Only one human being can link Ludwig von Beethoven and Peter Griffin together.
His name is Walter Murphy, who these days is best known for the music he composes on Family Guy, The Cleveland Show and American Dad!, television shows created by Murphy's good friend, Seth MacFarlane.
But for all the fame Murphy has for his musical work on those shows, he's known best for one song.
And it's a disco classic to say the least. It was on this week, October 9, 1976, that Murphy took the classical composer to a place he never was before -- No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as "A Fifth Of Beethoven," based solely on Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5 In C Minor," which finished being composed in 1808, finished off the slowest climb on the Hot 100 to No. 1 at that time, 20 weeks. It had debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 80 and reached the top spot by knocking Wild Cherry's disco classic, "Play That Funky Music" from the top.
The story behind "A Fifth Of Beethoven" began in 1974 when Murphy (born December 19, 1952) was composing songs for commercials he had been contracted for. It was a producer who suggested to this multi-instrumentalist that he should update classical music. So in his spare time, Murphy, who had major keyboard and piano training from his work as a child with the legendary New York City-based silent screen keyboardist Rosa Rio, composed a demo tape of "the classics" put together in a disco groove.
The response to those "re-workings" was lukewarm at best. But it was his disco interpretation of Beethoven's famous "Symphony No. 5" that got the attention of Larry Uttal, the head of Private Stock Records, in 1975. Uttal signed Murphy and in early 1976, he went into the record studio to once again create that magic that he originally put on that demo for "A Fifth Of Beethoven," once again playing every instrument on the track, a long, arduous task and undertaking.
When the single was done, backed by another disco instrumental called "California Strut," Murphy was excited. But he was brought back to reality when Uttal told him that it'd be best if there was a bigger "name" behind his work than just "Walter Murphy." So Murphy became infuriated when he found out that his song was being released as Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band ... even though there was no other players on that record! The song got released in the spring of 1976. But imagine Uttal and Private Stock's shock when they found out that there already was a Big Apple Band. Ultimately on subsequent releases, the song would be dubbed under The Walter Murphy Band and later, just Walter Murphy.
And wouldn't you know it -- people ate up "A Fifth Of Beethoven." It became a club music favorite and discos everywhere played it on a nightly basis. So, too, did radio, and the people went out and bought the 45. And as soon as the song spent this one week at No. 1, Murphy was asked to an entire album based on the classics put to disco. One such song, "Flight '76," which was based on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight Of The Bumble Bee," hit the Hot 100, but missed out on the Top 40, peaking at No. 44 in early 1977.
After doing another album of disco classics, this one featuring George Gershwin's classic, "Rhapsody In Blue," Murphy would miss out on the Top 40 again in 1982 when his "Themes From E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial)" hit No. 47. That movie work ultimately led to Murphy being contracted to do television music from shows like Buffy, The Vampire Slayer and Channel Umptee-3. before he connected with MacFarlane to do work on his television cartoon shows as well as the motion picture "Ted," which MacFarlane starred as Mark Wahlberg's talking teddy bear.
And in 1977, "A Fifth Of Beethoven" was contracted to be used in a movie that would make disco music a staple forever -- Saturday Night Fever. Then in 2002, a long-haired new artist named Robin Thicke used "A Fifth Of Beethoven" as the backdrop to his debut single "When I Get You Alone." And that opening musical refrain -- "Dum-dum-dum-duuuuuuuuum" -- has been used at sporting events, especially when the opponent has done something bad, like walk a batter or make an error in baseball or committed a foul in basketball or a penalty in hockey.
Finally, one other footnote -- that real Big Apple Band eventually changed its name because of Murphy's smash. They changed it to Chic and became a legendary dance-disco band that had hits with "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)," "Le Freak" and "Good Times and was once again nominated for induction into the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame.
But it all started with a suggestion to "update the classics." And though the record label screwed up the name of the act because it would "appeal" more, Walter Murphy will forever be linked to Ludwig von Beethoven.
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