This News Friday 3/20/98
by Lukas Kendall
The Lost in Space soundtrack CD from TVT will have 30 minutes
of Bruce Broughton score and a variety of techno-based songs--including
a remix of the original John Williams TV theme.
Jeff stopped by Sony this week to hear Ed Shearmur record his score
to Species II (his first Hollywood film)--he actually got to record
an end title for it. Jeff said the music was quite good, with some respectfully
"Goldsmithian" elements that the composer was the first to gleefully
point out. Ed is a cool Brit; last year, on the day of BMI Awards dinner,
I ran into him at a tuxedo place on Sunset Blvd. Being both musician-like
(although I am not one, not professionally), and knowing it was the day
of the awards, we were like, "BMI?"
After a recent article in the mainstream press (forget which one) said
that John Williams would have to miss the Oscars this year because he was
busy with a project in London, rumors ran rampant--especially rumors linking
him with work on the Star Wars prequels. Well settle down, as it turns
out, he is working on a new recording for Sony Classical (details not yet
revealed, but I am assured it is non-soundtrack, and non-Williams composed).
For the Readers
I have a question for you. From time to time people write to ask what
we have coming up on Retrograde Records. Although we are pursuing some
projects--every label is always pursuing some--there is nothing we are
close to announcing. Soundtrack collectors are demanding, and appreciative
at times, but also quite fickle. You guys will rail for new recordings
of this, this and that, but sometimes when they come out, they're poison--nobody
touches them.
Being completely removed from reality as a soundtrack consumer--we get
review copies of many titles here at FSM--I have to ask, what puts you
"over the edge" in making a purchase? Obviously, people are lining
up to buy the new Close Encounters CD in late April, but take Forever
Amber by David Raksin. This is a gorgeous, elaborate work right up
the alley of most fans who profess to like "emotional" music--although
it is notably in a different aesthetic from, say, Independence Day.
A lot of time and work and money went to producing the Forever Amber
CD; it did not fall from the sky. We're talking about dredging up and
meticulously restoring 50-year-old optical film elements. Maybe that sounds
like nonsense, like an easily surmountable force for what must be an army
of record label employees. But we all have attics or crawlspaces, and we
know how hard it is to find something even a few years old sometimes. Imagine
rummaging through an attic 50 times the size of your own for unlabeled
reels of film, and then carefully assembling them even as they fall apart--that's
what we're talking about. Then, there's the vast amount of time and effort
that it took to convince people to produce the Forever Amber CD,
and to assemble the liner notes and artwork, and to market it.
Not to say Forever Amber is a commercial "bomb," but
it ain't Titanic, you know? Last Stand at Sabre River is
another example: this is a David Shire cable-movie score from last year,
an album of which I helped coordinate on the Intrada label. It was relatively
inexpensive to produce, it was a nice way to help the composer, and the
music is good--and yet collectors have largely ignored it in favor of tracking
down the latest CD-R promo.
I do not mean to prod people into feeling guilty, because I do believe
in the marketplace, and that even though I drink milk, it's not my problem
if people had a hard time milking cows one day. But with film music, we
are talking about precious material that only a small number of people
are interested in. Too often the labels and the collectors have an adversarial
relationship that only damages the ability of the labels to provide what
the collectors want.
So I ask again, what do you want? I do not mean literally, what titles
do you want released, because if anybody could release anything, we'd already
have CDs of Heartbeeps, Raise the Titanic, etc. I also have a sense
of what kind of presentation you want: lots of music, chronological sequencing,
attractive packaging, NO DIALOGUE, informative liner notes, etc.
I am asking more of your habits: Do you buy from mail order? Or do you
wait until a CD is in a local store? Do you buy things "sight unseen"
or rely on reviews and word of mouth? What does it take for you to buy
something by a composer with whom you are unfamiliar? Do you like "collectors
editions" or distrust them? Would you buy Forever Amber--a
completely unknown title to you--if you literally knew that its success
would lead to more releases, some of which you were interested in?
Um, just curious. No reason. Send your thoughts, address below.
Bond Back in Action?
From Jeremy Moniz:
There were just recently a new batch of James Band CD re-issues
priced at $20 a disc: From Russia With Love, Dr. No, The Spy Who Loved
Me, Live And Let Die. The abbreviation for the label responsible was MUSR.
As you said the Bond scores were under some dispute or something,
how are these releases accounted for then? And are these expanded or just
another basic repressing of old material.... if this label continues then,
finally, For Your Eyes Only will get a legitimate release!
This is complete news to me. Almost certainly they are NOT different
from the existing EMI albums; sounds like some recent import or something?
I doubt FYEO will be reissued as that is not an EMI title but was instead
released on some other label.
The Man in Eric's Mask
From: Eric Wemmer <dragon7@icanect.net>
This was a very good movie but there was one thing in it that actually
hurt the movie and prevented it from being, I think, a special movie. It
was one of the worst miscastings I have ever seen. No, I am not talking
about the actors. They were incredible!
I am talking about Nick Glennie-Smith (?!?!) as choice for composer
on this film. If it wasn't everything that everyone hated about the Rock
(now I can tell who scored that one for sure!) it was the misplaced synth
choir that had me looking for Nic Cage to burst out with two shotguns in
his hands and nukes flying over his head in slow motion.
I have noticed that Zimmer's clones are trying to get out on their
own, and maybe Smith could have done an action film or something, but I
can't believe he got this job. Hell, for this kind of movie, Micheal Kamen
proved himself with this genre with his scores to Robin Hood and the Three
Musketeers. Just about anybody else would have been better suited to score
this picture, even Zimmer himself could have come up with something better
than this! I see this as the producers not wanting to shell out a "couple
of extra bucks" to get a more appropriate composer.
Someone else could have and should have been on this because they
would have been more appropriate and done a better job. Good music, I think,
would have taken this film to the next level, because it is really a good
film, deserving better music than this.
Ouch. Harsh, baby!
Questions
From: Madeleine Carr <mhc0659@garnet.acns.fsu.edu>
Hi! I'm researching the use of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer"
in the 1972 movie The Sting with Robert Redford. Marvin Hamlish performed
the piece and won Oscar. Do you have any info on whether it is true that
the only reason they included this was because the copyright had run out?
Joplin's family never received a dime apparently. I'd appreciate any leads
on this.
Uh, anyone?
From: Zach Abella <yu147358@yorku.ca>
One of the best film trailers I've ever seen was for the 1993 biopic
"Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story." In the ensuing half-decade, I've
scoured the continent trying to locate the name of the rousing choral track
used throughout the trailer but alas, no luck yet. I just hope whatever
it is, it's available on Compact Disc.
From: "john m. williams" <jmw12@po.cwru.edu>
Do you know who the singer was that is featured in part of the maintitle
to Friedhofer's This Earth Is Mine. The original soundtrack (as you probably
know) is on Varese Sarabande. Thanks for any info.
From: "Andrew Campbell" <gurghi@hotmail.com>
Any pending or possible CD release of Trevor Jones The Dark Crystal?
As a child, it was one of my favorite scores and I still have the LP.
Also, was there ever- stateside or anywhere else - Ferris Bueller's
Day Off release, on any format? (Limited) Music by Ira Newborn, plus tracks
from Wayne Newton and that '80s hit from the end credits, which also graced
The Secret of My Success- can't remember the artist. Would be very interested
to know where I can find some, or all, of the FBDO music.
In a similar vein, I am interested in the music to All That Jazz,
which I know was released as a soundtrack back in 1979 but have been unable
to get ahold of. The quasi-autobiographical ATJ was but a hint of what
Bob Fosse might have been able to do to reimaine the genre for the postmodern
era. Some terrific music, culled from different sources, in this stellar
film.
Lastly, does anybody know of a planned release of the 1982 Pirates
of Penzance, with Kevin Kline, on widescreen LD or DVD, perhaps a corresponding
soundtrack? The Broadway production is available on cassette, but some
of the cast members are different, not to mention the libretto in places.
The movie version is one of the great, unsung musical comedies, even though
it is mostly just a filmed play, but is severely cramped by the pan-and-scan
VHS version. Not to mention, the cast recording itself is fantastic, a
little tinny and too electronic in the orchestration maybe but featuring
terrific performances throughout.
Please forgive me in that it's very late and I haven't time to research
the Ferris Bueller question... there was never a Ferris album but people
have compiled lists of where to get some of the songs. I don't know of
any plans for The Dark Crystal or Pirates of Penzance.
Williams Stuff
From: Matthew Schoendorff
I like how you wrote the liner notes for the Raiders re-release.
I'm just curious, do you know John Williams personally? He is a favorite
composer of mine. In fact, I have drawn on his works constantly for ideas
(I am currently a composition major at WMU).
I worked on Raiders because it was being done by the same producer (Nick
Redman) as the Star Wars Trilogy box set, which I got to do from knowing
the producer and being the right Star Wars geek at the right time. I have
met Williams on a couple of occasions, and he was very cordial to speak
to for the Raiders booklet, but would hardly say I know him.
Someone asked if Williams scored a film called Emma's War. He
did not, but another composer (possibly the Australian-born classical guitarist)
with the same name did.
Titanic Squeal Question
From: Michael Schuermann <mschuermann@bigfoot.com>
On track 7 of Titanic at 1:26, the noise that was referred to last
week as an "atonal cuckoo" seems to me to be very much an
electric guitar with distortion (most likely a synth doing this, but still,
the sound is what counts)... hope this helps you out!
Bernstein Goes Wild
Regarding our Monday
column:
From: RLBlatt <RLBlatt@aol.com>
I think it's great that Elmer is scoring The Wild, Wild West. Aside
from the famous Seven and the 3 subsequent sequels, his other interesting
horse operas include: The Scalphunters (a light, hip, infectious score),
Drango, Seven Women and The Tin Star. He'll do a great job.
Goldenthal
From: MHazotte <MHazotte@aol.com>
I had a great pleasure listening to Elliot Goldenthal's Sphere.
I was indeed very disappointed by Michael Collins in wich there's Demolition
Man, A Time To Kill and Alien3. Also disappointing was his score for Joel
Schumacher's Batman and Robin (is there a score album available?). Sphere
is very suspensful, chilling and sometimes lyric. However, something disturbed
me and I finally found what: track number 4 is exactly a theme composed
by Danny Elfman for Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands!
This is in response to some recent columns we've had about Sphere
and Elliot Goldenthal. I listened to the Sphere CD and never
made a connection with Edward Scissorhands.
Vince Guaraldi is Great
From: Kelly Sedinger <simba@eznet.net>
I saw the questions about Vince Guaraldi's music. There are several
albums of that music available, although I do not know what is on each
one. I only own one of them, the music from "Merry Christmas Charlie
Brown". I have always seen these recordings stored in the Jazz sections
of the record stores, under "G" for Guaraldi. There are several
recordings available, from several different Charlie Brown shows and films.
Also, if you are interested in covers of these tunes, Wynton Marsalis
did an excellent recording of Charlie Brown stuff a couple of years ago.
Again, the jazz section is the place to look.
Thanks!
Come Back Next Week!
We'll print some of the comments about what people want from a soundtrack
label--providing we get any... come on kids, be bold.
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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