Composer Earl Hagen Dead At 88

One of the advantages to not listening to traditional radio stations is that I can either catch up on audio books when out traipsing about town, or I can listen to some NPR. The other afternoon I caught a piece on Earle Hagen passing away. Now I have this weird sense of not being too affected when older people, even those who made tremendous contributions to the world, pass away. I figure that while it’s sad for his family he did still live a long and fulfilling life. Take a look at what Hagen did and it’s hard to be sad to have had him around all this time.

Hagen was most known as a TV theme composer, having written some of the most timeless TV tunes in history. It’s his whistle you hear during the Andy Griffith Show and it was Hagen who did the Mod Squad theme. The classic Harlem Nocturne was also written by Hagen, and it was later used as a TV theme.

Earle Hagen died at the age of 88, having left the world with classic music that we will all remember for a long time to come.