This News Friday 8/1/97

I heard the most terrifying thing imaginable from a reader: "You're web site is great. Now I don't have to get the magazine!"

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

This web site is a free supplement to all the groovy content in FILM SCORE MONTHLY. It is NOT a replacement, and NOT an on-line version. I have a lot of money invested in the hardcopy, and I personally feel hardcopy is superior when it comes to reading longer feature articles.

From time to time there will be crossover in content, but if you don't get the magazine, you're missing a lot. In the new July issue, which subscribers should be receiving now (if you don't have yours, please give it another week before writing me and asking), has interviews with Elliot Goldenthal on Batman, Mark Mancina on Con Air, photos of the BMI and ASCAP awards dinners (lots of photos, they're cool!), Jeff Bond's reviews, George S. Clinton on Austin Powers, and Bob Smith's Collector's Corner.

In addition, it has a lot of upcoming CD news and scoring assignment information that you not find on this site. I want the magazine to continue to be something special and will save certain treats just for its pages.

What you will find here in "Film Score Daily" are breaking-news updates and questions answered in my Friday column, and various commentary and reviews from Monday through Thursday. I do like the immediacy of reporting on something as soon as it happens, and feel I can kick the tuchas of any other Internet resource in getting you the scoops you want.

Jerry Goldsmith in Wu-Tang Video

Frequent FSM and FSD contributor Chris Walsh wrote in about my query, as to whether anyone had seen the latest Wu-Tang Clan video, "Triumph":

"A Beavis-like cry of 'YES!!!' emanated from yours truly earlier, when I flipped through the channels to MTV and saw the Wu-Tang Clan video 'Triumph'—with, yes, a very upfront use of the main title of Jerry Goldsmith's The Swarm! The snarling, Swarm/Alien-style 'Jerry brass' was also used, and Goldsmith's music made cameos at both the beginning and the end. So you were right!"

I finally saw the video myself, and it features Goldsmith's music to The Swarm in three places: the opening of the video, which is a simulated newscast about killer bees attacking Manhattan ("Main Title" from the LP); a transition to the group (the opening figure in "Bees' Picnic"); and the ending, as the bees take off to form the Wu- Tang logo in the moon (the end of "Bees' Picnic").

The dope part I didn't mention last week, to save myself from embarrassment if it hadn't worked out, was that I was hanging out with the director of this video, Brett Ratner, when he was dubbing his first feature, Money Talks, scored by Lalo Schifrin. He mentioned he was doing this rap video with killer bees in it, and I told him about The Swarm in case he wanted to use an orchestral sample for anything. I later bought him a copy of the vinyl for $7.99 at Disc-Connection, and I am very pleased to hear that the music has ended up in the final video.

Would I make this up?

Anyway, this rocks, and my breast swells with pride that kick-ass '70s Jerry Goldsmith music is now being accepted as cool by millions of hip-hop fans. My thanks to Brett Ratner, whose favorite film score of all-time is Enter the Dragon.

Questions

There was no score release of The Long Kiss Goodnight (Alan Silvestri).

Yes, there is a CD to Dust Devil, which was released by Varèse Sarabande only in Germany through its distributor their, Colosseum (VSD-5395). Tom DeMary reports:

"The film was heavily edited for the U.S. and flopped (though I like it quite a lot), so I guess Varese cancelled the release. It is pretty serious for a horror film. Director Richard Stanley's previous film Hardware was too in- your-face for my taste, but Dust Devil is eerily mythic.

"The bad news: the CD has lots of the narration from the film. The good news: some of the narration is not in the U. S. prints. The music is synthed, but good in the film. Chorus, heavy drum sounds, and tolling bell—reminds me a little of an Italian western."

As Mark Mancina states in his interview in the new FSM (Vol. 2, No. 5—subscribers, you'll get it soon if you don't already have it!), there will not be a score album to Speed 2.

Here's something I for which I didn't have the answer. John Black asks, "What do you mean by "DTS Outlets"? [in the new FSM, referring to Fifth Continent Records] I'm interested in the new release of Herrmann's Night Digger. Can you give examples of a DTS outlet?"

I know vaguely that DTS is a sound system that is not compatible with regular CDs, and that Fifth Continent is issuing Night Digger and The Best Years of Our Lives in this format. I'm assuming that high-end DTS CDs are sold through separate outlets—if anyone knows how to reach them, let me know.

Transformers: The Movie Extended CD

Okay, Transformers and Vince Di Cola fans, I know you're out there. A special 2CD set has been prepared for Botcon '97 and can be purchased through the Internet. This has non-film music on disc one by Stan Bush, but on disc two is a new 70+ minute version of the Vince Di Cola score (no songs) to Transformers: The Movie, which starred the voices of Orson Welles and Leonard Nimoy. As I recall the movie really pissed me off, because lots of my favorite toys like Prowl got killed in a very off-the-cuff way, after they survived season after season of point-blank explosion on the TV show.

It's $35 plus $5 shipping. http://www.botcon.com

John Williams Concert Broadcast

John Williams is appearing on "Evening at Pops," a concert airing nationally Monday, August 11 at 8pm ET (check local listings) on PBS stations. Support public broadcasting! I once saw during a WGBH pledge drive a replay of the 1975 Sox-Reds World Series Game 6, the greatest ball game ever played. (You know, Carlton Fisk foul pole.) I think then we bought a tote bag.

Check out the relevant web site at http://www.wgbh.org/pops

There may still be a chance to get tickets for Jerry Goldsmith's concert in Pasadena this weekend: call 626 (new fangled area code) 792-7677.

Groovie Soundtrack Radio Show

Carl "Ratso" Russo hosts Groovie Movie Soundtracks in San Francisco; his play lists are full of all the cool '60s and '70s pop that John Bender loves. See the playlists and station info at:

http://www.sanfransicko.com

Bullitt Mystery

Michael Fishburg in the glorious U.K. wrote in about a new car commercial airing on that side of the pond:

"Ford here are promoting their new Puma car with a really neat computer-generated image of the late Steve McQueen apparently driving the car in the streets of SF. It's a totally absorbing thing. However, the music...

"About ten yaers ago, I acquired a copy of the OST on a Warners LP (WS1777), which was a white label copy with a DJ sticker on the cover. Subsequent other copies I acquired, and sold, all had these stickers on, which led me to believe that it was never commercially released. Anyway, this album, and its cool jazz, fizzy cymbals and all became one of Schifrin's favourites with me. So you can imagine, that when I actually heard the music in the TV commercial, that it jarred with me. The music was definitely not in anything on the album. I also played my copy of the movie, listening to the score all the time, and nowhere does the version of the theme that is used on the Ford commercial feature!

"I wrote to Ford and their advertising agents, who had the decency to actually reply. They claim that they paid WB, the late McQueen's estate and WEA music monies to use all three elements. They (Ford) claim that it was Warners who supplied them with the music. Now, the score in the commercial is a remake with crappy, imitative guitar-work, and a saxophonist who sounds tired and emotional, and at about 50% slower speed."

So, the question is, what is the recording being used in this Puma ad? Since I haven't seen it, I can't say. The film soundtrack and album recording of Bullitt, are markedly different, but if the commercial uses neither one...? Michael adds that import copies of the CD (from WEA in France) are now available in HMV claiming, in the window, "As featured in the Ford Puma ad."

Score/Off?

Andy Dursin asked me about something which, if true, would be very strange indeed:

"When I first saw Face/Off the day it opened (June 27th, I believe), the End Credits music seemed to be a pastiche of cues from Powell's score.

"Well, today when I saw the movie, after about :25 of end credits (when Powell's final cue concludes), the music was different! They took out the score end credits music and replaced it with some rock song!

"I didn't notice what the song was, but it was probably placed there so that folks walking up the aisles were hearing something more upbeat and, well, 'popish' than the action cues taken from Powell's score."

Has anybody else noticed a change? Can anyone testify as to what version they saw? I saw it only a week ago but have already forgotten what the end credits was... I seem to recall walking out, so it must have been a song! I'll try to ask some official powers if I have the chance.

Extraordinary Magnitude

That's it for this update. Next week, expect a completely revised and rockin' links page as well as the daily columns. By the way, I saw Air Force One... well, at least Versace didn't have to sit through that. Comments from our staff next week.

Have any ideas of things you want to see? Any questions? Comments? Write my sorry ass at Lukas@filmscoremonthly.com.

And remember, I get Jerry Goldsmith music into hip-hop videos.