John Philip Sousa for Monty Python's Flying Circus), "The Thunderer" and "The Washington Post". Sousa began his career playing violin and studying music theory and composition under John Esputa and George Felix Benkert. His father enlisted him in the United States Marine Band as an apprentice in 1868. After departing the band in 1875, Sousa learned to conduct. From 1880 until his death, he focused exclusively on conducting and the writing of music. He eventually rejoined the Marine Band and served there for 12 years as director. On leaving the Marine Band, Sousa organized his own band. Sousa aided in the development of
King Cotton (march) in the film "The Adventures of Milo and Otis" as background music. It is also featured in "Emanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land", an episode of the American television show "30 Rock". In "Superman III", the tune is played as Superman is welcomed by the town of Smallville. King Cotton (march) King Cotton is a military march composed in 1895 by John Philip Sousa, for the Cotton States and International Exposition (1895). The expression "King Cotton" in general refers to the historically high importance of cotton as a cash crop in the southern United States. The form is as follows; the