Robert Cobert’s iconic music themes for Dark Shadows were integral to the identity of the entire series and its two film spinoffs. Musician, author, and DePaul University College of Law professor, Ben Alba, visits the podcast to discuss and celebrate some favorite Cobert pieces. Throughout the course of episode, Ben even plays a few bars from several of the themes on his keyboard. Topics include: Ben’s lifelong fascination with the music from Dark Shadows, playing on the piano for fans at a Dark Shadows Festival, Bob Cobert’s incredible range as a composer, Dark Shadows soundtrack albums, and much more!

Correction: According to the interview with Bob Cobert in the booklet included with Discs 5 & 6 of ‘The Complete Dark Shadows Soundtrack Music Collection’ – “Many people assume that the instrument playing the Dark Shadows theme was a Theremin, but it wasn’t. The opening theme was neither a Theremin nor an Ondes Martinot. It was a Yamaha synthesizer with a string on it that made a Theremin-like sound. We couldn’t find an Ondes Martinot player or a Theremin player in New York, so we used that, and it was played by a very famous pianist named Dick Hyman… What you’re hearing in the theme is, melodically, a Yamaha on top, an alto flute on the bottom, then a bass, vibes, and harp, playing atonal accompaniment – five players in all.” I actually knew about this but misremembered the tweaked synthesizer organ as the way Robert Cobert initially presented the theme to Dan Curtis. Cobert presented the theme to Curtis by describing it and sort of whistling it while shaking his head about. I pulled the instrument listing (including the Theremin) from an online article and should have double-checked everything before recording the episode. Apologies. Also, from the same interview: “Almost all of the Dark Shadows music cues were recorded in England. It was money, pure and simple... the theme itself was recorded in New York.”