There's a strong implication above that it's the MECO album. Actually, including the MECO album isn't a bad idea for an extra, but of course the original tracks would be ideal.
I was hoping it would be similar to the Carroll Baker/Umberto Lenzi box set that included a blu-ray exclusive soundtrack CD that featured a lot of previously unreleased music. But obviously dealing with Universal is a different ball of wax altogether.
I just received this reply from the company about the CD and if it is the MECO album. But again is this the actual score separate or is it married to the sound effects track as well. That could be another possibility.
They wrote this:
"Hi Peter,
Thanks for writing. No, the CD won't be the MECO album, but the music that was actually featured in the movie. Score by Elmer Bernstein and songs plus the instrumental from the "See You Next Wednesday" segment.
I just received this reply from the company about the CD and if it is the MECO album. But again is this the actual score separate or is it married to the sound effects track as well. That could be another possibility.
They wrote this:
"Hi Peter,
Thanks for writing. No, the CD won't be the MECO album, but the music that was actually featured in the movie. Score by Elmer Bernstein and songs plus the instrumental from the "See You Next Wednesday" segment.
So, obviously no Meco reissue...I try to guess how much it will actually cost these days to clear about 6 minutes of original and official score music as most of it has been in some edits, played under movie stills! "isolated", on a dvd release a while ago!...and I don't talk about the song tracks!
Very cool and unexpected news from the blu-ray company, but now La La Land's comment reads a bit differently. It implies, perhaps, that a more definitive (but as yet unannounced) release of this score may be forthcoming...
If it is only an 11 min of score, it would be best to do an album which includes and focuses on his comedy scores..like MEATBALLS ...ANIMAL HOUSE etc. Would be fun..
Because "Animal House" and "The Blues Brothers" (the latter for which Bernstein composed only one cue) are also Universal, there's been some creative speculation on this forum about a label doing a Bernstein-Landis at Universal CD.
What is still not on record is how much music was cut from "An American Werewolf in London." We know from the fairly lengthy conversation on the following thread about the "Metamorphosis" cue as well as another deleted cue that was re-recorded:
Landis himself has never commented on the events discussed in the above thread nor anything else in relation to deleted music, even though he often mentions the "American Werewolf" score (as it is) when talking about the film.
Regarding "Meatballs," that's owned by another studio and there seems to be issues regarding releasing that score. I've speculated in the past that there might be a contractual obligation to include the (non-original) songs from the LP on any release of music from "Meatballs," making a new soundtrack release very expensive (and a score-only release impossible).
I just received this reply from the company about the CD and if it is the MECO album. But again is this the actual score separate or is it married to the sound effects track as well. That could be another possibility.
They wrote this:
"Hi Peter,
Thanks for writing. No, the CD won't be the MECO album, but the music that was actually featured in the movie. Score by Elmer Bernstein and songs plus the instrumental from the "See You Next Wednesday" segment.
I'll have to check my hard drive and my memory, but years ago I extracted whatever score was available from every possible source (including unmentionables) and including the "Metamorphosis" cue that James Fitzpatrick rerecorded for his Elmer Bernstein compilation. While there might be unused cues, or repeated cues, or alternate takes, the whole conglomerate of everything (without double-checking every cue) totaled a bit over 20+ minutes, which surprised me, as I had heard the oft-repeated claim (noted above) that "there were only 10 minutes of score" to be had.
Interesting. Maybe I'll give the cues an updated listed to settle the questions in my mind. I do recall that a number of cues used the same "walking in the woods" or "on the way to the..." theme in various lengths, so that may account for much of it.
Years ago, FSM member Paul Ettinger went through the film and here is what he came up with, creating his own track titles for the cues.
--
Score (7:31) Songs (14:47)
1. Blue Moon (performed by Bobby Vinton) 2:43 2. The Valley 0:42 3. The Forest 0:17 4. The Deer 0:32 5. The Hospital Bed 0:12 6. Jack Tells a Story Part 1 0:43 7. Jack Tells a Story Part 2 0:33 8. Nurse Price Enters 0:08 9. Moondance (performed by Van Morrison) 4:37 10. Alex’s Apartment 1:56 11. Dr Visit’s East Procter 1:12 12. Bad Moon Rising (performed by Credance Clearwater Revival) 2:21 13. Blue Moon (performed by Sam Cooke) 2:49 14. Picadilley Circus 0:26 15. The Alley 0:50 16. Blue Moon (performed by The Marcels) 2:17
track 3 appears to be a partial repeat of track 4. track 7 appears to be a partial repeat of track 6 track 15 appears to be a partial repeat of track 11 If my guess is correct and the music was re-used during those scenes, the Bernstein total would only equal 5:51 . But I am also curious as to whether there were unused or alternate cues. As shot, the transformation scene is only 2:49 long making the Silva track much longer.
--
Some additional notes:
- The Silva re-recording is comprised of two cues not heard in the film. The first half of the track is the rejected "Metamorphosis" music, but it isn't known yet what the second cue was written for.
- Ettinger didn't note the "See You Next Wednesday" source track that the German blu-ray CD will apparently have.
- A TV spot for the film used a snippet of the original recording of "Metamorphosis."
I checked on my hard drive. From about a half dozen sources, all of which I don't think I can recall (Hey, this is 1981 we're talking about), there are seventeen score cues (no songs) that exist to be had, totaling 26:54.
There are obviously alternate cues with different introductions, or including or not including "Hike to the Slaughtered Lamb" and/or "Through the Woods" reflecting various cuts and edits of the film. So that is the sum total of what was recorded. Then they were whittled down to what was actually used in the film:
01. David and Alex's Infatuation (Moonsong Melody) [Includes Hike to the Slaughtered Lamb] 02. Through the Woods 03. Hike to the Slaughtered Lamb 04. Hike to the Slaughtered Lamb 2 05. Soho Adult Entertainment (Half Moon Tune) 06. The Boys (Moonrise Menace Mystery) (Pop Arrangement) 07. First Dream 08. Moonlight Metamorphosis (Full Moon Madness) 09. Killing the Deer 10. Killing the Deer 2 11. Lycanthropy Lunacy (Moonlighting Maniacs) 12. Lycanthropy Lunacy (Moonlighting Maniacs) [Includes Through the Woods] 13. The Doctor Investigates 14. The Doctor Investigates 2 (with different introduction) 15. The Doctor Investigates 3 (without different introduction) 16. Ride to Picadilly Circus 17. Ride to Picadilly Circus 2 (Better Ending)
If I'm not mistaken, your post implies that you've had access to different versions of the film. Were some of these alternate takes of "An American Werewolf in London" cues culled from an earlier cut of the movie, a workprint copy, and/or an international release version?
Dylan, you over-interpret a bit. I only had come across different AUDIO versions of the film score music, including a short "sessions" cassette way back then. These items circulated and were traded "off the radar screen" among advanced collectors. I combined every different audio cue that I could into one file. And that's how I assembled the bits and pieces that I had into the one audio file. There is a fair amount of partial repetition. I had no video to work off.
Thanks for clarifying. Very cool. I also had a few "off the radar screen" tapes back in the day, but I never came across anybody who had "An American Werewolf in London."
Hopefully the forthcoming release includes everything Bernstein recorded (if the blu-ray CD isn't complete, then hopefully a possible future release will be).
I’m getting this as I mainly wanted the 4K film but the hope of a proper soundtrack is tempting as well. I e-mailed the company asking if they could tell me the cd track list. Just got a reply saying they don’t want to announce it yet but will be announcing it on Facebook in a few days. .....Strange....
This soundtrack release is still cursed. I can't believe there's not a regular release after almost 40 years... Bernstein's fans should deserve more respect.
