As the seventies came in, Les was still on the B movie treadmill. He also started recording for Alshire's 101 Strings imprint, for whom he made his last exotic record, Que Mango.

Que Mango shows us in no uncertain terms just how much firepower Les had in reserve. He made it in an age of Bacharach, Mauriat, Alpert, and other Beatles-era instrumental music. The whole "jet set" easy listening attitude had taken over where Les' Capitol output had left off, and, to those who were still looking, it must have seemed like the music of Les Baxter was banished to the ghetto of records to be sold in supermarkets (which was where 101 Strings were stocked).

It is always unwise to rule out a formidable mind of any sort, and in no instance is this illustrated more blindingly than by hearing Que Mango. It sits very comfortably beside any of Les' earlier works, and shows that his abilities as an arranger for strings were never more sharp. His command of Latin and African rhythms is fierce and authoritative.

The album's most notable cut, "Tropicando", is a close cousin of Savage cuts "Simba" and "Quiet Village". But it is far from a retread. Its insistent, pulsating bass line is deceptive. It is catchy, yet also is dissonant. Les splashes lush, thick string textures like seaweed in what amounts to his last moment in the exotic sun. He would never again make an all-original album, although he would continue through the seventies as a composer of music for film.

Les Baxter's artistic problems had nothing to do with his skills, which remained formidable to the last. It had more to do with living on the hamster wheel that is life in the low-budget film industry. His tenure at American International unfairly stigmatized him as a B composer. He was never offered scores for films that did justice to his creativity, neither in their budgets nor their content.

He coasted into and through the eighties on this low-rent sled. His last film assignment was for an early-nineties telemovie, Lightning In A Bottle, starring Lynda Carter as a woman involved in a drunk driving accident. It is a terrible film, but the music is always good, even occasionally breathtaking, especially the ending theme song, "Somehow I'll Go On", which features a gorgeous tenor saxophone solo by Plas Johnson.

The late eighties saw Les Baxter languishing away in Palm Springs, living comfortably and working sporadically at one-shot assignments that did not befit a composer of his stature. Some of his last assignments were a Christmas album for a California boys choir, and show music for the Ice Follies. Much better artistically, he also composed words and music for a show intended for Broadway, Cinderella In Rio, which contains much fine music.

Most happily, Les Baxter was invited to have his compositions performed by the Los Angeles Composer's Guild. This is something that composers are usually charged for, but they made exceptions for two composers -- David Raskind and Les Baxter. He took great pride in finally being recognized by as a composer -- not just as a guy who wrote B movie scores. He turned in some truly excellent music for their concerts, up to October 1994, when he made his last public appearance, conducting the LACG through two compositions -- the new (and, as of now, still unrecorded) "Metamorphasis", and a strings-only transcription of the Tamboo cut "Havana".