THE OSCAR FINALISTS: BEST SONG, PART TWO
By Scott Bettencourt
As discussed in Part
One of this article, between 1958 and 1979, the Academy's Music Branch
would whittle the list of eligible songs down to ten finalists before picking
the five nominees.
Un-nominated finalists are in bold italics. Winners are underlined.
1968
"CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG" - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Music and Lyrics
by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
"DAKOTA" - The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band -
Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
"A FLEA IN HER EAR" - A Flea in Her Ear - Music by Bronislau
Kaper, Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
"FOR THE LOVE OF IVY" - For Love of Ivy - Music by Quincy Jones, Lyrics
by Bob Russell
"FUNNY GIRL" - Funny Girl - Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Bob Merrill
"I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS" - I Love You, Alice B. Toklas -
Music by Elmer Bernstein, Lyrics by Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker
"SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER" - The Producers - Music and Lyrics by
Mel Brooks
"STAR!" - Star! - Music by James Van Heusen, Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
"THE WAY THAT I LIVE" - The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom - Music by
Riz Ortolani, Lyrics by Norman Newell
"THE WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND" - The Thomas Crown Affair - Music By
Michel Legrand, Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
1969
"BALLAD OF EASY RIDER" - Easy Rider - Music and Lyrics by Roger
McGuinn
"COME SATURDAY MORNING" - The Sterile Cuckoo - Music by Fred Karlin,
Lyrics by Dory Previn
"FILL THE WORLD WITH LOVE" - Goodbye Mr. Chips - Music and Lyrics
by Leslie Bricusse
"JEAN" - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Music and Lyrics by Rod McKuen
"A LOVELY PLACE" - Heaven With a Gun - Music by Johnny Mandel,
Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
"RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD" - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid - Music by Burt Bacharach, Lyrics by Hal David
"THE SONG OF SANTA VITTORIA (STAY)" - The
Secret of Santa Vittoria - Music by Ernest Gold, Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
"THERE'S ENOUGH TO GO AROUND" - Gaily, Gaily - Music by Henry
Mancini, Lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman
"TRUE GRIT" - True Grit - Music by Elmer Bernstein, Lyrics by Don Black
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?" - The Happy Ending - Music
by Michel Legrand, Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
1970
"BURNING BRIDGES" - Kelly's Heroes - Music by Lalo Schifrin, Lyrics
by Mike Curb
"DIRTY DINGUS MAGEE" - Dirty Dingus Magee - Music and Lyrics
by Mike Curb and Mack David
"EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A CAT" - The Aristocats - Music and Lyrics
by Floyd Huddleston and Al Rinker
"FOR ALL WE KNOW" - Lovers and Other Strangers - Music by Fred Karlin,
Lyrics by Robb Wilson and Arthur James
"LET IT BE" - Let It Be - Music and Lyrics by John Lennon and
Paul McCartney
"PIECES OF DREAMS" - Pieces of Dreams - Music by Michel Legrand, Lyrics
by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
"SUICIDE IS PAINLESS" - M*A*S*H - Music by Johnny Mandel, Lyrics
by Mike Altman
"THANK YOU VERY MUCH" - Scrooge - Music and Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
"TILL LOVE TOUCHES YOUR LIFE" - Madron - Music by Riz Ortolani, Lyrics
by Arthur Hamilton
"WHISTLING AWAY THE DARK" - Darling Lili - Music by Henry Mancini,
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Oddly enough, the two most familiar of these ten didn't actually make
the nominations cut -- "Let It Be" (about which there's nothing for me
to add) and "Suicide is Painless," whose instrumental arrangement as the
theme for the TV version of M*A*S*H is instantly familiar to a generation
of TV viewers. The winning song, "For All We Know," was a big hit single
for The Carpenters.
1971
"THE AGE OF NOT BELIEVING" - Bedknobs and Broomsticks - Music and Lyrics
by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
"ALL HIS CHILDREN" - Sometimes a Great Notion - Music by Henry Mancini,
Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
"BELIEVE IN ME" - Believe In Me - Music by Fred Karlin, Lyrics
by Megan Karlin
"BLESS THE BEASTS AND CHILDREN" - Bless the Beasts and Children - Music
and Lyrics by Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin Jr.
"CAN IT BE TRUE" - Marriage of a Young Stockbroker - Music by
Fred Karlin, Lyrics by Megan Karlin
"CHILLY WINDS" - Pretty Maids All in a Row - Music by Lalo Schifrin,
Lyrics by Mike Curb
"DO YOUR THING" - Shaft - Music and Lyrics by Isaac Hayes
"GIRL" - Star Spangled Girl - Music by Charles Fox, Lyrics by
Norman Gimbel
"LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT" - Kotch - Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics
by Johnny Mercer
"THEME FROM SHAFT" - Shaft - Music and Lyrics by Isaac Hayes
The Shaft song is one of the most controversial Best Song winners
in Oscar history. Though it has ultimately become something of a classic,
many feel that for a song to be truly great it should transcend the original
recording, allowing for a variety of interpretations, and a huge part of
the impact of Issac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft" is in its arrangement. (Similar
accusations have been made against 2002's winner, Eminem's "Lose Yourself,"
since even the Oscar broadcast's producers didn't bother to find a replacement
for Eminem to sing the song on the air when the rapper became unavailable,
possibly fearing another Ann-Reinking-singing-"Against-All-Odds"-type embarrassment.)
One of the other nominees that year was the song from Kotch.
Kotch is an oddity in movie history -- the only feature directed
by Jack Lemmon, it starred Walter Matthau as an old man (decades before
Lemmon and Matthau played Grumpy Old Men) and garnered four Oscar nominations,
but the film has barely been seen since. Have any of our readers seen it?
Is it any good?
And yes, of course, no nomination for "Diamonds Are Forever."
1972
"BEN" - Ben - Music by Walter Scharf, Lyrics by Don Black
"COME FOLLOW, FOLLOW ME" - The Little Ark - Music by Fred Karlin, Lyrics
by Megan Karlin
"FREDDIE'S DEAD" - Superfly - Music and Lyrics by Curtis Mayfield
"MARMALADE, MOLASSES & HONEY" - The Life and Times of Judge Roy
Bean - Music by Maurice Jarre, Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
"MOREOVER AND ME" - The Biscuit Eater - Music and Lyrics by Shane
Tatum
"THE MORNING AFTER" - The Poseidon Adventure - Music and Lyrics
by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
"SERENADE OF LOVE" - Travels With My Aunt - Music by Tony Hatch,
Lyrics by Jackie Trent
"SNOOPY COME HOME" - Snoopy Come Home - Music by Richard M. Sherman
and Robert B. Sherman
"STRANGE ARE THE WAYS OF LOVE" - The Stepmother - Music by Sammy Fain,
Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
"THEME FROM THE HEARTBREAK KID" - The Heartbreak Kid - Music
by Cy Coleman, Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
One of the year's most popular movie-related songs, Superfly's
"Freddie's Dead" was ultimately disqualified because the song version was
never actually performed in the film, only the instrumental. In recent
years, the Best Song rules have become even more stringent -- the song
must actually be intelligible in the film, and if it's played during the
end credits it has to be the very first song, not just one of countless
songs excerpted in the inevitable end credits song montage.
1973
"ALL THAT LOVE GONE TO WASTE" - A Touch of Class - Music by George Barrie,
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
"I GOT A NAME" - The Last American Hero - Music by Charles Fox,
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
"LIVE AND LET DIE" - Live and Let Die - Music and Lyrics by Paul and
Linda McCartney
"LOVE" - Robin Hood - Music by George Bruns, Lyrics by Floyd Huddleston
"REMEMBERING" - England Made Me - Music by John Scott, Lyrics
by Arthur Hamilton
"RIVER SONG" - Tom Sawyer - Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman
and Robert B. Sherman
"SEND A LITTLE LOVE MY WAY" - Oklahoma Crude - Music by Henry
Mancini, Lyrics by Hal David
"A TOUCH OF CLASS" - A Touch of Class - Music by George Barrie,
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
"THE WAY WE WERE" - The Way We Were - Music by Marvin Hamlisch,
Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
"YOU'RE SO NICE TO BE AROUND" - Cinderella Liberty - Music by John
Williams, Lyrics by Paul Williams
One memorable song which didn't make the cut was the John Williams/Johnny
Mercer title song to Robert Altman's revisionist (to say the least) film
of Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye. For those who've never seen
the film, it features one of Williams' most offbeat scores, parodying movie
song mania by basing every single source cue (and the score is virtually
all source cues) on the title song, heard in a wide variety of arrangements
and styles.
1974
"BENJI'S THEME (I FEEL LOVE)" - Benji - Music by Euel Box, Lyrics by
Betty Box
"BLAZING SADDLES" - Blazing Saddles - Music by John Morris, Lyrics
by Mel Brooks
"FREEDOM" - Huckleberry Finn - Music and Lyrics by Richard M.
Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
"GOLD" - Gold - Music by Elmer Bernstein, Lyrics by Don Black
"HOW TO SEDUCE A WOMAN" - How to Seduce a Woman - Music by Stu
Phillips, Lyrics by Arthur Hamilton
"I NEVER MET A ROSE" - The Little Prince - Music by Frederick
Loewe, Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
"LITTLE PRINCE" - The Little Prince - Music by Frederick Loewe, Lyrics
by Alan Jay Lerner
"THE NEXT TIME AROUND" - The Dion Brothers - Music by Fred Karlin,
Lyrics by Megan Karlin
"WE MAY NEVER LOVE LIKE THIS AGAIN" - The Towering Inferno - Music
and Lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
"WHEREVER LOVE TAKES ME" - Gold - Music by Elmer Bernstein, Lyrics
by Don Black
This is the only year where an Elmer Bernstein score had two songs among
the ten Oscar finalists, but what's strange is that they were not for a
musical but for a Roger Moore action drama about a South African gold mine.
The finalist-but-not-nominated title song does not quite achieve a Guns
of Navarone level of silliness but features the kind of subject matter
one does not generally associate with movie songs:
If the falling rock don't get you
Then you can bet the black dust will
Eight years after the Lerner-Loewe film of The Little Prince,
directed by the great Stanley Donen and featuring an impressive cast including
Richard Kiley, Gene Wilder, Joss Ackland, Clive Revill and Bob Fosse himself,
John Barry and Don Black wrote a stage musical of the classic novel called
The Little Prince and the Aviator, with Michael York as the pilot.
The show was cancelled the day before its planned Broadway opening, and
Ken Mandelbaum's book Not Since Carrie (on the history of flop musicals)
described the show as "grisly," "an all-out catastrophe," and "one of Broadway's
most difficult-to-sit-through musicals ever."
No mention of any of Paul Williams' wonderful songs for Phantom of
the Paradise in this category, though he did get a nomination for "Original
Song Score and Adaptation," losing to Nelson Riddle's work on The Great
Gatsby.
And, of course, no "The Man With the Golden Gun."
1975
"HOW LUCKY CAN YOU GET" - Funny Lady - Music by John Kander, Lyrics
by Fred Ebb
"I'M EASY" - Nashville - Music and Lyrics by Keith Carradine
"LADY OF THE WILDERNESS" - Gifts of an Eagle - Music by Clark
Gassman, Lyrics by Randy Sparks, Paul Bergen
"LET'S DO IT AGAIN" - Let's Do It Again - Music and Lyrics by
Curtis Mayfield
"NOW THAT WE'RE IN LOVE" - Whiffs - Music by George Barrie, Lyrics
by Sammy Cahn
"ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH" - Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough
- Music by Henry Mancini, Lyrics by Larry Kusik
"ONLY A DREAM AWAY" - Seven Alone - Music by Robert O. Ragland,
Lyrics by Arthur Hamilton
"RICHARD'S WINDOW" - The Other Side of the Mountain - Music by Charles
Fox, Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
"SOMEWHERE" - Mr. Quilp - Music and Lyrics by Anthony Newley
"THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO?)" - Mahogany
- Music by Michael Masser, Lyrics by Gerry Goffin
In making Nashville, director Robert Altman had the actors write
their own country songs, leading to Keith Carradine's Oscar win. Actual
country musicians were not so impressed, feeling that film actors don't
necessarily have the most authentic sense of what real country songs sound
like.
According to Mason Wiley and Damien Bona's invaluable book Inside
Oscar, "Theme From Mahogany" didn't make the original finalists cut,
and after complaints from many in the industry, the branch made a new finalists
list allowing the entire Music Branch to pick the ten, and "Mahogany" was
now included, though Robert Altman was reportedly upset that only one Nashville
song made the cut each time. (In my own research on the finalists, I did
not uncover this information on the redone finalists' list, so the subject
would seem to warrant more investigation.)
However, there was also some talk that the "Mahogany" song had actually
been recorded and released even before the film was made, and thus shouldn't
have been eligible in the first place.
A surprising omission was Henry Mancini and Hal David's "The Greatest
Gift" from Return of the Pink Panther, exactly the kind of light
ballad the Music Branch tended to favor.
1976
"AVE SATANI" - The Omen - Music and Lyrics by Jerry Goldsmith
"COME TO ME" - The Pink Panther Strikes Again - Music by Henry Mancini,
Lyrics by Don Black
"EVERGREEN (LOVE THEME FROM A STAR IS BORN)" - A Star is Born -
Music by Barbra Streisand, Lyrics by Paul Williams
"GONNA FLY NOW" - Rocky - Music by Bill Conti, Lyrics by Carol Connors
and Ayn Robbins
"I BELIEVE IN LOVE" - A Star is Born - Music by Kenny Loggins,
Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
"I'D LIKE TO BE YOU FOR A DAY" - Freaky Friday - Music and Lyrics
by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
"LEMON DROPS, LOLLIPOPS AND SUNBEAMS" - The Duchess and the Dirtwater
Fox - Music by Charles Fox, Lyrics by Sammy Cahn and Melvin Frank
"THE TIME HAS COME" - Joe Panther - Music by Fred Karlin, Lyrics
by Norman Gimbel
"WITH ONE MORE LOOK AT YOU" - A Star is Born - Music and Lyrics
by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher
"A WORLD THAT NEVER WAS" - Half a House - Music by Sammy Fain, Lyrics
by Paul Francis Webster
"Ave Satani," Jerry Goldsmith's demonic chant for The Omen, was
one of the most surprising nominations in the history of the "Best Song"
category (one wonders if "Regis regum rectissimi" from The Lion in Winter
might have had a shot back in '68), especially considering the high profile
Star is Born remake and its three songs which made the finalists
cut. (Along with co-writing the winning "Evergreen," Streisand gave herself
a "Musical Concepts by" credit, which boggles the mind.)
The nominated "A World That Never Was," from Half a House, follows
in the tradition of 1972's "Strange Are the Ways of Love" from the The
Stepmother. They were both written by Music Branch favorites Sammy
Fain and Paul Francis Webster, and were featured in movies no one has ever
ever heard of.
1977
"CANDLE ON THE WATER" - Pete's Dragon - Music and Lyrics by Al Kasha
and Joel Hirschorn
"NOBODY DOES IT BETTER" - The Spy Who Loved Me - Music by Marvin Hamlisch,
Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager
"THE SLIPPER AND THE ROSE WALTZ (HE DANCED WITH ME/SHE DANCED WITH
ME)" - The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella - Music and Lyrics
by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
"SOMEONE'S WAITING FOR YOU" - The Rescuers - Music by Sammy Fain, Lyrics
by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins
"THEME FROM NEW YORK NEW YORK" - New York New York - Music by
John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb
"WHAT WAS" - The Late Show - Music by Ken Wannberg, Lyrics by
Stephen Lehner
"YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE" - You Light Up My Life - Music and Lyrics
by Joseph Brooks
The makers of Saturday Night Fever were furious that none of
their songs made the cut, especially notable since it was one of the year's
biggest hits, the album was one of the most successful of all time, and
the Music Branch ultimately found only seven songs worthy of being deemed
finalists.
The other shocker, of course, is that "Theme From New York, New York"
was one of the two finalists that didn't receive a nomination, especially
since in the twenty-five years since then, that song has been performed
a few more times than "Someone's Waiting For You" or "The Slipper and the
Rose Waltz."
1978
"BRIGHT EYES" - Watership Down - Music and Lyrics by Mike Batt
"CAN YOU READ MY MIND" - Superman - Music By John Williams, Lyrics
by Leslie Bricusse
"CHILDREN OF SANCHEZ" - Children of Sanchez - Music and Lyrics
by Chuck Mangione
"HOPELESSLY DEVOTED TO YOU" - Grease - Music and Lyrics by John Farrar
"LAST DANCE" - Thank God It's Friday - Music and Lyrics by Paul
Jabara
"THE LAST TIME I FELT LIKE THIS" - Same Time Next Year - Music by Marvin
Hamlisch, Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
"MOVE ëEM OUT" - Revenge of the Pink Panther - Music by Henry
Mancini, Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
"THE ONE AND ONLY" - The One and Only - Music by Patrick Williams,
Lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman
"READY TO TAKE A CHANCE AGAIN" - Foul Play - Music by Charles Fox,
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
"WHEN YOU'RE LOVED" - The Magic of Lassie - Music and Lyrics by Richard
M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
The song "The Love I Have For You," performed by Alberta Hunter in Alan
Rudolph's little seen Remember My Name, was originally a finalist
until the Music Branch learned that it was at least thirty years old. "Children
of Sanchez" was substituted.
"Can You Read My Mind?" made the final ten, even though it is spoken,
not sung, in the movie Superman.
1979
"I'M ON YOUR SIDE" - Chapter Two - Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics
by Carole Bayer Sager
"IT GOES LIKE IT GOES" - Norma Rae - Music by David Shire, Lyrics
by Norman Gimbel
"MOVIN' RIGHT ALONG" - The Muppet Movie - Music and Lyrics by
Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher
"NEVER BEFORE, NEVER AGAIN" - The Muppet Movie - Music and Lyrics
by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher
"THE RAINBOW CONNECTION" - The Muppet Movie - Music and Lyrics by Paul
Williams and Kenny Ascher
"SOLD MY SOUL TO ROCK N ROLL" - The Rose - Music and Lyrics by
Gene Pistilli
"SOMETHING BETTER" - The Muppet Movie - Music and Lyrics by Paul
Williams and Kenny Ascher
"SONG FROM 10 (IT'S EASY TO SAY)" - 10 - Music by Henry Mancini, Lyrics
by Robert Wells
"THEME FROM ICE CASTLES (THROUGH THE EYES OF LOVE)" - Ice Castles -
Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager
"THEME FROM THE PROMISE (I'LL NEVER SAY GOODBYE)" - The Promise - Music
by David Shire, Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
The final year of the finalists system. The Muppet Movie had
a whopping four songs in the final ten, though only one, the still popular
"The Rainbow Connection," earned a nomination but surprisingly it lost
to "It Goes Like It Goes," one of two nominated songs by David Shire. Alas,
Shire hasn't received a single nomination since his 1979 win, perhaps another
example of the alleged "Oscar curse."
I know, this is where I'm supposed to mention that "Moonraker" wasn't
a finalist, but I've always thought this was one of the weakest of John
Barry's Bond songs, so I'll have to side with the Academy on this one.
FROM: "Bruce Younger"
When I bought the soundtrack to THE GUNS OF NAVARONE way
back in the 1970's, I heard the song for the first time. Not only did I
dislike the song, I was stunned to hear the plot of the movie given away
in the lyrics. When Sony & UCLA restored the film a few years back,
articles about the film and restoration mentioned that the people at Sony
& UCLA didn't include the song because it was originally the overture
and it gave away the plot. I got the feeling they also didn't like the
song. It's a truly funny song and I enjoy playing it for people who've
seen the movie. The fact it was the overture explains why it was eligible
for best song and subsequently never seen on television or video. I'm glad
Sony exercised good taste and judgment and left the song off the restored
prints.
The same thing was true for IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD. For
years I wondered how the song for MAD WORLD could have been nominated,
since all that appeared in the movie were a few words in the main title
sequence. Then when the expanded laser disc edition came out many years
ago, the song was returned to where it belonged, at the beginning of the
movie. That song I like and it certainly belongs in the movie as the overture.
Regarding GOLDFINGER, I think the thing that has bothered me the
most over the years is the fact that John Barry's Bond songs and scores
never got an Academy Award nomination. I'm sorry, but how can any music
branch not nominate the song and the score to GOLDFINGER? Barry has been
short-changed many times over the years, but this is the most obvious.
I agree that Barry's Bond work was eminently worth at least one nomination
if not several -- it's one of the main reasons I became a film music fan
-- but considering that Barry received five Oscars out of only seven nominations
(a perhaps unparalleled ratio of wins-to-nominations), one could argue
that the Academy did not ultimately short-change him.
FROM: "Dennis Cannon"
In your list of songs not nominated for an academy award
you listed a song from EL CID "The Falcon and the Dove." I have never heard
a song from that movie and I watched it many times.
P.S. I have the soundtrack and there never has been a song on it.
I believe that it was actually used as the film's Exit Music -- the CD
Great Epic Film Scores, released by Cloud Nine Records in 1993,
features cues from four films produced by Samuel Bronston -- 55 Days
at Peking, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Circus World (aka The Magnificent
Showman) and El Cid --and includes the choral version of "The
Falcon and the Dove."
FROM: "John B. Archibald"
As I recall, the title song for "Bye Bye Birdie" was actually
written as a solo for Ann-Margret for the movie. At the time, this was
regarded as sort of shocking, because the character she was supposed to
be portraying was a teenaged girl, which Ms. A-M was definitely not! It
was taken as yet another example of Hollywood cheapening originally innocent
material. (In the show, for example, when the girl sings "How Lovely to
be a Woman," it's from a sense of naive wonder. In the hands of Ms. A-M,
it became much more suggestive and knowing, which is a perfect illustration
of how film versions of musicals can turn a feather into a sledgehammer.)
The most interesting element that occurred to me while perusing
your list was an awareness of the great cultural schism that took place
during the period you describe. Well into the 50's, American popular music
pretty much originated from Broadway and Hollywood, until rock appeared,
derived from essentially Afro-American sources, and took over popular culture.
At that time, and well into the 60's, to listen to rock music was almost
considered a political act of defiance against the Establishment. (See
the song, "Kids," in the same "Bye Bye Birdie.")
Consequently, the more traditional forms of music began to be pressured
out of their former influence, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Oscar
nominations were a reflection of this cultural change. As rock music proliferated,
heralding the political upheavals of the 60's, it's almost as if Hollywood
and Broadway, by now bastions of the Establishment, were reacting in a
sort of backlash, by virtually ignoring current musical trends. I don't
see any of the Beatles' songs for either A HARD DAY'S NIGHT or HELP making
any of the finalists' lists, and yet they were huge hits, selling millions
of records. And they were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Hollywood kept encouraging writers who wrote songs more in the
style of the 40's, all things considered, while the rest of the country
forged ahead into uncharted rock territory.
It was a schism from which our culture has really never recovered.
Virtually all popular music is now either the Broadway style, with melody
and A-B-A lyrics, or it's rock-related, dependent on rhythm and electronic
effects. Hollywood, with occasional exceptions, such as Eminem's recent
win, still supports the old-style music, while much of the country's population
spends millions on concerts of music that will never make it into films.
I lament this, because my tastes are, frankly, more on the side
of the traditional. I like to be able to hear the lyrics of a song, and
it's refreshing when they're not four-letter words. I also love the Golden
Age film composers. But it would seem to me that the knell was tolled for
Golden Age Scores the night Dimitri Tiomkin won the Oscar for writing "Do
Not Forsake Me, O My Darlin," because main titles after that often precluded
a musical introduction, to instead force-feed us some syrupy love song.
Then, the end of the Golden Age occurred, in my opinion, when Henry Mancini
won the Oscar for "Moon River." After that, orchestral composers were pretty
much edged out of the business.
Lately, there seems to be some kind of amalgam of the Hollywood
and rock styles, as evidenced by Mr. Shaiman's success on both screen and
now stage. Hopefully, this may usher in a period of more interconnection.
We shall see.
Thanks for the lists.
P.S.: Was there ever a complete recording of "My Wishing Doll?"
Julie Andrews never finishes the song in HAWAII.
I don't know. Sorry.
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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