Questions Answered

by Lukas Kendall

I got a letter the other day that I was about to answer by email, but then realized that the subject matter is of interest to all collectors. So, even though many hardened fans have heard this information time and again, here we go:

From: John Phillips <blockaderunner73@yahoo.com>

Dear Mr. Kendall,

Hello, my name is John and I am writing you because I have a couple of questions that I hope you can answer.

1) Who is responsible for the sequencing of soundtrack albums? I ask this because I bought the STAR WARS EPISODE ONE soundtrack, and it is out of order. I know this because track 9 (Anakin defeats Sebulba) does not occur before track 10 (Passage Through the Planet Core). And while I'm on the subject, is it the same person who puts two different cues together (i.e. track 4- The Sith Spacecraft and The Droid Battle). I try to program my CD player to get a chronological order and you can see my trouble. Do you know the sequence? I have1,4,6,10,13,7,13,9, 8,3,5,12,14,2,15,16,17.

Soundtrack albums are sequenced by any number of people: the composer, the music editor, someone else associated with the movie, someone associated with the record label -- it totally depends from project to project. In the case of Star Wars Episode One I believe the album was assembled by Ken Wannberg, John Williams's music editor for the last 100 years, with Williams' approval.

I do not know the chronological sequence of the tracks but the upcoming Vol 4 No 3 issue of Film Score Monthly will have a cover story detailing exactly what goes where.

Fans since the dawn of collecting have been frustrated at the very things we love: soundtrack albums. Logically, one would assume that the soundtrack CD ought to have the complete music in film sequence -- end of story. Unfortunately there are two problems:

A) Creative -- Sometimes it is deadly dull listening to have every little bit in film order. (Trust me on this one.) Or there are all kinds of alternate takes, alternate mixes, etc. and a slavish reproduction of the film soundtrack would result in a disjointed and unpleasant listening experience.

B) Financial -- The complete score can be too long. It is a big deal for a label to release a 2CD set rather than one disc and considering the money at stake, many opt not to do it. In fact 2CD sets are the rarity.

In the case of Star Wars, John Williams is a composer who started having soundtrack albums in the '60s and early '70s when the nature of the beast was much different than it is today. Back then, LPs had two sides -- so you HAD to force the music into a program, so that something significant ended side 1 and started side 2 -- and could only hold 30-40 minutes of music. Williams has always assembled his soundtrack albums as listening experiences independent of the picture and has carried that point of view onto things like Episode One -- even though it is the norm today to include 70 minutes of music and put it in film order.

2) Since EPISODE ONE is over two hours long and the soundtrack is out of order, are there any plans that you know of to either release the rest of the music or do a two disc reissue with the soundtrack in the proper order and previously unissued music (like what was done for EPISODES FOUR through SIX and more recently SUPERMAN).

No plans that I know of.

3) Along with being a STAR WARS fan, I am also a fan of the INDIANA JONES trilogy. Two years back a RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK expanded sound- track (with your great liner notes) was released. Are there any plans to do the other two films? TEMPLE OF DOOM is available in Japan and I have seen a few copies of THE LAST CRUSADE still floating around. If you don't know of any plans, who can I write to to get the ball rolling?

Again, no plans that I know of. Presumably Lucasfilm would be the company that would go ahead with such reissues.

Thank you for your time. I am new at the collecting of film soundtracks and most of my collection is that of films that were scored by John Williams. I have just recently purchased the SUPERMAN reissue and have been slowly getting other works of his. Again thank you for your time.

No problem!

P.S. I almost forgot, why don't the record companies release complete scores in the first place? I mean the records are geared to the people who like the film. These are not like, for example, the SCREAM 3 soundtrack, which are geared towards both people who saw the film and those who want to complete their collection of songs from their favorite band who might have a new song on that album. What are your thoughts?

In addition to the points I gave above about Star Wars, the reality is that instrumental scores sell drastically less than song compilations. Song albums outsell score albums 10 to 1 at least. To this end, record labels simply do not release complete scores because it costs too much money to market and distribute the music -- as well as pay licenses, musicians union fees, etc. -- and they do not feel they will make their money back. Or they feel they can make more money releasing irrelevant songs. Take it up with the taste of America.

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com