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In the late-night hours of December 31st, 1995, The Weather Channel debuted a new music playlist for their local forecast.
This playlist was unusual in that every song was written by the same artist, Atlanta composer Trammell Starks.
What was even more unique about this playlist was that every song was composed specifically for The Weather Channel.
It is not known why The Weather Channel asked Mr. Starks to compose these songs.
I assume it had something to do with the legal issues they were having with music licensed by BMI.
That year there were at least four playlist changes.
From all BMI music, to all Network Music (two playlists), and then to a small mix of BMI and Network Music songs.
Another unique aspect of this playlist was that most of the tracks were edited in a way to where the song faded in.
This practice only lasted a few months, though.
When new songs were introduced around April, they generally started at the beginning.
When these new songs were introduced, some new songs licensed by BMI were also introduced.
Like the mixed playlist of October 1995, the April 1996 playlist was small.
The only artists featured (in additional to Trammell Starks) were Chris Camozzi, Ficara, Common Ground, Artie Traum, Paul Gilreath, and David Reinstein.
The Weather Channel continued to use several of Trammell's songs throughout the late 1990s.
In 1998, The Weather Channel switched to a quarterly playlist.
This practice ended on January 1, 2000, when they introduced the monthly playlist.
It was also around this time that Trammell's songs were played when The Weather Channel was having technical issues during its local forecast.
Many of these songs were also used on The Weather Channel's sister station, WeatherScan (formally called WeatherScan Local) for several years.
It may surprise you to know that this wasn't the only time The Weather Channel used music by Trammell Starks.
Prior to 1996, he frequently composed music for their documentaries.
If you watch specials like "The Burning Season" (about wildfires in the west during the dry season) and "Tornado Chase '96", you'll see Trammell's name in the closing credits.
Originally, Trammell had composed these tracks with no intention of selling them to fans.
In fact, the idea of there being fans was a foreign concept.
But after receiving numerous requests (including several from me), he decided to release the songs to anyone that was willing to pay for his time and effort.
If you're interested in obtaining a copy of these songs, his three CD set is currently out of print. However, he is working on printing more, so stay tuned!
Check out the audio section for clips of every Trammell song. Please note that Trammell did not name any of these songs. I came up with my own titles in the late 90s.
If you'd like to hear more about Trammell and his music on The Weather Channel, you can watch this four part interview by Greg on YouTube.
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