This News Friday 9/19/97

by Lukas Kendall

This Mephisto Waltz/The Other CD (Goldsmith) is so good. It's in stores next Tuesday. Fans will have this hard choice to make: which to put in the CD player first, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Herrmann, original tracks) or The Mephisto Waltz?

I don't have much to break today since I "broke" just about every bit of news I had the last two weeks. You can always go to these columns, if you've missed them, at the FSD archive.

Producer Bob Townson wants me to tell y'all that Frontiers, the new Jerry Goldsmith sci-fi compilation just recorded last week in Scotland, does indeed have a vocal for The Illustrated Man.

More Ryko Responses

These are the two favorite subjects of soundtrack fans. 1) Things on CD. 2) Things not yet on CD! The responses to the upcoming Rykodisc series keep coming in (go here for the original article).

Miguel Rosario, mrosario@imail.valpo.k12.in.us

Regarding the Ryko/MGM deal. I think it would help if somebody can bring out a list of worhty films in which soundtracks are not available that could benefit out of this deal. I do not know which soundtracks may be available other than the ones you mentioned and to be honest I also have no clue on the film output of MGM regarding the time period in question. A lot of films were made that did not have soundtracks on CD (i.e. Golden Voyage of Sinbad).

Here is how to get lists of the eligible films for this series:

1) For scores previously released on LP, go to the soundtracks search page at filmmusic.com and do a search for UA. Keep in mind this will generate a list of some irrelevant titles as well as those LPs previously out on United Artists records, and hence with the "UA" catalog prefix.

2) For movies released by United Artists which have never had a soundtrack album, go the Internet Movie Database and do a search for United Artists. This will probably generate a pretty large list. Keep in mind here that there are re-use fees involved which makes it very costly to do a score album, and also that UA no longer has elements to many of these recordings.

Also keep in mind that certain UA films and soundtracks are unavailable for this series because they are presently licensed to other labels. All of the James Bond scores from Dr. No through Moonraker are tied up in litigation with EMI, for instance.

Just this week (boo hoo), I've heard that there are no elements to be found on Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Therefore, no CD, for now.

Geoff Leonard had some valuable information about what is available to Ryko:

Re: the query posed by one of your fans on the web-site, MCA reissued many UA soundtracks on LP and cassette during the eighties. Including The Knack, The Whisperers, First Great Train Robbery, Hannibal Brooks and many others I didn't buy!

My understanding is that this was just a two or three-year deal and the rights would now be back with UA (MGM). If they're issuing The Knack next year, my understanding would seem to be correct. As usual.

See Geoff's Play It Again site at http://www.auracle.com/pia for information on his various projects.

George Traynor, radialtire@idsonline.com wrote:

It's great that Ryko is doing this. I've had a lot of respect for Ryko in the past. I would like to find out the status of the following soundtracks that I have been waiting years for:

On United Artists: The Misfits (1961), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), I Want to Live (1958).

On Decca: Sweet Smell of Sucess (1957), The Ipcress File (1966).

On MGM: Mickey One (1965)

On Colgems: Murder's Row (1966)

On 20th Century Fox: Our Man Flint (1966), In Like Flint (1967)

On Columbia (Sony): The Quiller Memorandum (1966)

I don't have time to research these titles individually, but I can relate the status of the catalogs involved:

United Artists: Now in Rykodisc's domain, so I guess they could do these if they choose. But you never know when some problem with tapes or artwork will come up.

Decca: Now owned by MCA. Ipcress File came out on MCA Japan.

MGM: Presumably the domain of Turner, with Rhino having first pick.

Colgems: Don't know.

20th Century Fox Records: Now owned by PolyGram, who have shown little interest in reissuing this catalog, despite doing Doctor Dolittle last year, and allowing me to license Deadfall for a CD Retrograde.

Columbia (Sony): Quiller Memorandum did come out on a Varese CD several years ago. Sony does license titles, and have done so both in the past and recently.

Liner Noting

Ed Kattak, kattaked@interactive.net wrote:

Instead of the typical questions concerning what should be out in the Ryko series, etc., I am curious about how you and your staff usually approach doing liner notes. As with your Retrograde releases, the Star Wars boxed set, and the Raiders of the Lost Ark CD, it is apparent that great care has been taken on what information would be in the liner notes.

Is there a typical approach that is used? On Raiders, there was your interview with John Williams. Was that something done independently or specifically for the CD? Are you usually given a certain length of words or idea on how many pages will be available prior to coming up with your concept?

I would imagine that, in the instances of the Retrograde releases, you would have control over the content and placement of the actual information and graphics. When doing the notes for other releases, are you instructed with certain guidelines before you begin your work? What is the time frame that you are normally given?

It totally depends from project to project, and producer to producer. When working for a project that will be approved by a large movie studio, a certain amount of writing-for-the-boss comes in. I remember that with Lucasfilm on the Star Wars box set, I had pages upon pages of text, and all they were really concerned about were the spelling and punctuation of their creatures and spaceships. The interview with Williams in the Raiders booklet was done specifically for the project.

Deadlines and word counts also depends on the project. Some of the newer titles are very rushed, and many albums to contemporary films don't have any liner notes simply because there wasn't any time.

For the Ryko titles, my staff and I have had a few weeks for each title, and have tried to interview the composer where possible. For the Retrograde releases, I have hired whoever I thought would be best for the project (Doug Adams on Pelham, Jon Burlingame on Deadfall) and given them free reign to be interesting. Then I've added my own producer's comments. I must say I enjoy the Retrograde projects because I don't have to be afraid of saying anything negative (i.e. realistic). However, I don't have a problem with the corporate mentality on some of the larger projects, because I'm usually so grateful that the project is happening and that I've been asked to participate. Those require being streamlined and positive as well as informative.

Stuff from Last Week

Jeffry D. Heise, jdh@socialstudies.com:

The Fox fanfare for Journey to the Center the Earth is available on the front of the Star Wars: A New Hope CD. It is the original recording from 1954, and sounds terrific. This recording is also on the newly released SE videos of the trilogy (this is all I've had the chance to try, since our stereo is being moved and rewired, and I just checked the beginnings of all three tapes, so I cannot answer the query about the possible score re-edit for Empire).

The Ben-Hur & Quo Vadis? scores were released on LP by London in the U.S., and British Decca in the UK. The CDs were imports from the UK, and were on the Decca label. I thought the two recordings much superior to the OSTs. I wish they would be reissued, for my copies were stolen (actually permanently borrowed by someone who lost them--conveniently).

The recording of the Fox fanfare with CinemaScope extension on the new Star Wars CD is actually a Lionel Newman recording from the '60s, I'm told, and not the 1954 original recorded by Alfred Newman. That had degraded too much to include on the new Journey disc, so the short version was used instead.

Hal Jackson had some more info on those Rozsa recordings that were asked about:

The Rozsa albums mentioned in last Friday's FSD are the English Decca albums, I believe.

In the late 1980's I found both Ben-Hur and Quo Vadis? They were distributed by London Records. Both are, to my knowledge, long out of print. The Quo Vadis? is especially difficult to locate.

The Ben-Hur and Quo Vadis? discs feature stunning sound, and I believe Christopher Palmer did the liner notes to both. Also, the orchestrations on both had to be reconstructed due to the full score being either missing or destroyed by MGM. The piano conductor scores do exist for Ben-Hur; I got a copy of Ben-Hur from Turner Entertainment in 1989. It is complete.

See Hal's column yesterday for more information on obtaining film music manuscripts.

Trailer Park

People always want the music to trailers they have seen. Here are the most recent queries:

Alex Fedolak, alx@mail.utexas.edu

I'm currently looking for the origin of a piece of music I've heard in several trailers. The most current trailer this piece of music is playing in is L.A. Confidential. I have also heard this music in trailers for Hoffa, Quiz Show, and First Knight. Film trailers use music from other films so I'm thinking that this piece is from some other picture but I can't figure out which one. Any help would be greatly appreciated since this is driving me nuts.

I don't know what version of the trailer Alex is referring to. I think I saw one in the theater that had the orchestral trailer score composed by David Newman for Hoffa.

Robert Smith:

"O Fortuna" is often used in motion picture trailers, but there is another choral piece which I have also noticed is used, although with less frequency. For example, the music which I am speaking of was played during the trailers for the television mini-series The Odyssey earlier this year. What is the title of this choral piece, and who composed it? My suspicion is that it is a classical or opera piece from the last century which, like "O Fortuna," has become a popular choice to track in for movie previews. If it helps, I also remember it used several years ago on television in the trailer for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Tapestry," where Picard dies and Q gives him a second chance at life.

This could have been a knock-off composed to sound like the ubiquitous "O Fortuna."

Matthew E. Kania, kaniamat@pilot.msu.edu

First off, love the site. I check as much as time permits. My question involves the preview for Lost in Space coming out next year. Do you know what music is playing in the background of the trailer? I know I have heard it before and I think it may be music created for the use in trailers. If you do know of it, is it available anywhere for sale, or are there legal reasons they can't sell it?

I have been told that this is Jerry Goldsmith's original score for the trailer to Judge Dredd. An orchestral version was recorded by Varese Sarabande on their compilation, Hollywood '95.

Land of the Lost

Mike O., RippedWM34@aol.com

I am so disappointed that John Barry dropped out of the Redford project Horse Whisperer. It is rather interesting that Redford would find Thomas Newman to be more fitting to a movie like this. Not knocking Newman, but come on, Newman over Barry, there really is no comparison.

I hope that Barry doesn't drop the other projects he is supposedly working on. It seems to be a trend with him lately.

This is probably a very good time to mention that the news previously reported, that Barry would use his rejected Horse Whisperer music as a Princess Di tribute album, was in fact just a joke repeated over the Internet which I foolishly believed. You know what they say: shit!

Daniel Lima Azevedo, dazevedo@ccard.com.br

Do you know what happened to Fred Karlin's "Film Music Masters" series? I bought the video on Goldsmith and found it great...

The last I heard, Karlin had begun on an Elmer Bernstein documentary but was having problems with his funding. The Goldsmith movie cost a fortune--both to make (there were a lot of clips licensed), and for the consumers, as it retailed for $99.99!

Events

Composers: don't you love discussing the vagaries of mechanical royalties? Attend a seminar on the subject at The Musician's Institute in Hollywood next Thursday, Sept. 25, 7-10PM, by the American Alliance of Composer Organizations (AACO). Reserve your seat from Dynamite Marketing, 805-499-7211 ($10), or E-mail Dynam8e@aol.com for more information.

DTS = SOL

Randy Salas had a response regarding what a "DTS" CD is, and how it is incompatible with a regular CD system:

I've had a DTS copy of the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed for two months now but have been unable to play it because I don't have a DTS decoder. You *must* have a DTS decoder to play these discs. Anything less, such as Dolby Pro Logic, will not do the trick. When you play a DTS disc on your CD player without an expensive DTS decoder, all you hear is white noise.

There are a couple dozen DTS discs available now with more planned. They go for about $25 each and usually have to special ordered.

Doug Fake Scores a Movie!

Fans know the name Doug Fake well: he's the founder and executive producer at Intrada, which has released a ton of awesome film music on CD over the years: Wind and the Lion, First Blood, Patch of Blue, Great Escape, lots lots more.

Doug is actually a trained musician (he has perfect pitch, too) and used to write concert band music. Recently he's had the opportunity to score an independent film. I know that I'm interesting in hearing what his music is like. Here's some of his reporting to me, reprinted with permission.

Our sessions are scheduled for September 12 and 13. I'm conducting (badly, no doubt). I've also done all of the orchestrations and music preparation myself. Quite an experience. We're creating the click track today actually and doing some percussion work tomorrow. It's really fascinating going through all of this.

My mixer is actually an Academy-Award winning engineer (Todd Boekelheide, an Oscar-winner for the sound on Amadeus; he also worked on The Right Stuff and The Black Stallion) so I'm in very competent hands.

The film is a darkish comedy, with some cynicism, called Holly vs. Hollywood. The places for score are limited as there's lots of dialog, interior shots, etc. But we do have about 32 minutes of score. The small ensemble features real musicians, including a lot of solo clarinet and violin, piano, marimba, quite a bit of percussion (snare drum, finger cymbals, wood blocks, triangle, tympani, etc.), with occasional brass including tuba and French horn. The colors we get from the ensemble actually are pretty unique I think, and the score has some originality to it.

Being a cynical comedy filmed in pseudo-documentary style the score really only fills some holes and helps pacing. But, on the other hand, the director is quite happy with the music and is using it instead of sound effects in several scenes. He did want a pretty exposed cue for the major dramatic sequence towards the end, so even with my tiny ensemble we did get some opportunities to do some things. He also liked the main title music enough to dump plans to license a song by a name act they were considering and use my music score. In addition I was asked to compose an end title running five minutes! So while the music is pretty sparse overall, it does get a nice spotlight.

One sidebar that has been fun is that several composers and studio people have been pretty supportive and are quite interested in hearing the results. I'm not in much of a league as a film composer but I am having fun doing it.

I suppose that Intrada will actually release the soundtrack. At least people will be able to listen (and giggle) at it for real in the near future. Gee! I'm even supposed to be in the credit block for the poster.

Let's all write Doug to tell him to release it: intradanet@aol.com. See Intrada's web site of soundtrack CDs for sale, too.

Yikes, this column is becoming like The Russia House CD: way too long!

Yesterday, my composer friend Will Richter flipped his car over on the 101 freeway after some asshole sideswiped him. (See Will's site, www.alphastate.com.) He was okay but I guess it was a pretty spectacular crash, involving many revolutions. He said that after the crash, the only thing still working in the car was the cassette deck, which was still playing Sleepers by John Williams. So he was trying to crawl out of his car and kick the door open, and it's filling up with smoke from the air bag, and this really dramatic section from Sleepers is playing.

Be here Monday for an informative column: What orchestrators do!

Questions? Lukas@filmscoremonthly.com