FSM Changed My Life!

by Todd Smith

It's funny...a good number of stories about what film music has meant to people are similar. I was reading Tom's (sorry no last name given) story about Star Wars, Close Encounters, and Star Trek TMP and completely identified with him. Since I was 5 (yes 5), film music and music in general has been such an important part of my life. At the age of 5, receiving a dollar a week for allowance, I purchased my first vinyl 45's. I amassed a collection of over 500 vinyl 45's by the time I was 10. One of the 45's I purchased was Meco's rendition of the Star Wars theme. I played that sucker over and over again learning every intricacy of the music until I was able to hum it accurately. Other purchases followed...Meco's Close Encounters theme was next. I never knew there was such a thing as a soundtrack because I never went near the 33's or 78's so I had to rely on what I could get as a single 45 or I used to learn themes from watching a movie repeatedly. At an early age I remember loving it when The Towering Inferno was on TV because I loved the music for the opening helicopter sequence over San Fransisco. I could hum that in time as well. Most of my family thought I was nuts...they didn't know what I was humming.

I didn't buy my first "real" soundtrack album until I was 13. I purchased Ghostbusters in 1984 for the Ray Parker, Jr. song, but that was not the music I eventually played over and over. I always played Elmer Bernstein's score (what little there was of it). I enjoyed the weird and wonderful sounds that the orchestra created and knew I wanted to buy more now that I realized that this stuff was available out there. The first score album I bought was James Horner's Star Trek III in September of 1984. It was in a sale bin for about $3.99.

I had grown to appreciate Star Trek by watching it on Saturday afternoons at my grandmother's house. When Star Trek TMP came out, my mother took me to see it...and I was enthralled. At the age of 9, the world created for that movie was larger than life. I was familiar with the characters, but paid little attention to the story. I was taken in by the visuals and the music. I asked to go back and see it 2 more times to "take it all in." Needless to say, my mother was not thrilled. When Trek II came out, my mother took me to the premiere. There I sat, age 12 (an awkward time in anyone's life), completely thrilled at this piece of cinema. Everything about that movie was great in my opinion and at the end, I wanted to know more about this guy named James Horner. The worlds of Trek and film music dovetailed for me there. Yet in 1982, I still didn't know there was such a thing as a soundtrack and I had to rely on HBO's repeated viewings of Trek II to here the music.

The summer of 1984 I was preparing to go into high school. When Trek III came out, I decided I was old enough to go see the movie by myself. I got on the bus and went to see a Saturday matinee. I was just as fascinated by that movie as with Trek II. I came home and tried to draw all I had seen, my doodles were all over the place. Finally I was in high school and let me tell you, there is no worse thing than being in high school, being a brain, and liking Trek and film music. You might as well have put a "kick me" sign on my back. I fell in with the brainy, nerd, band, and drama crowd. One of the activities I did was Odyssey of the Mind, a problem solving club that worked on fun and interesting projects and presented them in competition. On e day while out looking for supplies at the store, I found Trek III by Horner sitting in that used bin with that $3.99 sticker on it. It sounds corny, but that moment was an epiphany. I realized there that two of the things I loved were combined into one product. I snapped that bad boy up, took it home and played the shit out of it. I not only got to relive the moments from a movie that I loved, but I got to learn the music as well. I could tell you every nook and cranny of that score. That is how it all started for me.

I started trolling the vinyl soundtrack bins every chance I could get. I was looking for more stuff by this Horner character. I figured his other music had to sound like his Trek scores and I wanted to hear more of it. (You know the saying, "Be careful what you wish for...'). Anyway, my next purchase was Cocoon. I was amazed that part of "The Chase" cue sounded like "The Genesis Countdown" music. I played that score as if it were "Trek IV." Need I say that when Trek IV came out in 1986 and a whole gang of us (yes, I found a group in high school that all appreciated Trek) went to see it...I was pissed at this Rosenman guy who wrote a god-awful score! By that time, I was still a Horner freak, but my tastes expanded. I discovered exactly who Jerry Goldsmith was. I purchased Trek TMP, and other Goldsmith classics. I realized that there was a record label out there devoted to releasing film scores (Varese) and I purchased many of their albums via Starlog's soundtrack page, when they had one. I learned about the score of other composers by reading the liner notes (hint to Varese...by not putting liner notes in your CD's you may be stunting the growth of future film score collectors that have no idea what other scores are out there by that composer). I had a list of Horner scores in my wallet that I carried around with me just in case I was in a record store. Going to Tower Records in NYC was a rare and fruitful treat for me.

It was there that I found Gorky Park, Brainstorm, and the short, crappy release of Krull...a score I had been searching in vein for forever it seemed. I was happy to get what I could.

By the time I was a senior in high school, I had amassed a collection of about 50 vinyl records. I was known in my circle of friends as "the soundtrack guy" and my best friend bought a video camera and we started making homemade films using the scores I had as background music (those you should see...or maybe not)! In 1988, CD's started flooding the market and I was loathe to change. I continued to buy vinyl until late 1989 when I realized all hope for vinyl was lost. Reluctantly and with a brand new credit card I got while in college, I took the plunge into CD's. By 1990, Horner really started to piss me off. His crappy electronic scores disenchanted me as did the change in his orchestral style. I started to move beyond Horner. The first CD I purchased, though, was Glory. I saw it in the theatres and I loved it. It was different for him, yet in his style. However good Horner scores in the early 1990's was an anomaly. The Rocketeer was the last of the Horner scores done in his, by then, old style. My girlfriend at the time purchased it for me for my 21st birthday much to her chagrin. She indulged my whims for going to record stores and standing there for an hour while I perused the used bins and the new stuff. Which brings me to the mixing of soundtracks and women.

Most of you already realize that this is not a hobby associated with women...I don't know why. Most women, if they buy a score, buy something like Last of the Mohicans or Titanic. They want to remember a love scene in a favorite film or some such. They are not ravenous film score collectors. So therefore as a film score "nut"...the inevitable "explanation" always comes when you meet someone and take them back to your place. They always ask..."What kind of music do you listen to?" and you hem and haw and hedge your answer fearful they will think you are some sort of loon. I can't tell you how many times I had to explain to a girl what the significance of a film score was. Then they would want to hear your stuff and they'd want you to play your favorite score. Krull is usually not their idea of good music. So when you guys find a person that indulges your "soundtrack thang" don't take advantage of it! Play some other stuff to keep them happy.

In the early 90's I learned about Intrada...and called them every week! I also learned from a very patient and helpful Jeff Johnson that there was a magazine out there devoted to film scores. I also learned that I was not the first person to recommend releasing Capricorn One on CD. Did I mention that Jeff is a very patient fellow? Anyway, I subscribed to this "Film Score Monthly" magazine when it was just a couple of pieces of paper stapled together mailed with postage stamps provided by one of my best friends, Brian McVickar. I met him through FSM when he was looking for a copy of Cassandra Crossing. I had already traded the CD, but we struck up a friendship that went beyond film scores.

My collection of CD's stood at around 300 by 1995. I was a high school history/drama teacher, makin' money and spending it as fast as I could. Footlight Records was like a crack den for me and I would drop $500 without thinking about it. I met another guy through FSM who was into collecting CD's at a ravenous pace. This is where the trouble began. I dropped $100 here and $250 there for collectable scores that I never listened to. My credit debt got up into the low $8000 range and I finally had to go into "film score detox." I curtailed my buying significantly, purchasing only what I was going to listen to.

At around that time (1997), I finally got to meet Brian McVickar after corresponding with him for several years over the phone (he was in North Carolina and I was in New Jersey). He and I became very good friends and we visited each other often. He got to hear stories of my sordid and troubled sex life and I got to hear about his adventures with his friend Mark and his (now wife), Presley. On one occasion when I went to NC to see Brian, I met his new roommate Devon. She was a friend of Brian, and Mark, and Presley who had just recently divorced her husband. She was the drum major for UNC's marching band and an avid piano player. We hit it off right away! She appreciated my love of film scores and I was impressed with her musical prowess at the piano. She was literate in the composers du jour and knew who Goldsmith and Horner were through Brian.

Today, I live in North Carolina with Devon. We are getting married next May after I finish my graduate work in History. Brian lives in Chicago with who we hope is his future wife. My collection stands at about 900 CD's and music from over 1500 films and TV shows. I can't help thinking that if it hadn't been for film scores and FSM...I wouldn't be in the place I am now. I am 30 years old about to be married to a person who has made me the happiest guy around...who loves my hobby and is able to communicate with me about it. Who could ask for more? Thanks Film Score Monthly!

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