Why not John Peterson?

[Spyder]

Does anybody know why John Petersen was not brought on as the series composer for Season 5? We know that Jan Hammer was around for Season 4 only during the first few episodes, and then at the end for Mirror Image. He provided Petersen with his samples to use. Petersen did a good job at mimicking JH and he would have brought a similar music style to the final year of the show if he stayed on, no doubt.I think maybe Dick Wolf and co., keeping with Michael Mann's habit of always changing the show's style and mood every season, decided to go with Truman because his guitar-driven style was a more deliberate, radical departure from the Hammer sound, rather than use someone who was merely trying to sound like Jan. Plus, TT was purported to be personally recommended by Don Johnson. What does everyone think? Personally, I think JH should've stayed on. There are too many moments in Season 5 when Crockett's Theme, Marina, The Trial and the Search, The Talk, could all have come in handy. Oh, and don't forget Rico's Blues.

[23 ways]

Actually Jan Hammer composed for all 22 season 4 episodes. He shared the duties John between "Missing hours" and "A bullet for Crockett". This is a great question. I wish John or even Jan could have scored Season 5.

[Ferrariman]

I've asked this question several times over the years. I also thought John did a fantastic job mimicking Jan. In my opinion he would've been the perfect replacement!I also heard the rumors of TT being recruited by DJ.

[cheetah]

I also heard the rumors of TT being recruited by DJ.

Hmmm, that's interesting... :confused: I wonder what the (major) reason was, then - that TT was DJ's friend, or that DJ loved his music?

[Mr. Calderon]

I like JH´s songs. But in some way, TT did a good job for S5. Ok...hes not a Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaan Haaaaamer....but the few episodes im watching wasnt soooooooooooo bad. A thing he tried to do is a long "woooowwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnn" sound typical from Jan´s but with TT´s touch.

[mvnyc]

I sent John Petersen an e-mail, a very nice guy. He explained that Jan Hammer heard a demo tape of his (Petersen's) cues and brought him in on Season 4. They collaborated on cues at first and then Petersen took over completely, until Jan Hammer came back to do the last episode of the 4th season, (because the producers wanted him to). He also said that Tim Truman scored season 5 because he was a friend of Don Johnson. So there you have it...

[ivoryjones]

Sad to me is that whereas JH (additional) and TT (first ever) CD releases of MV music seem unlikely, John Petersen's contributions to the series almost certainly will never be released.That's too bad, I particularly like his cues on "Vote of Confidence". IMMO, normally his music, as TT's music, is kind of "themeless" - more a mood and an atmosphere than an incredible melody (JH gets all of that!). Nevertheless, on "Vote of Confidence", JP got a wonderful theme/mood/atmosphere, and in the teaser, a very nice "pink floydish" guitar line.

[Leigh Burne]

I know that Tim Truman also scored Michael Mann's made-for-TV movie L.A. Takedown before he did Miami Vice, so maybe that had some bearing on his recruitment to the show as well...As an aside, does anyone know anything about John Petersen? I know a little bit about Truman, and obviously there's quite a lot of info out there about Hammer, but there doesn't seem to be anything about Petersen. Be good if someone could share something.As for whether Truman should've been the one chosen to score season five, I actually really like his music. I wouldn't say it was better than Hammer's work, but I do think it fits the bleak tone of the final season a lot better than Jan's music would've done.

[Matt5]

Peterman's cues were a lot less understated - Tim Truman seemed to work well for that late 1988 - 1989 feel