These two Charley Chase comedies contain the first examples of original Shield melodies.

The slow waltz "Dear, With Me" caught on immediately, reappearing in at least twenty Roach comedies, including the late ’30s features Bonnie Scotland and Topper.
Little Rascals Music, track 23

The chase theme "Fliver Flops" is perhaps best remembered from Another Fine Mess (1930), when Stan and Ollie, covered with an African buffalo's hide, flee Colonel Buckshot on a borrowed tandem bike. It remained in fairly constant use until 1935.
Little Rascals Music, track 35

Fast Work also contains some untitled piano music by Shield. Fast Work cue sheet.

A xylophone version of "Little Dancing Girl" served as Girl Shock's opening music. The song appeared in almost every Roach two-reeler from 1930 until 1937. In 1974 it was recorded by R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders (combined with "Good Old Days") as "Little Rascals Medley."
Little Rascals Music, track 9
On to the Show, track 25

Although best known from Teacher's Pet, "Garden Gaities" first appeared in Girl Shock, played on organ.
On to the Show, track 18

"Why! The Old Flirt" (a.k.a. "Flirt") was used only in Girl Shock and Helping Grandma.
On to the Show, track 34

"Winding Path" Girl Shock contains the only known version of this tune, played on organ.

After premiering in Girl Shock, the romantic "The One I Love Best" be came a standard love theme.
Little Rascals Music, track 12

"Russian Furioso" A furioso, used in Girl Shock in an organ version. [Not to be confused with J. Zamecnik's "Furioso."]

"Oh Doctor! Doctor" is a musical expression of acute pain.
Little Rascals Music, track 49C

"If It Were Only True" One of the great Shield dance tunes. After the organ version in Girl Shock, a dance band version was recorded which premiered in Bigger and Better. A piano version can be heard in Poker at Eight.
Little Rascals Music, track 17

"Hide and Go Seek" premiered in Girl Shock as organ music, then reappeared as fully orchestrated version in Pups Is Pups. In 1935, a newly orchestrated version was recorded, which can be heard in Pay As You Exit (1936)
Little Rascals Music, track 40

May /June 1930
Doctor's Orders

"Ah! 'Tis Love" Mickey Daniels has been hit in the behind by an arrow and exclaims, "What is this feeling that's come over me? Ah—I know—'Tis love."
Little Rascals Music, track 28

May, 1930
Pups Is Pups

Our Gang's Pups Is Pups introduced more Shield stock themes universally associated with kids. The first one was the cute kiddy tune "Teeter-Totter."
On to the Show, track 3

"On to the Show" This music was one of Shield's personal favorites. An early verion (with banjo and xylophone) is heard in Pups Is Pups. An alternate version, with verse, appears in Fly My Kite (1931), Free Eats (1932) and The Kid from Borneo (1933). Yet an other version appeared in Bigger and Better.
Little Rascals Music, track 4 and 48B
On to the Show, track 20

"Let's Go" This is the up-tempo dance number played by the band in the hall where Our Gang bring their pets. It became known as the Boy Friends' theme song. Several versions were recorded, including a piano version (heard in Looser Than Loose and Poker at Eight), an organ version (Love Fever) and a violin version (Bigger and Better). A vocal version, "Poly High," appears in Love Pains (1932).
Little Rascals Music, track 22
On to the Show, track 21

"Confusion" is the most widely used "suspense" melody of all Hal Roach stock themes. Roach plot developments being what they are, it can usually be found near the end of the second reel.
On to the Show, track 42

"Here Are the Pets," custom-composed for the scene where the Gang want to enter their pets in the city pet show, comprises distinct parts: an uptempo fanfare, a march, and a slow minor version of the march.
On to the Show, track 6

A sentimental, lilting theme, "Wishing" was one of those tunes used almost exclusively in Our Gang shorts.
Little Rascals Music, track 16

"Yasmini" This is Shield's impression of the Mysterious East—so it simply had to be used in such films as A Lad an' a Lamp (Our Gang, 1932) and Arabian Tights (Chase, 1933). A xylophone version can be heard in Mama Loves Papa (1931). Little Rascals Music, track 21

Credited to Shield, "Religioso" is played by church bells in Pups Is Pups. It appears in no other film.

June, 1930
Teacher's Pet

With "Good Old Days" Shield created a tune evoking instant nostalgia—in 1930 as much as today. Its success was immediate, prompting the NBC radio show Kaltenmeyer's Kindergarten to add lyrics. It also turns up in the schoolroom scene in Pardon Us. A "fanfare" version was heard in most post-1935 Little Rascals shorts, starting with Our Gang Follies of 1936.
Little Rascals Music, track 1 and 50
On to the Show, track 1 and 50

"Your Piktur" is a musical laugh effect, used when Jackie shows Miss Crabtree the picture he "drawed" of his new teacher.
Little Rascals Music, track 11

"Miss Crabtree" (a.k.a. "Girl & Stick") "There's something goofy with anybody what's got a name like Crabtree." Mary Ann Jackson, with painted glasses and holding a stick, imitates the "old battle ax" they imagine their new teacher to be: "I'm your new teacher, Miss Crabtree. Hee–Hee–Hee. I bet she's skinny, and got a wart right on her nose, just like this." On to the Show, track 16

"Ezra" (a.k.a. "Ears") This fiddle music denotes small-town backwardness. It can be heard as Miss Crabtree stops her fancy car at a roadside café and introduces herself to the toothless old waiter.
On to the Show, track 17

"Riding Along" appears in the scene where Jackie Cooper is given a ride by Miss Crabtree. A piano version appears in Maids à la Mode (1931) and a violin version in The Pooch (1932).
Little Rascals Music, track 10

"Sneaking" (a.k.a. "Hiding") A suspense cue featuring a bass clarinet
Little Rascals Music, track 49a

"Stand Up" A brass "sting" effect used for schoolroom scenes in Teacher's Pet and School's Out.

"Ants" (Hurry) Several children have brought nasty "presents" for the new teacher. Chubby's present is a bottle of red ants. Unfortunately, the bottle somehow got open in Chubby's pocket, and the ants are all over the school room.
On to the Show, track 19

June /July 1930
Bigger and Better

"Hollywood Kate" is a notorious shoplifter: "And, boy, can she lift things!" (The title may be a hidden reference to Shield's sweetheart Kay, whom he courted while working in Hollywood.)
On to the Show, track 24

"It Is To Laugh" is a composition entirely built around "laughing" instruments. It first appeared while Mr. Kornman is trying on hats. In 1931 a piano reduction was published in the Leroy Shield Song Album. A lushly orchestrated version of "It Is to Laugh" can be heard in the 1936 films Mister Cinderella and Pay As You Exit.
Little Rascals Music, track 20
On to the Show, track 27

"Oh, My Hat" (a composition spanning all of six notes) is an adaptationof "Where Did You Get That Hat?," Joseph J. Sullivan's hit of 1888.
On to the Show, track 27

"Intermezzo" Chamber music suitable for vague situations.
On to the Show, track 30

"Beautiful Lady" One of the most frequently heard Shield tunes of all. Several versions were recorded over the years for use as main title music for the Thelma Todd series. It also served the more general function of introducing any lady— beautiful or plain, old or young.
Little Rascals Music, track 2

"Blue Blue" This bluesy jazz theme followed the tradition of 1920s black bands. Shield himself was fond of the composition, and once planned to write an arrangement for commercial recording by Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra.
Little Rascals Music, track 36

"Arrowhead" Uncle Ed (Kennedy) makes the Boy Friends "CDs" (Canoe Demonstrators) at Lake Arrowhead. "Whoopee! Arrowhead!" they exclaim. "We're going to Arrowhead, we're going to Arrowhead…"
On to the Show, track 23

"Mickey" This may have been Shield's representation of Mickey Daniels' crazy monkey laugh.
On to the Show, track 22

"Where? Oh, Where" "Wrong, All Wrong" Two short fanfare effects.
On to the Show, track 41 and 43

August 1930
Helping Grandma

"Apples, Apples" "One for You" Cues heard in this film only.

September, 1930
Looser Than Loose
Una Cana al Aire

"You Are The One I Love" A romantic love song. From the very first instance, it was often used in an ironic sense, as an in-joke on the title. A piano version appears in Chickens Come Home and the reissue of Blotto. A version with only violin and piano appears in Soup and Fish (1934).
Little Rascals Music, track 34

"All Together" (a.k.a. "Tune") A short but sweet dance tune. A piano version can be heard in Looser Than Loose, Soup and Fish (1934), Poker At Eight (1935), and Blotto (reissue, 1937) On to the Show, track 4

"The Moon and You" (a.k.a. Anticipate) A big hit, several versions of which were recorded and used in films. Often used as opening title music. Looser Than Loose contains a piano version which reappeared in Twin Screws (1933) and Poker At Eight (1935).
Little Rascals Music, track 37

Looser Than Loose cue sheet

October, 1930
Blood and Thunder

"Candy, Candy" Another favorite theme of Roach sound editors. Its original association with candy was obvious in early Our Gang shorts like Helping Grandma and Free Eats. An uptempo version was used as the opening title music of Laughing Gravy (1931).
Little Rascals Music, track 15

"In My Canoe" A slow waltz. An uptempo version can be heard during the opening titles of Another Fine Mess (1930) and in Bargain Day (1931). In Pay As You Exit (1936), Porky puts on a record of this song to accompany Alfalfa's performance in Romeo and Juliet. In 1998, "In My Canoe" was used to illustrate the slowness of a Pentium ii processor compared to Apple'a G3 computers in a TV Commercial. Little Rascals Music, track 6
On to the Show, track 5

"Miser" The best example of appropriate use of this "miserly" theme occurs in Fly My Kite (May 1931) where it introduces Dan (James Mason), who is trying to cheat his mother-in-law out of her gold bonds.
Little Rascals Music, track 49

November, 1930
Another Fine Mess

"Colonel Buckshot" illustrates the first appearance of the big-game hunter Col. Wilberforce Buckshot (James Finlayson).
On to the Show, track 26

"Run" The "running" music to accompany a pair of vagrants fleeing a pair of cops; it was later employed as a general anxiety effect.
Little Rascals Music, track 49B

"Slouching" (pt. 6) A short version of this goof theme, heard immediately after "Run."
Little Rascals Music, track 19;
On to the Show, track 44

"The Cops" Not to be confused with Ewing's "The Cop", this Shield melody appeared only in Another Fine Mess (1930), Little Daddy (1931), Busy Bodies (1933) and Wild Poses (1933).

"Bells" One of the best-remembered of the Shield background tunes. It features a simple descending 8-note phrase reminiscent of traditional English bell-ringing. Alternate versions are apparent in Our Wife.
Little Rascals Music, track 5

"Steps" Fright music: "C'mon, let's reconnoiter."
On to the Show, track 40D

"Tip Toes" This music is heard as the boys are tip-toeing into the hall of the palatial Buckshot residence.
On to the Show, track 40B

November, 1930
Thundering Tenors
El Alma de la Fiesta

"Tussle" appears four times in this film—and nowhere else.

December, 1930
Pardon Us
(a.k.a. Their First Mistake)

"Bassooning" accompanies the opening title card: "Mr. Hardy is a man of wonderful ideas. So is Mr. Laurel —so long as he doesn't try to think."
Little Rascals Music, track 3

"Beer Barons" (Waltz) This waltz appears as the boys approach the "Cut Rate Malt and Hop Store."
On to the Show, track 29

"Dash and Dot" Widely used as a slapstick theme. Its melody is a musical expression of a dash (—) and a dot (•).
Little Rascals Music, track 30

"Excitement" An anxiety theme, recorded in both quick and slow versions.
Little Rascals Music, track 49H

"Git Dap" This short cue is first heard as Tiny Sandford motions the boys to get up from a bench: "Fall in!" and Hardy tells him, "We are not going to eat!"
On to the Show, track 7

Goofs used in Pardon Us include: Bassoon, Clarinet Laugh, Saxophone, and Brass Laugh.

"Hunting Song" A march theme first heard here and—no less than seven times—in Be Big, the film in which hunting gear plays such a predominant role.
On to the Show, track 35

"Nothing At All" A short "filler" theme.
Little Rascals Music, track 24

"Rockin' Chair" ("Slouching" pt. 2) This theme was often used to great effect to drag out the tension of a slowly-evolving gag.
Little Rascals Music, track 31

January, 1931
Chickens Come Home

"Look at Him Now" Music for embarrassing situations.
Little Rascals Music, track 26

"Give Us a Hand" This is the fifth most frequently used Shield theme, appearing in fifty percent of all Roach sound shorts.
Little Rascals Music, track 18

"Antics" A well-known Shield tune in South American mode.
Little Rascals Music, track 39

January, 1931
Be Big
Los Calaveras - Les Carottiers

"Going Places" "Playing" (Waltz) Compositions unique to this film.

February, 1931
Air-Tight

"Cascadia" Although scared of heights, Alabam has agreed to have his picture taken sitting on a glider in an airfield, while Dave goes up in the gang's aircraft. Mickey, in a car towing the plane, confuses the two, and before long Alabam is airborne, screaming his head off. A succession of thrills follows.
On to the Show, track 31

"Fanfare" A fanfare effect.

March, 1931
Any Old Port,
Laughing Gravy

"Snowing" Laughing Gravy is full of winter scenes. The beautiful musical score for the opening scene appears in no other film.
On to the Show, track 28

"Dog Song" This charming, sad theme will naturally be associated with two faithful Roach studio film dogs: Laughing Gravy in Laughing Gravy and Pete the Pup in Dogs is Dogs (both from 1931).
Little Rascals Music, track 29

"Sliding" Hurry music.
Little Rascals Music, track 49D and 49F

"Here We Go" In 1931 a piano version of this uptempo tune was published in the Leroy Shield Song Album.
Little Rascals Music, track 25

"Prelude" starts out as lovely chamber music. The middle part is sad, almost gushy—ideal for melodramatic scenes. It then gradually builds into a feverish orchestral piece with a dramatic climax. The melody was published in the Leroy Shield Song Album.
On to the Show, track 8