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As a tribute to the great FSM Message Board posts by Recordman in which he shared so many wonderful and obscure soundtrack LP covers, we are running a series of posts on another often-overlooked aspect of film music collecting, sheet music.
Like the release of soundtrack albums, these sheet music and music book give a unique and historic insight into the marketing and promotion of film scores and songs by leading and unrated composers and songwriters. They also show attempts (often mis-guided) to create hit songs (often by adding lyrics) out of even the most unexpected film and television themes.
Like soundtrack LPs, the sheet music of these film scores also provide a fascinating visual gallery of period graphics associated with the marketing of film music.
As the collecting of film sheet music has been, thus-far, a fairly undocumented but important component of film music collecting (especially those pertaining to sheet music based on scores by film composers vs. pop song writers), we hope these posts provide, to those interested, a starting point in awareness and appreciation of this aspect of score collecting and the treasure trove of film music material that has been created over the years.
These posts are for those who appreciate the curiosity of discovering and seeing here-to unknown ephemera by their favorite composers and the artwork associated with these releases.
These posts are also for those who are interested in acquiring sheet music for their own collections and find it helpful to know what is available in the first place. Many pieces can be located on eBay at a range of prices ranging from just a few dollars to several hundred dollars for more rare and desirable titles. Hopefully, these posts will help inform what titles are out there to seek.
And finally, these posts are for those who appreciate expanding the range of subject and conversation about film scores beyond the narrow and well-travelled topics currently in vague.
The fun is in unearthing sheet music from THE FLIM FLAM MAN to discover that a young Randy Newman wrote the lyrics to Goldsmith's theme. Or that, despite the lack of soundtrack releases at their time, there was sheet music for films like HUD, MARNIE, ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, POLICE ACADEMY, HEAVEN CAN WAIT and OH GOD. Or that someone thought releasing a vocal version of the Theme to MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE was a good idea (perhaps the same publishing wiz who thought the world would be beating down the door to play the Theme from RUNAWAY). Based on contributions of others, we have discovered that there was sheet music released from Max Steiner's KING KONG with stunning art deco graphics!! Who knew?!?! For STAR WAR fans who thought they had everything there are umpteen versions of John Williams' published scores to collect. A fan of David Raksin's LAURA can bask in the display of multiple cover variations. And for those who like their memories juggled, seeing a piece of old sheet music can bring us back to that film, that score or the composer behind it.
And for those of us who play the piano, Pandora's Music Box has opened at the cornucopia of discoveries of favorite film themes one can track down and perform.
These posts are an attempt to share a love of film music by sharing a wealth of historic information and imagery directly associated with film scores in a positive manner to those who find it of interest.
In putting this together we appreciate the feedback and suggestions of ways to improve sharing this information, especially when that feedback has come from a polite, respectful and constructive place.
Based on some of your suggestions we have consolidated the list of previous posts to a checklist link at the head of each new posting.
Also, as not to overload those scrolling though recent posts, we will now add new posts at a slower pace since it was never our intention to be "spammy."
Thank you to those who have provided constructive suggestions on how to present this material in different ways without launching into ranker or personal attacks.
We have also discussed the pros and cons of creating a unique blog devoted solely to this subject and have decided, at least for the time being, to keep this as part of the General Discussion of the FSM Discussion Board. There are a number of similar types of topics (LP covers, CD artwork, etc.) that are shared and included in this forum and we have chosen to currently participate and be part of this community in a similar manner.
We have also discussed the pros and cons of grouping everything under one “sheet music” thread but feel it would become too generic and bulky to be of as much use as compared to breaking it down by composer. We feel someone interested in Miklos Rozsa is not necessarily the same person interested in Goblin even though they both have sheet music.
Since other threads are frequently broken down by composer (CD releases, concerts, articles, news, discussions, etc.) we feel this follows that form. Others may feel they would approach it differently (as with everything, there is a range of opinions). It is certainly the prerogative of others to approach their own threads in whatever manner they think is best.
A final thought: One man’s meat is another man’s poison. There is great diversity in tastes and interests even within the broad category of “film music.” What attracts us to a Film Music Discussion Board is probably a general interest in film scores.
Beyond that, it is likely that some of us prefer those of one era over another, ones written by some composers vs. others, ones of a particular genre over another. Film vs. television. American vs. international. Famous vs. obscure. Some of us care about vinyl, others CD and others downloads. Some collect artifacts of film music and some just enjoy seeing the films and listening to the music.
No matter how wide or narrow or specific an interest may be, it is important to remember that every single person here is blessed to be on a website that even exists to address any aspect of such a specialized field as film music. And it is even more important to remember that we are fortunate to have fellow fans to share our common passion. Just because the specifics of our individual tastes or interest may vary, it seems respecting and appreciating the differences between us and treating each other well is paramount. The world is a rough enough place. Decency and respect among people sharing a common hobby seems like an ideal place to ratchet down the vitriol and to celebrate and practice goodwill and good manners.
One of the great attributes of this discussion board is that, free of charge, one can scroll right past topics that don’t hold our personal interest on the quest to find ones that do. Very few of us are probably interested in 100% of everything posted and with the investment of very little time (perhaps 1-2 seconds) and very little physical exertion (flicking a mouse a fraction of an inch) we can whizz past the myriad of threads that may be of no interest to us personally while allowing them to be viewed and enjoyed by others at no real inconvenience to us in any way. If 5, 50, 500 or 5000 people who are not us want to view something because they find it of value, there is nothing really at stake at having it co-exist with the other things we personally enjoy.
We can set “edit your preferences” to display topics from up to the last 100 days and up to 200 messages per page. And, if we discover we repeatedly have no interest in a particular poster, we can select which to ignore (including this one) and simply go to “edit preferences” and add them to our ignore list.
“Sheetmusicman” is a team of us working together to curate, organize, scan and post covers of film/TV/theater-related sheet music and music books organized by composers (with an emphasis on those with scoring backgrounds, but also some songwriters whose specialty has been film). We try to feature the bigger names like John Barry as well as less well-known artists like Geoffrey Burgon. We hope to feature big blockbusters and obscure gems. We post covers only (and not the contents) for the same copyright reasons others post LP or CD covers/artwork without providing illegal downloads of the contents of those LPs/CD’s.
To some, such as us, the images of these albums and/or sheet music is interesting in and of itself. To others, it must be a snooze. Hence, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
We all stroll past endless items on the grocery store shelf we don't care for nor purchase en route to those we do. Imagine just selecting or practicing "ignore" on the sauerkraut while heading to the ice cream. You can still have your Ben and Jerry's and leave the jars of the other stuff for those to plop on their hot dogs.
Not interested in images of movie sheet music? Please just add “sheetmusicman” to your ignore list since that is what we post about. Why spend any more time or energy on it if it isn't your cup of tea (or sauerkraut if we really want to mix metaphors?) If you think there should be more conversation on a subject, join in. If you've had enough, opt out. Too much is too much for some, too little is too little for others.
Every single thing being discussed on a hobby discussion board is fairly inconsequential in the grand scheme of things and none of them seem worth getting anyone's knickers in a knot nor an excuse to be mean to each other.
Finally, not everything is controversial. One of the nice things about some subjects is they are actually benign. Not every thread needs to be about selling something, promoting something, arguing about something or provoking something (even though all of those also have their rightful, valuable and entertaining place). Sometimes some things are just there to be shared and to be viewed by those who might be interested. The reason there are dis-proportionally always so many more “views” than “replies” on every thread is because not everyone wants to chime in nor is every subject provocative by nature.
A non-profit message board has endless room for great variety and it is important to remember that the non-squeaky wheels of those who just like to look and enjoy still belong to people who are just as important and valid as anyone else. And likewise, just because someone is snarky or curmudgeonly or rude doesn't make them more valuable or important.
It is a fact that sheet music of old film scores doesn't really matter. Treating our fellow humans and hobbyists well does.
In conclusion, thank you to those who have provided additional information, discussion, images and comments to our posts. It is nice to discover fellow sheet music collectors and fans of particular scores and composers.
Composers featured in previous posts are:
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=96853&forumID=1&archive=0
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I enjoyed looking at them and never knew they made so many available, like Police Academy by Robert Folk. I preferred them all in separate categories instead of one rather long one. Scrolling down past these was never a bother for me.
Please keep posting 
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That masked poster "SheetMusicMan" (whoever he is ) has given me things to look forward to when I finally apply myself to learning piano.
Thank you, SMM.
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Posted: |
Jul 16, 2013 - 3:37 PM
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By: |
Dana Wilcox
(Member)
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If I understand this glibly-worded posting, sheetmusicman (should properly be: sheetmusicsmallarmy) intends to continue clogging up the General Discussion page with waves of threads featuring pictures of the covers of sheet music from various composers.
The simplest and most congenial way to distribute the information and pictures he/they wishes to share would be to group the links, each identifiable as to the composer whose sheet music is featured, within a single, updatable thread that would serve as a convenient index to all that is available. Those interested in seeing the pictures could then easily do so simply by going into the thread, locating the alphabetically-listed name of the composer whose sheet music covers they would like to see, and clicking on the appropriate link. This was indeed the solution recommended by a number of veteran board users who, like myself, took exception to the deluge of threads that recently drowned out virtually the entire range of film music threads which populated the first page of the General Discussion side of the board.
I did not read anywhere in sheetmusicman's posting what twist of logic persuaded him/them that (having belonged here for a whopping 3 months) he should feel free to ignore the expressed wishes of many members of long-standing, and blithely continue to bury the board in these scarcely-read threads, when a single thread as suggested would accomplish his purpose. His posting above is a sweetly-worded, superficially non-confrontational "fuck you" to all who objected to his tsunami of postings and offered him a way to offer this material without having people continually pissed off at him. He suggests that we simply ignore his inappropriate behavior. I would suggest, alternatively, that he respect the order of the board and utilize the suggested method of getting out his information. This would demonstrate at least a minimal degree of respect for his fellow board members who have expressed their concerns about his behavior here. Sheetmusicman shares with us that he has considered this option but has decided (for all of us) that it is insufficiently informative.
Somehow we've managed just fine here for many years without thread after thread of pictures of the covers of sheet music hogging the board. There's probably a really good reason for that, one that sheetmusicman might figure out without a great deal of thought. Nevertheless, respecting the wishes of those few here who might enjoy looking at the pictures, a solution to keep everybody happy has been suggested.
I'd like to respectfully ask sheetmusicman to reconsider that suggestion and forego the practice of high volume multiple postings, in the interest of maintaining a modicum of peace (such as it is) on this board.
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Posted: |
Jul 16, 2013 - 5:46 PM
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By: |
Bill Finn
(Member)
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Perhaps Sheemusicman has the same interest that we all do. A love for film scores?
For the record, even though I have replied to some of his posts with suggestions for sheets to add, I've never been contacted by anyone trying to sell me sheet music, trade sheet music or buy sheet music. My conclusion is that this poster is for real.
If I read his post at the beginning of this thread, he is taking all of the complaints into consideration. Isn't that enough? Anything else kind of seems like beating a dead horse.
But in the end, information strives to be free. This IS the internet.
What he is posting certainly seems to have as much validity as "how much is a signed CD booklet
worth", doesn't it? Let folks have their say.
Yes, it IS inconvenient when it seems that all of his post come raining down, but have you noticed that this board has both busy days and slack days? On a slack day, you may see a lot of his threads. On a busy day, the activity pushes old posts onto the next page, so it is not so noticeable.
Maybe a lot of this is how the board is configured? Just curious.
Of course we all owe a deep gratitude to Mr. Kendall, who is still paying our way.
So, thanks, Lukas.
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Dana, as sheetmusic mentioned, you can easily put him/her on your ignore list and you won't ever have to spend that extra 2-3 seconds of your very busy day scrolling down past the sheet music threads Also, there is a nifty PAGE button at the bottom that if you click it, it goes to PAGE 2 where you may be able to find more intelligent threads as to if Jerry Goldsmith eats at Outback and other illuminating threads.
Whether this sheetmusicman has been here for years or not shouldn't be the issue, he/she's posted some neat stuff that I have enjoyed reading. I haven't looked at every single one of the threads, but the composers I really like I have and the ones I haven't, I did a very novel thing...I scrolled PAST it. I was shocked at how well my mouse worked as I scrolled further down to other threads.
Dana, he/she did do it his way that he/she thought would be the most useful and easier for all of us, but you insist that he does it your way. I myself would not enjoy one SUPER long thread of everything. I hope we get more threads they are pretty neat to find out just how much sheet music they actually made and on scores you never would have thought they did.
If you need any further assistance at all in scrolling past them or putting someone on your ignore list, just send me a note and I'd be happy to assist you!
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Posted: |
Jul 16, 2013 - 7:02 PM
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By: |
Dana Wilcox
(Member)
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Dana, as sheetmusic mentioned, you can easily put him/her on your ignore list and you won't ever have to spend that extra 2-3 seconds of your very busy day scrolling down past the sheet music threads Also, there is a nifty PAGE button at the bottom that if you click it, it goes to PAGE 2 where you may be able to find more intelligent threads as to if Jerry Goldsmith eats at Outback and other illuminating threads.
Whether this sheetmusicman has been here for years or not shouldn't be the issue, he/she's posted some neat stuff that I have enjoyed reading. I haven't looked at every single one of the threads, but the composers I really like I have and the ones I haven't, I did a very novel thing...I scrolled PAST it. I was shocked at how well my mouse worked as I scrolled further down to other threads.
Dana, he/she did do it his way that he/she thought would be the most useful and easier for all of us, but you insist that he does it your way. I myself would not enjoy one SUPER long thread of everything. I hope we get more threads they are pretty neat to find out just how much sheet music they actually made and on scores you never would have thought they did.
If you need any further assistance at all in scrolling past them or putting someone on your ignore list, just send me a note and I'd be happy to assist you!
DMD, I know you are just fine with anything and everything, and that is in general one of the things I really appreciate about you. Maybe in my next lifetime I'll be the "whatever's just fine with me" kind of guy you seem to be. But I must say, I don't appreciate the patronizing/sarcastic tone from you on this one, and I don't appreciate being portrayed as the one who won't yield on this when in fact it is this sheetmusicman who refuses to compromise in a way that addresses concerns expressed by many more people than just me. People have never been allowed (for long, anyway) to flood the message board with torrents of threads that monopolize the front pages, "ignore" or no "ignore", and I don't believe that this guy/these guys should get to do that now. We have yet to hear from this guy why he/they has decided to gift us with all this wonderful stuff. He alludes to the contributions of recordman, but recordman has never dumped two or three dozen threads on us at a time. If he had, there would have been complaints, I promise you. My suggestion and request to him/them were reasonable, and he has thus far failed to respond.
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This seems like a nightmare of a thread, but I just wanted to briefly note that the problem is just that he loads them all onto the board at one time. I could give a shit about most of them, but it's hard to ignore them when they're ALL CAPS and ALL OVER the board's front page.
And Dana, just wait until DMD lives in LA full-time. We're ALL gonna get schooled on how to use the internet and talk about our likes and dislikes.
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In case you missed it in the post that started this thread:
"Also, as not to overload those scrolling though recent posts, we will now add new posts at a slower pace since it was never our intention to be "spammy."'
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Posted: |
Jul 16, 2013 - 8:24 PM
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By: |
RonBurbella
(Member)
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I've been collecting film music with a passion since 1962.
Film score sheet music has only been a subdivision of my collecting passion for the past 2-3 years. But I went after it with a determination. Unlike SMM, I intentionally limited myself to the major composers that I liked: Barry, Bernstein, Delerue, Elfman, Goldsmith, Hefti, Horner, Jarre, Johnson, Korngold, Mancini, North, Newman, Rozsa, Steiner, Tiomkin, Waxman, Williams, Young, and other individual films scores/themes that meant something to me personally. Oh, alright, some JN Howard and Morricone, too.
For myself, I learned quite a bit from Sheet Music Man's listings, both what I didn't have (or even know existed) to sheets that I had in my collection that he didn't have to list. I don't think that there is any such comparable resource. I tried to do an e-mail exchange of some scans with him, but I'm not sure they were received. I'm not too good with that stuff yet. And finding the time to do the scans properly is difficult. But I really appreciated his efforts. It will be an excellent resource in the future. I do agree that it might merit some kind of separate subdivision of the Message Board, given it's extensive depth. But saying it it a lot easier than doing it.
There is only a small devoted portion of this Message Board that has a passionate interest in the sheet music. With his "blitz" of sheet music postings, sheetmusicman may have worn out his welcome with some (Dana, for instance). But I find it easy to skip over topics of no interest to me. Wasn't there one fellow kept asking for "Your five favorite scores by.....[fill in composer's name] for a slew of composers. I knew the answers before I looked, so I skipped most of them. DMD had a good suggestion about using the filter if you are irked by someone's postings. I don't like to filter things out, because sometimes I would have missed JUST the topic or the response that would have been interesting to me. And yes, I'm easygoing, like DMD.
Dana, go outside and shake a stick at those crummy kids on your front lawn and get it out of your system!
SheetMusicMan, I really do appreciate your enthusiasm, but take a tip from the High Lama: all things in moderation, my man.
Ron Burbella
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I've said what I have to say, but seriously, is there on iota of doubt who is doing this? Seriously. From the collection of... there is a name that follows that line in every post. That is why Peter, a very nice chap, is defending this - there is a personal connection there and that's fine.
I think the only thing any of us were saying is that there have been a few instances when the discussion board has been overrun with these postings to the point of ridiculousness. I say that as an ardent collector of film and theatre-related sheet music with a collection that is, I'm quite certain, bigger than the fellow who's collection is being posted here. This is a current obsession - it will pass as all obsessions do with those who flit from thing to thing. No one minded the occasional post - but thirty sheet music threads in one day - no.
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