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I'm glad you repeated this one. I had intended to respond to the first mention, but I lost track of the original posting. I'm listening to my copy as I write this to refresh my memory.
The Cinerama feature film soundtrack SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD was a 10-inch mono "Admiral High Fidelity Demonstration Record" with "tonal sequences" from the film spread over 11 cues. Each cue in "introduced" by an unnamed announcer who tells you what you are going to hear: some rather bland score, a choo-choo train, bell chimes, gongs, drums, etc. The purpose was to show off the audio capabilities of the Admiral "hi-fi" equipment in the pre-stereo era. It is on the Admiral label with catalog/matrix numbers below.
SIDE ONE (GO-9L-1315):
1. METROPOLITAN RHAPSODY (some score with voiceover)
2. FRENCH CAN CAN (generic orchestra)
3. TRAIN SOUND EFFECTS (ugh!)
4. PERCUSSION SOUND EFFECTS (blah!)
SIDE TWO (GO-9L-1316):
1. "GENGHIS KHAN" INDIAN SEQUENCE (score)
2. NATIVE ELEPHANT SCHOOL (animal sounds)
3. NATIVE INDIAN MUSIC MUSIC AND WEDDING PROCESSION (ethnic chanting)
4. TARANTELLA (score)
5. JAPANESE PERCUSSION SEQUENCE (drums/gongs/chimes)
6. WATUSI NATIVE DANCE (Belgian Congo drums, etc.)
7. FINALE - METROPOLITAN RHAPSODY (score)
The cues are all short. What music there is is undistinguished. Only a nutso completist collector would/should spend significant cash for a copy. (Tongue in cheek, eyes rolling upward) I got my copy by digging through old record stock in the basement of an old "hi-fi" store back in the mid-sixties. It cost fifty cents. That was how I spent my Saturdays as a youth. Flea markets, yard sales, garage sales, damp-dusty record store basements, Goodwill stores, Salvation Army stores, any thrift shop, etc. that I could reach by bus or bike. What a frittered away youth! 
Ron Burbella
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Seven Wonders was the first Cinerama film I saw - they brought it back in 1959 and my father took me to the Warner Cinerama in Hollywood. It was one of my greatest movie going experiences and an entire chapter is devoted to it in my novel Benjamin Kritzer (which has lots of movie stuff in it).
The theme from the film (can't remember who did it, but someone good like Moross) was great, and I have it somewhere on some theme LP.
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Hey Ron, any chance you have a CD-R or anything of the score segments of the tracks? Other than the couple of tracks of the Moross stuff on the Silva CD, I haven't heard anything from this.
Also, I know this has never been released anywhere but I'm sure some version of the movie exists in some weird fashion. Anyone have it?
And why is it that NYC, where Cinerama first premiered, doesn't have a Cinerama theater? Perhaps it's the lack of anyone giving a damn, or maybe the sky-high (sorry, couldn't resist) rents, or... 
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I have a 12-inch lp, which I actually found in a cardboard box of records at a church rummage sale in Boston, way back in the early 70's, which consists of actual soundtrack excerpts from several Cinerama films, including SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, which as I recall was released in 1956, not '59, as stated above.
This lp, on the "Nikreis" label, ended up being slightly warped on its edge, which ended up actually flattening down, during the years I kept it stored on a shelf when I lived in Phoenix, but it is still a chore to play. Consequently, I've never been able to transfer it to any other medium.
There was someone else on this Board who stated he also had a copy of this. What I'd love to do of course is collate both sources onto one CD.
Or, best of all, get a CD of the actual tracks.
That would be something. It's certainly one of the best, if not the best of the Cinerama scores, right up there with Tiomkin's SEARCH FOR PARADISE and North's SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE.
SEVEN WONDERS is also the only Cinerama travelogue I actually saw in its initial release, at the Warner Theatre, in Pittsburgh. I still have my copy of the original souvenir program. It's one of the few films my whole family together actually attended. I still remember my mother complaining afterwards how dizzy she felt watching those inevitable Cinerama movie shots taken from a plane flying at odd angles. But what I still remember best are the Cinerama-wide visuals of artists' concepts of the original Seven Wonders of the ancient world, particularly an, incorrect, rendition of the almost mythical Colossus of Rhodes, with actual flames shining from its upheld torch. When I finally visited Rhodes, all I could think of was that magical vision of a long ago past...
Certainly the SEVEN WONDERS score should be preserved.
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Posted: Jun. 06, 2007 - 11:02 AM / IP: 207.47.240.202 Reply to Post
By: Anacleto (Member)
I'm glad you repeated this one. I had intended to respond to the first mention, but I lost track of the original posting. I'm listening to my copy as I write this to refresh my memory (endquote)
Thanks Ron, I appreciate.
Since you are the guru of vinyl perhaps you can shed some light on another oddity.
The soundtrack album of "Annie Get Your Gun" as sung by Judy Garland. No- not the one released by the Judy Garland Fan Club or the Sandy Hook release. This odd ball album contained the same tracks as the previous ones - although all had abysmal sound - but the album cover was made to look like an MGM cover complete with a catalog number (MGM E3001) The liner notes on the back cover was the same as the legit MGM 10"LP cover except the name of Betty Hutton was replaced by Judy Garland in every text line. As if this wasn't enough, the record label was also made to look like the old MGM yellow/black design used in the 50s. Whoever did this album was very wicked indeed!
Any idea of its history and origin?
*********************************************
The origins of the ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (MGM E-3001) that you mention is quite interesting.
Being a Hudson County, New Jersey, native, I haunted all the rare record stores in the New York City/Long Island/New Jersey metropolitan area. Invariable, one would meet other soundtrack collectors in these minor soundtrack meccas from time to time. One pair of NYC collectors, Vince M. and Al A. (the names are abbreviated to protect the guilty), had built an astonishing (even to me) accumulation of show and soundtrack LPs/45s/78s the same way I did, plus taking the train up and down the New Jersey shore line and finding all the rare records one-town-at-a-time from the top to bottom of New Jersey.
They worked in NYC in the entertainment business, primarily in TV and advertising (at least at that time) and in that area developed the "contacts" to become one of the original "bootleggers" of three of the hardest to find LP of the time:
(1) VERTIGO (Mercury)
(2) THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (Colpix)
(3) THE JUNGLE BOOK/THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (RCA)
In the mid-1970s, they had pressed several hundred copies of each of the above LPs with labels identical to the original releases but in a "plain white LP cover." They amassed a huge amount of rare soundtrack LPs by trading and selling these primordial bootlegs with other eager collectors, who gratefully raided their duplicate collections for these very nicely done replicas. They CAN be distinguished from the originals, but were a professionally done effort, though not "legal."
I met Vince and Al in a NYC rare record store, and for several years we traded LPs. I got to see their "inner sanctum" collection that knocked my collector's socks off. It was in a typical midtown NYC apartment with three or four locks plus a special locking "intrusion bar," just like in the movies. Every LP was in it's own thick vinyl protector, minty-mint clean center-spined title covers, flawless vinyl, all alphabetically arranged, filling walls and walls. If you fell asleep and dreamed that you went to soundtrack heaven, that was their place.
Vince and Al subsequently and ambitiously had the bogus ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (MGM E-3001) done up as a successor to their original three LPs.
They found an unassigned MGM catalog number and modified the back cover artwork from older MGM releases to resemble a legitimate MGM LP release, and did a nicely done front LP cover. I forget where the Judy Garland tapes came from.
Well, they NYC show and soundtrack/Judy Garland collector crowd went nuts over this one. It later saw LP reincarnations as:
(2) Sound/Stage Recordings 2302
(3) Busan Records BU 7186
(4) OurFed AGYG 100
(5) Sandy Hook S.H. 2053
After I got married in the mid-1970s and kids came and OB/GYN residency with 100-hour work weeks came, I gradually lost contact with Vince and Al. I wonder where they are today. Helluva nice guys. Maybe I'll do a Google search or something and see what turns up.
Yo, Mike! Recordman (Mike Murray) and I were spiritual fraternal soundtrack twins separated at birth and go "way back" (he in New York and me in New Jersey). Did you ever happen to meet Vince M. and Al A. in your soundtrack travels?
Ron Burbella
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I have a 12-inch lp, which I actually found in a cardboard box of records at a church rummage sale in Boston, way back in the early 70's, which consists of actual soundtrack excerpts from several Cinerama films, including SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, which as I recall was released in 1956, not '59, as stated above.
Actually, what I clearly stated above was that I saw it "when they brought it back" in '59, not that it was released in '59. I know when it was released originally, but I did not see it then. I saw it in '59 when it was brought back because, I think, South Seas Adventure hadn't done all that well.
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That must have been something that was done in Los Angeles alone. It certainly was never revived in Pittsburgh, or I would have gone back to see it again.
Have you seen the film called CINERAMA ADVENTURE? It's a history of the whole process, with excerpts from a number of Cinerama films.
And, it has a score by our own John Morgan!
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And, it has a score by our own John Morgan!
And William Stromberg. Actually, it is the synth prescore we did as the original plan was to record it with an orchestra, but the music was needed for some showings so we whipped the score up on synth. Then money ran out, and with it, the orchestral rendering went Gone with the Wind. So, that was another fine mess we got ourselves into. I think it will be included with next year's DVD release of HOW THE WEST WAS WON.
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That must have been something that was done in Los Angeles alone. It certainly was never revived in Pittsburgh, or I would have gone back to see it again.
Have you seen the film called CINERAMA ADVENTURE? It's a history of the whole process, with excerpts from a number of Cinerama films.
And, it has a score by our own John Morgan!
I have indeed. Dave Strohmeir, its director, has been a friend of mine for over twenty-five years now. It was very enjoyable, and even though the score is all synth, it's still quite a nice score. While I can't be sure, I wouldn't count on it being on the HTWWW DVD - unless Warners has done the right thing about the smilebox process, and knowing Warners I doubt they have. I don't know all that much about what went on, but rumor has it that they were going to use it, then decided to do their own version of it or something. But, maybe it's all been worked out.
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What's great about CINERAMA ADVENTURE is that it has beautiful excerpts from the travelogue films. I'd been given to believe they had all faded, but these have beautiful color.
I'd see SEVEN WONDERS again in a theatre in what used to be referred to as a New York Minute!
I wonder how dated it would seem now... Probably a lot.
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Posted: |
Jun 7, 2007 - 10:30 PM
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By: |
joec
(Member)
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Posted: Jun. 06, 2007 - 11:02 AM / IP: 207.47.240.202 Reply to Post
By: Anacleto (Member)
I'm glad you repeated this one. I had intended to respond to the first mention, but I lost track of the original posting. I'm listening to my copy as I write this to refresh my memory (endquote)
Thanks Ron, I appreciate.
Since you are the guru of vinyl perhaps you can shed some light on another oddity.
The soundtrack album of "Annie Get Your Gun" as sung by Judy Garland. No- not the one released by the Judy Garland Fan Club or the Sandy Hook release. This odd ball album contained the same tracks as the previous ones - although all had abysmal sound - but the album cover was made to look like an MGM cover complete with a catalog number (MGM E3001) The liner notes on the back cover was the same as the legit MGM 10"LP cover except the name of Betty Hutton was replaced by Judy Garland in every text line. As if this wasn't enough, the record label was also made to look like the old MGM yellow/black design used in the 50s. Whoever did this album was very wicked indeed!
Any idea of its history and origin?
*********************************************
The origins of the ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (MGM E-3001) that you mention is quite interesting.
Being a Hudson County, New Jersey, native, I haunted all the rare record stores in the New York City/Long Island/New Jersey metropolitan area. Invariable, one would meet other soundtrack collectors in these minor soundtrack meccas from time to time. One pair of NYC collectors, Vince M. and Al A. (the names are abbreviated to protect the guilty), had built an astonishing (even to me) accumulation of show and soundtrack LPs/45s/78s the same way I did, plus taking the train up and down the New Jersey shore line and finding all the rare records one-town-at-a-time from the top to bottom of New Jersey.
They worked in NYC in the entertainment business, primarily in TV and advertising (at least at that time) and in that area developed the "contacts" to become one of the original "bootleggers" of three of the hardest to find LP of the time:
(1) VERTIGO (Mercury)
(2) THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (Colpix)
(3) THE JUNGLE BOOK/THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (RCA)
In the mid-1970s, they had pressed several hundred copies of each of the above LPs with labels identical to the original releases but in a "plain white LP cover." They amassed a huge amount of rare soundtrack LPs by trading and selling these primordial bootlegs with other eager collectors, who gratefully raided their duplicate collections for these very nicely done replicas. They CAN be distinguished from the originals, but were a professionally done effort, though not "legal."
I met Vince and Al in a NYC rare record store, and for several years we traded LPs. I got to see their "inner sanctum" collection that knocked my collector's socks off. It was in a typical midtown NYC apartment with three or four locks plus a special locking "intrusion bar," just like in the movies. Every LP was in it's own thick vinyl protector, minty-mint clean center-spined title covers, flawless vinyl, all alphabetically arranged, filling walls and walls. If you fell asleep and dreamed that you went to soundtrack heaven, that was their place.
Vince and Al subsequently and ambitiously had the bogus ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (MGM E-3001) done up as a successor to their original three LPs.
They found an unassigned MGM catalog number and modified the back cover artwork from older MGM releases to resemble a legitimate MGM LP release, and did a nicely done front LP cover. I forget where the Judy Garland tapes came from.
Well, they NYC show and soundtrack/Judy Garland collector crowd went nuts over this one. It later saw LP reincarnations as:
(2) Sound/Stage Recordings 2302
(3) Busan Records BU 7186
(4) OurFed AGYG 100
(5) Sandy Hook S.H. 2053
After I got married in the mid-1970s and kids came and OB/GYN residency with 100-hour work weeks came, I gradually lost contact with Vince and Al. I wonder where they are today. Helluva nice guys. Maybe I'll do a Google search or something and see what turns up.
Yo, Mike! Recordman (Mike Murray) and I were spiritual fraternal soundtrack twins separated at birth and go "way back" (he in New York and me in New Jersey). Did you ever happen to meet Vince M. and Al A. in your soundtrack travels?
Ron Burbella
Very interesting..
Just curious, off topic, not releated to Cinerama, but how did all those awful Hollywood Soundstage LPs manage to flood the market during late 1970s early 80s? Cassette versions were also availabe for many. What were the source materials? Some sounded like someone held a microphone up to a TV speaker! Anyone know? Most titles were of old MGM and Fox musicals.
Thanks
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