Mail Bag Friday 11/10/00

by Lukas Kendall

I am on a much-needed vacation this week (you better believe it!) so I had to prepare this column well ahead of time. So, in lieu of Film Score Friday, let's explore what the Mail Bag has to offer after all of our recent columns:

From: John C. Griffin

You asked for reader stories of their soundtrack- collecting history, so I would like to humbly offer my own story.

Ten years ago, not only did Film Score Monthly begin life, but so did my love affair with movie soundtracks. Prior to then, I knew precious little about orchestral music, mostly jazz and popular songs. However, in 1990, soon after purchasing a CD player, my dad's friend sent my family the album "Fantastic Journey" by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops. I think it's safe to say my whole life changed from that point on.

The album introduced me to some of my favorite composers such as Danny Elfman, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and Bernard Herrmann, as well as to such scores as Twilight Zone: The Movie, Batman, Star Wars, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. I had never heard anything like it before, and it made me realize how "cool" orchestral music could be.

From then on, I was hooked. I had to know more about these fabulous composers, hear more of their works, and learn more about the process of film scoring itself. I read up all I could on the subject and purchased as many scores as my budget would allow. But I felt like I was pretty much alone in my obsession, since no one I knew was interested in that particular hobby.

Then in 1996 two things happened almost simultaneously. I purchased Fox's 4-CD set of the Star Wars Trilogy with terrific liner notes by this guy named Lukas Kendall. Upon reaching the end of the notes, I discovered that he was the editor of a magazine names Film Score Monthly. That sounded like just the mag for me, but I had no idea how to get it. But soon after that, I received as a gift the book "Listening to Movies" by Fred Karlin which included as a suplement the addresses of several soundtrack-related publications, including - tada! - Film Score Monthly. I sent in my subscription almost immediately and have never regretted it since.

Ten years later, it has been amazing to find that there are people as passionate as me - if not more so! - about film music and also to see the magazine grow from a little black-and-white stapled job to a full-fledged professional publication, not to mention the CD and video production by the staff. My soundtrack collection has grown to over 120, and I am now a senior music composition major at Western Michigan University. Whether I actually become a film composer or not I'm not sure yet, but in the meantime I am having a great time and am very proud of my career choice. And I owe a good portion of my decision to that fateful day ten years ago, and to this magazine, which increased my appreciation of the marvelous craft of film composition.

From: Mathieu Beauregard <mbeauregard@lexitech.ca>

I've been wanting to write this for some time now, but I find it hard to put into words over 20 years of soundtrack collecting and listening experiences. Like many others of my generation I guess, it all started with Star Wars. I was 6 when I saw it and the music (as well as the film of course) had an incredible impact on me. I wanted that LP so bad. All I eventually got was The Story of Star Wars LP, which was nice and had parts of the music with the dialog and sound effects from the movie, but that's not what I really wanted. Much later I taped one of its many TV presentations and watch it over and over again, many times only to listen to the wonderful music. Even though most people prefer the music of Empire, for me A New Hope still remains very special. So that's the origins of my movie music love affair. Oh yes, another of my early introductions to soundtracks was my father's LP of Ennio Morricone's Once Upon a Time in the West. That had quite an impact too and eventually made me curious to investigate Morricone's work further (he's now one of my favorite composers, which also include John Williams (of course!), Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann, James Newton Howard, Rachel Portman and Thomas Newman).

I got some soundtrack LPs later on like Blade Runner, Jaws, The Fly, Rambo II, Frantic, Empire Strikes Back, Rocky, Aliens, Raiders, Temple of Doom, etc. Some of them were pretty worn out when I eventually replaced them by their CD version. One of my first two CDs ever was a soundtrack: The Mission. The first double CD of Star Wars soon followed.

Now, my soundtrack collection includes just over 400 CDs (I'm quite amazed at the size, and corresponding dollar value, of some collections mentioned on this site from time to time-800, 900, over 1000-wow!). Many of those titles come from used CD stores, where I've been able to find some rare gems like, for example, Gremlins. My collecting habits changed over the years (like, in some cases, buying the CD before having seen the film), but the experience of discovering interesting movie music is still very rewarding and fun. And it's even more fun now that I no longer feel alone with this love of movie music. When I subscribed to the Film Score Monthly magazine over two years ago and began visiting the website (as well as some other sources), I discovered a whole community of soundtrack afficionados and gained access to so much information that I was a little overwhelmed at first. Now I find all that knowledge and information very helpful in making better purchase choices and I also think the site is a good tool to share personal views on many subjects. So congratulations Film Score Monthly on your 10 years of existence and also thank you for releasing so many interestings titles on CD.

From: "Rafi Youngerwood" <Jabe@brijnet.org>

I think many people get into collecting soundtracks in a similar way and it usually revolves around something nerdy. I am no exception although I have now ended up where I started.

When I was a wee nip of a lad I used to love the theme tune to many a good tv series. I bought loads of extremely cheap compilations of tv theme music usually performed by some dodgy sounding "orchestra" such as "The Powerpack Orchestra", of which the orchestra wholly consisted of some 16 year old kid who could tell a B inor from an A flat on the keyboard and therefore felt he was qulaified to play "unique" rendidions of Knight Rider and The A Team. After a few years of this I got sick of crappy TV themes and got rid of my compilations (I think I sold them all for about £2.50 - and I think I got the better deal). I did not listen to any TV/film music for a number of years until I saw Dances with Wolves by John Barry. It was the first time I really noticed film music as being an integral part of the film and I bought the music (which I to this day absolutely adore). I was then in a music store which had a sale on and I saw "You Only Live Twice" on sale by that man Barry again. I bought this too and although I was not bowled over, by listening to it I could imagine the film scenes each track of the score depicted. Then I bought the obligatory Star Wars and I have developed from there. However in the last year I have become more interested again in Television music (maybe it is my marketing brain that likes things instantly appealing and snappy) so if anyone has TVs greatest hits as performed by the Powerpack Orchestra please let me know!

The reason why I really got into film music was that I was very disatisfied with the pop world - in my opinion nothing very much creative there since the Beatles - I like classical music but do not always have the patience for it and therefore the world of film music offered me the perfect solution - a thriving a creative art form which I can readily digest!

Battle of the Bulge

From: "Bob & Lynn Bryden" <bryden@interlynx.net>

After waiting for over a month up here in the (not yet) frigid north, I finally had to drive an hour into Toronto to see if the new re-recording of Benjamin Frankel's towering score for 'Battle of the Bulge' had been released in Canada yet. Sure enough, there it was - front and centre on the soundtrack new release rack at Sam the Record Man. I am a bit suspicious when it comes to the re-recordings of these old scores, but I must admit, Gerhardt's work is still phenomenal as are some of the other recent re-trys. (Sainton's 'Moby Dick' is another sterling example.)

I'm one of those guys who saw the older epics when in their original splendor. I still remember driving to the Glendale Cinerama Theatre in Toronto to see 'Battle of the Bulge' in late '65 or early '66. One of the reasons I was so curious to hear the 'Bulge' re-recording is because, despite the score's awesome compositional glories, the original soundtrack recording by the 'New Phiharmonia Orchestras' (????) was actually marred by highly audible bum notes in a couple of key passages. Plus - I've worn out the widescreen laserdisc just trying to hear the sections of unreleased score that are (literally) over-run by several Panzer divisions worth of sound effects!!! Well, anyway - because this is A SCORE LESS LIKELY to get a lot of coverage ANYWHERE I thought I'd inform the soundtrack buying community that not only is this re-recording on the CPO label dazzling and vindicating for the largely unsung Frankel, it forcefully blows the original recording out the door!!! Buy it guys. This one's amazing.

The Trek Not Taken

From: "Erdy, Bryan (NBC)" <Bryan.Erdy@nbc.com>

I have been a Varese buyer since the LP days going back to 1982. I am a Star Trek fan and own many of the albums available.... so I have a question: is there really a need for ANOTHER compilation of Star Trek themes that have appeared OVER and OVER again from the likes of Telarc, GNP Cresendo, Laserlight and others? I only read a few cuts that are appearing on the planned disc, but they appear to cover the same old ground. I would never complain without offering a suggestion... so here it goes:

How about an all new recording called "Unreleased Star Trek"

On it, you could have:

Star Trek The Motion Picture: Captains logs (featuring the Classic Theme)

Star Trek II: The Genesis Demo (by Craig huxley)

Star Trek II: Genesis Cave

Star trek III: Self destruction Countdown and The destruction of the Enterprises

Star Trek III: The end of Kruge and Genesis Planet meltdown

Star Trek V: teaser on Nimbus three w/Sybock

Star Trek V: Crew shuttle to the Enterprise

Star Trek V: Sybok reveals his quest to the crew

Star Trek VI: Enterprise rendezvous with Klingon Chancellor

Star Trek VI: Spock melds with Valeris

Star Trek Generations: Death of Kirk/78 years later, the next crew on the open sea

Star Trek First Contact: Resistance is Futile/Death of the Borg Queen

Star Trek Insurrection: A British Tar

Star Trek Insurrection: Picard steps down

Star Trek The original series: The Empath Suite

Star Trek The next Generation: Suite from DataLore

Star Trek The next Generation: Suite from Q Who?

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Suite from Trials and Tribulations

Star Trek Voyager: Sucks, so you should ignore it

Some of this stuff may already be available, and I'm sure I have missed some good stuff. Anyhow, that's my two cents.

This would be a fantastic album for die-hard Trek fans... and here's why it won't happen. The main reason is that compilations are done to appeal to casual listeners who would prefer the main themes, as redundant as they might be to more passionate fans. Also, there are certain licensing and logistical complications that make it much easier to record the same old things instead of rare, unearthed cues, where first-time mechanical royalties have to be cleared and paid and the music dug out and prepped for recording. And aesthetically, it would be strange to have an album compiling only those bits considered too minor for release initially. I personally would love every minute of it, but that's reality.

It should be noted that Silva Screen did try something like this approach with their Bond and Beyond compilation recordings. In general I think it would be wonderful if someone did a Trek CD where they combined the tried-and-true favorites with some rarities.

Back next week -- best wishes,

Lukas

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com