GREAT music composers in 80s/90s computer games

[IntelliMission]

Let's talk about those great video game music composers that history has forgotten, partly because they didn't work for console video games.

 

I'd like to start with Charles Callet, an amazingly creative French guy who was also hyperactive. He made the soundtrack for a lot of French games, mostly Coktel Vision graphic adventures. After making the soundtrack of 40 games during 7 years (and joining scientology), he died of a bone disease in 1995. Here's a selection of his work:

 

1987: Prohibition

1987: Meurtres en série

1987: Iznogoud

1987: Chamonix Challenge / Final Assault

1989: The Quest for the Time-Bird

1989: North & South

1989: Passengers of the Wind

1992: Gobliins 2

1992: Inca

1993: Lost in Time

1993: Ween

1993: Inca 2

 

[carlsson]

Well, the SID scene probably is just as large, if not larger than e.g. the NES scene when it comes to composers. Many also worked on multiple formats.

 

Rob Hubbard, Ben Daglish, Martin Galway, Chris Hülsbeck, Jeroen Tel... the list is significantly longer than so but those are just some of the biggest names off the top of my head.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Well for me the first name that comes to my mind is George 'The Fatman' Sanger! I knew of his work mostly from the PC games I played in the late 80 and early 90s as he composed quite a few. But perhaps his main contribution to video game/digital music back then was his helping to establish the standards for General MIDI to FM conversions in the late 80s and early 90s. He has been at it since composing Thin Ice on the Intelly back in '83 and continues to do music consultation and innovation today.

 

https://www.fatman.com/

[Omega-TI]

I don't know who did Moon Patrol, but that bastard had that tune rolling around in my head for days at one point.

 

 

[high voltage]

 

The Tail of Beta Lyrae

Alternate reality series

Mr Robot

 

Gary Gilbertson....he should've done more for Atari 8-Bit

[mr_me]

Russ Lieblich

credits:  

https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,342/

 

George Sanger

credits:

https://www.mobygames.com/developer/george-alistair-sanger/credits/developerId,119/

 

[Mr SQL]

On 11/16/2020 at 3:29 PM, carlsson said:

Well, the SID scene probably is just as large, if not larger than e.g. the NES scene when it comes to composers. Many also worked on multiple formats.

 

Rob Hubbard, Ben Daglish, Martin Galway, Chris Hülsbeck, Jeroen Tel... the list is significantly longer than so but those are just some of the biggest names off the top of my head.

X2! Nick Scarim too with his First Star Software tunes which probably doesn't surprise you, but Mike Hughey might with this amazing one hit wonder featuring awesome chiptunes and a technical feat on the Color Computer where complex sound, required precise cycle timing like the graphics on the VCS: