1985 Letters
Compiled by Lukas Kendall
Last Wednesday we ran an article
by Roger Feigelson on the fantastic film scores of 1985 -- and an accompanying
poll which is still running.
Here are some of the responses.
From: DrCochrane@aol.com
Hey, I dunno where you come from, but I thought that 2010 was a
pretty good soundtrack. Sure, it lacked leitmotif and pure, raw orchestra,
but 'New Worlds' and the light, gentle synths played throughout make it
a classic! No, I'm not working for anybody, I'm just saying it's a good
score. It can't hold a candle to 2001, with such classics as 'Blue Danube'
or 'Also Sprach Zarathustra', but it holds its own. It's not just the same
kind of synth and "filler" music over and over again. It changes
with the movie. I realize you all think I'm nuts now, but I'm just defending
a great sci-fi score, which could beat out most of the sci-fi scores in
the 90's.
From: "James Southall" <james@moviewave.freeserve.co.uk>
I was extremely amused by Roger Feigelson's comment "John Barry's
Oscar-winning score for OUT OF AFRICA was a routine entry, and definitely
didn't play a major role in making 1985 the last great year."
That score did more for that movie than any other in 1985. With
any other score, the movie would have stunk and probably bombed; but because
of the music tying everything together, it turned into a perfectly good
(if not brilliant) film.
The "Flying Over Africa" sequence remains, if you ask
me, the most beautiful combination of music and visuals ever seen/heard;
if only it weren't for that matting.
From: Sergio Hardasmal <sergio@ingenia.es>
In my opinion The best 1985 score is Henry Mancini´s "Lifeforce"....
Wonderful masterpiece......
Im sure there are a lot of score lovers that ignore Mancinis career....
Its a pity....because Mancini is not only his known "Tiffanys"
style... you must discover his terror music!
From: "Dan Hobgood" <dhobgood@hotmail.com>
But what about LEGEND, only the greatest score that Jerry Goldsmith
(or anyone else) ever composed?!
From: David Morgan, morgands1@aol.com
Re: the poll, David Shire's Return to Oz is my chosen for best from
your list of 1985's scores, but your poll and Feigelson's article both
neglected to mention two of the very best from that year: Michael Kamen's
Brazil and John Corigliano's Revolution. As Mrs. Loman said, attention
must be paid.
From: Randall Derchan <DSPY007@aol.com>
Today's article is a wonderful, fullfiling analysis of a truly great
year for film music. The writer thinks exactly like I do on every score.
I especially agree with his comment about Maurice Jarre's last great year
in film scoring. I had really had fun buying film music that year. Everyone
wrote memorable music then, and we saw many newcomers show off their talents
with mainstream films. Have you heard anything as good as "Young Sherlock
"recently, or for that matter seen a fantasy film as good. John Williams
didn't have any mainstream pictures that year but the "Amazing Stories"
stuff was certainly a worthy entry. The only thing left off this amazing
list was the masterwork "Legend" which was composed in 1985 for
a release that year. Most of us heard it in 1986, but it was a 1985 score.
Great synopsis, Roger.
From: "Michael" <mrg2001@quixnet.net>
Your article fell on welcome eyes, having just mentioned three of
the films you mentioned in discussion posts. Return to Oz remains one of
the most beautiful scores of the decade and is at the top of a very short
list of my favorites. It's a shame that many younger film score lovers
are probably completely unaware of this gem. Bruce Broughton's Silverado
is pure fun, albiet a slightly guilty pleasure. There's been no score in
the 90s that matches both its spirit of adventure and high quality.
Although I really like Shire's score for 2010 (I especially appreciate
the dichotomy between the synthesized main body and the Herb Spencer-orchestrated
finale), I can certainly understand where it doesn't fit all tastes. Though
not atonal, it nonetheless has an abstract quality that not all listeners
find assessable.
While 1995 was a good year (did you leave Spacecamp off your list?)
I didn't find it especially notable other than being the beginning of the
end of a decade-long run of high-quality scores by both veteran and younger
composers. (Incidentally, The Last Starfighter was a summer 1994 release.)
In an era when every film struggles to be able to release a soundtrack
of "songs featured and inspired by the film", a phenomenon rare
(Footloose, Saturday Night Fever) before Bruckheimer came along (Flashdance
and Top Gun certainly showed the commercial viability), the 90s has been
the most musically depressing film score decade to date. Your article brought
back fond memories of a better time. Thanks
From: Dale Dworak <hmshyperion@yahoo.com>
I enjoyed Roger Feigelson's article in Wednesday's column, but wanted
to point out two things. First, the pirate ship theme in The Goonies was
composed by Max Steiner, not Dave Grusin. The theme is from Steiner's The
Adventures of Don Juan, and is a great, rousing adventure theme that perfectly
fit the scenes of the ship. Secondly, some of the music in the Chase cue
in James Horner's Cocoon was reused from Star Trek III, not Star Trek II.
It was taken from the stealing the Enterprise theme.
From: "Dennis Logsdon" <logied@mediaone.net>
It is interesting that not one of the Academy selections is in this
article. Most are heavy weights and Under the Volcano should have won.
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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