Born December 31, 1931 -- I was fortunate to get to know him first professionally, then as a friend from 2002 until his death on October 28, 2004. He was the go-to composer for horror and science fiction films during his short stay at Universal, then turning to other production companies and independents, created innovative and new electronic instruments that supplemented, rather than take the place of, traditional orchestral instruments. I don't need to rehash what others have written about him on this board, only that some of the true stories about him still need to be told.
Many of you on this board know how I feel about Gil and his greatest work still needs to be out there in a proper form. Right now, only through the efforts of Doug Fake, Roger Feigelson, and Joe Sikoryak at INTRADA, we've had the following releases: THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, THE ORGANIZATION, and BORDERLINE. Lukas Kendall added two of his tv scores for THEN CAME BRONSON on FSM's TV OMNIBUS (vol 1).
I hope many of you get to watch the following films to hear how good of a composer Gil really was when it came to combining jazz, symphonic, and electronics together in films. These are my favorite films he has done dozens more including KOLCHAK:THE NIGHT STALKER, ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY, and COLUMBO episodes.
FRANKENSTEIN, THE TRUE STORY - Universal THE SENTINEL - Universal THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR - Warner Bros. EMBRYO THE LAST CHASE WORLD WAR III A COLD NIGHT'S DEATH
Only two other writers have written extensively on Gil Melle other than myself, and that is Randall Larson and Jon Burlingame.
Special thanks goes out to his widow Denise Melle whom I have stayed in touch with and has tremendously helped me with my scholarship on his jazz and film music. Today I write this because I've just received a very personal Christmas card from her, one of many she has sent over the years.
I hope the producers continue to release his music that has great historical cinematic value.
All the best for the New Year. Now to finish my margarita on this cold night.
Thanks for your post, James. I have the three Intrada releases that you mentioned, and I enjoy them very much. As a fan of both jazz and experimental electronic music (not to mention orchestral film scores), Melle's unique style and approach appeals to me on many different levels. I'd love to hear more of film and TV scores. Here's hoping we'll see more of his music released on CD in 2014.
Thanks for your post, James. I have the three Intrada releases that you mentioned, and I enjoy them very much. As a fan of both jazz and experimental electronic music (not to mention orchestral film scores), Melle's unique style and approach appeals to me on many different levels. I'd love to hear more of film and TV scores. Here's hoping we'll see more of his music released on CD in 2014.
Happy New Year!
Josh
... And a very happy New Year to you and your family, Josh! Give Holly my regards.
I just watched Blood Beach again on youtube, Haven't seen this since I first saw it at the cinema in 1980. This has a great Gil Melle score. Nice and suspenseful without going to much into Jaws territory. Id love a release of this one.
I hope the producers continue to release his music that has great historical cinematic value.
All the best for the New Year. Now to finish my margarita on this cold night.
James
To Mr. James:
And you failed to mention his Seventies masterpiece: "Starship Invasions". Good, you remind Mellé's "obvious" troika at Universal: "Night Gallery"+"Columbo"+"Kolchak". Telefilms-wise, you can add the following troika: "Savage"+"The President's Plane Is Missing"+"The Questor Tapes".
Don't drink too much, the monkeys are going to freeze you. Do you recall the curse of VS man Tom Null?
Here's hoping we'll see more of his music released on CD in 2014.
Not alone there. Looks like there is plenty of his music to look forward to for relative new comers. I wonder who will be the lucky label to release it? Not FSM anymore. Intrada had tip top offerings, some sold out before I could get to them.
I'd like most to have The Sentinel this year, but I hardly know what is best.
Here's hoping we'll see more of his music released on CD in 2014.
With only one CD that's released every two years, you can hope until doomsday, Mac. Perhaps, you'll find one score by Mellé in 2014 but who knows? Besides, Mellé's strong output is in the Seventies decade, you can hope endlessly. Mellé doesn't fit the average taste of the soundtrack collectors.
Nice post, James. I'll never get tired of listening to Gil Mellé's music, and reading about the man. Such a wonderful mind, and a unique blend of sounds and visions throughout his long and eclectic career.
The problem is that we get the usual suspects responding to the same threads and we are preaching to the choir. What all of us need to do is get the 3000 to 5000 people around the world who are the film music fan base to understand and listen to the talent that is Gil Melle. Granted, some of his music is a difficult sell the same way Jerry Fielding could be, but I see more information and articulate discussion and debate over his merits on social media and have received positive comments from people in four continents.
The problem is that we get the usual suspects responding to the same threads and we are preaching to the choir. What all of us need to do is get the 3000 to 5000 people around the world who are the film music fan base to understand and listen to the talent that is Gil Melle. Granted, some of his music is a difficult sell the same way Jerry Fielding could be, but I see more information and articulate discussion and debate over his merits on social media and have received positive comments from people on four continents.
That's the difficult part, James. I too have seen enthusiastic discussions and comments on his work in many forums/ blogs dedicated to... individualistic, hard-to-categorize progressive artists with a visionary streak. Just recently, Spain's national jazz radio programme hosted by the extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic Juan Claudio Cifuentes played three or four tracks from some of Gil's early jazz albums, and el Sr. Cifuentes waxed lyrical about how brilliantly inventive Mellé was, with all those shifting rhythms - "muy interesante y nada fácil". And Gil Mellé is one composer who many of my friends have in their collection, along with Basil Kirchin, Sun Ra and John Cale (now there's an eclectic group). They all have "Gil's Guests", "Tome VI" and stuff like that, but there's still a barrier of snobbery there - they're quite happy to recognise that his contributions to "Columbo" and a hundred TV Movies were "good music", or they'll say when EMBRYO comes on the TV - "Good music - who did it?", then nod in satisfaction when I tell them. But these people would, I think, actually feel ashamed about buying an album with good music from a bad or dreadfully uncool film or TV show. So, in a way, his film work is not going to get bought by people outside our filmic geek niche, which is sad - and I hope I'm wrong, but that's the way I perceive it.
So what do you do? You try to expand that core of soundtrack collectors which is present here into accepting and listening to more of his scores. I hope the wonderful BORDERLINE (for example) made a few people click on my recent thread about THE PRESIDENT'S PLANE IS MISSING. So maybe that's five more sales for any potential new release. A drop in the ocean. Another thing I've found is people in general do not like being told what they should be listening to. That's an understandable turn-off for many. So yes, that's why "the usual suspects" turn up on these threads. There's no easy way to "spread the word" without coming across like a pompous preacher. People are much more comfortable finding things for themselves. but in this case it's an extremely slow process.
The problem is that we get the usual suspects responding to the same threads and we are preaching to the choir. What all of us need to do is get the 3000 to 5000 people around the world who are the film music fan base to understand and listen to the talent that is Gil Melle. Granted, some of his music is a difficult sell the same way Jerry Fielding could be, but I see more information and articulate discussion and debate over his merits on social media and have received positive comments from people in four continents.
The reason of the lack of feedbacks from the mass of collectors is quiet simple: there is not enough music materials available to discuss. You need a Nick Redman type of initiative to promote such music. If we took the example of Fielding, in the early 90's, Redman took a huge risk and released four multi-sets of Fielding during that particular era. Here's your template, Mr. James. Be the Nick Redman of Gil Mellé if you grasp the challenge. The future of Mellé is in your hands.
The problem is that we get the usual suspects responding to the same threads and we are preaching to the choir. What all of us need to do is get the 3000 to 5000 people around the world who are the film music fan base to understand and listen to the talent that is Gil Melle. Granted, some of his music is a difficult sell the same way Jerry Fielding could be, but I see more information and articulate discussion and debate over his merits on social media and have received positive comments from people in four continents.
The reason of the lack of feedbacks from the mass of collectors is quiet simple: there is not enough music materials available to discuss. You need a Nick Redman type of initiative to promote such music. If we took the example of Fielding, in the early 90's, Redman took a huge risk and released four multi-sets of Fielding during that particular era. Here's your template, Mr. James. Be the Nick Redman of Gil Mellé if you grasp the challenge. The future of Mellé is in your hands.
I wish others had as much faith in me as you do. I am merely the messenger crying out in the wilderness. You really have to contact the ones who are the ones calling the shots. The best way is for you to open up your wallet and bankroll certain releases. Remember, it's not cheap producing a cd. Just read the message boards and you will get your answers.
However, I am very optimistic for a lot of releases that will not only make money for the labels, but allow them to take risks on lesser known scores in 2014. The people in our small demimonde of film music work very hard in what they do and are professionals, and sometimes it may take years before something is released. I have no inside information from anyone. I just read the message boards and old copies of FSM to get a handle on what the industry is like. Communicate and email everyone. I get responses from everyone I have ever written to concerning film music. They are very nice people.
Oh, one last thing... if you'd like to pay for a round trip ticket from NY to LA, I can spend more time doing face to face negotiations, on your behalf. All the best for the New Year.
I wish others had as much faith in me as you do. I am merely the messenger crying out in the wilderness. You really have to contact the ones who are the ones calling the shots. The best way is for you to open up your wallet and bankroll certain releases. Remember, it's not cheap producing a cd. Just read the message boards and you will get your answers.
However, I am very optimistic for a lot of releases that will not only make money for the labels, but allow them to take risks on lesser known scores in 2014. The people in our small demimonde of film music work very hard in what they do and are professionals, and sometimes it may take years before something is released. I have no inside information from anyone. I just read the message boards and old copies of FSM to get a handle on what the industry is like. Communicate and email everyone. I get responses from everyone I have ever written to concerning film music. They are very nice people.
Oh, one last thing... if you'd like to pay for a round trip ticket from NY to LA, I can spend more time doing face to face negotiations, on your behalf. All the best for the New Year.
You need to throw out a big amount of money. It's expensive. You have to think like an accountant to do the job. E-mail Redman to ask him to get a cost estimate for his four sets. Go to the bank and ask for a loan or try the kickstarter avenue. In the end, it will long, laborious, filled with difficulty.
I'd love to hear more from Mellé: loved Borderline, which combined avante-garde with general accessibility. I should think there is enough of his tv work to provide material for future releases, although I can understand how it can be a tough sell these days.
Starship Invasions sounds like a lot of fun from the clips although I imagine that the film itself is one that Christopher Lee would rather forget
