This is the movie/TV soundtrack item. Feel free to discuss John Williams, Danny Elfman, Mike Post, and other TV theme/movie soundtrack composers. Other good topics might include commercialism of movie soundtracks (creating a movie for a soundtrack instead of vice versa, the "Music Inspired For and/or By the Movie--, for example).107 responses total.
To start, why don't we talk about how a soundtrack sets the mood for a movie or TV show? Are some series or movies more memorable to you because the music was appropriate, well-timed, and well-crafted? For example, John Williams changed some of the music for the Special Edition of Return of The Jedi. How did this change the film for you? Did you hate Sy Snoodles's original song (that Williams created, of course) as much as Lucas did?
<krj is somewhat baffled, since he didn't think the Special Edition of JEDI was due out until Friday 3/14. And who is Sy Snoodles?>
Ah, so it was postponed by that loser Howard Stern everywhere? Here's the scoop: Lucas changed a lot of material in Jabba's lair on Tatoonine. Sy Snoodles was that funky lead singer for Jabba's personal band. Lucas replaced the puppet with a digital image, expanded the lineup of the band, and got Williams to write a new song for her to sing (he loathed the first one). I guess the first song was pretty bad, although it did sound exotic.
<No, Fox & Lucas postponed the opening of JEDI because of the strength of STAR WARS and EMPIRE at the box office. Stern was a beneficiary, but not the cause, say the news stories I saw when the postponement was announced.>
Ah, I see. That reason is a good one. Anyway, like I said, a lot of the music is getting a makeover, so it will likely change the feel of the movie. Also, the soundtracks themselves have been commercially re-released, with material that did not make the original cuts.
i have noticed that someitmes the music ot a sound track does better than the movie itself.... Take Romeo and Juleit (1197 version). People went for the music it seemed than for the movie. Though i must admit, A great movie with great action music is _Last of the Mohicans_... the music makes your heart jut jump! course, so does Daneil Day-Lewis... well for me. Anywyas. Music can be a very important part. I should be. Soemetimes it is the movie. It can make a movie good or bad.
"Romeo and Juliet" (1197 version)? Shakespeare wasn't even born in 1197?
The story of Romeo and Juliet goes back further than Shakespeare. Dante refers to the Montagues and the Capulets in his Inferno (ca. 1300) But seriously, I like "The Crow" soundtrack. It captured the mood of the film perfectly. I also like Mark Snow's "X-Files" music. It's a lot better that the other CD of songs inspired by the show. His music soulds great on its own and its hard to believe he writes roughly 30-35 minutes of incidental music per show. Most shows only have 20 minutes per hour.
The small pieces of 'Dune's soundrack I have heard were far better than the bits of the movie that I saw.
I see people moved rather quickly to my other idea, or are about to. Jennifer's point is true-- but that's because moviemakers try to create a soundtrack they know will sell well, rather than one that will fit the movie. Sometimes, it seems as if they make a movie for a soundtrack album. But ironically, it's getting harder to find snippets of all tracks of a soundtrack album in a movie. And sometimes, producers want to sell music that didn't make the edit of the film, so suddenly, it's "Music Inspired By.." By the same coin, not all movie soundtrack albums feature all the incidental music. I am highly recommending you all check out Jeff Danna's soundtrack to Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. He came to Narada Records with this project as his debut. He took classically trained Chinese musicians, and then used their skills to create music that is a mixture of traditional Chinese music and Western symphony-- with a New Age touch. The result is nothing short of incredible. The soundtrack to '2010' is another undiscovered gem, although the film didn't quite do justice to Arthur C. Clarke's sequel to his bestseller, '2001: A Space Odyssey.' Ironically, the music is better than that of the critically acclaimed screenplay of '2001.' Even the ambient-influenced pieces are a little bit more interesting than '2001's many variations of "The Blue Danube Waltz,' and the 2010 theme itself is a freah arrangement of the old "Also Sprach Zarathrustra" theme. Fresh, folks, not fresh-- but it does have a more sci-fi feel to it than a classical one! But not to worry; it has an excerpt of the old theme as well for comparison.
I have to confess that I don't remember a thing about the 2010 movie score; I was so busy being irritated at what a botch Peter Hyams had made of the story. But I do have to quibble about 2001, a film I know very well: I've seen it at least 20 times, and I got the soundtrack album as a birthday present in 1969. 2001 doesn't use "many variations" of the Blue Danube. It uses the piece only three times: the two parts of Heywood Floyd's journey to the moon, and the closing credits. And I'm pretty sure those aren't variations, but just excerpts from the piece as Strauss wrote it.
Thanks, Ken-- my error. They are excerpts. but that's what makes the soundtrack so boring-- that's all there is besides the title theme. This is the other extreme of movie soundtracks-- it doesn't quite stand well as an artistic piece of work on its own. Compared to 2001, 2010 was indeed a critical failure. But then Hollywood is always trying to attract a broader audience then the typical sci-fi movie goer. Perhaps the corresponding soundtrack did so poorly because the movie was so bad; I found a tape of _2010_ for 50 cents in a bargain bin. But the soundtrack is worth a second look. The recording quality is good, the electronic instruments used formidable for 1984, and the material is fairly original. "2010," the opening title cut, is merely based on "Also Sprach Zarathrustra," but it's a well-crafted arrangement. The 'New Worlds Theme' rounds out the soundtrack and is another stand-out cut. It is more orchestral (probably because it's the end title), which makes a good ending since the rest of the tracks are more ambient.
There is a rumor that Clarke has written 3001.
No, there's quite a bit of other music in 2001, most notably Katchaturian's slow movement from the Gayanah Ballet Suite -- the suite is best known for the Sabre Dance, which doesn't appear in the film, but it's one of those classical pieces which everyone instantly recognizes -- and Gyorgy Ligeti's pieces "Atmospheres" and "Lux Aeterna," which are used for the encounters with the monolith. Ligeti sued Kubrick for making electronic distortions to his compositions, and he won; I assume this is in Europe, where the notion of "artist's rights" holds much more legal force than it does in the USA. I suspect that scoring a film almost exclusively with previously-composed classical music is a different form than composing music specifically to fit the film. I suspect that Jon hasn't heard the same recording of the 2001 soundtrack album that I have. I really don't know the ancestry of what's been for sale the last few years, but it has *not* been the same program as the 1968 LP. The '68 mix has only been issued on CD in the last few months. To stop beating a dead horse: I don't suppose any of you have ever seen a soundtrack recording for Akira Kurosawa's film KAGEMUSHA? I've never been able to find any evidence that one exists, darn it.
(omni slipped in. No rumor, the novel "3001" is on bookstore shelves near you. It starts by resurrecting Frank Poole, last seen drifting off into space after being murdered by HAL. I never read "2061", the third book.)
You are only partially correct, Ken. A friend of mine (actually, his father) has the '68 LP, and I had planned to get a copy of it since the tape of it at the library was warped. All I got was "Atmospheres", as part of a sampler tape. I liked the arrangment of it and I wonder why Ligeti chose to sue. Re #3 now that 'JEDI' is out: I liked the addition of 'Jedi Rocks' to the Palace scene (and I should note that it was written by Andy Hey, not John Williams), although it was a really weird fit to the otherwise exotic-sounding music. I also was very disappointed that Lucas decided to change the song for the Celebration scene. It was very New Agey and the mood really wasn't celebratory at all. Don't get me wrong-- I like New Age-- but the setting was all wrong. I wonder what Williams had to say about it. (Then again, Williams isn't as rich as Lucas, so he has no say)
Moving to tv music, I think Angelo Badalamenti's score made Twin Peaks one of the creepiest shows ever. I've got a copy of the soundtrack from the library, and listen to it a lot.
I just picked up the recently re-issued soundtrack for _2001..._ and I'm enjoying it very much. Whatever was out, before this edition, was pretty sadly packaged, and I'm not sure why. This edition, however, is delightful: lengthy liner notes, extra music, and a whole track of sound bites from the film. It's a Rhino edition, though, so it's not surprising they did a good job, this time around.
One of my favorite soundtracks is Phillip Glass's soundtrack to _Koyaanisqatsi_. But I'll be damned if I can't get through the movie without falling asleep at least once...
I try to watch in a nice comfy chair or couch, after falling asleep on the floor once.
Chacon a son gout, or whatever. I've loved KOYAANISQATSI every time I have seen it, and I wish it would come back to the Michigan so I can drag Leslie to see it. Now, the second film, POWAwhatever, bored me. Go figure. On Sunday, the NPR show Weekend Edition had a long feature on the Academy Awards. There was a long segment, maybe 10 minutes, discussing John Williams' nominated score -- I think it was for SLEEPERS. Many years ago, I mentioned to a friend who is a devotee of 20th Century Serious Music that many of his favorite pieces reminded me of movie music. He said that this was because movies were the only place that most 20th Century styles could find a commercial marketplace. (This was about 15 years ago, before the Minimalists had much of a public impact.) Discuss. :) Back to 2001: It has a two day run coming up at the Michigan Theatre. April 1 and 2, if I remember the poster correctly.
I have a question: what great movie theme *hasn't* Joun Williams been involved in? He did Star Wars, He did Superman, he did Jawsw, he did Jurassic Park. has there been anything since, say, 1977 that's definitive that he didn't do?
Well, um...yeah. There's a whole mess of other prolific soundtrack composers that have done some big stuff: Maurice Jarre, Ennio Morricone, James Newton Howard, Phillip Glass, Gabriel Yared, Michael Kamen, to name a few...
perhaps, but name some really significant work that they've done :) John Williams is *the* definitive movie composer of the last quarter century.
What about Danny Elfman? He's done a lot of memorable film and TV scores.
Well, let's see. Here's one famous one by each: _The Fugitive_ (James Newton Howard), _Brazil_ (Michael Kamen), _Koyaanisqatsi_ (Phillip Glass), _The Untouchables_ (Ennio Morricone)... Jarre's done too many to recall. Yared might not be in the same league, but he's been around...
Don't forget Mike Post ("Rockford Files," "Hill Street Blues," "Magnum P.I."
and others).
Any Tv show that had a Henry Mancini composed theme did not fail.
I think his last was Bob Newhart's "Newhart".
Drummer for The Police, Andy Summers, did soundtrack work
on "2010".
I remember a friend saying that he only liked the movie version of Dune for the soundtrack, but he liked the soundtrack well enough that he watched the movie whenever he got a chance.
Actually, that would be Stewart Copeland, if it was the drummer for the Police. If it was the guitarist, then it would be Andy Summers...
Okay, guitartist.
Can we expand this to show tunes?
Right now, I'm listening to _The Cult Files_, a two-CD collection of movie/tv themes songs. Now, having the Avengers theme fits with the sf slant, but then we get into things like the Hawaii 5-0 theme, and music from Body Heat and the Blues Brothers. Weird. But cool.
Sure, Mark, mention show tunes if it turns your crank. But I think the age of the musical is dead; no one has been making any new musicals as of late. They're all remakes, for the most part.
No one has been making new musicals?!? _Les Miserables_, _Phantom of the Opera_, _Rent_... I guess I would have to disagree...
_Les Mis_ and _Phantom_ are both over 10 years old. _rent_ is a new musical, however, in the past couple od decades the number of musicals being written are considerably lowered. Its just now making somewhat of a come back, and the american musical is a high risk in the theater world.
They're out there, they just aren't as well known. Plus, theater's been taking a new turn toward dance (see Stomp, Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Bring in da Noise Bring in da Funk, etc etc)
It's just that things have changed so much... Lord of the Dance and Oklahoma, for example, are worlds apart...
They may be over ten years old, but they are still running! If that isn't an indication of the popularity of shows, I don't know what is... And, as has been established, there are plenty of new shows that are doing well, also.
I guess I don't see items like "Stomp," "Riverdance" and "Lord of the Dance" as musical theatre, as there is little or no dramatic component to them. However, I did want to mention that the new Michigan Theatre calendar announces a short run for STOMP -- August, I think.
Really? Cool, I've been wanting to go see one of their shows..
Stomp? in that small of a house?
Confirmed...I was there the other day and the house manager mentioned it would be there.
Disney's Hercules is a musical
Hercules & Zena - the animated musical, put out by the syndication
company that does the H & Z dramtic TV shows, may go directly to video
by the end of the year.
I just heard _The Big Chill_ soundtrack...great stuff! All classic Motown hits...
Mark: Have you ever seen the movie or heard the music from the movie before? If ya haven't seen the movie, i strongly recommend it to any and all
Jennifer- saw the movie years ago. The music, of course, is classic, and I have heard much of it, before.
That reminds me, I need to get that movie for my meager collection...
The Big Chill was Ok, I guess. I certainly would not buy it, but I would rent it. Better to get LA Story. Much better acting, and you get a serious Steve Martin to boot. Another good one by Kasdan is Grand Canyon. I just loved it, and I would very much like to buy it one of these days.
Steve Martin was serious in "LA Story"?? (second the recommendation, btw) "Grand Canyon" was good? Another data point to suggest that I live in an alternate dimension which shares many of the same characteristics as the one most people live in but has subtly different cinema.
I liked _The Grand Canyon_, myself. And, the music, by none other than James Newton Howard, was pretty good, too.
Ok, so Martin was semi-serious. He's still was a better actor than Kevin Kline was in The Big Chill, which was Laurence Kasdan's first attempt at a screenplay. He attended the U of $.
Kevin Kline, in my opinions, is a very talented actor, and I enjoy his work a lot. Haven't seen Big Chill, though.
Kasdan was a director/writer on one or two of the Star Wars movies, too, which, *ahem*, featured music by John Williams...
I'm surprised no one mentioned Elmer Bernstein. The only credits of his that I can think of are _To Kill A Mockingbird,_ _Ghostbusters,_ and _Back to the Future,_ but he has been an established-- well-established-- movie soundtrack composer.
Is he related to Leonard?
I wish I knew. It wouldn't be too surprising, but I've never heard the two mentioned together.
Elmer Bernstein has written some great music, starting with his groundbreaking jazz score for _The Man with the Golden Arm_.
_The Man with the Golden Arm_? Never heard of it.. or is it one of the James Bond movies, titled _The Man with the Golden Gun_? I'm sure he wrote the soundtrack for _To Kill A Mockingbird_ first. it's an old black and white film.
_The Man with the Golden Arm_ is a classic Otto Preminger film from the 1950's, starring Frank Sinatra as a gambler and junkie. It was a breakthrough film in that it dealt openly with drug addiction at a time when such subject matter was banned by the Motion Picture Production Code. The review in Maltin's _Movie & Video Guide_ cites the "memorable Elmer Bernstein jazz score". Date of _Golden Arm_ is 1955. _To Kill a Mockingbird_ was 1962 or 1963.
Mockingbird's theme didn't impress me all that much. I'm not sure what hte deal was.
It wasn't impressive-- I just mentioned it because I could remember it as an example of his work.
Gregory rocked, though. I could just see him, fronting AC/DC or something...
Well, did anyone go check out Stomp besides me? I thought they did a great show, with the exception of an idiot teenager behind my bro' and I that kept saying "Man, this sucks.." "I hope it gets better.." "This is boring.." and crap like that. And my favorite TV theme..well..it's a cartoon soundtrack..the Robotech Perfect Soundtrack Album..double CD set, most excellent :)
Sounds cool. I remember the Robotech theme :)
Recently picked up the "Songs in the key of Springfield" _Simpsons_ TV soundtrck album. A few goodies on there, a collection of a number of the 'specialty' end-themes. Some good music is missing--there is so much they could have included; like the Homer Simpson/Fred Flintstone car piece.
Hmm...sounds interesting. Strange, but interesting.
Oh, yeah...I recall seeing that, before. Very cool...
Just saw _The Point_ again, for the first time in years. Great 70s animated film with a cool soundtrack by Harry Nilsson. You might recall "Me and My Arrow", if you were listening, back then. Soundtrack might be a little hard to locate, though, these days...
I had the luck to see that nifty little film some years back on a Disney channel preview. The music reminded my folks of Paul McCartney, if I remember right. How easy is it to find the film? How did you see it, Mark?
I luv _The_Point_! "Are you sleeping, can you hear me..." I watch it a lot, and would love to have the soundtrack, if it's even out there anymore... Dang. Now I want to go watch it, but orin has my copy. Snicky.
Yes, I have seen the film (twice, now, actually). I was able to rent it from an alternative video rental place in town. I haven't checked on the availability of the movie for purchase, yet, however. I did sniff around for the soundtrack, today, and had no luck. Still more places to check, however. I'll keep you folks posted, though...
Oh, one reason it might've reminded your folks of the Beatles was that Ringo Starr narrated it. I think someone else might've narrated it, at one point, but the one I found was with Ringo...
No, I believe you are correct in saying Ringo Starr narrated the film. But my folks commented on the *music* itself.
From what I've heard of the music - I've watched the first half or so - it does sound vaguely like the Beatles from Magical Mystery Tour or some such.
One of Nillson's albums had a note from John Lennon on the cover, saying how much he admired his music. Like minds?
Anyone remember Sound of Music? There is an excellent theme from
Romeo & Juliet classic "time for us". Also Mark Twain based film
("Moon River), What about Born Free? Recently I see Amos and Andrew
with theme song "Down y the sea". (the film is a crap).
There is also Love Story, A Star is Born, Bette Midler
Winds Beneath my Wing (Beachees??). A chorus line?
Some hits by Barry White? For modern movie perhaps Mannequin
Dirty Dancing, Flashdance, Grease Mahogany?
Sometimes the music for a movie is contracted for before filming
even starts. This could leave a contract to be kept, while the music
, and particulary, some of the pop-tunes just don't fit. They might
know something better will fit, but this must now fit.
Usually movie producer and music producer do have a product
that does both of them proud.
Then there's Eddy Grant's "Romancing the Stone", inexplicably dropped from the movie. Cool song, too.
For big hits MOVIE theme song/album (modern) perhaps Whitney H. BODYGUARD or B. Adam ROBIN HOOD. Another one is GHOST (Unchained melody). I also remember TOP GUN (Take my breath away), PRETTY LADY (Roxette). For fake one try THREE MUSKETEERS (B. Adams, R Stewart).
RE #80 I believe that song from "Three Musketeers" was "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting (or "ASS," if you're an acronym fanatic).
The big hit from Big Mountain (Reggae hits) and "Anything You want" (Reba M?) also come from movie. Phil Collins also have hits from the movie "buster" (Groovy kind of love). SEAL also have hits from the BASTMAN series. Bruce S. also have giant hits "Streets of Philadelphia" from the movie related to AIDS. BTW any site about MOVIE / TV theme song?
I've seen web sites before with WAV or MIDI versions of cult classics - Rocky Horror, Star Wars, etc. I don't know about 'everyday' movies. A while ago, I spent quite a while hunting for Benny & Joon soundtrack clips to no avail, but perhaps a better-known movie would prove better-represented.
Forget the web. It's more attention deficit than televeision, anyways. Do you have the soundtrack?
No, thus the problem. Actually, I was looking fany sounds from the movie - soundtrack, dialogue, whatever.
"She was prone to fits of semi-precious mettaphors." Huh?
I just realized I needed to seek out another cool soundtrack: the one for the documentary about R. Crumb, the cartoonist (_Crumb_). Lots of good old blues tunes.
Has anybody mentioned the "little rascals" music CD that came out a few years ago? Highly recommended.
How about the "Greatest TV Commercials" CD, which features memorable commercials and advertising jingles from the 1950's on?
("Some cultures are defined by their relationship to cheese.")
("You're out of your tree." "It's not my tree".)
Exactly. "you're in your drift." "It's not my drift."
I was in Encore the other day and spotted a soundtrack I'd been trying to locate for years: the soundtrack to _Paperhouse_, a very cool, slightly surreal, and highly intelligent British psychological thriller. Very cool brooding music by Hans Zimmer.
And a very cool movie, too.
Hi everyone ! I would very much like to see this item renewed.
Then say something! I poured a lot into it already. Ummm..what say ye of..can't remember his name..the composer of the soundtrack for _Titanic_?
Horner?
Out of curiousity, has anybody seen a soundtrack for "princess Bride"? Pretty good stuff. :) And that's a composer that I'm surprised taht nobody's name. (not that I can remember his name off the top of my head at the moment, but...:) The composer was the lead singer of Dire Straits....he's done a buncyh of other movies too, including one that I *believe* was up for an oscar this year...
TV producer David Kelley liked the work of a commercially unsuccessful singer-songwriter, Vonda Shepherd, so much that he gave her a regular gig on his TV series ALLY McBEAL. Once or twice every week, Shepherd is playing at the bar where the lawyers go to drink and dance. (#97: the name eeyore is looking for is Mark Knopfler.)
#95 Yeah. I guess mike is right. It is James Horner. By the way, does Horner has any good works before _Titanic_ ?
According to the liner notes, he must have.
Ken: Yeah, I remembered right after I got off....but the .5 hour wait to get back on wasn't worth it...:)
I heard an album of Vonda's several years back. I enjoyed it. There seems to be more of a publicity push on the new album, this time around.
I've been enjoying _Rent_ lately. A few of the songs are just chilling...
I had some kind thoughts about the soundtrack for THE TRUMAN SHOW. From my sketchy memory of the credits, at least part of it was by Philip Glass. Haven't decided if I want to commit to buying a CD yet.
I've learned the theme song to _Taxi_ on the tenor recorder. Really beautiful song (especially in its entirety).
Great instrumentation, too. I played a tenor in my Orff class last summer and I fell in love with it.
I just listened to one of the Macross Plus soundtracks yesterday. The music really tied into the story. Of course, since the story revolved around an AI singer, it's easy to incorporate J-pop music into the storyline. Still, the music is great if you love J-pop.
You have several choices: