This News Friday 10/17/97
by Lukas Kendall
Here are the best soundtrack shops to go to in selected cities:
San Francisco - Intrada, 1488 Vallejo Street, 415-776-1333
Los Angeles:
1) Disc-Connection, 7990 Sunset (corner of Laurel), 213-650-2464
2) Aron's Records on Highland around Santa Monica Blvd, I forget the
number, you can't miss it. On east side of the street, green/pink awning.
3) Creature Features, 1802 W Olive, Burbank - 818-842-9382. Also has
a ton of movie models and kits and stuff.
New York - Footlight Records, 113 E 12th Street - 212-533-1572
If you have a store in these cities and want to know why I didn't list
you, I didn't know about you! Also, when in NYC, visit Siam Square, the
great Thai restaurant on 2nd Ave between 5th and 6th Street, on the East
side of the street.
There was some Danny Elfman news at Aint-It-Cool-News
yesterday--I'm sure it's still there, check it out. This is the coolest
movie news site, by the way, you have to go there everyday. The Elfman
news is about an older project, although I'm not sure.
Dreamworks Logo
From Jeffrey Wheeler, shadow1@bellsouth.net:
Well that settles that. A logo page sounds like an idea whose time has
come. I think a lot of the newest logos really stink, by the way. They
seem to go in ten different directions in eight seconds. I miss the good
old fashioned five-note stings, like the old Universal TV logo from the
'70s. Also, if I see that goddamn "THX logo that breaks so the little
robot comes out to fix it" one more time...
The best ever promo I saw in a movie theater was for a chain of theaters
in New York City. They had the muppets sitting there watching a movie,
and it was the instructional promo reel--exits, don't smoke, don't talk,
etc. So the muppets go into a number to demonstrate all the things that
you shouldn't do during the movie, and it was like "Don't do this!"
and Animal would eat a chair, and "Don't do this!" and some muppet
would blow another one's head out of a tuba.
New Articles
We've loaded some new articles into the archive
on the site. Specifically, we have an article about library
music that Ratso Russo has donated from a few years ago, a school
paper from Yair Oppenheim, and several
interviews which Sijbold Tonkens conducted with composers in Valencia
last year. Check them out!
Questions
From Rick Neely, NeelyRE@aol.com
I recently watched an old video (yet pretty well-known) called "The
Best of Eddie Murphy-SNL", good show. In it, there is a famous 2 minute
skit called Black History minute that begins and ends with a simple "trombonish"
fanfare (very Copland sounding). I HAVE HEARD THIS FANFARE BEFORE, a long
time back when I was real young and way before SNL had been around. Is
there anyone, either you, or someody else who can give me the lowdown on
this music: Is it a simple fanfare? Is it part of a longer work? Who wrote
it, when, and for what? Is it available on CD or tape (or hell, even LP).
Basically, the lowdown. Any information that you could relay would be great.
Thanks and have a good weekend.
Clearly, Rick's life hinges on finding this information. If anybody
knows, write him.
From Sergio Hardasmal, sergio@ingenia.pta.es
I have been a Woody Allen fan for years and i love the scores made
by Hamlish for Take the money and run and Bananas. But I saw Austin Powers
and i heard a Quincy Jones' music called "Soul Bossanova" that
sounds exactly as music heard in Take the money and run... The question
is... does Hamlish took this theme to do a variation? or Jones copied it?
I'm not gonna touch this one. I have no recollection of any similarities
between these pieces, Senator.
From: Daryl Mok, darylmok@pacific.net.sg
I'm sure I'm not the only one writing about this, but Mac &
Me was released on CD. I don't own it myself, but I have seen it in shops
before, and I seem to remember it was on Curb Records. There was definitely
more than 4 minutes of score on it :)
I forgot that the song album had some score on it. Thanks!
From Eugene, matijczy@interlynx.net:
Dusan Radic's scores to the 1960's films Genghis Khan and The Long
Ships have been unjustly neglected. I can find next to nothing about the
composer's biography, except that he wrote a one act play. I have the following
questions:
1. If you have heard either of these scores, what is your opinion?
2. Who owns the Colpix catalog, the company which released the records?
3. Do you know where information about this composer is available? Probably
a rhetorical question, but have you heard any rumblings about placing these
scores on CD? Finding the LP's in near mint condition is very difficult.
As I explained to Eugene, I have about as much knowledge of Dusan Radic
as I have of, say, traditional Zulu recipes. But maybe some of you freaks,
I mean readers, can help out. That is the way of things. The way of the
Force.
The thing I can supply some info on is the Colpix catalog. This is reportedly
tied up in some kind of legal morass involving some ex-mafia guy (really!)
who owned the label, and now it's a mess involving disputed ownership and
missing master tapes. This guy is either now dead or in the witness protection
program, so the whole catalog is in limbo. Hold on, someone seems to have
left his suitcase in my office--hey mister...!
From OobieDoo@aol.com
Do you know what piece of music was used in the trailer for Philadelphia
and Dead Man Walking? (It can be heard on the "Dead Man Walking"
DVD, for reference's sake). I would love to know - I have a sneaky suspicion
it was a piece written for use in trailers...am I right?
Homer, food goes in here. Sorry, don't know. Anybody?
OobieDoo added some all-important Star Wars trivia:
One can "recreate" the "new" music cues in Star
Wars Special Edition the following ways:
1) DESERT SEARCH (use the newly issued soundtrack CDs from RCA Victor)
Star Wars: A New Hope Disc 2, Track 5 run from 0:24 to 0:36, edit to disc
2 track 5 0:53 until 1:05, edit to disc 2 track 5 1:09 until 1:11, fade
out under sound of sandcrawler.
2) ARRIVAL AT MOS EISLEY Star Wars: A New Hope Disc 2 Track 6 2:21
to 2:39, edit to Disc 2 Track 6 2:57 until 3:10, fade out under the sfx
of the lumbering rontos and the landspeeder.
3) HAN FACES JABBA THE HUTT Star Wars: Return of The Jedi Disc 1
Track 7 0:29 to 0:56, a moment of silence, then Disc 1 Track 4 0:20 until
0:38, crossfade to disc 1 track 4 0:59 until 1:51, fade out under sound
effects.
Hope these trivial "cue sheets" provide hours of enjoyment
for other Star Wars fans with as much free time as me.
Rest assured they will, son.
Seven Years in This Theater
I gotta say, I saw Seven Years in Tibet opening night, and around
halfway through I was like, oh, waitaminute. Now I understand. This movie
is NOT good. For one thing, I've already seen the white-man-tutors-annointed-Asian-child-leader
in a much better movie, Bertolucci's The Last Emperor. The scenery
was spectacular, but I actually found the mountain footage in The Edge
more breathtaking, because you got a sense of that location, of being there,
whereas in Seven Years, it was this travelogue where you had one
vista after another, but no real sense of geography or direction. (Best
actor: the Argentinian Andes as the Tibetan Himelayas!) And all the culture
shock was more quaint Dances with Wolves type silliness. Anyway,
I was disappointed.
I quite liked John Williams's score, because he's so incredibly good
that it's a joy to hear what he'll come up with for each new movie. The
themes in Seven Years are masterful and memorable. What was strange
was how the opening credits had "Cello Solos by Yo-Yo Ma," and
then the next time you hear a cello is the end credits. Not recognizing
"In the Moonlight" by Debussy at first on the music box, I thought
it was a Williams piece, since it sounds similar to the progression in
Close Encounters. What a genius am I.
Super Rumblings
I've heard from a few sources now that Warner Home Video plans a restoration
of Superman: The Movie (1978) next year, with cut scenes included
in a supplemental section. That would be terrific. I have no further information
myself, but check out this excellent DVD site:
http://www.DVDresource.com
Another Article Fans Won't Like
...although I actually found it interesting. It's from a Minnesota newspaper
about film music from a pop/sample point of view; thanks to Randy Salas
for the info:
http://www.citypages.com/thepaper/detail.asp?ArticlesID=1957
Radio Show
Plug time:
From Bob Marotta, babaloo@mindspring.com
My name is Bob Marotta and I am the host of a radio program heard
Friday nights on WHPC-FM called ATMOSPHERE. The show is the only one in
the New York area that features film and television scores. You can hear
the show every Friday night/Saturday morning at 2 AM.
I was under the impression that there were other NYC shows. Anyone?
There are a couple in Los Angeles, and I think each one serves a two-acre
listening area.
That's My Little Octopussy
From William Kanas, wskesq@email.msn.com
I just wanted to let you know that I picked up the Octopussy reissue
today, based on you recommendation a few weeks ago. I was not disappointed.
Your liner notes are very informative, even educating a long time Bond
fan like myself about things which I did not know. I am also glad that
you did not criticize Roger Moore. He seems to not be given as much credit
as he deserves in a lot of places, and for me, he is my favorite 007. The
packaging is beautiful, and the extra dialogue snippets were great, if
a little brief. I was also able to watch the trailer on my CD ROM drive,
but here is a quick question, is that the only extra, or am I missing something,
as I had a hard time figuring out how to access the visual material on
the CD.
The only enhanced feature is the trailer. I think it's interesting how
quaint trailers used to be. They were like, "Check out scenes from
our upcoming unfinished lame movie that are boring and make no sense."
Thank you for the nice words about the Octopussy CD reissue,
I hope people are happy to have this disc available again. I have to turn
around and thank the Rykodisc folks for using me on the project. Hopefully,
more Bond reissues will be coming soon, although as I've mentioned, all
the titles from Dr. No through Moonraker are presently tied
up in arbitration hearings between MGM and EMI, which seem to be dragging
on forever.
Reminder
Next Thursday, 10/23 is a very special event featuring film composers
performing live in public. I mentioned this last Friday, so I'll cut and
paste those comments, since I'm so ridiculously short on time right now:
***
There will be an incredibly cool event October 23. But, itıs really
expensive. But, itıs for a good cause. Richard Kraft of the Kraft-Benjamin
Agency is being honored by the Crohnıs & Colitis Foundation of America
at their 22nd Annual Awards Dinner at the Regent Beverly Wilshire, 9500
Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA. Richard lost his brother, David, to Crohnıs
disease several years ago--David was a film music fan, journalist and all-around
friend beloved by many in the industry--and Richard has since done much
to help the charity. Crohnıs disease is an inflammation of the bowels that
usually strikes in adolesence.
Richard represents several A-list film composers, and has lined up Elmer
Bernstein, Danny Elfman, Jerry Goldsmith, Basil Poledouris, Marc Shaiman
and Wendy & Lisa to perform at the benefit dinner. Shaiman and Poledouris
will be on piano, I assume the others as well. This is an almost unbelievable
opportunity--I mean, Iıve never seen Jerry Goldsmith live in a concert
setting on piano.
The event is $250. In other words, the price of a really collectible
CD. Your money is tax deductible, and is going to an honest-to-goodness
real charity. Spead the word, bite the bullet, give money to a good cause,
and see a once-in-a-lifetime event. Send to Crohnıs & Colitis Foundation
of America, 4201 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 624, Los Angeles CA 90010. If you
have any questions, call 213-935-HOPE (4673), ask for Allison.
***
See you there, folks. I want everyone to know that as I type this, Jeff
Bond is at the Lost in Space marathon at the Museum of TV and Radio in
Beverly Hills, reliving his childhood years with like-minded delinquents.
Send him your LIS memories: jbond@filmscoremonthly.com
And send me any questions, comments or news you might have: Lukas@filmscoremonthly.com
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