets wearing hip little next to an artexed wall and brandishing hefty weaponry.
The presumably real machine gun on the right - a Schmeisser maybe? - reminds me of the plastic toy rifle seen in an old blog legend of ours, the wonderful Gerry Anderson Starcruiser Mission Kit by Thomas Salter Toys.
But the schmeisser isn't the toy gun that made it to the shops.
I'll load that one later this week!
Our man flint was the best spy theme hands down in the 60's! - MJ Southcoast base
ReplyDeleteBetween Helm and Flint, Flint wins hands down. The Helm themes did not match the movies very well and seemed more of an effort to lure the youth in with the trending sound of the month while hiding the crooner their parents listened to, Flint's on the other hand, had some energetic melodies with just the right amount of poppy brass. Our Man Flint is way better than In Like Flint imo.
DeleteFun Fact: Austin Powers ringtone was heavily influenced by Flint's.
Bonus Fun Fact: I used Flint's as my cell phone's for near 20 years and even set it up as my ringtone for my Cisco VOIP on my desk.
Fascinating Lance. Your a Flint fan by the sounds of it. Whats a cisco voit?
DeleteThat's a MP-40 in her hands. The folding stock appears to be extended but mostly hidden by her right arm. The rest, a small wedge under the barrel, appears to be missing off of it. The MP 40 was often called the "Schmeisser" by the Allies, after weapons designer Hugo Schmeisser. Schmeisser had designed the MP 18, which was the first mass-produced submachine gun, and saw extensive service at the end of the First World War. He did not, however, design the MP 40, although he held a patent on the magazine.
ReplyDeleteThe pistol held by the other model I am not able to identify. Based on the visible bits/angle of view, imo, we can rule out Mauser C96 (way wrong shape), Walther P38 (trigger area meeting slide doesn't match), or even the Luger, which is closer to the one in the pic but the rear of the gun doesn't match imo. It may be some sort of target range pistol like a Ruger or such.
Great stuff Lance. Rheirs something magnetic about those German gun names. Wonder why spies and agents went for them?
DeleteThe MP40 was a sub-machine gun (meaning it fires pistol ammunition), rather than a machine-gun (which fires rifle ammunition). MP stands for Machine Pistol - or Maschine Pistole in German - which is the German term for a sub-machine gun. Yes, very pedantic of me.
ReplyDeleteAlways good to know these things Paul. Javol!
DeleteI had a similar record as a kid, it had Napoleon Solo and Ilya lookalikes on the cover with a dolly Bird. The thing I really remember was it had two sparkler fused bombs on the floor, one labeled THRUSH the other SMERSH...
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of toy Schmeissers, in my early 20s I was working on an amateur SF film. I had to produce a bunch of laser guns, so I bought a bunch of toy machine guns from the local Coles Variety store and cut them up. Models available were a Maurer, M16 and Schmeisser.
They were black plastic Hong Kong or Taiwan productions with a friction motor that hit a little drum to create the sound when the trigger was pulled!
I cut them up, rearranged them with metal hair curlers and other doodads and filled them with plaster so the actors would have some weight to carry around!
Ah, them were the days!
Those gunbashes sound brill Looey. Any pics still?
DeleteAnd I found that record!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.storeforvinyl.com/soundtracks/the-man-from-u-n-c-l-e-and-other-tv-themes-lp/
I had a feeling you meant that one. A great cover. The bl9nde guys reminds me of Straker on UFO! It must be fun to collect spy albums like these.
DeleteI loved TV and Movie theme music records as a teenager.
ReplyDeleteOver the years I bought dozens of them, covering the full range of dramas, horrors, sci fi, comedies, light entertainment, sports, children's and even some adverts. At one point I had versions of over 200 TV themes, with 4 or 5 different versions of some of them.
Some were original versions of the ones heard on TV, but most were cover versions by bands like Geoff Love and his orchestra.
I never had any Matt Helm or Flint themes, but did have Bond movie music, and shows like Mission Impossible, The Avengers and The FBI.
The best vinyl theme I had was undoubtedly the Chaquito latin american brass band version of Hawaii Five 0.
It's utterly fantastic ! Fast paced and all wild trumpets and horns. Better even than the actual one used in the series!
Mish.
Wow Mish! What a collection! I've often thought of having a go at collecting LP's like that. I stuck to horror in the end. Do you still have your marvellous-sounding records?
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