Frank Comstock born 20 September 1922

Frank G. Comstock (September 20, 1922 – May 21, 2013) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and trombonist. For television, Comstock wrote and arranged music for major situation comedies and variety shows; his theme and incidental music for Rocky and His Friends (1959–1964) are probably his best-remembered works. Additionally, his music for Adam-12 earned him a 1971 Emmy nomination. 

Born in San Diego, California, Comstock had no formal training other than a few trombone lessons, and his junior high school music teacher helped him write his first arrangements for the school dance band. While still in high school, Comstock sold arrangements to local San Diego dance bands. After graduation, Comstock's high school friend, the late trumpeter Uan Rasey, landed a job touring with Sonny Dunham's nationally known dance band. Dunham hired Comstock on Uan's recommendation. When Sonny Dunham's band folded, Dunham's manager recommended Comstock to Benny Carter. Carter, a musician and arranger himself, soon delegated arrangement-related chores to Comstock. 

Les Brown & Doris Day

In 1943, Comstock's reputation led to an arranger position with Les Brown and His Band of Renown, which critics claimed was one of the key causes of the band's success. In 1947, while continuing to arrange for Brown, Comstock began freelancing in the Hollywood studios and for various record labels. Doris Day sang his arrangements with the Brown band, and that resulted in Comstock writing arrangements for her on such films as I'll See You in My Dreams (1951), On Moonlight Bay (1951), By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953), April in Paris (1952), Calamity Jane (1953) and others. Comstock and Day remained friends to the end of his life and, as late as the 1990s, still joked about going back on the road. 

                            Here’s “Patterns” from above LP

                                   

He often went uncredited, as with his arrangement of "I Wanna Be Loved by You" for Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot (1959) or work on The Desert Song (1953), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) and Finian's Rainbow (1968). He did get screen credit for his orchestrations on The Eddie Cantor Story (1953), The Helen Morgan Story (1957), The Music Man (1962), Hello, Dolly! (1969) and other films. 

In the 1950s, Comstock became friendly with producer-star and jazz fan Jack Webb, who hired Comstock to supply the themes and underscore for his TV series The D.A.'s Man (1959), Temple Houston (1963-64), Adam-12 (1968-75) and Escape (1973). His sole Emmy nomination was for scoring the 1970 Adam-12 episode "Elegy for a Pig." In addition, he scored many episodes of Pete Kelly's Blues (1959) and Dragnet (1968-70); the feature film The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961) and the TV-movies The D.A.: Murder One (1969) and The D.A.: Conspiracy to Kill (1971), all Webb productions. He also arranged much of the jukebox music heard during the early seasons of the 1970s hits Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley; and scored the TV-movie The Night That Panicked America (1975). 

His association with Les Brown resulted in his contributions of arrangements to Bob Hope TV specials for 15 years. Over the years, he also arranged songs for variety shows headlined by Judy Garland, Andy Williams and Carol Burnett.In addition to his work in the studios, he was a busy arranger for records, especially in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Comstock's recording credits include eight Hi-Lo's albums in collaboration with vocal arranger Gene Puerling, throughout the 1950s; he also wrote charts for Frankie Laine, Rosemary Clooney and other singers, and contributed arrangements for theme-park rides at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. 

His own albums included A Young Man's Fancy (1954), Patterns (1955), and  a favorite among TV-theme collectors TV Guide Top Television Themes (1959), on which he shared arranging duties with Warren Barker His cult exotica favorite Project Comstock: Music From Outer Space (1962) became a classic and was released on CD in 2004. In 2007, Brian Setzer "rediscovered" Frank Comstock and commissioned new arrangements for his Wolfgang's Big Night Out and Songs from Lonely Avenue CDs. 

He died in Huntington Beach, California, May 21, 2013 (aged 90)

(Edited from Wikipedia  & The Film Music Society)