Episode 55 - Heartbeeps

We're closing out the first year of "The Baton" with another of John Williams' lesser-known works. "Heartbeeps" was a massive flop at the box office, but has some charms that were greatly helped by John Williams' music. The Maestro experimented with heavy use of synthesizers and keyboards, and also used a much smaller orchestra compared to his previous two films. The result is a love theme that has some tenderness when played on strings, or on keyboards. There's also a theme for the "villain," a robot named Crimebuster which is the big downfall of the film. Williams does write an interesting theme for Crimebuster, and host Jeff Commings wonders if this is what Williams might have written for Darth Vader if the Star Wars series was a comedy.