Film Score Friday 3/9/01

This Sunday: Join panelists Teddy Castalucci ("Little Nicky"), Stewart Copeland ("Rumblefish"), David Kitay ("Scary Movie"), Richard Kraft (music agent), Mark Mothersbaugh ("Rushmore"), Lee Phillips (music attourney), J. Peter Robinson ("Firestorm") and Daniel Schweiger (music editor) at "It Ends With the Music." This panel will be held Sunday, March 11 from 11 am to 1 pm at Victoria Hall in Santa Barbara, in conjunction witht he Santa Barbara Film Festival. Music representative Derek Power will moderate this discussion on the process of film scoring, with panelists coming up with their own musical approaches to a film scene. For more information, log onto www.sbfilmfestival.org or call 805-963-0023 for tickets.

There is currently a libel suit unfolding in a British court over the authorship of the James Bond theme. Monty Norman is suing the Sunday Times over an October 1997 article attributing the theme to John Barry rather than himself, a matter which has always been somewhat mysterious. Norman is the credited composer and clearly wrote the main melody as it was based on a theme from an earlier musical he wrote and appears in the Dr. No underscore in several places. However, Barry provided the arrangement that made the theme famous in Dr. No and beyond, for which he received a small fee and no royalties. Maybe through this trial we can finally get a more detailed accounting of the process which the theme came to be.

Apparently British libel law differs from American law in that the burden of proof lies with the defense, not the plaintiff. Norman has sued -- and won -- before in English court in this matter. However, he has always sued media outlets and not Barry himself. The topic is finding its way in the mainstream press; here is one such article: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-94497,00.html

Speaking of Barry, last week I asked if anyone has organized "ballot stuffing" in our recent poll of which composer fans would like to see live in concert, which Barry won by a gigantic margin. Um, apparently there was! Not to say that Barry is not a great choice, and arguably the best choice, but just so that people know, some Barry buffs did organize to vote for him "early and often." (Thanks to Khalid Naseem for 'fessing up.) It's not really a problem -- we're not Florida -- but in the future it would probably be best if people didn't do this. Thanks. (Yes, you can delete your cookie to vote more than once, but please don't.)

Some letters we got on the matter:

From: "Randy Derchan" <rderchan@visualdatainc.com>

I just want to add, that I myself voted for Barry in the conducting poll. I voted for him not because he rates higher than any of the others, it's just that I've never seen him conduct before, or even met him for that matter. He hasn't been as available on the West coast as often as the others, Morricone excluded, and I feel a close connection with him and his music since I have listened to it most of my life.

I would like to also add; I find it a shame that you have to sort of apologize or make explanations about your c.d. releases. You guys are just awesome, as all of your c.d. releases are awesome. In truth, I would rather you release music that has never touched vinyl or c.d. than large scale scores that at least have been available. Cleopatra is exciting, but not much more than, let's say, 100 Rifles, Poseidon...,Beneath the 12 Mile...and so on. If it wasn't for your efforts all of the music just mentioned would be rotting in a can, floating in an acid bath. If people are questioning the restorations with "why's" and "how comes", F****** them, the spoiled bastards.

From: Dennis Atkins <vernat_99@yahoo.com>

Regarding Film Score Monthly's recent poll, and composer John Barry's sudden and meteoric rise to the top of the stratosphere...I think I may have the solution. Perhaps Mr. Barry has been borrowing and utilizing secret gadgets from "Q BRANCH" to secure his title as "King of The Film Score" domain!!! COULD HAPPEN!

I've loaded a new poll asking which lesser-known Golden Age composer (compared to the really famous guys on postage stamps) fans would like to see represented on CD. We announced our newest Golden Age Classics release yesterday, How to Marry a Millionaire, which is largely based of instrumental arrangements of period songs but has Alfred Newman's famous "Street Scene" prologue and some terrific connective tissue by Cyril Mockridge. Still, I cannot help but notice that enthusiasm is not as, shall we say, robust as it was recently for Beneath the 12-Mile Reef by Bernard Herrmann. This is only natural -- there are "big" scores and then there are lesser-known works.

Some people have asked why we would release a comedy score like How to Marry a Millionaire instead of other, "larger" works and the response is that it's not "either/or" to us. We have a pipeline of material and everything in that pipeline is an expensive proposition that has its own risks and problems. Evaluating material and deciding what to release is not "free" for us -- simply to listen to these old master tapes costs money and involves a commitment.

Our main interest in restoring How to Marry a Millionaire was to have "Street Scene" -- a famous piece which marked a legendary on-screen moment for Alfred Newman -- in the best possible sound. (If you think you already "have" the piece because taped it off the laserdisc, what we're offering is much superior stereo sound from the original six-track music masters. Night and day.) We found the rest of the score, although it is not dramatic underscore in the traditional sense, to be a highly enjoyable and unique experience full of great tunes in indelible period arrangements. This might sound a little crass, but it's the album of "Tom & Jerry" music that you can't otherwise get. It's a peek at these great songs of our culture as played by a top-notch (in fact "the" top-notch) Hollywood orchestra of the day.

So we figured we'd put out this album we really like and see what people think. And now I'm in the awkward position where obviously it's not going to sell as well as a Bernard Herrmann adventure score but the last thing I want to do is apologize for it -- it's a terrific CD! At the same time, while I'd like to inspire people to order, I would never ask anyone to order music they're not going to like.

What I WOULD like to do is explain our love for this material and a little bit of the process by which we would release How to Marry a Millionaire before the 80 other things we always get requests for -- many of which are coming in three weeks, six weeks, three months, I promise. Which is to say, it's just the logistics of how we're restoring material. We have a pipeline, certain things get finished in a certain order, and that's the order in which they come out.

Remember: we are doing with the Fox archives what has NEVER happened before with any studio: a regular, systematic release of classic material focused exclusively towards the soundtrack collecting community. Complete scores, nice packages, in film order, with bonus tracks and alternates. Rhino is apparently starting a similar series with Turner but they're about to release their first album -- we're up to two dozen, with more to come. We realize that by releasing more CDs some people won't have the budget or the desire to get each and every one the second they come out. But frankly, if you like what we're doing, and you like this music, you should! Rest assured we will be getting to more of your favorites and by buying those apparent "B" titles not only are you getting good CDs but you are sustaining our ability to get more and more goodies into the pipeline.

In the meantime, we have BIG titles just around the corner, and I'm interested in seeing the results of the current poll.

Check out the sound clips on the How to Marry a Millionaire page if you haven't already.

From: Larry Sparrow, SLarry3595@aol.com

You are indeed the hero of this soundtrack fan. Thanks so much for all the great CDs you have released. Just received the Conquest Of/Battle For The Planet Of The Apes CD and it is superb! The fidelity on the Rosenman score is fantastic! And thanks for all the other great CDs you have put out. Keep up the good work.

Any other Rosenman scores in the planning stages? How about David Shire stuff?

I also wanted to mention that Pelham is one of my all time favorite soundtrack discs and I cannot express strongly enough my gratitude for all the work that went into unearthing all that music and making it sound so splendid.

I noticed in your recent article about the upcoming Cleopatra release you almost apologized for putting out minor works like "Beneath The Planet Of The Apes." Please sir, no need to apologize for that or to minimize the importance of that release. Yes, it is not the most important soundtrack ever, but it is nevertheless a great soundtrack --- especially now that we have the real soundtrack to listen to, and not just the kitschy LP version.

I am surprised that these discs do not sell out quickly. I can imagine any serious soundtrack fan/musician who wouldn't snap up these discs if they knew they were out, and if they knew how great they were.

Finally, feel free to reprint any portion of the email if you desire to let your readers know that you have another happy customer and another thumbs up on your newest release.

You got it! Thanks for your support: Silver Age fans: we have some great '70s material also just around the corner. Famous stuff.

From: Scott Kirby <swkirby116@aol.com>

Just last year I once again found a vinyl copy of the Cleopatra score that was in pretty good shape, and transferred it to cassette. I have always loved this score. It was one of the first I ever bought as a teenager.

So it was great news to read that you guys and the folks at Varese Sarabande are bringing out, not just a CD of that old album, but an extended, complete version of the soundtrack. Thank you. I can hardly wait for March 20th. Keep up the great work.

Thanks for you enthusiasm! Keep in mind FSM itself is not involved in this CD, only some of the personnel -- I supervised the remix and Jeff Bond wrote the liner notes. We can't wait for March 20th either.

The Harry Potter trailer is now online and features a minute and a half of original music by John Williams, who is scoring the picture: http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/web/dailyprophet/article.jsp?id=movie_trailer1

The New York Times recently had an article about the Oscars, the last half of which talks about Ennio Morricone: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/02/arts/02FLIC.html?pagewanted=all

Thanks to Jeff Eldridge at www.johnwilliams.org for the above links.

And finally, devoted reader Thor Joachim Haga <t.j.haga@hfstud.uio.no> has written a "tribute" to the FSM Message Board; check it out at http://www.celluloidtunes.com/fsm.htm

Have a nice March weekend!

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