Bob Mersey

• Born 7 April 1917, New York City, New York

Staff arranger and composer for CBS television and Columbia Records, Mersey's "Great Jazz from Great TV", credited to "Det Moor and his Orchestra," is a classic piece of crime jazz, a compilation of incidental pieces Mersey wrote for such shows as "Route 66," "The New Breed," "Manhunt," "Kraft Mystery Theater," and "Window on Main Street." It's as rare as an honest man in Congress, but worth spending a few years scrounging for.

On Columbia, Mersey arranged for Frankie Avalon, Stubby Kaye, Jimmy Clanton, and produced some of the label's most successful singers of the 1960s, including Andy Williams' "Moon River" and Barbra Streisand's "My Name is Barbra". He also wrote scores for the films "Pie in the Sky" and "Terror in the City." And in 1965, he helped Epic toss its hat into the Tijuana-bee ring with an album of Herb Alpert covers and close-tos.