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A Slightly Embarassing Post Coming Up.........

2008-03-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

I should be posting a slightly embarassing post for the New Year coming up soon (and by soon, take that for what it's worth!). Don't get your hopes up though, it's not really that interesting............. :)))

TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 4 - Christmas Fun (2007)

2007-12-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

I actually couldn't think of anything too interesting to post this Christmas, but as seems to happen a lot, this compilation turned out better than I thought it was going to, so maybe it ended up being interesting after all.

I was actually going to post a few more Christmas compilations but I completely ran out of time (you'd think I'd see that coming, but it always takes me by surprise). So you may get to hear some more Christmas music after the New Year! (I know you're really looking forward to that!)

Have lots of Christmas (and holiday) fun listening to this compilation and as always.....................

Enjoy!

Track List:

01 - Kukla, Fran and Ollie (Burr Tillstrom & Fran Allison) - A Good, Good Boy
02 - Tweety & Sylvester - I Tawt I Taw Ol' Tanty Claus (1994)
03 - Dennis Day & Jack Benny - I'm Ready Dennis - [Spoken]
04 - Dennis Day - Jingle Bells
05 - The Partridge Family - Winter Wonderland (1971)
06 - The Brady Bunch - Silver Bells
07 - Antonio 'Huggy Bear' Fargas - It's Christmas - [from 'Starsky & Hutch' (1975-1979)]
08 - Count Floyd (Joe Flaherty) - Reggae Christmas Eve in Transylvania - [from 'SCTV' (1977-1984)]
09 - Bob Rivers - Have Yourself An Ozzy Little Christmas (2002)
10 - The Cryptkeeper (John Kassir) - Deck The Hall With Parts Of Charlie (1995)
11 - Twin Peaks Cast Parody - The Twelve Days Of Christmas
12 - Dickie Goodman - Santa & The Touchables
13 - Mark Jonathan Davis - The Christmas Song by Lt. Sulu (1995)
14 - Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Cast - Merry Christmas...If That's OK (1996)
15 - Dennis Day & Jack Benny - Dennis - [Spoken]
16 - Ren & Stimpy - We Wish You A Hairy Chestwig (1993)
17 - Cast - The Lord's Bright Blessing - [from 'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol' (1962)]
18 - Robert Downey, Jr. & Vonda Shepard - White Christmas - [from 'Ally McBeal']
19 - Cast - Winter Was Warm - [from 'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol' (1962)]
20 - Kukla, Fran and Ollie (Burr Tillstrom & Fran Allison) - Christmas Is A Time
21 - Cast - It Happened In Sun Valley (1999) - [from 'South Park']
22 - The Brady Bunch - Frosty The Snowman
23 - Snow Miser (Dick Shawn) - Snow Miser - [from 'Year Without a Santa Claus']
24 - Heat Miser (George S. Irving) - Heat Miser - [from 'Year Without a Santa Claus']
25 - The Partridge Family - Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (1971)
26 - Rose Marie - Santa Send A Fella - [from 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' (1961-1966)]
27 - Billy Crystal - The Christmas Song (Edit) (1985)
28 - Eddie 'Kookie' Byrnes - Yulesville (1959) - [from '77 Sunset Strip' (1958-1964)]
29 - Ren & Stimpy - Happy Holiday Hop (1993)
30 - Dan Blocker - Deck The Halls - [from 'Bonanza' (1959-1973)]
31 - Bob Smith - Howdy Doody's Christmas Party - Side 3
32 - Santa Claus, Tweety, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Taz, & Pepe Le Pew - We Wish You A Merry Christmas (And A Looney New Year!) (1994)
33 - Mark Jonathan Davis - Let It Snow by Lt. Sulu (1996)
34 - Dennis Day & Jack Benny - Oh Mr. Benny - [Spoken]

password = youdont

TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 4 - Christmas Fun - Part 1 (Rapidshare)
TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 4 - Christmas Fun - Part 2 (Rapidshare)

OR

TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 4 - Christmas Fun (Megaupload)

around 107 MB

Tribute Series, Vol. 1 - Maureen O'Hara

2007-12-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

I was watching 'Miracle On 34th Street' a little while ago (which they haven't taken to showing much on free televsion in the last decade or so, but thankfully they showed it this year) and it made me want to post a tribute to Maureen O'Hara, so here it is!

I've been wanting to do a tribute series for some time so I thought this would be as good a place to start as any.

Maureen O'Hara is one of my favorite actors (though I guess it's fair to say that that group is fairly large......and hopefully some of them will turn up in future Tributes!)

Maureen was born in 1920 as Maureen Fitzsimmons (or FitzSimons). (It would be a neat trick though if she had somehow been born as someone other than herself.)

I think she may also have been Irish.

She was one of the most beautiful women in film as the above pictures prove. She always seemed to have a look of sweetness but you always knew that beneath that was a core of pure Irish steel. (Is Ireland known for its steel production?)

She started with a bit part in 1938's 'Kicking The Moon Around' (which featured Ambrose & His Orch., by the way, for all those Ambrose fans) and then in 1939 went under contract with Charles Laughton to America where they made William Dieterle's' The Hunchback Of Notre Dame' & Alfred Hitchcock's 'Jamaica Inn' together. (and later Jean Renoir's 'This Land Is Mine' (1943) with Laughton as a Nazi-fighting schoolteacher. Somehow always reminds me of that movie where Errol Flynn plays the Nazi-fighting Norwegian fisherman.)

Her role as the gypsy girl Esmeralda in 'Hunchback' was a pretty memorable introduction to American audiences (unless you don't remember it, in which case, ignore what I just said). Sanctuary! Sanctuary!........sorry, just like 'Daktari! Daktari!', I feel compelled to say that every once in a while.

She did a remake of Katherine Hepburn's 'A Bill Of Divorcement' in 1940 with Adolphe Menjou in the role John Barrymore originally played (which is kind of strange considering that it was only 8 years after the original. I guess it just goes to show that today's studios have longer attention spans before they do a remake......or not.) The remake was written by Dalton Trumbo, by the way. Don't know why I mention that, but it seemed interesting. Okay, maybe only to me.

Speaking of remakes (and things that are only interesting to me), she also made 'Sentimental Journey' (1946) about a dying woman who adopts an orphan, which was remade as 'The Gift Of Love' (1958) starring Lauren Bacall......and both films were composed by Cyril Mockridge! (who also did the music for 'Miracle On 34th Street')

By the way, I believe Tony at I Luv My Turntable has posted The Gift Of Love.....which is yet another reason why I Love Tony AND His Turntable! So go over there and give him the gift of love.......or at least a nice comment! (and say Hi for me!)

Then she got another big boost by playing the Welsh girl, Angharad, in love with Walter Pidgeon's character in John Ford's 'How Green Was My Valley'. I wonder.......if you're Irish, is it hard to play Welsh? Are the Welsh offended? Will I stop ending sentences with a question mark?

Considering Walter Pidgeon was playing a minister though, her character didn't have the easiest of times in the movie. The movie was a John Ford masterpiece (at least I think so) and one of the four non-Westerns for which he won an Oscar. (Not that you asked or anything, but the others were 'The Informer', 'The Grapes Of Wrath', & 'The Quiet Man'. And who says the Academy doesn't have respect for Westerns?) It beat out Citizen Kane, by the way, which I'm sure some people today may still be cheesed off about. I wouldn't be one of them though and I understand why it won (and basically agree with the choice, but that's a discussion for another day), but it is definitely like saying one apple is juicier than another orange.

This movie also reminds me of the story (if I remember right) of how John Ford did multiple takes of Maureen O'Hara walking in her bridal gown after her marriage in the movie (to another man) and how he carefully made sure that the back of her veil flew up in the wind. I forget what symbolism that represented (if any), but it was an incredible visual nonetheless. And it reminds you of what a great director John Ford was.

And she would go on to make 'Rio Grande', 'The Quiet Man', 'The Long Gray Line', and 'The Wings Of Eagles' with Ford. Thinking of her in the 'The Long Gray Line' (1955) with Tyrone Power (another sentimental look at an Irish couple but this time at West Point) reminds me of her in 1942's The Black Swan also with Tyrone Power (.........and come to think of it, she also did 'Ten Gentlemen From West Point' in 1942). There was something about her that seemed to fit in swashbuckling movies like that (and apparently in West Point movies too).

Maybe it was the feistiness that made her ideal for being around pirates and smugglers. (And ironically, 'The Black Swan' takes place in Jamaica while 'Jamaica Inn' actually takes place in Cornwall. Go figure.) She would go on to make films like 'The Spanish Main' (1945) (with Paul Henreid), 'Sinbad The Sailor' (1947) (with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.), 'Tripoli' (1950) (with John Payne.....and no, it wasn't a sequel to 'Miracle On 34th Street' unless Santa Claus was secretly a Barbary pirate), and 'Against All Flags' (1952) (with Errol Flynn). And thinking of her in a swashbuckling role (that didn't involve pirates but did involve Musketeers) like 'At Sword's Point' (1952) (with Cornel Wilde) reminds me of watching that movie as a kid and thinking how refreshing it was to actually see a woman in a sword fight back then. In the last ten years or so it's a little more common sight with actresses like Geena Davis in 'Cutthroat Island', Catherine Zeta Jones in the Zorro movies, & Keira Kneightly in the Pirates films, but back then it seemed a lot more rare so it was especially fun to see Maureen O'Hara do it (or say, Jean Peters in 'Anne Of The Indies' (1951)). It seems to me Maureen even got to dress up as a Musketeer in that film.

There was also something about her that made her ideal to hang around the military whether it was in a war film or a Western. Again, maybe it's the feistiness. Or maybe soldiers just like having gorgeous women around. That seems pretty reasonable now that I think about it. I know I enjoy that and I'm not even a soldier.

She made movies like 'To The Shores of Tripoli' (1942) (with Randolph Scott and again with John Payne) (seems like she can't get away from Tripoli (or John Payne) either, except just as in the case of 'Jamaica Inn', 'To The Shores of Tripoli' wasn't in Tripoli, but takes place in San Diego), 'The Immortal Sergeant' (1943) (with Henry Fonda, but this time the movie actually WAS set in North Africa), and let's not even talk about all the Westerns!

Ones like 'Buffalo Bill' (1944) and 'Comanche Territory' (1950) or the ones with John Wayne like 'Rio Grande' (1950), 'McLintock!' (1963), and 'Big Jake' (1971).

For some reason in my mind, I tend to lump together some of those movie Westerns she did later in her career like 'Big Jake', 'McLintock!', 'The Rare Breed' (1966) (with Jimmy Stewart), 'The Deadly Companions' (1961) (with Brian Keith, in the same year as 'The Parent Trap'), and even, 'The Red Pony' (1972 TV-Movie) (with Henry Fonda) (with music by Jerry Goldsmith, not to be confused with Aaron Copland's version of 'The Red Pony'.......well, okay confuse them if you want to) even though they were all different. Or 'Spencer's Mountain' (1963) (with Henry Fonda) and 'Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation' (1962) (again with Jimmy Stewart) even though those two movies were as different as night and day. Or drama and comedy, as the case may be.

Maybe it was the fact that I kept expecting 'Spencer's Mountain' to star Spencer Tracy, but it would always be Henry Fonda. And maybe it was the fact that Tracy did that movie with Robert Wagner called 'The Mountain'. I think it just used to get me confused as a kid. Well, 'Spencer's Mountain' was really just a precursor to the TV show, 'The Waltons'. Is precursor the right word? I never know how to define movies like that. Both were written by Earl Hamner, Jr., but was it basically the same adaptation of his own life or two different stories about the same basic material?

That's the same dilemma I have, say, with a movie like 'Never Too Late' (1965) with Paul Ford & Maureen O'Sullivan (not to be confused with Maureen O'Hara). That movie would also confuse me as a kid because that was basically a precursor to the TV show, 'All In The Family' (1971-1979) or at least it seemed that way to me. They were both produced by Norman Lear and while I would watch the movie I'd be thinking, this seems like Norman Lear's characters even though the movie was based on a play. And then you'd watch the TV show and it would say that it was based on the British TV show, 'Till Death Do Us Part'. And then you'd hear Norman Lear talking about it and he would say the characters were based on himself and his own family. So as a kid I would be fairly confused (so what's the difference today?). I've never bothered to look it up though so I guess it couldn't have bothered me too much.

Maybe the British TV show was based on the play? I'm guessing Norman Lear just merged everything together. Except the playwright wrote the screenplay to the movie as well, so if it was Norman Lear using his own characters, you'd think the screenwriter would object. Or maybe it was just an incredible coincidence that Norman Lear's life was very much like that play and the British TV show. (An overbearing working class father with a meek wife and a pretty newly-married blonde daughter with a husband that the father abuses and insults partly because they all live together. Could just be a coincidence, I guess.) Oh, well.

So what does that have to do with Maureen O'Hara? Well, they both had Maureens in them. (but so did some of her military pictures.....no, wait. Sorry. That was marines. Never mind.)

And what about 'Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation'? In my mind, that tends to get lumped in with 'Take Her, She's Mine' (1963) even though that was Audrey Meadows and not Maureen O'Hara. It was all those Jimmy Stewart family comedies around the same time. Well, maybe those were really the only two (along with say 'Dear Brigitte', but that one's pretty distinctive).

Well, now you see why I don't talk more about the movies on the blog. You get discussions like these.

Well, since I was talking about 'Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation', maybe I should mention her comedies. Despite all of her dramatic work and even though she did fewer comedies than dramas and action pictures, I still always think of her comedically. Maybe because of 'The Parent Trap' (1961) and 'Miracle On 34th Street' (1947), two of my favorite films. And now that I think about it, two films that both get endlessly remade in film and television. Always a testament to great ideas.

And to me, a movie like 'The Parent Trap' is made even more impressive when you really consider it. Think about the basic premise of divorced parents separating their twin daughters, living at opposite ends of the country, and never telling them that the other even exists. Normally, the audience should think these parents are really terrible. If it hadn't been handled so well, the whole tone of the movie could've been very different. We easily could've been distracted by that nagging dislike of those characters in the back of our minds, but we actually really like Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith in that movie. Or Hayley Mills' character could've been overly precious or at the other end, obnoxious, but it wasn't (at least for me, although some other people might not feel that way). Or the audience could really groan at the incredible coincidence of them meeting at camp or the idea that they wouldn't automatically recognize that they were sisters, but it was handled well enough in the movie so that glaring moments requiring suspension of disbelief never really felt contrived. (Or maybe I just have a low threshhold of belief) [How about Brian Keith holding Maureen O'Hara's bra and wondering if it could be Hayley Mills'? Now that takes suspension of disbelief!........................and now that's reminding me of Maureen O'Hara's role as 'Lady Godiva' (1955).............sorry, nice mental flashback there............or is that fleshback?]

I've seen so many comedies made in the last twenty years or so where I think if it had just had a little better writing or direction or casting these would be classic comedies, but somehow they just miss. And that's nothing against the filmmakers in the sense that I don't think I could do any better, but you just know that at one time people seemed to know how to do it pretty frequently. I've seen a lot of comedies today with fantastic and imaginative ideas, but there's always something wrong with the execution and I think to myself, boy if that had just been directed by Preston Sturges, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, or Ernst Lubitsch, for instance, it would be a classic comedy instead of a near-miss.

Not that 'The Parent Trap' exactly falls into that Billy Wilder-type category, but you think about Disney films like 'The Parent Trap', 'Pollyanna', 'Mary Poppins', or 'The Swiss Family Robinson' and they were all made with a great basic level of quality that you could easily imagine falling flat if it wasn't handled properly. The writing, the casting, the production quality, the direction. So solid!

So not only do I have an affection for movies like 'The Parent Trap' but a certain amount of admiration. Which probably also applies to Maureen O'Hara, now that I think about it.

And the whole idea of 'Miracle on 34th Street' is incredible. Such a simple idea, you'd think somebody would've thought of it before. Perhaps it was the kind of idea that you could only do after World War II. If it had been done after World War I or even during the Great Depression, maybe there would be too much cynicism or even too much reverence, in a strange way. Or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Either way, a great idea expertly executed. And an interesting way to tell if that's true or not is to compare it to its remakes. You could see if you just tweaked it a little bit here or there how it might not work so effectively.

And the interesting dilemma in both films is to make the characters likable enough so that we care about them, but hard enough so that they're believable and interesting. In 'The Parent Trap', we have to like Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith enough so that we care about their relationship with each other and to their daughters, but we also have to believe that they were hard enough to get along with so that we understand why they couldn't live with or even talk to one another.

And in 'Miracle on 34th Street' we have to believe that Maureen O'Hara would be a cynical enough mother not to let her daughter believe in Santa Claus, but not so cold that we wonder why she's being such a sourpuss. A fine line in both cases that requires a basic likability in the actress portraying both characters, I think. And both films benefit from having actors in the central roles who live up to those daunting acting challenges. Well, imagine winning an Oscar for playing Santa Claus! You HAVE to be a great actor! (Not to mention Hayley Mills winning a special Academy Award for 'Pollyanna'). Not that there was ever any doubt that Edmund Gwenn was a great actor, but you know what I mean.

Oh, and I almost forgot about another favorite comedy of mine with her in it! How could I forget about 'Sitting Pretty' (1948) (with Robert Young)? (Probably because I don't get to see these great movies as often as I once did! Someday I'll get around to buying that TV station and run my own programming! Oh, wait. That's called a video store. Sorry!)

Now that I think about it, that movie also benefits from a classic performance by its lead actor of another classic character. And Maureen ends up playing a mother with rambunctious or independent children in all three of those movies! There was something about her that also made her well-suited to play mothers on screen. It was probably that maternal quality. Yeah, I think that's what mothers have.

Well, I guess it's pretty safe to say that 'Sitting Pretty' doesn't get re-run on TV as often as those other two movies, but in case people never got a chance to see it, it's the first in the series of films starring Clifton Webb as the character of Lynn Belvedere which was later turned into the TV series, 'Mr. Belvedere' starring Christopher Hewett (sp?) (who may be just as remembered for his role in 'The Producers'). I never watched the show, but I guess the Bob Uecker (sp?) character would be equivalent to the Robert Young character in the movie (though I think the character names and families might have been different). I guess that means Ilene Graff would be Maureen O'Hara?

That was such a funny movie! And I liked the two sequels too, though they weren't quite as good as the original. Well, if you remember the TV show, you probably know the premise of the movie too. Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara play a young married couple who hire what they think is a female babysitter named Lynn, sight unseen, and Clifton Webb shows up at their door. They only want a regular babysitter, but he moves in and turns their household upside down. It's probably one of my all-time favorite movies. And Lynn Belvedere goes right up there with Derek Flint and Dexter Riley on my list of all-time favorite movie geniuses. (Oh, and stick Ronald Colman's character from 'Champagne For Caesar' (1950) on that list too while you're at it.)

See, again this is the reason why I don't talk about these films (or music) more often on the blog. You get this kind of movie diarrhea (which I guess is more like logorrhea, in this case). Of course, it's probably better than all the other times I talk about stuff that only I care about.

Oh, and I completely forgot about 'The Quiet Man' (1952)! Another favorite comedy of mine. I guess I tend to think of it less as a comedy and more as a John Ford movie. I know it's probably a mythical representation of Ireland and Irish people (you mean they don't all sing in pubs and have knock-down, drag-out fights in the middle of fields?), but it's an irresistible depiction.

John Wayne plays Sean Thornton who returns to the land of his ancestors to buy a house and settle down and meets a pretty, but tempestuous colleen played by Maureen O'Hara. But he encounters a little problem with her brother. It's the quintessential Irish lass character that Maureen O'Hara plays so perfectly though it seems to me that she didn't actually play it that often when you really think about it. And probably never to this extent. And now that I think about it, it may be my favorite role of hers. (See.....better blogs would've given you HER opinion of what her favorite role was, but I give you the vitally important information about what I think was MY favorite role of hers!)

And sometimes, parts of that fight scene in the movie (the one in the boxing ring, not the one with Victor McLaglen) remind me of Raging Bull. And that visual of John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara standing in his house with the wind blowing is incredible. Though, for the longest time, I would wonder about the ending to that film. On the one hand, I understand it and on the other hand it seems to be sending the wrong message. In some ways, it almost seems she's being too materialistic, then in other ways it seems like she can only love a man who's violent? I know that's not quite the message, but the moral of that story sometimes makes me wonder. In order to show courage, you're going to have to beat somebody up? Or perhaps it's just that she couldn't really love a man who didn't face his own fears? Or maybe she just likes burning things? I don't know. Hmmmm.........it sort of reminds me of the ending to The Taming Of The Shrew. Is the moral of that play, total subservience is the key to happiness? Is it that women should be meek? Or maybe it's that happiness and self-discovery can only be found after being really irritated and making a big speech? I'm not sure. I get confused. I don't know the answers, but it's still fun to think about.

Well, in any case, it's a great movie. (And it's always fun to watch people beat each other up.)

And not to turn this into a Wikipedia entry about Maureen O'Hara, but I might as well mention some of her other comedies and comedy-dramas like, 'Father Was A Fullback' (1949) (with Fred MacMurray), Everything But The Truth (1956) (with John Forsythe and another child (played by Tim Hovey) that gives her problems!), Britannia Mews (1949) (with Dana Andrews and puppets!), Our Man In Havana (1959) (with Alec Guinness and Noel Coward), How Do I Love Thee? (1970) (with Jackie Gleason and music by Randy Sparks) [not to be confused with her musical, 'Do You Love Me?' (1946) (with Dick Haymes and music by Harry James)], The Battle Of The Villa Fiorita (1965), and Only The Lonely (1991) (with John Candy (not to be confused with Ally Sheedy)).

And then there's her movies with an international flavor like, 'Malaga' (1954) (with MacDonald Carey - drug smugglers), 'Lisbon' (1956) (starring and directed by Ray Milland - thieves), 'Kangaroo' (1952) (with Peter Lawford - con men), 'The Magnificent Matador' (1955) (with Anthony Quinn - matadors), Flame Of Araby (1951) (with Jeff Chandler - Arabian princesses), and Bagdad (1949) (with Vincent Price - Iraqi princesses? Okay, not princesses. She was more like the daughter of a chieftain.).

And there were movies like The Fallen Sparrow (1943) (with John Garfield) that had some of that same international intrigue (except they took place in the United States).

Well, she basically stopped making movies with 1971's 'Big Jake', except for the TV-remake of 'The Red Pony' in 1972 and then twenty years later was lured out of retirement (was it really retirement?) to make 1991's 'Only The Lonely' (with John Candy as the police officer) in the role of his Irish mother. I remember at the time her giving interviews and saying that she wasn't doing movies because the roles being sent to her weren't that interesting, but it just may be my memory playing tricks on me. But she liked the feistiness of the role in 'Only The Lonely'. And I think John Hughes was really persistent in courting her for the movie. Or was it Chris Columbus? I forget (see, this is why you shouldn't come to this blog for information). One of them was the one who talked to her. I can't believe it was that long ago. It seems like just yesterday that I was watching her give all those interviews for that movie.

It was great to see her doing pictures again even if it was only that one time. It always seemed a shame that she should stop when she could've easily done so many more films in the interim. It's the same reaction I have with Doris Day. Though in both cases, it's understandable. They would've had to do some very strange movies or some very tricky roles in order to keep doing movies in the 1970's and 1980's (let alone the 1990's!). Well, in Maureen's case, it seems to me she was too busy (and happy) taking care of her business interests. The airline business if memory serves. I could be confusing her with a different actress, but I think she owned her own airline (taken over from her late husband?). (Again, too lazy to look it up! Sorry about that!........Well, after writing all this and compiling that music, I'm surprised I still have the energy to type...............weklsiu I shwo3.........uh, maybe I spoke too soon.)

So many good memories associated with Maureen O'Hara! Well, I hope you enjoy a few listening to this as well, but I think you can still enjoy listening to it even if you have no interest in Maureen O'Hara whatsoever. Wait a minute. How would you have gotten this far down in the post if that were true? Hmmmmm........something to think about.

Enjoy!

Track List:

01 - Miracle on 34th Street (1947) (Cyril J. Mockridge) - 20th Century Fox Fanfare (Alfred Newman) / Main Title
02 - Miracle on 34th Street (1947) (Cyril J. Mockridge) - The House / Book Montage
03 - The Quiet Man (1952) (Victor Young) - The Fight
04 - The Quiet Man (1952) (Victor Young) - The Courting / Bicycle Made for Two (Village Street)
05 - The Quiet Man (1952) (Victor Young) - St. Patrick's Day
06 - Maureen O'Hara - Ireland Was Never Like This (1960)
07 - Maureen O'Hara - Come Back To Erin (1961)
08 - Maureen O'Hara - Nora Lee / I Once Loved A Boy (1961)
09 - Maureen O'Hara - Give Him To Me (1961)
10 - How Green Was My Valley (1941) (Alfred Newman) - Angharad And Mister Gruffydd
11 - How Green Was My Valley (1941) (Alfred Newman) - Angharad With The Minister
12 - The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939) (Alfred Newman) - Esmeralda In Bell Tower
13 - The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939) (Alfred Newman) - Esmeralda's Dance
14 - Only The Lonely (1991) (Maurice Jarre) - Guilt
15 - Only The Lonely (1991) (Maurice Jarre) - Teresa
16 - Maureen O'Hara - I Only Have Eyes For You (1958)
17 - The Fallen Sparrow (1943) (Roy Webb) - Main Title
18 - The Wings Of Eagles (1957) (Jeff Alexander) - Main Title
19 - The Immortal Sergeant (1942) (David Buttolph) - Main Title / End Title
20 - Big Jake (1971) (Elmer Bernstein) - Riders
21 - Big Jake (1971) (Elmer Bernstein) - Going Home - Finale
22 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) (Jerry Goldsmith) - Track 04
23 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) (Jerry Goldsmith) - Track 09
24 - Rio Grande (1950) - The Sons Of The Pioneers - Aha, San Antone
25 - McLintock! (1963) (Frank De Vol) - McLintock's Main Title And Katherine Theme
26 - McLintock! (1963) (Frank De Vol) - Rowdayoh
27 - The Parent Trap (1961) - Hayley Mills - Let's Get Together
28 - Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation (1962) (Henry Mancini) - Side Winder
29 - Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation (1962) (Henry Mancini) - Rudders And Sails
30 - Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation (1962) (Henry Mancini) - Main Title
31 - Maureen O'Hara - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To (1958)

Total Time: 1:17:31

password = youdont

Tribute Series, Vol. 1 - Maureen O'Hara - Part 1 (Rapidshare) - 90 MB
Tribute Series, Vol. 1 - Maureen O'Hara - Part 2 (Rapidshare) - 80 MB

OR

Tribute Series, Vol. 1 - Maureen O'Hara (Megaupload)

around 170 MB

@ mostly 320 Kbps

P.S. The compilation was meant as a (hopefully) good listening experience and to highlight Maureen O'Hara more than the scores themselves so the tracks aren't always in the same order as they were in the films, but you could probably tell that by looking at it. It may be a little disorienting for those who are associating them with scenes in the movies, but it wasn't me being whimsical; they just sounded better rearranged in a certain order. (And if you want to hear some of these scores in their entirety, I'm sure if you hunt around you can find many of them posted all around the blogosphere (or posted at your local store). Another reason to be thankful for the online world!) :))

P.P.S. For instance, if you want 'It's A Wonderful Life / Miracle On 34th Street', might I recommend going to my friends' Sallie & Mel's wonderful 'The Vintage Place' which I haven't gotten around to talking about on the blog yet, but hopefully it'll be one of those thousand things I get around to doing! Well, go over there; you won't be sorry! :))) [and say Hi for me too while you're at it. Thanks!]

P.P.P.S. I just tried 'The Vintage Place' and it looks like it's disappeared and I fear the worst. If anybody knows what happened, let me know. Thanks.

P.P.P.P.S. Just spent the last fifteen minutes finding out what happened to 'The Vintage Place' and the worst has happened as Sallie had to shut it down. My thoughts go out to Sallie and Mel and I hope Sallie will not be too affected by the harassment she has had. I hope your holiday will still be a happy one and that you will have a wonderful New Year despite what has happened. Please feel free to contact me if you want to commiserate. :))

The Sound Of Music (a.k.a., T'zlili Hamuzika) (1995 Israeli Cast) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)

2007-12-21T17:54:00.000-08:00

Back when I reposted the Alternative Stage Music, Vols. 3-5, 'Anonymous' wondered if I could post the entire album to 'The Sound Of Music' stage version in Hebrew, so I thought since they always re-run the movie 'The Sound Of Music' at Christmas time that now would be a good time to post this. This post is also probably appropriate to celebrate Hannukah now that I think about it.

It stars Chani Nachmias (as Maria) & Sasi Keshet (as Von Trapp) and as always, it's nice to hear an Israeli cast playing Austrian characters in an American musical.

It occurs to me that since I'm very unlikely to ever post the film soundtrack (as opposed to this stage version) on the blog that now is my golden opportunity to actually talk about the film. When do I ever get the chance to do that if not now? (Sure, it might break out in the middle of a Jerry Goldsmith post, but it hasn't happened yet, so now seems as good a time as any.)

It's interesting to me how the film became an annual Christmas tradition. I'm not sure when that happened (or why exactly), but it's nice that at least it gets shown nationally once a year. It's like 'The Ten Commandments' (1956) at Easter. It's still sort of odd though because there was a time when they'd show these movies all year round. Just as with 'It's A Wonderful Life', I don't think these movies were particularly associated with holiday viewing. Obviously, 'It's A Wonderful Life' has a more natural connection, but perhaps they were so familiar to people that they didn't feel the need to run them but once a year.

But in the case of 'The Sound Of Music', when you think about it, there is no particular Christmas connection. The same thing goes for the song, 'My Favorite Things', being put on so many Christmas compilations. It's only because 'My Favorite Things' makes you think of gifts, I suppose. I almost wonder if that's why they show the movie at Christmas time. That and the fact that it's a nice family film. (Any movie with Nazis has to be a good family film.)

Every time I watch it with all the other holiday movies, I keep expecting that a Christmas tree should pop up or Santa will come skiing down the mountain, but it never happens. (Is there a Christmas tree in the movie? I forget.)

Well, I remember when I was watching the movie, maybe 10 or 15 years ago, and it suddenly occurred to me how amazing the screenplay was. (I know, sometimes I'm pretty slow on the uptake.) It occurred to me that even though the telecast was 4 hours long, the movie was never boring. Usually, you expect the story to flag or lull somewhere, but I realized that as each conflict is resolved a new one is presented. It's done so seamlessly that it drives the narrative without really sagging at any point. (Which is really what a good screenplay is supposed to do, but you see a lot of really long movies where it gets occasionally boring........like this post. But great movies like 'Lawrence Of Arabia' or 'Dances With Wolves' never feel long.)

You start with the question of whether Maria is going to make a good nun and while that question is still up in the air, she's sent to the Von Trapps. Then, you wonder if she's going to make a good governess and whether she's going to get along with the children (and whether Christopher Plummer is going to get along with his own children). Then after she bonds with them over 'My Favorite Things' and a little 'Do Re Mi', that conflict's resolved, but then you quickly move to the question of their potential new stepmother and Maria's feelings for the Captain. You have Eleanor Parker as romantic rival and wicked stepmother (that role, by the way, was a little more beefed up, musically, in the stage version, with her and Richard Haydn's characters getting some additional songs).

Then as soon as Maria and the Captain realize their love for each other, the questions of their romantic triangle, their feelings for each other, and Maria's future as a nun are all wrapped up neatly in one fell stroke (with his relationship with his children being healed somewhere along the way, for good measure). You'd expect some letdown in the story at this point, but as soon as you have the wedding and the honeymoon, the Nazi occupation begins. (Isn't that always the way? Just as soon as you get the wedding gifts unwrapped, Nazis show up.)

And then that drives the whole rest of the story until the end. I've seen 90 minute movies that seemed less streamlined. Ernest Lehman certainly did a good job with the screenplay. And Robert Wise did a magnificent job with the direction. Well, directing a musical, he beat out William Wyler, David Lean, & John Schlesinger that year, so that's pretty good.

And one of the things that makes it works so well, I think, is Christopher Plummer's performance. He gave the story a strong dramatic spine that helped keep it from being too saccharine and made the audience care about his character's strong national pride and sense of real danger from the Nazi occupation. (Even though I think for years after he used to call the movie, 'The Sound Of Mucous'.) I think the possibility of the story being too sugary sweet also worried Julie Andrews and Robert Wise, but I think they succeeded in tempering it so that it was really effective.

I remember hearing Oscar Hammerstein responding to the events of the play when asked about it being a bit too much and I think he basically responded that it couldn't be helped because that's what really happened. Those were the basic events in their lives. Though from what I understand the personalities of The Captain and Maria (or is that The Captain & Tenille?) were somewhat reversed in real life. She was a bit more hard-nosed and driven and he was a bit more amiable and easy-going. (In fact, when they eventually moved to America, after his death she was so determined to keep the family together as a singing group, I don't think she allowed the children to even date or get married, so the eldest daughter eventually ran away and other children later mutinied as well. So much for 'Sixteen Going On Seventeen' and 'My Favorite Things', I guess, and more like 'So Long, Farewell'.)

And of course, it wouldn't have worked at all without the performances of Julie Andrews and the children.

It would also get my vote as one of the top 3 or 4 best screen adaptations of a stage musical. And possibly the best example of 'opening up' a stage musical ever done. Of the integrated book musicals in the post-Oklahoma era (earlier screen adaptations tended to change stage musicals pretty significantly sometimes leaving say, only one song from the original, so it's harder to count those), I think the dilemma was always between preserving the original play and 'opening' it up so that it functioned as an actual movie and not simply a filmed play. So at one end of that spectrum you have movies like 'My Fair Lady' in which George Cukor opted for preservation and say, 'The Music Man' (which is one of the other ones I think of as in that top 3 or 4 screen adaptations category) in which the director, Morton Da Costa even had scenes end with the stage going dark and a spotlight hitting the characters.

And then at the other end you have 'The Sound Of Music' with its brilliant use of location scenery. Unlike movie musicals like 'South Pacific', 'Paint Your Wagon', or 'Hello, Dolly!', for instance, that tried to open up the stories with extensive use of their locations, I think 'The Sound Of Music' was much more successful at integrating it into the film without distracting the audience or swamping over the story with background spectacle. (Too harsh on those other films? Well, possibly. But then again I don't see them re-running 'Hello, Dolly!' at Christmas time either. Though it would be interesting if they did. Dolly Levi's late husband's sentiment of spreading money around like manure to make young things grow seems to be very Christmas-y.)

(And not that you asked, but my other nominees for best adaptations would be 'West Side Story', possibly 'Grease' (for other reasons), and a few others I can't think of right now.)

And one of the other amazing things that 'The Sound Of Music' did that was so rare was that it almost eclipsed the original stage production in the minds of a worldwide audience. That doesn't happen very often. Usually, people are disappointed by the screen adaptation in some way, no matter how good the film is. But like 'Grease' that came after it, 'The Sound Of Music' almost made people forget that there was an original (though in the case of 'Grease' it was revived so often that it was never quite out of people's minds). And like 'Grease', when they perform the stage musicals subsequent to the films, they often end up using songs that were written specifically for the film otherwise people get disappointed and feel they're missing something!

And it also seemed to me that after the enormous success of the film, it encouraged studios to make these larger-than-life, studio-bankrupting movies to try and recapture that success. I think movie musicals would've naturally declined around that time (both 'book' musicals and pop musicals like the Elvis and Beach Party movies) if 'The Sound Of Music' and 'Oliver' hadn't hit it big around that time. And so for every huge success like that, you get a 'Man Of La Mancha', 'Mame', or 'Song Of Norway'. Then it was all set to die out again, when 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Grease' came along. But then you get 'Xanadu' and 'Can't Stop The Music' and kill it all over again.

It's funny, but every few years I hear someone say that the movie musical is going to be revived after the success of some film. I seemed to remember hearing that after 'Fame' and then 'Footloose' and then after 'Dirty Dancing'. Then 'Chicago' and 'Hairspray'. But there are three things about that that I think people tend to overlook.

First, one film doesn't necessarily turn around a whole genre (they said the same thing about Westerns after 'Unforgiven' for instance and they periodically say it about Kevin Costner & Mickey Rourke films too, now that I think about it).

Secondly, when musicals were considered a popular genre they were actually closer to popular music (and you actually had people like the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter writing original film musicals. Later, you had stage adaptations where the songs would appear in the Top 40. You're not likely to get that to happen with say, 'The Color Purple' or 'The Producers'. (Though I am waiting for them to put out the album, 'R. Kelly Sings Hits from 'Annie'')).

Thirdly, it's a dirty little secret, but musicals have never actually gone away. People don't like to admit it, but they actually like musicals. I hear a lot of people say that one of the reasons they don't like musicals is because people spontaneously break out into song and dance in the middle of the film and it seems unreal, but then you ask them if they like seeing Tom Hanks dancing on a giant piano, Julia Roberts singing karaoke in a restaurant, Jim Carrey singing 'Cuban Pete', Mike Myers dancing to 'Soul Bossa Nova', or Will Ferrell singing 'Afternoon Delight', and they want to see more. It's one of the reasons you'd see so many films set in karaoke bars in the late 90's. They wanted to sneak musical numbers in somehow without people knowing it. (And then when I hear people talk about the unreality of musicals, I always imagine them explaining to me the reality of a cyborg from the future or an archaeologist who keeps fighting Nazis with a whip. Hey, there are those pesky Nazis again!)

It reminds me of how a whole younger generation of women say they aren't feminists. Then if you ask them if they're for female equality, equal opportunity and a whole list of feminist principles, they say, 'Sure, I'm for all those things.' They just don't like to think they're feminists when they actually are.

And people love film musicals so much that they keep making them. It's just that musical purists don't like to think of pop, rock or rap musicals as being musicals. What is 'Breakin'', 'La Bamba', 'Great Balls Of Fire', 'The Bodyguard', 'Ray', or 'Hustle And Flow', for instance, if not some form of musical? I think that's actually the only way musicals would revive as a genre. Only if they actually did more films that used contemporary music with popular artists, but integrated into the story. Take a movie like '8 Mile' with Eminem. That's a perfect example of what they should do (but perhaps with more integration into plot and character) if they actually wanted to revive it as a genre. I'm surprised they don't do it more often. Essentially do the equivalent of the teen musicals of the 1950's or even Elvis pictures (though that might not work as well today). But I think the reason they don't is because a singer or group's popularity is a lot more short-lived today. By the time you finish a picture and release it, they're yesterday's news. And all their best material is done on a music video.

That's another dirty little secret. All the time people were watching music videos they were actually watching mini-musicals. Story told through song and dance. But I bet if you told people watching the latest video that they liked musicals they'd probably tell you you were crazy.

Of course, I'd like to see the integrated book musical become a prominent genre again. Or the original film musical, like 'Seven Brides For Seven Brothers' or 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game', for instance. But I don't think that's very likely to happen any time soon unless musical tastes change severely. We do seem to be going through a nice period where studios (perhaps after the success of 'Chicago' and 'Moulin Rouge') are more willing to green light screen adaptations like 'The Producers', 'Guys And Dolls', 'Rent', and 'Sweeney Todd'. Or movies like 'Across The Universe'. But unless those make a ton of money (which most of them didn't, I think), I think it's just going to be a brief period. Which is not pessimism so much as realism, I suppose. It's just too expensive to rehearse people for months and write original music that hasn't been tested thousands of time on stage or on record without a studio machine like MGM had in the 1930's through the 50's, for instance. It would need to make 'Pirates Of The Carribean' money (and which by the way, people thought pirate movies were a bad idea too).

It is funny how at one time people went to musicals in large enough numbers to make them economically viable and turn people like Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Eleanor Powell, and Esther Williams into huge stars. Can you imagine people turning a swimming or skating athlete into a huge musical star today? But it just goes to show that musicals weren't just for a marginalized audience back then. It was like going to a Western, an action picture, or a drama. Today, I think it's considered in some kind of other category. I'm not quite sure what though. Maybe like going to an opera or ballet film. (Which, by the way, makes me laugh when I think of people imagining that movies like 'Evita' or 'The Phantom Of The Opera' which are essentially pop operas might be giant box office hits just because they were hits on the stage. People aren't really going to revive movie musicals with poperettas (nothing against them, but again, it isn't very likely to happen).)

But then again the success of 'The Sound Of Music' when musicals were in a decline is a testament to how, if you make a movie good enough, it can inspire more people to try. (Just hopefully not with 'The Song Of Norway'.)

Well, now that I've bored everyone with my opinions about musicals, here's hoping you're still in the mood to listen to 'The Lonely Goatherd' in Hebrew.

Enjoy!

P.S. Miscellaneous trivia about the movie rattling around in my head:

- Watch (extremely briefly) for the cameo by the real Maria Von Trapp as she walks far in the background behind Julie Andrews (if I remember right, somewhere during 'I Have Confidence')

- Since lyricist Oscar Hammerstein died before the film was made, Richard Rodgers wrote two additional songs for the film by himself that weren't in the original play ('I Have Confidence' and 'Something Good').

- Some of the children went on to do some interesting things like Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich) went on to play Spiderman on the short-lived TV series (and the last time I saw him in something, he seemed to be working in Australian TV or film productions).

Heather Menzies (Louisa) went on to do movies like Ssssss! (she was in that one right? How many 'S's' are in that anyway? For some reason, I always think of that as a very sad movie. You keep hoping things will turn out okay for her character.) and Piranha. And she later married the late Robert Urich (well, she married him before he became the late Robert Urich.)

Angela Cartwright (Brigitta) went on to do the TV series 'Lost In Space'. (And I always get Angela Cartwright confused with Veronica Cartwright. I always wonder what, if any, relationship they might have to each other.)

Charmian Carr (Liesl) went on to a religious career. I can never remember if she became a nun or something else.

- Marni Nixon (Sister Sophia) finally got a meatier on-screen role after years of dubbing the singing of people like Deborah Kerr in 'The King And I' and 'An Affair To Remember', Audrey Hepburn in 'My Fair Lady', Natalie Wood in 'West Side Story' and 'Gypsy', and Margaret O'Brien in 'The Big City'. I always kick myself for not having bought her CD when I had the chance when I saw it at Tower Records. Well, maybe I still can......oh, wait.

- And speaking of dubbing, Christopher Plummer was dubbed by Bill Lee (which I think almost caused Mr. Plummer to back out once he found out he was going to be dubbed) and Peggy Wood (Mother Abbess) was dubbed by Margery McKay (though I've heard people say Marni Nixon, but it doesn't really sound like her. And I think Peggy Wood used to sing opera anyway, so I'm not sure why they needed to dub her, but oh well.)

- And posting Maureen O'Hara music elsewhere on the blog reminds me of the actress Anna Lee (Sister Margaretta) in 'How Green Was My Valley', 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?', and 'In Like Flint'. Once you see Anna Lee in a turban in that last film, you never quite forget her. Either turbans or habits. She likes to have her head encased I guess.

- It took a lot of effort to get the opening shot of the film and not have the wind from the helicopter blow Julie Andrews down on that mountain top.

- Julie Andrews' character's last name is Rainer.

- 'Edelweiss' was the last song Oscar Hammerstein wrote before he died.

- And weren't The Bill Baird Marionettes (used in 'The Lonely Goatherd' number) also in the movie, 'Lili'? I forget exactly, but I think they were.

Track List:

Israeli Cast (1995) - 01 - The Sound of Music
Israeli Cast (1995) - 02 - Dixit Dominus
Israeli Cast (1995) - 03 - Maria (nuns)
Israeli Cast (1995) - 04 - My Favorite Things
Israeli Cast (1995) - 05 - Do Re Mi
Israeli Cast (1995) - 06 - Sixteen Going On Seventeen
Israeli Cast (1995) - 07 - The Lonely Goatherd
Israeli Cast (1995) - 08 - The Sound Of Music (Reprise)
Israeli Cast (1995) - 09 - So Long, Farewell
Israeli Cast (1995) - 10 - Climb Ev'ry Mountain
Israeli Cast (1995) - 11 - Edelweiss
Israeli Cast (1995) - 12 - Climb Ev'ry Mountain (Reprise)

password = youdont

The Sound Of Music (a.k.a., T'zlili Hamuzika) (1995 Israeli Cast) (Rapidshare)
The Sound Of Music (a.k.a., T'zlili Hamuzika) (1995 Israeli Cast) (Megaupload)

around 28 MB

@ 128 Kbps

The Red Pony (1973 TV) / The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) (Jerry Goldsmith) [Bootleg]

2007-12-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

Here's the score to the TV-Movie version of 'The Red Pony' starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. As you would expect from Mr. Goldsmith, it's a nice score and it has one additional track from 'The Agony And The Ecstasy' as well.

And I think almost everything I just said you could've figured out by looking at the album cover, reading the track list, and looking at the post heading. Hmmm......it's a real toss-up as to whether I should've called the blog, 'Inferior Old Rips' or 'States The Obvious'. It goes back and forth from day to day, but I guess I'll keep the name the way it is.

Since it's a bootleg, there are no real track titles (unless the names Jerry came up with just happened to be 'Track' which would seem to be uncharacteristically unimaginative and repetitive on his part).

Well, anyway, if you look at one of the later posts you can probably tell why I decided to post this particular score. Although I guess a score to a nice family movie like this is appropriate for the season (and depending on your mood, I suppose, 'The Agony And The Ecstasy' might also apply).

And, while you're at it, it also might be fun to compare it to Aaron Copland's version of 'The Red Pony' from the 1949 film starring Myrna Loy & Robert Mitchum. I'm sure if you hunt around, it's probably been posted in multiple places by now. A good bet, if it's still available, is to check out Scoredaddy's marvelous Copland compilation. (There's another wonderful blog and blogger I haven't talked about yet on this blog. Well, I'm so behind on everything else, why should that be any different?)

And I just realized another good reason to post this was that it was once requested way back when by Stevo (though I'm guessing he doesn't come here anymore), but as you can tell, a request never fully dies out here. It just sleeps once in a while. (It's either that or the curse of a long memory, I'm not sure which).

Well, it was a good thing I was working on that other post, otherwise it would've never occurred to me to post this. I'd completely forgotten I had this! Well, I'm sure someone else has posted this by now, but I'm pretty sure redundant music is still good music.

......oh, and enjoy your Christmas pony!

Track List:

01 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 01
02 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 02
03 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 03
04 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 04
05 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 05
06 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 06
07 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 07
08 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 08
09 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 09
10 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 10
11 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 11
12 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 12
13 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 13
14 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 14
15 - The Red Pony (1973 TV) - Track 15
16 - The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) - Prologue - Track 16

pw = youdont

The Red Pony (1973 TV) / The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) (Jerry Goldsmith) - Part 1 (Rapidshare) - 90 MB
The Red Pony (1973 TV) / The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) (Jerry Goldsmith) - Part 2 (Rapidshare) - 43 MB

OR

The Red Pony (1973 TV) / The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) (Jerry Goldsmith) (Megaupload)

around 133 MB

@ 320 Kbps

Home Alone Christmas (1993) (Various Artists)

2007-12-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

I had something in mind to post for the holidays, but when I went to look for it, I realized it was in storage, so I sort of copped out and ripped this instead. Really makes you want to download it, doesn't it? Actually, it's always nice to get different versions of songs and you can't actually go wrong with Darlene Love (or John Williams, for that matter), but you can probably tell I start to run out of imagination towards the end of the year. :))

Enjoy!

Track List:

Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 01 - Darlene Love - All Alone On Christmas
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 02 - Alan Jackson - A Holly Jolly Christmas
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 03 - The Fox Albert Choir - My Christmas Tree
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 04 - John Willi@ms - Somewhere In My Memory
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 05 - Atlantic Starr - Silver Bells
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 06 - TLC - Sleigh Ride
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 07 - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Christmas All Over Again
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 08 - Southside Johnny Lyon - Please Come Home For Christmas
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 09 - John Willi@ms - Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 10 - John Willi@ms - Carol Of The Bells
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 11 - Mel Torme - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Home Alone Christmas (1993) - 12 - Lisa Fischer - O Come All Ye Faithful

password = youdont

Home Alone Christmas (1993) (Various Artists) (Rapidshare)
Home Alone Christmas (1993) (Various Artists) (Megaupload)

around 91 MB

@ 320 Kbps

Just Checking In.....

2007-11-25T22:15:00.000-08:00

I don't usually like to post anything until I have some music ready to go, but I realized that if I didn't say something on the blog every once in a while, people thought it was either dead or dormant, so I thought I'd just post this to say Hi! (and to let all interested parties know that I've left responses to their comments (at least on the most recent posts....the other ones are going to take me a while)). Wow! Wasn't that worth a post?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

Here's wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving and try not to let the tryptophan get to you! (Sure I know it's an urban myth, but hey, if Halloween can have its myths I figure Thanksgiving should have some of its own too! Drowsiness isn't as scary as, say, alligators in the sewers, but at least it's something.)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and has much more to be thankful for in the future!

And for everyone else around the world for whom Thanksgiving doesn't mean too much, I thought I'd post some pictures that Lacey asked about in the previous post. Unfortunately, I didn't have any high-resolution ones like Lacey asked about, but it's better than nothing. :))

So, here's something I'm always thankful for.................

Happy Halloween!........Anybody Miss Me?

2007-11-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

(I was intending on posting these on Halloween, but couldn't come in until today so just pretend everything I wrote still applies. Just think of it as leftover Halloween candy that you are just finishing off now. Thanks!)

[Truthfully, I just put up those pictures not so much because it's Halloween, but because I enjoy looking at Morgan Fairchild and Elizabeth Montgomery. :))]

Happy Halloween everybody! Well, in my seemingly never-ending quest to drive people away from the blog, it occurs to me that I haven't actually posted anything since Bastille Day! Boy, I can't believe it's been that long. Well, I'll probably talk about it later in a long and boring post, but for now I thought I'd write this one on Halloween instead (well, you know what I mean).

(And I intend on saying hello to everyone I've missed, talking about all those great newer blogs, catching up with people and things, etc. since I've been away from the blog (if I have the stamina). But in the meantime, a paltry and insufficient shout-out to Rocket From Mars, Isbum, Filmpac, Breton Girl, First Moon, Vince, and all the other really nice people out there....and I'll be contacting you eventually, River, if you're still interested.)

I wasn't actually going to post anything for Halloween this year because I couldn't really think of anything interesting to do. Last year when I posted the Cannibals-A-Go-Go compilation, I was actually going to post a Zombies-A-Go-Go comp at the same time, but it was too exhausting. There was so much zombie-related music and some of it wasn't as interesting as the cannibal music that I ran out of time (and interest) to do it, but I always thought I'd post it for next Halloween if the blog was still here.

Well, when it came time this year, it was the same old story. Didn't really feel like pulling out all those zombie songs (there are so many more zombie movies than there are cannibal ones.......you'd think people would like singing about flesh-eating just as much, but for some reason they don't).

Well, when I tried thinking of something I might post for Halloween that would be interesting, I still couldn't think of anything (though honestly I didn't actually spend a whole lot of time thinking about it). While I was pondering it though, it occurred to me that I haven't actually posted all that much horror music on the blog since last Halloween. I think it's because there are so many great horror blogs and sites out there that already post so much music all year round that that ground is pretty well covered. Same thing happens at Christmas time.

Everything's been done to death (no pun intended). And I'd rather listen to other people's horror mixes (and as an added bonus, it also saves me the work!) than put together my own with all the same old tracks. So, I wasn't going to post anything this year, but over the weekend, I thought, 'Gee, I should put up something'.

Still couldn't think of anything interesting to do, so I sort of copped out and threw some stuff together at the last minute.

So just think of these posts as placeholders until something better comes along. Well, at least what the posts lack in originality, they make up for in being old. Most of them are old rips of mine (though new to the blog) which has the great advantage of saving me a lot of typing........uh, I mean of ensuring the kind of quality that only comes with age.

Though a few of them are ones I've been meaning to post for a while and some are brand new. And I was able to include some artwork this time around. Also, I thought I'd toss in a new compilation while I was at it, so I hope all you ghouls and goblins, werewolves and she-wolves, vampires and vampettes, have a wonderful All Hallow's Eve and an even better All Saints Day!

Horror Stars Sing Just For You

2007-11-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

Well, because I wasn't really planning on posting anything for Halloween, I only decided to do this yesterday and ended up throwing together this compilation last night (which is why it's being posted on Halloween day instead of yesterday!), so I can't really guarantee its quality. These rush jobs are always a little suspect since you just end up putting on tracks off the top of your head rather than really thinking about them and looking through your collection and coming up with something better, but after I finished it I liked it better than I thought I was going to. It's funny how often that happens. Maybe it's the power of low expectations.

And I was actually going to call it 'Horror Stars Perform Just For You' just because you can't always call what they're doing singing, but I thought I'd keep it consistent with the other compilations on the blog.

Have a happy, merry, and scary Halloween (or what's left of it)!

P.S. It occurs to me that I should dedicate this compilation to Rocket From Mars, First Moon, Vince (and all the other exceptionally nice people who have been so kind and seemed to enjoy my compilations in the past). Here's hoping that they will actually see this (assuming they haven't given up on the blog entirely!).

Enjoy!

Track List:

01 - Norbert Schiller / Gene Wilder & Peter Boyle - Introduction / Puttin' On The Ritz
02 - Christopher Lee - A More Humane Mikado
03 - Boris Karloff & Chorus - The Pirate Song
04 - Vincent Price - Pork Chops
05 - Anthony Hopkins - 'I Ate His Liver'
06 - Anthony Hopkins - Ordinary Man
07 - Jodie Foster - La Vie C'est Chouette
08 - Christopher Lee - Mack The Knife
09 - Crispin Hellion Glover - These Boots Are Made For Walking
10 - Robert Englund / J. Peter Robinson - Prologue / Theme From Nightmare Cafe
11 - Freddy Krueger & The Elm Street Group - Do The Freddy
12 - Lon Chaney, Jr. - Monster Holiday
13 - Lon Chaney, Jr. - Spider Baby
14 - Butch Patrick - I Wish Everyone Was Born This Way
15 - Jay Mohr - Christopher Walken Reading Goodnight Moon
16 - Christopher Walken & John Travolta - (You're) Timeless To Me
17 - Janet Leigh & Betty Garrett - There's Nothing Like Love
18 - Anthony Perkins & Chorus - Summertime Love
19 - Vincent Price & Company - I've Got A Rainbow Working For Me
20 - Boris Karloff & Chorus - One Step Ahead
21 - Joe Pesci & Fred Gwynne - 'Two Youts'
22 - Fred Gwynne - It Takes All Kinds Of People
23 - Vincent Price - Rub My Roast
24 - John Carradine with The Chico Hamilton Quintet - Night Song For The Sleepless
25 - Christopher Lee - Man Of La Mancha
26 - Main Title from 'The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo'
27 - Michael Jackson - Thriller
28 - Vincent Price - Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Total Time: 1:16:41

Notes on the compilation:

#1-#3: 3 men who've played Frankenstein's monster.

#3-#5: 3 men who have unusual eating habits.

#7-#8: A little trip across the pond.

#9: I put him on primarily because of his remake of Willard, but he was fairly creepy in Charlie's Angels and Back To The Future now that I think about it. I've always wondered why he didn't do the Back To The Future sequels, but I was never quite curious enough to look it up. I always figured maybe he creeped out the producers to the point where they didn't want him back. Or maybe he asked for too much money. It seemed to me he didn't do too much after he almost kicked David Letterman in the head on his show until he appeared in Charlie's Angels. Maybe he was off somewhere doing arts and crafts.

#11: Yeah, sure it's not Robert Englund, but at least it's The Elm Street Group. I can't wait for their next album. I heard Yoko Ono broke them up, but that's probably just a rumor.

#14: You know, I've never been entirely convinced that that's Butch Patrick singing. I suspect that they just got somebody in to dub for him, but you just never know.

#12-#14: You know it's funny. I only realized the Wolfman connection just as I was about to write this notation. I only put Butch Patrick between Lon & Jay because of the emphasis on a childlike attitude of those tracks, but maybe it was my subconscious saying, 'Hey, Lon & Butch are kinda hairy!'

#15-#16: I put Christopher Walken on primarily because of The Dead Zone, but I think he may also have been a little creepy in other films. (Though he actually wasn't that creepy in The Dead Zone, but you know what I mean. It's funny how he was actually creepier in say, Annie Hall (or even The Deer Hunter), than he was in The Dead Zone.)

#16-#18: Here's a fun game! As you're listening to these, try imagining them singing these romantic songs as their original characters in The Dead Zone and Psycho, respectively. (Maybe Christopher can sing about his timeless love right after he gets out of his coma. And maybe John Travolta can be Brooke Adams.

And then pretend Betty Garrett is Pat Hitchcock and that Janet Leigh is singing to her about John Gavin. (Maybe right before she steals the money.) Or how about Tony Perkins singing 'Summertime Love' as he stares at Janet through the wall. (Of course, you'll have to figure out for yourself where the chorus is coming from.) That should be fun!)

#19-#20: And try that same game for say, The Pit And The Pendulum & The Mummy. Or maybe The Abominable Dr. Phibes & The Black Cat. Then try it for Witchfinder General & The Ghoul. It'll make you think of those films in a totally different way!

#23: I like to imagine him singing this song as he's preparing food for Robert Morley in Theatre Of Blood. No, wait. No, I don't actually.

#24: I know when I think of The Chico Hamilton Quintet I think of John Carradine.

#25-#27: Let's battle some evil!

#26-#28: I thought I'd end the compilation with some VP (no, not Dick Cheney). (And I can never get enough of him laughing at the end of a song, can you?)

pw = youdont

Horror Stars Sing Just For You (Rapidshare)
Horror Stars Sing Just For You (Megaupload)

around 101 MB

Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning)

2007-11-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post this for a while and I realized that it kind of fits Halloween so here's the score to the Judy Geeson / Martin Potter / Michael Redgrave movie about the exciting world of twins and their rambunctious adventures in swinging London! (The music is not so much scary as mod........but that could be pretty scary in its own way, when you think about it.)

For keen observers (or those people who are really just bored), you'll probably remember I used the first song of this score on the original Orphaned Film Songs compilation. For not-so-keen observers (or those people who are really interested), you probably don't care.

Enjoy!

Track List:

Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 01 - Tell the World We're Not In - [Vocal - The Peddlers]
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 02 - Jacki & Julian
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 03 - Houseboat Party No. 1
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 04 - Nothing's Good and Nothing's Free - [Vocal - Peter Lee Stirling]
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 05 - Woodlands Hotel
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 06 - Ritual Murder
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 07 - Goodbye Gemini - [Vocal - Jackie Lee]
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 08 - Houseboat Party No. 2
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 09 - Houseboat Party No. 3
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 10 - Forget About the Day - [Vocal - Peter Lee Stirling]
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 11 - Vauxhall Tavern Strip Medley
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 12 - Jacki's Nightmare
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) - 13 - Jacki & Julian

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Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) (Rapidshare)
Goodbye Gemini (1970) (Christopher Gunning) (Megaupload)

around 52 MB

@ 256 Kbps

When The Whales Came (1989) (Christopher Gunning)

2007-11-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

Since I was going to post Goodbye Gemini and that happened to (sort of) fit the Halloween theme, I thought I'd post another Christopher Gunning score, but as far as I know, whales aren't nearly so scary.

It's to the Helen Mirren / Paul Scofield 'see a whale, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck' movie.

Enjoy!

Track List:

01 - Bryher, And The Curse Of Samson (Narration By Paul Scofield)
02 - Gracie Plays Truant
03 - The Birdman's Gift
04 - The Islanders
05 - Tempest - And First Visit To The Birdman
06 - The Crown Investigators
07 - Daniel's Gift For The Birdman
08 - War, And Jack's Dilemma
09 - Goodbye Jack
10 - The Birdman's Warning
11 - Lured To Samson
12 - Clemmie's Lament
13 - Whale Beached
14 - Saving The Whale
15 - Torches In The Sea
16 - Daniel
17 - Well Full: The Sailor Returns: Re-United!
18 - Redeemed

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When The Whales Came (1989) (Christopher Gunning) (Rapidshare)
When The Whales Came (1989) (Christopher Gunning) (Megaupload)

around 89 MB

@ 320 Kbps

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956)

2007-11-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

Here's another one that probably nobody needs again since it's been posted in various places, but hey, what's life if you can't add your own superfluous rip to the mix?

Now that I think about it, does anybody really need Plan 9 From Outer Space ripped at high quality 320 Kbps in pristine CD quality? Uh......well, truth be told, I forgot to set the encoder to a lower bitrate when I did this. Sometimes when I'm ripping these things I forget to reset it to different bitrates which is why you see some things at ridiculously high bitrates when they don't need to be. I've gotta stop doing that though because 320 takes up an enormous amount of space on the hard drive. Almost twice the size of 192 Kbps (and don't believe those people that say it doesn't make that much extra difference space-wise!). Originally, I was thinking of posting it at 128 Kbps, but I know people want all the extra clarity they can get when they're listening to aliens tell us how stupid we humans are.

But as a consolation for insulting extra-terrestrials, the soundtrack (with score, dialogue, sound effects, and anything else that can possibly be recorded) is in one long untitled track.

Is this really the worst film ever made? Well, out of all the films I've ever seen, it does go right up there. But on the other hand, I've seen films that were a lot more boring than Plan 9, so it seems to me that ought to count for something. It raises the interesting question, 'Are films that are better made technically, but a lot less interesting and a lot more dull, better or worse?' I don't know actually. I'd have to say the dull ones are worse though.

I wish I could ask Bela Lugosi what he thought of this film, but he died while filming it (which is why you see a weird double hiding behind a cape throughout a lot of the picture). Well, if I could talk to a resurrected Bela Lugosi, I'd probably want to ask him about a lot of other things before getting to Plan 9, but you know what I mean. It'd be interesting just to talk to Tor Johnson or Vampira. Or Lyle Talbot. Or Nicole Kidman. (She wasn't in Plan 9 as far as I know, but it would still be interesting...............Is it wrong to hate Keith Urban?)

Boy, my mind wanders after writing so many of these posts in a row (but what's my excuse the rest of the time?)

Also, if I remember right, in case anybody was wondering, I think the music was stock library music. But I could be wrong. I didn't really want to have to dig out the liner notes again. I'm sure you can look it up somewhere. I do remember the liner notes mentioning The Grapes of Wrath though, if that helps. Don't ask me why. (Oh, and I forgot to mention that it's the Performance Records version, but you could probably tell that by now. I don't think the other version out there is one long track.)

Enjoy!

Track List (because how else would you be able to tell what you're listening to?):

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956) - 01 - Track01

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Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956) - Part 1 (Rapidshare) (around 90 MB)
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956) - Part 2 (Rapidshare) (around 73 MB)

OR

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956) (Megaupload)

around 163 MB

@ 320 Kbps

The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) [Pony Express]

2007-11-07T16:43:00.001-08:00

Boy, I'm getting a little punchy writing all these posts. Here's another old rip of mine and like so many of the others, I'm sure other people have posted this by now though perhaps not so much in the main part of blogs.

This is the Pony Express version of the score to the American remake (starring Jeff Bridges & Kiefer Sutherland) of the Dutch film.

Well, it's Goldsm|th and it's about a vanishing.....what more do you want? Happy Halloween!

Enjoy!

Track List:

The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 01 - Barney
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 02 - Diane And Jack
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 03 - The Last Of Diane
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 04 - Vanished
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 05 - A New Love
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 06 - Obsession
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 07 - A New Life
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 08 - Barney's Story
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 09 - Diane's Fate
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 10 - Jack's Choice
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 11 - Night Chase
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 12 - Grave Trouble / Resolution
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 13 - No Coffee

pw = youdont

The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) [Pony Express] (Rapidshare)
The Vanishing (1993) (Jerry Goldsm|th) [Pony Express] (Megaupload)

around 69 MB

King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) [cond. William Stromberg]

2007-11-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well, last Halloween I posted the Southern Cross version of King Kong so this year I thought I'd post the Stromberg version. Yeah, I know, I'm sure it's been posted elsewhere by now, but it's Halloween, so why not? Again, buy it if you can because these discs are wonderful to own!

I love the fact that Stromberg & Morgan & The Moscow Symphony reconstruct and put out so much of this material. I definitely need to buy more of them myself. Well, I bought this one so that's something at least. Now all I have to do is buy the other 100 or so. (Okay, it's not that many, but it sure seems like it.)

In fact, if I remember right, I think I used this version on that Flying Themes compilation at the beginning of the blog.

Uh....where was I? Hmmm.......King Kong, big ape movie, Fay Wray being pawed, Bruce Cabot being Bruce Cabot, Empire State Building, worst idea for an amusement attraction since Jurassic Park, and twas beauty doing something or other.

Enjoy!

P.S. Shouldn't Track #05 be, 'Meeting With The African-American Men'? Well, since they weren't American, probably not. It reminds me of the time that I was talking about Jerry Goldsmith with a friend of mine and my friend referred to the characters in Mulan as Asian-Americans. Before I could stop myself from being pedantic (too late already!), I ended up mentioning to him that they weren't really American. We had a good laugh about that (after he punched me in the face......okay, that didn't really happen, but I'm sure he was thinking about it).

Track List:

King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 01 - Main Title
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 02 - A Boat In The Fog
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 03 - The Island - The Railing
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 04 - Jungle Dance
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 05 - Meeting With The Black Men (punia! casco!!)
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 06 - The Little Monkey Escapes
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 07 - Sea At Night - Forgotten Island
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 08 - Aboriginal Sacrificial Dance
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 09 - Entrance Of Kong - The Sailors - Stegosaurus
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 10 - The Bronte
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 11 - Log Sequence
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 12 - Cryptic Shadows
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 13 - Stolen Love - The Cave
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 14 - The Snake - The Bird - The Swimmers
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 15 - The Return
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 16 - 'Hey Look Out! It's Kong, Kong's Coming!'
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 17 - King Kong March
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 18 - Fanfares 1, 2, 3
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 19 - Kong Escapes
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 20 - Elevated Train Sequence
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 21 - Aeroplanes
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) - 22 - Finale ('It Was Beauty Killed The Beast')

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King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) [cond.Stromberg] - Part 1 (Rapidshare)
King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) [cond.Stromberg] - Part 2 (Rapidshare)

OR

King Kong (1933) (Max Steiner) [cond.Stromberg] (Megaupload)

around 170 MB

@ 320 Kbps

Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland)

2007-11-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

Here's one I've been meaning to post for a long time ever since Detective Mitchell put it on his wish list. (By the way, does anybody know whatever happened to Detective Mitchell? Hope he's doing well. If you ever read this, Detective, say Hi!) Well, I felt bad that I never got around to posting this when he asked for it, but better late than never. Well, I waited so long that just as I was thinking of posting it, I realized it would make a good Halloween post, so I guess I can be thankful for small favors.

Well, what can you say about a movie with Michael Moriarty and David Carradine in it? Hmmm......I can only imagine what the conversations must've been like at lunch.

Enjoy some giant winged serpent music!

Track List:

Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 01 - Q: Main Title
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 02 - Filet of Human Soul
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 03 - Blood Drops From The Sky
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 04 - Jewelry Heist
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 05 - Chrysler Building
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 06 - Womb At The Top
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 07 - Corpse In The Rafters
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 08 - He Crawls, He Flies
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 09 - The Winged Serpent (1982)
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 10 - Crunch, Crunch
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 11 - Joan Learns The Ugly Truth
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 12 - A Bird's Eye View - Manhattan
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 13 - Shep's Report Dumped
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 14 - Troops Prepare - Giant Omelette
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 15 - Prime Suspect
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 16 - Ritual In The Warehouse
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 17 - Big Bird's Last Stand
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 18 - Witchdoctor's Revenge
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 19 - Another Stab At It
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 20 - Chicken Or the Egg
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 21 - Q: End Title
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) - 22 - Dancing Too Close To The Flame - [Vocal]

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Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) (Rapidshare)
Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) (Robert O. Ragland) (Megaupload)

around 67 MB

Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith)

2007-11-07T16:41:00.000-08:00

Here's the (again, common) score to the Julian Sands / Richard E. Grant film. You have to pretty much like any film with Mary Woronov, I say.

I'm sure someone's posted this several times by now, but off-hand I can't remember anybody. Probably Phelpster at Manchester Morgue and many others have done it somewhere.

Well, did that convince you to download it? (Uh, well at least it convinced me to go to The Manchester Morgue. That's the important thing.)

Enjoy!

Track List:

Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 01 - The Sentence
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 02 - Ill Wind
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 03 - The Ring
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 04 - The Trance
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 05 - Old Age
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 06 - Grownig Pains
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 07 - The Weather Vane
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 08 - Nails
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 09 - The Uninvited
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 10 - Salt Water Attack
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) - 11 - The Salt Flats

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Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) (Rapidshare)
Warlock (1989) (Jerry Goldsmith) (Megaupload)

around 79 MB

Freddy's Favorites - The Best of A N|ghtmare on Elm Street (1993)

2007-11-07T16:40:00.000-08:00

Here's another one I always intended on posting when I started the blog, but a few blogs did it along the way, so I didn't bother. (Yes, it's another old rip of mine and yes I was feeling lazy). People post the individual scores so much, but it's always nice to have a roundup of Nightmares from time to time.

Again, if it's still available, buy it because you can't have too many Nightmares.

Enjoy!

P.S. Don't worry, the actual filenames aren't this long. I abbreviated them on the actual track titles (but if you really want, you can always make them longer after you unzip it. 1000 or 2000 characters is always a good length).

Track List:

01 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 1 (1984) (Charles Bernstein) - Prologue
02 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 1 (1984) (Charles Bernstein) - Main Title
03 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 1 (1984) (Charles Bernstein) - Dream Attack
04 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 1 (1984) (Charles Bernstein) - Sleep Clinic
05 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 1 (1984) (Charles Bernstein) - Terror in the Tub
06 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 1 (1984) (Charles Bernstein) - Lurking
07 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 1 (1984) (Charles Bernstein) - Fountain of Blood
08 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 1 (1984) (Charles Bernstein) - Evil Freddy
09 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) (Christopher Young) - Main Title
10 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) (Christopher Young) - Kissing Freddy on the Catwalk
11 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) (Christopher Young) - 'Kill For Me'
12 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) (Christopher Young) - Sports Attack / Threatening Angela
13 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) (Christopher Young) - Freed of Her
14 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) (Christopher Young) - Snake-in-the-Class
15 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 3: The Dream Warrior (1987) (Angelo Badalamenti) - Opening
16 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 3: The Dream Warrior (1987) (Angelo Badalamenti) - Taryn's Deepest Fear
17 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 3: The Dream Warrior (1987) (Angelo Badalamenti) - Deceptive Romance
18 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 3: The Dream Warrior (1987) (Angelo Badalamenti) - Rumbling Room
19 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 3: The Dream Warrior (1987) (Angelo Badalamenti) - Puppet Walk
20 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) (Craig Safan) - Freddy's Back
21 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) (Craig Safan) - Joey's Wet Dream
22 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) (Craig Safan) - Freddy's Pizza Restaurant
23 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) (Craig Safan) - Debbie Checks In / Time Circles
24 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) (Jay Ferguson) - Prologue - Elm Street Kids
25 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) (Jay Ferguson) - Main Title
26 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) (Jay Ferguson) - Don't Drink and Drive
27 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) (Jay Ferguson) - The Asylum
28 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) (Jay Ferguson) - Hell on Wheels
29 - A N|ghtmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) (Jay Ferguson) - Freddy Cuts Up
30 - Freddy's Dead: The Final N|ghtmare (1991) (Brian May) - Opening Titles
31 - Freddy's Dead: The Final N|ghtmare (1991) (Brian May) - Main Title
32 - Freddy's Dead: The Final N|ghtmare (1991) (Brian May) - Mama's Q-Tip
33 - Freddy's Dead: The Final N|ghtmare (1991) (Brian May) - Back with Doc
34 - Freddy's Dead: The Final N|ghtmare (1991) (Brian May) - Freddy Wins
35 - Freddy's Dead: The Final N|ghtmare (1991) (Brian May) - Happy Father's Day

pw = youdont

Freddy's Favorites - The Best of A N|ghtmare on Elm Street (1993) (Rapidshare)
Freddy's Favorites - The Best of A N|ghtmare on Elm Street (1993) (Megaupload)

around 102 MB

Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th)

2007-11-07T16:39:00.000-08:00

Another one from the old rip pile. This is one of my favorite Tom Selleck movies. Sure, he's not on for long, but I think he does a great job. I guess it also stars Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas and I think it has to do with some medical condition.

Another pretty common album that always gets posted somewhere (even here, I think, by Thingmaker), but I thought I'd add my inferior old rip too. I knew I should've called the blog, 'Inferior Old Rips'.

I don't know about you, but I can't get enough disco versions of Goldsm|th love themes. Happy Halloween (and try not to get into too many comas if you can help it)!

Enjoy!

Track List:

Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 01 - Jefferson Institute
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 02 - Study In Anatomy
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 03 - A Chance Encounter
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 04 - Love Theme from 'Coma'
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 05 - A Free Ride
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 06 - O.R. 8
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 07 - The Long View
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 08 - A Lucky Patient
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 09 - Love Theme from 'Coma' (Disco Version)
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 10 - Disco Strut [composed by Don Peake]

pw = youdont

Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) (Rapidshare)
Coma (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) (Megaupload)

around 53 MB

Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th)

2007-11-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

Does anybody really need another posting of Damien? Uh.....I forget why I'm posting this now that I think about it. Maybe it was so I can get my paper stamped that says that I'm the 100th blog to post this. Well, it probably has something to do with Halloween, Goldsm|th, old rips, and other junk.

Well, how wrong could you go anyway? I'm sure most people have this in one form or another by now, but how can you resist a cute little tyke like Damien?

Enjoy!

Track List:

Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 01 - Main Title
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 02 - Runaway Train
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 03 - Claws
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 04 - Thoughtful Night
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 05 - Broken Ice
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 06 - Fallen Temple
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 07 - I Love You, Mark
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 08 - Shafted
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 09 - The Knife
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) - 10 - End Title (All The Power)

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Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) (Rapidshare)
Damien - Omen II (1978) (Jerry Goldsm|th) (Megaupload)

around 50 MB

The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein)

2007-11-07T16:37:00.000-08:00

It occurs to me that I don't put up enough Elmer Bernstein, but it's probably just because so many people post it all over the place. But it's Halloween (and this is another old rip of mine that I haven't posted before, so it fit really well into that whole lazy-and-didn't-want-to-go-to-a-lot-of-trouble-before-Halloween thing), so I thought I'd post it.

What's scarier than Macauley Culkin? I'm not sure, but if you don't want to know what happens to the dog, I'd skip Track #10.

Enjoy!

Track List:

The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 01 - The Good Son
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 02 - Hospital
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 03 - Mark Arrives
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 04 - Evil
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 05 - Goodbye
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 06 - Treehouse
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 07 - Rocks & Rails
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 08 - Dog Chase
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 09 - Mom
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 10 - Killing the Dog
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 11 - Mr. Highway
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 12 - Dark
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 13 - Skating & Drowning
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 14 - Funeral
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 15 - Susan
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 16 - Richard's Duck
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 17 - Threat
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 18 - The Cliff
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) - 19 - End Credits

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The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) (Rapidshare)
The Good Son (1993) (Elmer Bernstein) (Megaupload)

around 64 MB

Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vols. 1 & 2 (Danny Elfm@n)

2007-11-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

Here's another old rip I pulled out since there are so many Halloween-oriented themes scattered throughout, but normally I wouldn't post this because other people have posted this in various places and it seems like it must be pretty available in stores somewhere, but since it's a special occasion, here it is.

I'm so out of the loop as far as availability goes, but if it is still fairly available, you won't regret buying these too (always gotta love artwork & liner notes and those great double CD jewel cases! I love the way they flip open so you can hold 2 CD's in the space of 1.). Even though I have a bunch of the original scores these came from I still bought these so that should tell you how much you won't regret buying them too. Okay, I can't read your mind through the computer, but I'm still guessing that regret won't be there.

I stuck them all in one large file so it may be a bit of a download, but hey, I'm not twisting your arm. No, actually, I'm not twisting your arm. Look down. See.

I think I just got a bit lazy and didn't want to have to zip them separately, but it's a very nice set nonetheless.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you have any trouble because of the long filenames, you might try opening the files on the desktop if you've got your hard drive folders too deeply nested. And you can always rename them later if you want.

Track List:

Vol. 1:

Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 01 - Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985) - Suite
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 02 - Batman (1989) - Suite
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 03 - Dick Tracy (1990) - Main Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 04 - Beetlejuice (1988) - Main Titles / End Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 05 - Nightbreed (1990) - Main Titles / Meat For The Beast / End Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 06 - Darkman (1990) - Main Titles / Woe The Darkman, Woe
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 07 - Back To School (1986) - Study Montage
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 08 - Midnight Run (1988) - Suite
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 09 - Wisdom (1986) - Change Of Life / Close Call In Albuquerque
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 10 - Hot To Trot (1988) - Main Titles / Wandering Don
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 11 - Big Top Pee Wee (1988) - Main Titles / Rise 'N Shine / Pee Wee's Love Theme
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 12 - The Simpsons - Theme
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 13 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Jar (1986) - Suite
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 14 - Tales From The Crypt - Theme
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 15 - Face Like A Frog - Suite
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 16 - Forbidden Zone (1980) - Love Theme
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 1 - 17 - Scrooged (1988) - Suite

Vol. 2:

Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-01 - Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Main Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-02 - Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Storytime
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-03 - Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Suite
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-04 - Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Suburbia-Barber
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-05 - Edward Scissorhands (1990) - The Grand Finale
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-06 - Dolores Claiborne (1994) - Main Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-07 - Dolores Claiborne (1994) - Vera's World
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-08 - Dolores Claiborne (1994) - Flashback
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-09 - Dolores Claiborne (1994) - Sad Room
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-10 - Dolores Claiborne (1994) - End Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-11 - To Die For (1995) - Main Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-12 - To Die For (1995) - Suzie's Theme
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-13 - To Die For (1995) - Busted
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-14 - To Die For (1995) - Wheepy Donuts
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-15 - To Die For (1995) - Finale
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-16 - Black Beauty (1994) - Main Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-17 - Black Beauty (1994) - Baby Beauty
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-18 - Black Beauty (1994) - Jump For Joy
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-19 - Black Beauty (1994) - Frolick-Sick
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-20 - Black Beauty (1994) - Bye Bye Jerry
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-21 - Black Beauty (1994) - Memories
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-22 - Black Beauty (1994) - End Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-23 - Batman Returns (1992) - Birth Of A Penguin
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-24 - Batman Returns (1992) - Trouble Suite
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-25 - Batman Returns (1992) - The Finale
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 1-26 - Batman Returns (1992) - End Titles

Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-01 - Mission: Impossible (1996) - Trouble
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-02 - Mission: Impossible (1996) - Looking For Job
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-03 - Mission: Impossible (1996) - Betrayal
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-04 - Sommersby (1993) - Main Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-05 - Sommersby (1993) - Return Montage
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-06 - Sommersby (1993) - Finale-End Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-07 - Dead Presidents (1995) - Main Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-08 - Dead Presidents (1995) - Daughter
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-09 - Dead Presidents (1995) - Montage
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-10 - Dead Presidents (1995) - Nam
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-11 - Dead Presidents (1995) - Nightmare
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-12 - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - Overture
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-13 - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - Jack and Sally Suite
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-14 - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - Christmas Eve Montage
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-15 - Freeway - Main Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-16 - Freeway - On the Road
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-17 - Freeway - Back in the Car
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-18 - Shrunken Heads - Main Titles
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-19 - Amazing Stories - Family Dog - Suite Part 1
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-20 - Amazing Stories - Family Dog - Suite Part 2
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-21 - Amazing Stories - Mummy, Daddy
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-22 - Barkley Superhero - Nike Commercial
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-23 - The Flash - Theme
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-24 - Pee Wee's Playhouse - Suite Part 1
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-25 - Pee Wee's Playhouse - Suite Part 2
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-26 - Pee Wee's Playhouse - Suite Part 3
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-27 - Pee Wee's Playhouse - Suite Part 4
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-28 - Beetlejuice (Animated TV Series) - Theme
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vol. 2 - 2-29 - This Is Halloween - Orig. Demo for 'Nightmare Before Christmas'

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Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vols. 1 & 2 (Danny Elfm@n) - Part 1 (Rapidshare)
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vols. 1 & 2 (Danny Elfm@n) - Part 2 (Rapidshare)
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vols. 1 & 2 (Danny Elfm@n) - Part 3 (Rapidshare)
Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vols. 1 & 2 (Danny Elfm@n) - Part 4 (Rapidshare)

OR

Music For A Darkened Theatre, Vols. 1 & 2 (Danny Elfm@n) (Megaupload)

around 314 MB

Suites & Themes from the Scores of John Ottman (Music Inspired by the film 'Cruel Intent|ons') (2000)

2007-11-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

Boy, I don't think I've posted any John Ottman since Eight Legged Freaks (but don't quote me, it gets hard to tell). Another composer I really like (I know, there probably aren't that many that fall into the other category).

This has many fun pieces from various scores and if it's still around run out and buy the CD; you'll really enjoy it! It's always better to have the original, but if you can live with compressed digital copies, be my guest (actually go for both.....it's so much fun to have CD's & mp3's!)

For people who remember the Malcolm McDowell remake of Fantasy Island (there weren't that many episodes, now that I think about it), you'll enjoy hearing the music from it.

And I suppose in keeping with the Halloween theme, 'Halloween H20' sort of fits (along with Snow White: A Tale of Terror, Apt Pupil, Lake Placid......well, you get the idea.) And do you consider 'Cruel Intentions' a horror film?

Enjoy!

Track List:

John Ottman - 01 - Cruel Intent|ons - Pussy
John Ottman - 02 - Cruel Intent|ons - Metropolis
John Ottman - 03 - Cruel Intent|ons - Confessions
John Ottman - 04 - Cruel Intent|ons - Sibling Encounters
John Ottman - 05 - Cruel Intent|ons - Juicy Conspiracy
John Ottman - 06 - Cruel Intent|ons - Reflections
John Ottman - 07 - Cruel Intent|ons - Enticing Deal
John Ottman - 08 - Cruel Intent|ons - Secret Society
John Ottman - 09 - Cruel Intent|ons - Jealousy
John Ottman - 10 - Cruel Intent|ons - Consequences
John Ottman - 11 - Fantasy Island - Suite
John Ottman - 12 - Incognito - Theme (Reprise)
John Ottman - 13 - Halloween H20 - Main Titles
John Ottman - 14 - Snow White: A Tale of Terror - Theme
John Ottman - 15 - The Cable Guy - Theme - ['This Concludes Our Broadcast Day']
John Ottman - 16 - Incognito - Tricks Of The Trade
John Ottman - 17 - Apt Pupil - Theme
John Ottman - 18 - Lake Placid - Suite
John Ottman - 19 - Incognito - The Creation

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John Ottman (Music Inspired by the film 'Cruel Intentions') (Rapidshare)
John Ottman (Music Inspired by the film 'Cruel Intentions') (Megaupload)

around 93 MB

Tentacoli (a.k.a., Tentacles) (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani)

2007-11-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

And since this was in the box right next to 'La Ragazza Di Bube', as I was pulling out 'La Ragazza Di Bube', I accidentally pulled out this one along with it. I always meant to rip and post this a long time ago, but it seemed that at least one other blog posted it back then (probably one of the horror blogs), so I didn't bother.

But in my effort to go ahead and post more duplicates, I decided to go ahead and rip this one while I was at it.

Then, after I ripped it, I happened to visit The Manchester Morgue after a long time away from that great blog (I don't think I've done any extensive blog surfing in 7 or 8 months!) and Phelpster just posted this not that long ago! (Boy, how many times has that happened? Well, usually I see these things before I rip them, so I don't usually bother posting them. Now you know one of the reasons I don't end up posting as much music!) Well, since it was all ready to go anyway, here it is.

You know, it strikes me that I don't talk enough about The Manchester Morgue. It's that same way with all the great blogs out there. It always seems obvious to me how much I like them, but then I realize I hardly mention them on the blog at all. Well, The Morgue is a blog that even if Phelpster weren't posting any music at all, I would enjoy reading it just for the pure entertainment value. The writing and the music is always so enjoyable. I wish I could keep current with all the great blogs out there, but I'm still working on Request Post #4's downloads! Oh, well, thank God Phelpster is still around doing the Morgue.

I'm always afraid I'm going to visit one of these great blogs and they're going to be gone. That's another reason I haven't done much blog surfing lately. Until I can catch up, I don't want to see how much bad news awaits with all the blog closures. I'm still lamenting 7 Black Notes' departure, but at least I know he's still around contributing from time to time so that's always a comfort. Hate to see such a great guy with such a great blog stop blogging and I hope he starts it back up someday.

Well, enough digressing. Hmmm.......Tentacles. There's nothing more I love than seeing Henry Fonda, Shelley Winters, and John Huston in a post-Jaws octopus film. The score isn't actually quite the horror score you would expect, but more of a light, almost fun loungey score. That's probably not entirely accurate. See, I told you I'm terrible at describing music. Well, it's a good score nonetheless. And I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's the first time I've ever had the sentences, 'My Son's Friend Is A Champion Pisser' and 'Happiness Is Having Two Killer Whales As Friends' on the blog.

Enjoy!

Track List:

Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 01 - Small Town Pleasures
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 02 - She'll Never Come Back
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 03 - My Son's Friend Is A Champion Pisser
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 04 - Summer And Winter
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 05 - San Diego, Yellow Cab
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 06 - Happiness Is Having Two Killer Whales As Friends
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 07 - Too Risky A Day For A Regatta
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 08 - Sorry, I Have To Go
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 09 - Scotch For Two
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 10 - The Killer Whales' Games
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 11 - The Capture Of The Giant Octopus
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 12 - Two Old Kids
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) - 13 - Tentacles

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Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) (Rapidshare)
Tentacoli (1977) (Stelvio Cipriani) (Megaupload)

around 91 MB

@ 320 Kbps

La Ragazza Di Bube (a.k.a., Bebo's Girl) (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli)

2007-11-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

I had occasion to read an old Request Post (yes, I do that from time to time especially when I'm behind on my downloading or processing of old files!) and I noticed that 'Isbum' had posted this LP and said if anybody had the CD that they should post it. So I pulled this out and started ripping it when I realized that the track titles seemed familiar. I realized I had read it elsewhere in the Post and sure enough 'D' had already posted the CD later on in response to Isbum's suggestion. Well, since I already started ripping (and since 'D' had posted it on Sendspace and it has since gone dead), I decided to post it anyway.

It's a great score (do 'Isbum' or 'D' post any other kind?) and the CD version contains a couple of tracks at the end not in Isbum's LP rip (though his version had two track #15's one of which, '15 - Village Market part 2' upon a very cursory comparison doesn't seem to be included in the CD version, but it could've just been rolled into one of the other tracks). Either way, download both and enjoy twice the great music!

Track List:

La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 01 - Bube
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 02 - Stefano
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 03 - Rievocazione
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 04 - Liberazione
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 05 - Bube, Addio!
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 06 - ...Un Rimpianto
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 07 - Desiderio Spento
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 08 - Malinconia Lontana
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 09 - Passi
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 10 - Viene La Sera
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 11 - Nebbia Sul Fiume
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 12 - Mara... T'Amo
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 13 - Nascosti!
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 14 - Ricordo Tragico
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 15 - Mercato Paesano
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 16 - Risveglio
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 17 - Ansie
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 18 - Citta Lontana
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 19 - Sei Tu Sola - [C. Cassola & Valentino Bucchi]
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) - 20 - La Ragazza Di Bube - [C. Cassola & Valentino Bucchi]

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La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) (Rapidshare)
La Ragazza Di Bube (1963) (Carlo Rustichelli) (Megaupload)

around 96 MB

@ 320 Kbps

Sirella (1991-1994 Aquatic Show) (Francis Lai)

2007-07-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Bastille Day! I thought I'd post some albums in honor of the occasion and these are dedicated to all the French (and people who live in France) friends, ami(e)s, and readers of this blog like Mickey, Breton Girl, Quinlan, and all the other wonderful Gallic people out there (there are at least one or two other French readers that my mind is having trouble coming up with right now, so let me know who I've forgotten!). Or if you just like French bread, French wine, or French fries, you're perfectly welcome to listen to these as well.

If you've been dying to listen to more music from aquatic shows then this may be the music for you. It's Francis Lai's 'Musique Originale Du Spectacle Feerique De Muriel Hermine Sirella'. 'Sirella, Une Legende De Muriel Hermine, Mise En Scene Par Francis Morane.'

I don't know what the year is for this show since it doesn't seem to be listed anywhere on the album and I didn't have time to come in beforehand to find out, but I'm sure you could do the same Googling that I could if you're really curious. Any album that has a cover with a mermaid riding two sea horses has to make you at least a little bit curious.

Update: Okay, I just looked it up and this show was from 1991 to 1994!

Enjoy!

Track List:

Sirella (Francis Lai) - 01 - Le Parc
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 02 - Sirella (Les Trois Royaumes)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 03 - Sirella (Le Royaume De L'Eau)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 04 - Sirella Sur La Terre (Le Royaume Des Hommes)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 05 - Sirella Dans Les Airs (Le Royaume Des Cieux)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 06 - Le Desespoir De Sirella
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 07 - L'Etre De Lumiere
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 08 - Sirella Sur La Terre (L'Apocalypse)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 09 - Tiyou
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 10 - Sirella Dans Les Airs
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 11 - Sirella (Duo D'Amour)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 12 - L'Etre De Lumiere (La Reapparition)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 13 - Sirella Sur La Terre (La Metamorphose Des Hommes)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 14 - Sirella (Le Ballet Final)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 15 - Le Parc (Le Retour)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - 16 - La Chanson De Sirella - [Vocal - Liliane Davis]

pw = youdont

Sirella (Francis Lai) - Part 1 (Rapidshare) (around 95 MB)
Sirella (Francis Lai) - Part 2 (Rapidshare) (around 84 MB)

OR

Sirella (Francis Lai) (Megaupload)

around 179 MB

@ 320 Kbps

Francois Dompierre - Musiques Originales De Films

2007-07-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

Here's another entry in my celebration of Bastille Day. Some nice music in various styles by Francois Dompierre from assorted movies of the 1980's. Sure, I know this is a bit of a cheat since Francois Dompierre is Canadian, but the music is still good (and the liner notes are in French, at least). After all, I bet the French are sick of listening to composers from France by now. Non? Okay, well at least I bet they're not sick of listening to good music! I know I'm not.

Since I'm not really good at describing music I won't bother to try, but I suppose you can download it and judge it for yourself. Then if you don't like it, you can always delete it. If on the other hand you like it, you'll get the experience of liking it. I think that's how it works. Happy Bastille Day!

Enjoy!

Track List:

01 - Mario (1984) (Francois Dompierre) - L'Exergue
02 - Mario (1984) (Francois Dompierre) - L'Appel Du Coyotte
03 - Le Matou (1985) (Francois Dompierre) - Ratablavaski
04 - Le Matou (1985) (Francois Dompierre) - Monsieur Emile
05 - Le Declin De L'Empire Americain (1986) (Francois Dompierre) - Le Declin De L'Empire Americain
06 - Le Declin De L'Empire Americain (1986) (Francois Dompierre) - La Chasse
07 - Le Declin De L'Empire Americain (1986) (Francois Dompierre) - Le Temps Qui Fuit
08 - The Kid Brother - Kenny (1987) (Francois Dompierre) - Training
09 - The Kid Brother - Kenny (1987) (Francois Dompierre) - The Dog
10 - Les Portes Tournantes (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - Les Portes Tournantes (Ouverture)
11 - Les Portes Tournantes (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - La Gigue Du Val D'Amour
12 - Les Portes Tournantes (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - Le Depart
13 - Les Portes Tournantes (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - Sur Le Quai
14 - Les Portes Tournantes (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - You Don't Kill A Piano Player
15 - Les Portes Tournantes (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - Lauda
16 - Les Portes Tournantes (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - Le Portes Tournantes (Fin)
17 - Urgence (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - Dr. Forest
18 - Urgence (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - L'Artere
19 - Urgence (1988) (Francois Dompierre) - Les Nuages

Mario (1984) by Jean Beaudin
Le Matou (1985) by Jean Beaudin
Le Declin De L'Empire Americain (The Decline Of The American Empire) (1986) by Denys Arcand - [Musique Francois Dompierre Sur Des Themes De Haendel]
The Kid Brother - Kenny (1987) by Claude Gagnon
Les Portes Tournantes (The Revolving Doors) (1988) by Francis Mankiewicz
Urgence (1988) by Colin Lowe & Tony Ianuzielo

pw = youdont

Francois Dompierre - Musiques Originales De Films - Part 1 (Rapidshare) (around 70 MB)
Francois Dompierre - Musiques Originales De Films - Part 2 (Rapidshare) (around 62 MB)

OR

Francois Dompierre - Musiques Originales De Films (Megaupload)

around 132 MB

@ 320 Kbps

L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy)

2007-07-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

And here's another score celebrating Bastille Day. It's a nice dramatic score to the Sylvie Vartan / Michel Piccoli film.

Again, I want to wish all my friends in France that I've met through this blog a happy Bastille Day, a happy belated Fourth of July, and a happy early Christmas!

Enjoy!

Track List:

L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 01 - Cuore Addolorato - [Vocal - Claire D'Asta]
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 02 - Generique Debut
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 03 - L'Annonce Faite Au Mari
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 04 - Explication Du Crime
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 05 - Cecile
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 06 - Le Vieux Juge
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 07 - Provocation De Cecile
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 08 - Fantasme
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 09 - Reception
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 10 - Generique De Fin
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) - 11 - Cuore Addolorato (Version Courte) - [Vocal - Claire D'Asta]

pw = youdont

L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) (Rapidshare)
L'Ange Noir (1994) (Jean Musy) (Megaupload)

around 91 MB

@ 320 Kbps

The Odd Couple (1968 Film) (Neal Hefti) - Re-Up

2007-07-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

Jason (Imagineer1138) had trouble downloading a copy of this file in my archives so I decided to re-up it in a rar file. He got some kind of formatting error in downloading it and I don't know what the problem was. I know some people used to have problems when I used to use zip files instead of rar files in the early days of the blog, but I don't know if that was the problem, but I re-zipped it here in a rar file and added dialogue tracks from MisterLesterKeen's great blog that weren't in my original file.

I haven't had anybody mention having any problems with the files since I switched back to using rar files and so this is probably the first time I've gotten that kind of comment in maybe 7 or 8 months, so I don't know what else it could be.

I don't know if Jason has already gotten help with this problem since he left his comments a few weeks ago, but I thought I'd post it anyway. Hopefully he sees this (If you haven't gotten it yet, please let me know if this works for you!). And if you (or anyone else) has a problem with any of the files, let me know......it may take me a while, but eventually it'll show up on the blog.

Another thing I've noticed is that a few people throughout the course of the blog have been disappointed when they found a Rapidshare file deleted or not working for them but they never even bothered trying the Megaupload file which was still working, but usually this seems to be from new or one-time-only readers. Also, I was in the middle of a massive and total blog re-up of all the old dead Rapidshare.de links to newer Rapidshare.com ones (before my most recent absence) when I lost my Premium account, so unfortunately all of those links (and all the rest of the Rapidshare ones except for the newest ones) aren't connected to an account anymore. I think Rapidshare extended their files from 45 to 90 days, so they're all likely to still be active for a long time, but now I have no way of keeping track of the files at a glance (and I get no Premium points from any of them :(( )

I'll probably re-up all those files again to get them onto my new Premium account. I had only finished the first couple of months' worth of archives (and some random ones in the middle), but it's still quite a few files. So if you see a third link back in the archives, the first one will be to the newer account, the second one will be to the older Rapidshare.com re-up that isn't associated with any Premium account anymore, and the third one will be to Megaupload. Hopefully I haven't hopelessly confused everybody by now!

I normally wouldn't bother as long as the links are still good, but I'd like to have some way of keeping track of all the files and now that Rapidshare gave me an automatic 8000 Premium points for just getting a new account, I actually have a shot at getting a free month in a reasonable amount of time, so I figured if I was going to finish all those re-ups anyway I might as well re-do all the ones I've already done. File that under the 'nobody cares except for nomwl1' category.

And another thing for that category..............And before my absence, I could never get RapidUploader (the software that Rapidshare uses) to work properly. One minute it would upload files, the next it wouldn't and never once have any of the other features on it worked the way they were supposed to. I think it was a combination of the library constantly updating their system here and Rapidshare constantly tweaking and changing their software (every time I come in Rapidshare seems to change something). In fact, for the longest time, it didn't work at all, but when I came back this last time, it finally worked perfectly! Every feature works the way it's supposed to and now it works like a charm. It's fantastic!

In the past when it did work, it used to only be able to upload one file at a time so I was always forced to manually start an upload when one was done, but I still used it because the upload rates were incredibly fast. You can usually do a normal size file in 2-3 minutes. But when it didn't work, I use to have to upload them in the usual way which was usually at a rate of 40 Kbps per second. It would take 20 to 40 minutes to upload one file. It sort of defeated one of the main reasons to have a Premium account. But now that it works, I was able to upload 4 discs worth of files (I had left unfinished before my absence) in a little over an hour! I just put them in the queue, they uploaded one right after the other, and they were done before I knew it. So, now it makes it a lot easier to do re-ups. Hopefully, it'll stay working for a while before they decide to 'improve' it again so it stops working altogether.

Also, a few people have left comments asking me what the password was to open a file. It's usually above the link and on the majority of the files is 'youdont'. On older files, it's 'you_dont_have_to_visit'. Hope that helps some people (and here's hoping they happen to read an entry about The Odd Couple!)

Enjoy!

Track List:

The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 01 - The Odd Couple (Vocal)
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 02 - Domestic Quarrel (Dialogue)
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 03 - Metropole
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 04 - Dirty Poker (Dialogue)
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 05 - Tomatoes
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 06 - Down With The Lights
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 07 - The Odd Couple (Main Title)
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 08 - Clean Poker (Dialogue)
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 09 - Man Chases Man
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 10 - Curse Of The Cat People
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 11 - Oscar Blows Up (Dialogue)
The Odd Couple (1968) (Neal Hefti) - 12 - End Title

pw = youdont

The Odd Couple (1968 Film) (Neal Hefti) (Rapidshare)
The Odd Couple (1968 Film) (Neal Hefti) (Megaupload) (Put in a new link for the old dead one!)

around 54 MB

@ 256 & 320 Kbps

P.S. Oh, yeah. The Odd Couple is a great movie, a great play, and a fantastic soundtrack, Neal Hefti is a great composer, blah, blah, blah.

2007-07-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

ON MYSTERIES ANSWERED, SPAM, AND GREG:

A NOTE TO ANYONE STILL READING THE BLOG. If you see spam (repetitious phrases that are cut and pasted several times) in any of the comment sections, ignore them. I will delete them the next time I come in. I've already deleted the last round of comments.

You know, the last time I came in (when I posted the 4th of July 'Marches-A-Go-Go' compilation), I noticed another round of spamming in addition to comments left by a 'fake' Greg and the 'real' Greg in the top 6 or 7 posts of the blog. This also happened the time before that when I posted all the new posts that included the Alternate Stage Music & TV Chars. Vol. 2 entries.

And it got me to thinking about the goals of all of this. The spam in particular has always been a mystery to me. When the spam first started, it was confined to the Request Post and it only seemed to be in response to all the fighting that was going on in there between Greg and other people. As I mentioned in my essay, I thought this was the spammer's way of commenting on all the turmoil and trying to get people to stop or at least to annoy them. But there have always been several things I could never figure out about the spammer including these particular mysteries:

1) If the spammer's goal was to satirize or lampoon the people arguing, why didn't he ever say anything? Why was it that all of his spam consisted of quotes of the people arguing, but never any threats to keep doing it if people didn't stop or frustration over why it was happening, etc.?

2) Why wasn't the spammer like other people in there who were either mad at Greg or at the people fighting with Greg? Why weren't any of his quotes things like, 'Greg is stupid' or 'I hate Filmpac', etc.?

3) Why did he seem to appear out of nowhere? I had never had this kind of spamming on the blog before.

4) Why did the spammer come back a week or two later after he had done it the first time? The first time he did it, I thought he was frustrated with the fighting and wanted to get people to stop. Sort of like a guy who sees two people fighting and starts screaming at the top of his lungs right next to them to annoy them and get them to quit, I thought. Then there was no more spamming for a week or two and then suddenly it reappeared.

5) When the spammer came back, why did he start doing it over a 2 or 3 day period? The first two times he did it, it was on the weekend, I think, so I thought he was just some random regular reader who was only popping in on a Saturday or Sunday. I thought maybe that was the only time he had an opportunity to read the Request Post. But then he came back and started doing it on a Sunday, Monday, etc.

6) Why was there suddenly long, weird comments in foreign languages? Eventually when the fighting got really bad in there, someone started posting long passages of stories or text in Arabic and other languages that I don't quite remember. Possibly Dutch or French, etc. 4 or 5 of them. But it wasn't offensive as far as I could tell, but just someone or multiple people dumping in 4 or 5 really long passages of text in addition to the spam.

7) Why did the spam suddenly spill out into the main part of the blog? Eventually it left the Request Post and started showing up slowly in a few of the main posts.

8) Why did the spam eventually change to not just quotes from the fights, but things like 'Piss poor moderator' (which I realized later was a quote from Greg in the Request Post) or nonsensical rantings or lewd profanity-laden sentences? It seemed as if there were now 2 or 3 different spammers and now they were starting to say idiotic things not connected to the fighting and they were now using quotes that were attacking me as well as other things.

9) Why was the spam continuing and even getting worse after the fighting seemed to stop and then even after I eventually (and temporarily) shut the Request Post down?

10) Why was the spammer now posting things in the top 6 or 7 posts in things like the Mystery compilation or 'The Railway Children'? He couldn't really have any expectation that very many people would ever read them in the older posts. And certainly spamming things like 'No Music Is Being Posted Here' in a music post never made any sense either.

11) And especially these last couple of times, why was the spam getting worse even though there was fighting at all, the Request Post was closed, and I had just posted a bunch of new music? And this last time, the spam was now saying things like 'Bad blogger', etc. attacking me and the blog. This especially didn't make any sense.

........and there were mysteries about Greg's comments that I could never figure out as well. The last 4 or 5 times I've come in over the last few months, Greg keeps leaving comments about me moderating the blog or failing that, shutting down the Request Post. This last time I came in after I posted my essay on the subject, he left a comment now saying that I should either moderate comments or shut the blog down. He onstensibly was complaining about how what I will call a 'fake' Greg (using a different blogger profile) has been posting comments with links to the pages of 'real' Greg's blog, Soundtrack Rarities. Now Greg's motives, goals and thought processes have always been somewhat of a mystery to me, but here are a few of the nagging ones:

1) Why, after it was clear that I was not going to turn on comment moderation or turn off anonymous comments, did Greg keep beating this dead horse?

2) Why did his latest comment seem even more frustrated than he had been in the past when I already fully explained myself in the essay?

3) Why did he expect me to shut my own blog down? There wasn't anyone saying anything bad about him anymore. The Request Post was temporarily shut down. No more fighting going on. Did he seriously think I was going to shut down my blog because someone is posting links to the pages of his blog?

4) Why did he keep coming back here when things were already pretty quiet?

5) Why was he constantly so outraged about this 'fake' Greg? 'Fake' Greg wasn't saying anything bad about him. He wasn't pretending to be him and saying a bunch of obnoxious things. He was simply posting links to the pages of Greg's blog. He wasn't even posting the actual links to the files, but to the blog pages. Why should this bother Greg to the extent that he wanted me to shut the blog down?

I STARTED THINKING ABOUT SOME OF THESE MYSTERIES WHILE I WAS READING THIS LAST ROUND OF COMMENTS AND SPAM. I could never figure out the goals of the spammer and I kept thinking about Greg's goals. Then it dawned on me (and I know a lot of you will be way ahead of me on this), but then I realized that their goals were identical!

Now, for obvious reasons, when the spamming first started, I suspected Greg of doing it, but I dismissed it because I didn't feel that was Greg's style. When he wants to attack or annoy people, he just insults them directly. He didn't seem to be the type of person to hide behind anonymous nicknames, etc. He didn't seem to care if people were annoyed with him anyway so why would he bother to hide, let alone spam? So I assumed it was a regular reader who decided to attack the people fighting. This really bothered me to think it was a regular reader since he was essentially just attacking the blog and what regular reader has ever hated the blog enough to attack it like that?

BUT IF YOU CONSIDER THAT IT WAS GREG DOING THE SPAMMING from the very beginning and that his goal was to attack me and the blog so that I would have to turn off anonymous comments or turn on comment moderation, then every single mystery and question mark that I could never understand about all of these situations is perfectly answered!

He was trying to make it look like multiple spammers totally unrelated to him were doing this. He also wanted to annoy other people here, but not look bad doing it.

=================================================================

MYSTERIES ANSWERED:

1) If the spammer's goal was to satirize or lampoon the people arguing, why didn't he ever say anything? Because Greg knew if he said anything people would be able to tell that it was him doing it. Also, that's Greg's style. He often leaves links advertising his blog or other blogs and says very little or nothing at all. Just like the spam. And since his goal was not only to annoy other people, but to create such a chaotic atmosphere that I would be forced to turn off anonymous comments or turn on comment moderation, he didn't care about saying anything like 'stop the fighting and I'll stop.'

2) Why wasn't the spammer like other people in there who were either mad at Greg or at the people fighting with Greg? Well, obviously he wasn't going to post quotes that made him look bad and he knew if he directly insulted people he was fighting with but not himself with these spamming quotes that people would automatically know it was him.

3) Why did he seem to appear out of nowhere? Well, he didn't. He was here all the time. It always bothered me to think that all of this fighting was prompting a disgruntled regular reader to attack my blog by spamming it and then later a bunch of weirdos to descend on it with weird and nonsensical spam. But when you consider that it was just one weirdo who was here the whole time, it makes a lot more sense. I knew that people who came here didn't suddenly become idiotic. It just didn't seem characteristic of people who visited this blog. But who was the one visitor who's been as persistent, obsessive and irrational as the spammer?

4) Why did the spammer come back a week or two later after he had done it the first time? Because Greg thought it would work the first time, but when I didn't bow to his wishes, he decided to keep doing it.

5) When the spammer came back, why did he start doing it over a 2 or 3 day period? Because he thought doing it on the weekends when I usually came in would attract my attention. He didn't realize that I was gone during that whole period. So then he started doing it more often and on different days. I could never figure out why the spammer just happened to follow these arguments at the right times and was following them closely enough to pick out specific quotes. But I'm glad to know it was confined to just one nut and not anybody else.

6) Why were there suddenly long, weird comments in foreign languages? When the initial spamming didn't work, Greg thought he would up the ante and do something that was really noticeable but not too offensive. He wanted to keep out anonymous people but he didn't want to disrupt the atmosphere so much that he killed the Request Post. He still wanted to be able to advertise his blog. It must've really drove Greg crazy when I deleted all of it, but wouldn't turn off anonymous comments!

7) Why did the spam suddenly spill out into the main part of the blog? When the obnoxious spam didn't work in the Request Post, he decided to really get my attention and he started attacking the main part of the blog. He thought he would convince me that there was a bigger problem here that wasn't just confined to the Request Post.

8) Why did the spam eventually change to not just quotes from the fights, but things like 'Piss poor moderator' (which I realized later was a quote from Greg in the Request Post) or nonsensical rantings or lewd profanity-laden sentences? After everything else failed to work, he started getting upset with me and shifted from random quotes to other things hoping that it would convince me of the seriousness of the problem of these random anonymous people showing up here. He also wanted to make me think that it was more than one person so some of them were quotes and others were nonsensical rantings. Nobody has ever left weird sexual comments or ones attacking me before, so I always thought it was completely odd how it just spontaneously started. The irony is that Greg thought this would convince me that anonymous people were bad but all it did was make me more disgusted with how Greg had ruined the atmosphere here to the point that these weirdos had suddenly showed up.

9) Why was the spam continuing and even getting worse after the fighting seemed to stop and then eventually I temporarily shut the Request Post down? Because it was never about people's disappointment over the lack of music being posted or even all the fighting. The goal was to attack the blog regardless of what was going on. That was one of Greg's mistakes. Eventually the irrationality of it was too much of a Greg trademark to think it was anybody else.

10) Why was the spammer now posting things in the top 6 or 7 posts in things like the Mystery compilation or 'The Railway Children'? Because he wasn't trying to spam readers or annoy people fighting with him. He was trying to get my attention and he knew I read the comment sections of those posts. Annoying people who came here and happened to read those comments was just an added bonus to him.

11) And these last couple of times, why was the spam getting worse even though there was no more fighting, the Request Post was closed, and I had just posted a bunch of new music? Again, that was Greg's fundamental mistake. That's what made it so obvious that he was doing it. Who else but him would come here and do that? Why would someone else be disgusted that I posted a lot of new music and call me a bad blogger? Because Greg didn't care anything about the music. He never did and probably never has. He just wants to get people to visit his blog, I think, and have a place he can hang out where people won't ban him.

AND WHAT ABOUT THOSE GREG MYSTERIES?:

1) Why, after it was clear that I was not going to turn on comment moderation or turn off anonymous comments, did Greg keep beating this dead horse? Because he kept expecting that his harassing tactics would change my mind. That's why he kept bringing it up. Anybody else would've stopped asking or drifted away by now. He was waiting for the spamming and trolling to take effect and that's why he kept asking me the same question over and over again.

2) Why did his latest comment seem even more frustrated than he had been in the past when I already fully explained myself in the essay? Because he expected that when I posted that essay that I was going to say that I was turning off anonymous comments, but when I didn't, it drove him even crazier. If he wasn't the one spamming, he would've just accepted my explanation and moved on. But it drove him absolutely nuts that his spamming wasn't working. And it also explains why he keeps saying that I'm the one who has ruined the blog by not moderating comments. He thinks it was all the trolling against him that was the problem and he thought spamming and attacking me was the solution. When I wouldn't do what he wanted me to do, he blamed me for not doing comment moderation and so in his mind, I was the obstacle to restoring the Request Post to what it once was. And he resented this because he wasn't able to participate at Isbum's or any other forum in the same way. That's why he obsesses about it over here. He still fails to understand that it was he who ruined the Request Post, not the trolls or me. As long as he's here, it's never going to be any good.

3) Why did he expect me to shut my own blog down? Because if I wasn't going to do what he wanted, he would rather I just blow the whole place up to prevent people from ever saying anything about him here. I think he wanted to still be able to have some place to comment but without the possibility of anonymous people attacking him. That's why he keeps commenting at Isbum's place. He knows Isbum will keep out anonymous people and he hopes that if he doesn't say anything too obnoxious that maybe Isbum will let his comments go through. He's too dense to see the rule about no Greg's there. But since he knows he can't comment there without Isbum deleting it (and God knows how many other places are keeping him out), he knows he's still able to comment here and he's hoping he can do that but without the harassment. He claims not to have read my essay, but he now knows that he's no longer welcome here and that I'll delete his comments when I see them in any other parts of the blog, so if he can't convince me to do comment moderation he would rather I just shut the whole place down. That's also why he didn't care about reporting my blog to Blogger.com before. It's almost too funny. At every turn, he's thwarted.

4) Why did he keep coming back here when things were already pretty quiet? Because he was waiting to see the response to each round of spam. And because he likes obsessively attacking things. And because this is one of the few places where his comments will stay up for a while. And because he's generally vengeful. And I think he's vainly hoping that if I turn off anonymous comments and re-open the Request Post he can still hang out here and things will be peaceful. He knows if he starts a Request Post at his place there won't be enough people for it to work. That's probably why he's never done it at his place. I almost suspect that he figures that if I shut this place down, more people will go over to his place. I know....that sounds pretty irrational to me too.

5) Why was he constantly so outraged about this 'fake' Greg? Because he wasn't. He was just using this as an excuse to give me a reason as to why he was still upset and why I should do moderation. Since he knew the Request Post was closed he couldn't claim I should moderate comments when nobody was fighting with him anymore. And he wasn't about to fake comments insulting himself, so what else could he do? He had to pretend to be 'fake' Greg to give himself an excuse to keep asking me about moderation while having the added bonus of advertising his blog so people would still go over there.

-------------------

Here's an example:

'Fake' Greg:
-----------

CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC (1980) - Village People special edition soundtrack

Movie Radio Spots - SciFi Movies

NANCY DREW (1938-1939) - Music themes from the original film classics

THE WIZARD OF OZ - 1950 Lux Radio Theater broadcast with Judy garland

THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) - Deluxe soundtrack edition

THE WIZARD OF OZ - 1939 Maxwell House Good News radio broadcast
# posted by Greg : Tuesday, June 26, 2007 10:17:00 AM

...and the 'real' Greg:
----------------------

....and here we go AGAIN! SEE WHAT I MEAN, NOMWL? Same thing I said in the other Comments on your blog's homepage.....and you're going to let THIS sort of shit continue? :-P

I am NOT posting these links to my blog....whoever the asshole is doing this, they THINK they're making people THINK it's me.....but they're too fucking stupid to realize that the profile number of my REAL name (as is in this posting) is DIFFERENT than the profile number THEY have.

Sorry, Nomwl....but you brought this on yourself by NOT moderating your blog's comments!

# posted by Greg : Tuesday, June 26, 2007 8:12:00 PM

------------------

That's why it never made any sense. Who would be that upset about somebody essentially advertising his blog? Anybody pretending to be him just to annoy him would have no reason to think he's going to read the comment section of 'The Railway Children'. And why would this 'fake' Greg have any expectation that a whole lot of other people would read it in an old comment section anyway? And even more stupidly, in this last round of comments, the 'real' Greg had this 'fake' Greg leave a long list of links to his blog, the 'real' Greg leaves an outraged comment claiming that this isn't him after that, and then the 'fake' Greg leaves 3 or 4 updated links to new entries at Greg's blog right after that. Who in their right mind is going to think that that's a 'fake' Greg?

And this 'fake' Greg never says anything bad about Greg or makes any other comment except for leaving links. Again, another Greg trademark (identical to the spamming). In fact, another big tip-off that this was Greg doing this is that he did the same thing two times in a row. He'd leave a comment in the first 6 or 7 posts as 'fake' Greg (or something else I can't remember) under a different blogger profile, he'd leave a comment as the 'real' Greg right after that, and then do a bunch of spamming (different comments in each post) right after that. He's done this same thing the last two times I came in. All practically in unison. Do it once and it might be a coincidence. Do it twice and you're just an idiot.

And I thought it was odd that the 'fake' Greg posted his comments first before the spam. In the past, the spam always seemed to be first to discourage comments. But of course, if the 'real' Greg had the 'fake' Greg post all those links after the spam, people would be a lot less likely to read the advertisements to his blog.

But one of the biggest things that got me to think along these lines was that one of the last pieces of spam I read maybe 3 weeks before I came in to post the Alternative Stage Music, et al. was one saying something like 'You should shut this blog down'. Now at the time it seemed odd because up until then nobody had ever said that. Everybody who came here either wanted to see it stay open or expressed dismay over the situation, but nobody ever wanted me to shut it down. And the rest of the spam here had either been quotes or nonsensical or profane rants, but this was the first one that seemed to address me specifically with a request like that. I didn't think too much about it. I just figured someone didn't like seeing what was happening here so I deleted it, but I still thought it was pretty odd because it didn't make sense. Usually people bothered by the comments would just stop reading them or stay away until things got better. Nobody expressed the feeling that it should go away altogether.

And then I read this most recent comment by Greg saying how I should shut the blog down if I wasn't going to moderate comments. Still, I didn't immediately make the connection, but once I realized what the real method in all this madness was, it all fit neatly into place.

And then later, when I finally read the comment section of the Essay post at home, I saw that Breton Girl and Filmpac had pointed out more things. Breton Girl too noticed how the spam had changed and was now attacking me and the blog. And Filmpac pointed out that Greg had accidentally used his real blogger profile when he cut and pasted some new spam in that comment section. Greg claimed he was just adding to the actual spammer, but if anybody needs any more proof, there it is. If I hadn't been thinking this already, by the time I read that I might've been tempted to think it could still be a coincidence. After all, all of this is just conjecture and circumstantial, and so even with something like using his own blogger profile, etc. it could still be someone else doing it the rest of the time. But all those things that didn't make sense before are so perfectly answered by Greg's twisted motives and behavior that it seems impossible to think anything else.

I think Greg relies on the very tenuous hope that without proof, people will still give him the benefit of the doubt. But it all becomes too obvious when he and the spammer are the only ones still leaving obnoxious comments. No one else has reason to at this point.

Oh, and here's another comment he left pretending to be someone else:

NOMWL, SORRY TO SAY THIS<> THIS SHIT WILL NEVER STOP UNLESS YOU MODERATE YOUR BLOG OR SHUT IT THE HELL DOWN!!!!
# posted by the anality of evil : Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:26:00 AM

He's still trying to convince me that other people are copying his comments and attacking the blog.

Actually, I suppose I would be madder at Greg if he weren't so ridiculous. You probably can't tell, but I'm laughing hysterically right now thinking of how he kept wanting me to turn on comment moderation or get rid of anonymous people and he's been frustrated at every turn. (He can't even get Blogger.com to do his dirty work.) And it has only been my stubborness which has kept me from seriously considering it. But of course, knowing now that it's really just Greg who wants this, you can probably tell I have no intention of ever doing it.

The thing Greg failed to realize is that it was never the trolling or the spamming that really bothered me. The spamming was like a mosquito biting my neck. Greg was like a German Shepherd eating my leg. I'm hardly going to be bothered by the spamming. Greg already ruined the atmosphere here with his treatment of other people; the spamming was only icing on the cake.

You know, I almost suspect the reason that he attacked other people here in the Request Post until he drove them away and later seemed to get along with newer readers here once he had driven out so many other people was that he might've resented and envied people like Isbum, Filmpac, Rocket and others. (Of course, his disgusting treatment of Breton Girl is still a mystery to me since she wasn't posting as much music as those guys, but it probably just fits in with the whole 'Greg is a jerk' theory.) I get the feeling that he was intimidated by those guys and felt the need to put them down, but once he could be the one providing links and info to people then he settled down. And I suspect that's why he wants to hang out here because he wants to be 'king of the hill' and 'big man on campus' here without people criticizing him.

It also explains why he wants to shut this blog down. He probably doesn't want this material hanging around here if he can't lord it over people without getting called on it. I can't really see why I would intimidate him, but maybe he's bothered by anyone who really knows the kind of person he is. Only newer people would tolerate him and allow him to play the role of chief music fulfiller and information dispenser. I would normally think he could do this at his own blog and I still have a hard time understanding why he needs my blog to do it, but that seems to be the only explanation. He may not have enough people coming over to his blog to do it. Failing that, he would like to try and shut down every other place that threatens his sense of being a 'big man'.

Actually, I do kind of hate to psychoanalyze someone like that since it seems unfair, but well forgive any lapse in fair play since he's been attacking my blog. I'm not really all that mad or even irritated at Greg even though it may seem that way. It's a relief to know that I don't have a bunch of malcontents at the blog, but just one really annoying and persistent one. It actually makes me feel a lot better about the blog (though I have to say my opinion of Greg has gone down somewhat).

SO IT'S CLEAR THAT GREG IS DELIBERATELY ATTACKING THIS BLOG WITH SPAM AND LINKS TO HIS OWN BLOG. And he wants to shut it down if he can't get his own way. And if you see any of this spam or any of his comments anywhere on this blog, please ignore them until I can delete them. (And if you want to ignore them at other blogs too, please feel perfectly free.) You can go to his blog if you see something you think is interesting on one of his 'fake' Greg advertisements, but also be aware that you're just validating his childish attacks and his selfish desire to advertise his blog. Still, I don't think you should have to miss out on good music just because the person posting it is.....well, Greg, but just keep in mind who's really advertising his blog. It's certainly not a 'fake' Greg.

And I should be opening up a new Request Post some time in the future, so if you see Greg doing any of that stuff in there too, ignore it.

And to Greg, you're certainly welcome to continue spamming me, but just know that I realize what you're doing, so it isn't going to work. You might as well leave and stay away because I'm going to delete your comments when I see them. (Depending on what they are, I might leave them up in the comment section of the Essay post, but anywhere else and they're going to be deleted along with your spam and advertisements.)

I hate censorship and would normally never do it under any circumstances but Greg is an extreme and isolated case. I'm not deleting his comments for the benefit of anyone else. Not for any of the people who left, any of the trolls who fight with him or because he's cluttering up my blog. I delete them simply because I'm fed up with him showing up here all the time. I don't know how I can make it any plainer. He constantly goes where he's not wanted and I've tried to give him every chance to make a graceful exit, but he insists on attacking blogs where he's not welcome. Anybody else would've stopped by now, but since he is so persistently returning here with his comments, obnoxious behavior, and spamming, I will basically delete his comments whenever I come in. I know it's kind of pain for everyone else to have to read them until they're gone, but try to ignore them. Don't respond to him if you can help it. If you want to fight with him, do it in the comment section of the Essay Post. Thanks!

It's a real shame. He could've been a pretty good member of the blogging community, but he chose this route. He couldn't be satisfied with just getting along with people. Oh, well. His loss, not anybody else's I suppose.

P.S. And I suspect Greg's reaction to this will be to deny it and continue to show up here. He may even continue to spam or make even worse comments pretending to be other people. If so, just continue to ignore it. Thanks!

Soundtrack Gamut, Vol. 4 - Marches-A-Go-Go

2007-07-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, just in time for the Fourth of July (here's hoping I can come in before that to post this), I thought I'd make up this compilation. This is another one of those ultimate rush jobs because I only thought of doing it over the weekend, so again didn't have a lot of time to polish it up, but it'll just have to do.

As with the Cannibals-A-Go-Go compilation, there's really no 'Go-Go' here, but you get the idea.

When I thought of doing something for Independence Day, I thought about doing patriotic songs and/or music, etc., but I didn't really have time to do a good one and I figure a lot of people will probably be posting those (and much better ones too!), so I opted against it. In fact, I remember a great patriotic compilation Lazar at Lazar's Lounge posted a long time ago that may still be available.

Of course, what does a march compilation have to do with the Fourth of July? It's probably better suited to Memorial Day or even Veteran's Day (or possibly Everyone-Walk-In-Unison Day), but it seemed right somehow.

And there are so many great marches you could choose from, you could probably do five volumes. In fact, I like to think of this compilation as part of my 'Lazy Series' (you could think of this as Lazy Series, Vol. 1....hopefully, there will be more installments to come). Those are ones where I don't have to think too much, pretty much anyone can come up with them in their sleep, and no one really needs me to do them. Now that I think about it, there are probably quite a few of those comps on the blog already, but, well, here's another one.

Originally, Soundtrack Gamut, Vol. 4 was going to be Crime and Punishment, but I stopped working on that one. Actually, one of the only reasons I started that one was to fulfill Jordan's request for some music from 'Harry In Your Pocket', but 'Filmpac' generously posted the entire soundtrack, so I sort of lost interest in finishing it. It didn't seem as good as the Mystery or Spy comps anyway which is why I was never too motivated to work on it, but maybe I'll finish it sometime later when I get inspired (and yes, that falls into the category of 'no one but me cares', but so does the entire blog really, so why should this be any different?).

You know it's interesting (well, to me anyway), but when it comes time to do some of these comps, the selection and order of the tracks comes very quickly, but it's all the clean-up work that I hate to do and that's what drags them out. If I were just making these up for my own listening pleasure without posting them, then my tendency is to listen to them several times and if for instance, there's something I don't like, some transition that bothers me, or some track that's not so interesting, I change it around over a long period of time. So these things sit on my hard drive until I can listen to them many times or just because I don't want to clean them up.

But when I want to post one on the blog for some special occasion and I do it very quickly, that whole process gets compressed into a very short space of time. I end up listening to some of these 3 or 4 times in the space of a day or two. So ironically, picking the tracks to use is very easy, but it's smoothing them out to get a finished product that's the exhausting part. Just normalizing the tracks alone can take a long time! For my own listening pleasure, I can live with a few variances in volume and quality, but when you think about a blog post that goes out to everyone else and that you can't change once it's finished, then you hate to upload a file where one track is five times louder than the next one or you've accidentally tagged it with the name 'Gerry Joldsmith'. But that's probably just my anal retentive nature. I suppose if you've got to retain something though, that's probably a good choice. Otherwise it just makes it hard to eat (not to mention all the mess involved).

Well, you should enjoy this if you want to celebrate American Independence, if you want to listen to some good music, or if you just feel like walking in cadence!

Track List:

SG4 - 01 - The Great Escape (1963) (Elmer Bernstein) - Main Title
SG4 - 02 - The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) (Malcolm Arnold) - The River Kwai March / Colonel Bogey [comp. Malcolm Arnold / Kenneth Alford]
SG4 - 03 - The Longest Day (1962) (Maurice Jarre) - The Longest Day March
SG4 - 04 - What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? (1966) (Henry Mancini) - Swing March
SG4 - 05 - 1941 (1979) (John Williams) - The March From '1941'
SG4 - 06 - Stripes (1981) (Elmer Bernstein) - Stripes March
SG4 - 07 - The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966) (Johnny Mandel) - Main Titles
SG4 - 08 - Inspector Clouseau (1968) (Ken Thorne) - March
SG4 - 09 - The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) (Henry Mancini) - The Great Waldo Pepper March (Whistling Version)
SG4 - 10 - Circus World (1964) (Dimitri Tiomkin) - John Wayne March
SG4 - 11 - Silent Movie (1976) (John Morris) - Silent Movie March
SG4 - 12 - The Dam Busters (1954) (Eric Coates) - March: 'The Dam Busters' - [Adrian Leaper cond. Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orch. (Bratislava) (1992)]
SG4 - 13 - The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex (1939) (Erich Wolfgang Korngold) - Main Title & Essex's Victory March - [Lionel Newman cond. Warner Bros. Studio Orch. (1961)]
SG4 - 14 - The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938) (Erich Wolfgang Korngold) - March Of The Merry Men & Battle - [Lionel Newman cond. Warner Bros. Studio Orch. (1961)]
SG4 - 15 - El Cid (1961) (Miklos Rozsa) - El Cid March - [James Sedares cond. New Zealand Symphony Orch. (1996)]
SG4 - 16 - Spartacus (1960) (Alex North) - Main Title
SG4 - 17 - The Caine Mutiny (1954) (Max Steiner) - March - [Charles Gerhardt cond. National Philharmonic Orch. (1973)]
SG4 - 18 - The Great Race (1965) (Henry Mancini) - The Great Race March
SG4 - 19 - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (John Williams) - The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)
SG4 - 20 - Superman - The Movie (1978) (John Williams) - The March Of The Villains
SG4 - 21 - Thunderbirds (TV) (Barry Gray) - Thunderbirds Are Go!
SG4 - 22 - The Last Starfighter (1984) (Craig Safan) - Main Title
SG4 - 23 - You Only Live Twice (1967) (John Barry) - Space March
SG4 - 24 - Patton (1970) (Jerry Goldsmith) - Main Title
SG4 - 25 - Return To Oz (1985) (David Shire) - The 'Return To Oz' Rag March
SG4 - 26 - Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) (John Williams) - End Credits

pw = youdont

Soundtrack Gamut, Vol. 4 - Marches-A-Go-Go - Part 1 (Rapidshare) (around 90 MB)
Soundtrack Gamut, Vol. 4 - Marches-A-Go-Go - Part 2 (Rapidshare) (around 68 MB)

OR

Soundtrack Gamut, Vol. 4 - Marches-A-Go-Go (Megaupload)

around 158 MB

Repost - 1776 Film Soundtrack

2007-07-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

Update: I thought I'd post this one again. Enjoy!

And in honor of the upcoming Fourth of July, here's the soundtrack to the 1972 film musical, '1776', starring William Daniels as John Adams, Howard Da Silva as Ben Franklin, & Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson. I remember watching this movie in the theater when I was a kid and it's still a favorite. For a while, it used to be an annual tradition that this film would be shown on television every Independence Day, but for some reason they've stopped showing it. I guess America's gotten a lot less patriotic or something.

It's amazing how the film is able to build tension about whether everyone is going to sign the Declaration of Independence or not. You'd think they wouldn't be able to create genuine suspense as to the outcome particularly when everybody knows how it's going to turn out, but they actually do. Now that's storytelling.

Today, Blythe Danner may be arguably best known as Gwyneth Paltrow's mom, but back then she played Martha Jefferson. I bet some people back then probably thought she was married to Ken Howard in real life; between this movie and the TV show, 'Adam's Rib', in which they played the Hepburn & Tracy roles, they had a good on-screen chemistry. And while I think Gwyneth Paltrow is gorgeous, Blythe Danner is the one who still does it for me. She was hot back then and she's still hot today. (Excuse the drooling..........but I digress.....)

People will also recognize familiar actors such as John Myhers and John Cullum. I never watched the TV show, 'Northern Exposure', but I guess that's what John Cullum may be best known for. I associate him with his stage work though. The same thing goes for William Daniels too. I never watched the TV show, 'St. Elsewhere' either, but I suppose that's what he's best known for. Or to some people, as the voice of K.I.T.T. on the Knightrider TV show. I associate him with other TV or film appearances though. I always think of him in the movie, 'The President's Analyst', as the suburban father. He was so good at playing the uptight establishment characters or cold, unemotional people, so it's good to see him play passionate, rebellious characters like this too.

I decided to put up the film soundtrack instead of the original Broadway production or the revivial since as far as I know the film soundtrack isn't available anywhere (although I haven't checked lately, so it may have come out as far as I know).

Well, enjoy the soundtrack and have a great Independence Day!

pw = you_dont_have_to_visit

1776 (1972 Film) (Sherman Edwards)

Track List:

01 - Orchestra - Overture
02 - William Daniels & Company - Sit Down, John
03 - William Daniels & Virginia Vestoff - Piddle, Twiddle, And Resolve; Till Then
04 - Ronald Holgate, Howard Da Silva, & William Daniels - The Lees of Old Virginia
05 - William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard, Rex Robbins, & John Myhers - But, Mr. Adams
06 - William Daniels & Virginia Vestoff - Yours, Yours, Yours
07 - Blythe Danner, Howard Da Silva, & William Daniels - He Plays The Violin
08 - Donald Madden, David Ford, & Chorus - Cool, Cool, Considerate Men
09 - Stephen Nathan, William Duell, & Mark Montgomery - Momma Look Sharp
10 - Howard Da Silva, William Daniels, & Ken Howard - The Egg
11 - John Cullum - Molasses To Rum
12 - William Daniels & Virginia Vestoff - Compliments
13 - William Daniels - Is Anybody There
14 - David Ford & Ralston Hill - Finale

Rapidshare link:

1776 Film Soundtrack

OR

Megaupload link:

1776 Film Soundtrack

Repost For The Tony's (Well, Long After) - Alternative Stage Music, Vols. 3 - 5

2007-06-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

And in honor of the upcoming Tony Awards, I thought I'd share a bunch of compilations I made up a while ago.

I call it 'alternative' because I use that term as a general label for anything that isn't done in the normal style of or serves as an alternative to the usual type of, in this case, stage music. I only mention it because some people might think it's a misnomer or that it's misleading as if it was alt-rock or something, but it's just a term I use in my own mind when I think about these things (and yes, I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm not great at categorizing music, so I don't realize it might be confused with the alternative music category until somebody points out that that might be misleading.).

And while I'm at it, just in case anybody was wondering (yeah, right!), I might as well mention that I tend to call it 'stage music'. Other people say show music, show tunes, or musicals, but I don't usually use those terms because to me THOSE seem misleading. Of course, maybe that's just in my own twisted mind. I sometimes say 'show music', but not usually because music is also used as underscoring for dramatic plays and not just for musical shows (though it's a distinction that doesn't usually come up, but I actually do have some stage underscoring in my collection somewhere, so that's why I do it).

And I don't usually say 'show tunes' because the word 'tunes' to me always implies melodies without lyrics or individual songs versus the whole score from a stage musical. It makes it sound like a song from the Hit Parade or America's Top 40 instead of the entire score or it makes it sound like a wordless melody that you hum instead of sing. If somebody talks about 'show tunes', it always makes me think, 'You mean just the melodies from a show?' For a split-second, I can't help but get confused. Also, the phrase has become a little pejorative. "It's not good music, but just 'show tunes'". People now seem to use the phrase to marginalize the music in the same demeaning way that they've used the phrases, 'elevator music' or 'easy listening', for instance. A label that instantly implies a category of music that people shouldn't like or that only a certain demographic should like. It used to be that a huge percentage of songs on the Top 40 came from the stage or from films, but now it seems to be treated as something as far removed from popular culture as opera or ballet, so the pejorative use of the phrase seems to reinforce that somehow. So, if you couldn't guess it by now, that's the term I like the least.

And finally, out of those three other options I'd probably use 'musical' most often, but I tend to think of film musicals when I say that, so I just say stage musical or stage music instead. Needless nitpicking or sound distinctions that are vital to our nation's security? I'll let you decide.

Also, if you're wondering why I started with Volume 3, it's because I left Volumes 1 & 2 (which I haven't made up yet) open. Many, many years back, I made up a 90-minute tape compilation I called 'Alternative Stage Music'. When I eventually got the capability to make digital compilations, I always wanted to make up a new version of the tape for CD, but I never got around to pulling out all the original sources and figuring out how I was going to reconfigure it to fit the extra time in order to fill up Volume 2.

That's always the problem with trying to convert the 90-minute tapes I really liked in order to fit 74 minutes onto a CD. In fact, so far I don't think I've actually re-done any of my old tape comps for that very reason. I'd either have to come up with an extra hour's worth of music that fits the theme to fill up a second CD or cut out 16 minutes from the original tape. A lot of the tapes were timed out just the way I liked them and worked very nicely thematically, so I've been reluctant to tackle that particular problem. Either way I'd be substantially changing some of the things I liked originally, so if part of my rationale was to digitally preserve my tape, I'd be defeating one of the purposes. Oh, well. It's probably another one of those things that only I care about...........Well, anyway, enjoy the current offerings of musical fun (and if I ever make up Volumes 1 & 2, I'll put those up too):

Where applicable I included the English titles for the songs in brackets next to the foreign language titles.

pw = you_dont_have_to_visit - on all 3 volumes

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 3:

Track List:

01 - Buenos Aires Cast - Tradition - from 'Fiddler on the Roof (El Violinista Sobre El Tejado)' - [in Spanish]
02 - Vienna Cast - All Der Jazz - [All That Jazz] - from 'Chicago' - [in German]
03 - Karin Huebner, Paul Hubschmid, Friedrich Schonfelder, & Chorus - Es Grünt So Grün! - [The Rain in Spain] - from 'My Fair Lady' (1961 German Cast)
04 - Rita, Char. Of Mrs. Pearce, & Chambermaids - I Could Have Danced All Night - from 'My Fair Lady' (1986 Israeli Cast) - [in Hebrew]
05 - 1992 Norwegian Cast - Med I Familien Vår - [Consider Yourself] - from 'Oliver!'
06 - 1996 Japanese Cast - Be Our Guest - from 'Beauty and the Beast'
07 - 1998 Mexico Cast - Everything's Coming Up Roses - from 'Gypsy'
08 - Italian Cast - Questa Volta - [Maybe This Time] - from 'Cabaret'
09 - 1998 Antwerp Cast - I Dreamed a Dream - from 'Les Miserables' (Belgian Cast) - [in Flemish]
10 - 1972 Swedish Cast - Vart Ska Min Kärlek Föra - [I Don't Know How To Love Him] - from 'Jesus Christ Superstar'
11 - Elenco Original Mexicano - Dios Salva Al Mundo - [Save the People] - from 'Godspell' (1996 Cast)
12 - 2001 Mexican Cast - Noches De Verano - [Summer Nights] - from 'Grease (Vaselina)'
13 - Mexico Cast - I Got Rhythm - from 'Crazy For You'
14 - Cast - Me Siento Guapa - [I Feel Pretty] - from 'West Side Story' - [in Spanish]
15 - Maaike Widdershoven & Cast - De Dingen Waar Ik Zo Van Hou - [My Favorite Things] - from 'The Sound of Music' (2002 Dutch Cast)
16 - Israeli Cast - Do Re Mi - from 'The Sound of Music (T'zlili Hamuzika)' - [in Hebrew]
17 - Oded Te'omi, Shlomo Bar-Shavit, & Rita - Why Can't The English? - from 'My Fair Lady' (1986 Israeli Cast) - [in Hebrew]
18 - Roberto Blandón & Susana Zabaleta - El Sueño Imposible (El Ideal) - [The Impossible Dream] - from 'Man of La Mancha' (2000 Mexican Cast)
19 - 1988 Hungarian Cast - Hallod E A Nép Dalát (Finálé) - [Finale - Do You Hear The People Sing] - from 'Les Miserables'

Total Time: 1:13:05

around 100 MB

Rapidshare links (You'll need both parts before extracting):

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 3 - Part 1

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 3 - Part 2

OR

Megaupload link (in one big file):

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 3

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 4:

Track List:

01 - 1972 Brasilian Cast - Superstar - from 'Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesus Cristo Superstar)' - [in Portuguese]
02 - 1991 Icelandic Cast - Tíðhnit - [The Time Warp] - from 'The Rocky Horror Show'
03 - 2001 Mexican Cast - El Rock Nació Conmigo - [Born to Hand-Jive] - from 'Grease' - [in Spanish]
04 - Cast - America - from 'West Side Story' - [in Spanish]
05 - 1992 Norwegian Cast - D'er Et Fint Liv - [It's A Fine Life] - from 'Oliver!'
06 - Elenco Original Mexicano - Todo Es Para Ti - [All For The Best] - from 'Godspell' (1996 Cast) - [in Spanish]
07 - Katja Brauneis - Im Grunen Irgendwo - [Somewhere That's Green] - from 'Little Shop of Horrors (Der Kleine Horror-Laden)' (1992 German Cast)
08 - 1991 Paris Revival Cast - Comme Un Homme - [Bring Him Home] - from 'Les Miserables' - [in French]
09 - 1992 Original Prague Cast - Drink With Me - from 'Les Miserables' - [in Czech]
10 - Cast - Mañana - [Tomorrow] - from 'Annie'
11 - Cast - Maria - from 'West Side Story' - [in Spanish]
12 - Israeli Cast - Maria - from 'The Sound of Music (T'zlili Hamuzika)' - [in Hebrew]
13 - Buenos Aires Cast - Matchmaker, Matchmaker - from 'Fiddler on the Roof (El Violinista Sobre El Tejado)' - [in Spanish]
14 - 1998 Mexico Cast - If Momma Was Married - from 'Gypsy' - [in Spanish]
15 - Spanish Cast - Seasons of Love - from 'Rent'
16 - 1995 Original Spanish Cast - Noche Y Día (or 'Dia I Nit') - [Night and Day] - from 'Te Odio, Amor Mío'
17 - 2004 Argentina Cast - Aplausos - [Applause] - from 'Applause (Aplausos)' - [in Spanish]
18 - Stanley Burleson - Hocus Pocus - [Razzle Dazzle] - from 'Chicago' (1999 Utrecht Cast) - [in Dutch]
19 - Mexico Cast - Open a New Window - from 'Mame' - [in Spanish]
20 - Emilio Aragón & Chorus - La Banda Llegó - [Come Follow The Band] - from 'Barnum' (1984 Spanish Cast)
21 - Israeli Cast - Rak Od Yom - [One Day More] - from 'Les Miserables' - [in Hebrew]

Total Time: 1:12:01

around 100 MB

Rapidshare links (You'll need both parts before extracting):

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 4 - Part 1

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 4 - Part 2

OR

Megaupload link (in one big file):

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 4

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 5:

Track List:

01 - Jacques Brel - L'Homme De La Mancha - [Man Of La Mancha] - from 'Man Of La Mancha' (1968 French Cast)
02 - Concha Velasco & Chorus - Hello, Dolly! - from 'Hello, Dolly!' (Spanish Cast)
03 - Mexico Cast - Mame - from 'Mame'
04 - Katja Brauneis & Andreas Lachnit - Jetzt Hast Du Seymor - [Suddenly, Seymour] - from 'Little Shop of Horrors' (1992 German Cast)
05 - 1991 German Cast - You Are My Home - from 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'
06 - Cast - Tonight - from 'West Side Story' - [in Spanish]
07 - 1998 Mexico Cast - All I Need is the Girl - from 'Gypsy'
08 - 1994 Mexican Cast - Suppertime - from 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'
09 - 1995 Original Spanish Cast - T Eres M S (or 'Tu Ho Ets Tot') - [You're the Top] - from 'Te Odio, Amor Mío'
10 - 1989 Argentine Cast - You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me - from '42nd Street' - [in Spanish]
11 - Gerard Clavel - Sans Amour - [Little Bird, Little Bird] - from 'Man of La Mancha' (1968 French Cast)
12 - 2001 Mexican Cast - Amor Primero - [Those Magic Changes] - from 'Grease'
13 - Mexico Cast - The Real American Folk Song (Is a Rag) - from 'Crazy For You'
14 - Mexico Cast - Someone to Watch Over Me - from 'Crazy For You'
15 - Rex Gildo - In Der Straße, Mein Schatz, Wo Du Lebst - [On The Street Where You Live] - From 'My Fair Lady' (1961 German Cast)
16 - 2003 Original Russian Cast - Everything's Alright - from 'Jesus Christ Superstar'
17 - 1984 Hungarian Cast - Éjfél - [Memory] - from 'Cats (Macskák)'
18 - 1994 Japanese 'Blue' Cast - Come To Me - from 'Les Miserables'
19 - Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar - Það Sést Ekki Sætari Mey - [You Can't Get A Man With A Gun] - from 'Annie Get Your Gun'
20 - Cast - El Gran Derrochador - [Big Spender] - from 'Sweet Charity'

Total Time: 1:13:42

around 101 MB

Rapidshare links (You'll need both parts before extracting):

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 5 - Part 1

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 5 - Part 2

OR

Megaupload link (in one big file):

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 5

Edit: On Volume 5, Track #1 - the filename & tags say 'Jacques Brel & Louis Navarre', but it should just be Jacques Brel (I don't know who the other man is who's playing Sancho, but it's not Louis Navarre). Sorry for the mixup.

I tried to use mostly ones that would be instantly recognizable (and ones with strong melodies) because those are the most interesting if you can't understand the lyrics. But even for all you polyglots out there, it should still be a fun collection. If you like stage music, you've probably heard a lot of these songs a million times, so it makes it especially fun to hear them in a different way. That's also why I didn't include other foreign language musicals (like Romeo & Juliet or Metro, for instance) that are either less familiar in their English language counterparts or weren't produced in English.

I've probably got enough material for 3 or 4 more foreign language volumes, but I stopped at Volume 5 because I felt I would start repeating myself even more than I already did on these comps. If I were to do a Volume 6, it would probably be a continuation of what will be on Volumes 1 & 2.

And yes, before somebody points it out, I know that it was a little bit superfluous to put in brackets that the Mexican casts were singing in Spanish or that the Paris casts were singing in French, but I was just trying to be consistent. (And now that I think about it, there have been times when overseas casts have actually performed their cast albums in English, so maybe it's not so stupid after all.)

If you have any corrections or additional info about any of the tracks, please let me know.

Notes on the compilations:

Volume 3:

#01: How could I resist hearing a cast from Argentina play Jewish characters living in Russia performing songs in Spanish by American composers? And what better way to start off a non-traditional compilation but with a song about tradition?
#03: And even more irresistible are German actors playing British characters engaged in a phonetics lesson to teach English and singing a song written by an Austrian composer and an American lyricist that was originally about the rain in Spain while dancing to tango music. I'm still not sure if he's teaching her English or German.
#05 & #06: Two songs about hospitality in unconventional settings.
#06: And again, how could I not love hearing Japanese actors playing French characters that are (normally) inanimate objects while singing songs that were originally written by American composers and that have English, French and Japanese words?...................And while dancing the can-can, no less!
#07-#09: Three songs about hope, dreams, and self-delusion.
#13: The song is originally from Gershwin's 'Girl Crazy' of which 'Crazy For You' was a loose adaptation. And it's interesting to hear the consistencies between the American version & the Mexican version.
#14: And there's something really appropriate about hearing this song sung in Spanish.
#13-#15: Three songs sung from a first-person perspective (but that also really applies to #04, #09, & #10, for that matter).
#16 & #17: Dutch & Israeli casts portraying Austrian characters singing songs by American composers.
#16: And it's interesting that she chose to end the song on the low note like Mary Martin rather than on a high note like Julie Andrews.
#17: Shreiking is really the same in any language, isn't it? I wouldn't normally have put on a third song from the same musical, but it just seemed right to wind down the compilation with a song complaining about how the English can't speak English........especially one that's sung in Hebrew. Is it just me or is it fun to hear him sing about things like Soho Square, Yorkshire, Shakespeare, the Welsh, and America?
#18 & #19: And I really had to end with these two songs.

Volume 4:

#01-#03: Three rockin' songs to start off the compilation.
#01: Sometimes the singer sounds a little like he's just inhaled helium, but I used this version because it had one of the strongest openings of any of the foreign language versions of the musical that I had.
#02: Out of the (what seems like literally dozens of) versions of this show available, I picked this version because it seems to rock just a little harder than some of the others. Is it just me or does every female Icelandic singer tend to sound a little like Bjork?
#03: I guess there's no Spanish word for 'Hand-Jive'.
#04: If you can get used to what sounds like a synthesized background orchestra, it's a pretty good version.
#04-#07: Three slightly ironic songs about the good things in the characters' lives and one slightly more earnest (but still ironic) song about wishing for better things in the character's life.
#07: I enjoy hearing her sing about things like skid row and the autobahn.
#08: Les Miserables was one of those exceptions that I included in that it's in the language that it originally started out in. But I included it because it's a great version and it's interesting to compare how it was in the original language and how it was when they converted it to English. It's fascinating how they kept the sound of 'homme' for 'home', went from 'Like A Man' to 'Bring Him Home', and presumably in the process, changed the meaning of the song, but still kept it an effective and meaningful song with the same rhyming sound.
#11 & #12: Two 'Maria' songs.
#13 & #14: Two waltzes from hopeful girls that imagine potential marriages.
#15 & #16: Two songs about love measured in terms of time.
#17: Sound quality isn't so hot, but I always loved this song and so it's great to hear it in Spanish. I guess this one could be a little less familiar to people, but it comes from a musical adaptation of the film, 'All About Eve' (unless my memory's playing tricks again), and it was Bonnie Franklin (from TV's 'One Day At A Time') that sang this paean to the stage in the original early 1970's musical (again, if my memory is holding up). I seem to remember that somebody involved (maybe Lauren Bacall or Bonnie Franklin herself) got a Tony for it, but don't quote me.
#17 & #18: Two songs about the magic of performance and relative appreciation of their respective audiences.
#19 & #20: Two rousing songs that conjure images of marches, ringleaders, fresh starts, & following your instincts.
#021: Again, the sound quality is not so hot on this track, but I used it because it had one of the best endings amongst all the other versions I had considered. Fantastic high note at the end.

Volume 5:

#01: If you're just used to hearing Jacques Brel sing about things like love, death, & whorehouses, then this will make a nice contrast. It's a rousing way to start the volume.
#03: Not the best sound quality, and if I remember right, I even audio-processed it slightly so it was worse before that, but not being great at that kind of thing, I didn't want to monkey around with it too much. I don't have much of an ear for that kind of thing; I like to listen to vinyl, 78's, CD's, tapes, etc., so it doesn't matter that much to me. A lot of times tinny mono from the 1950's seems to sound better than 20-bit CD processing that's supposed to sound fantastic, but the mono seems to have more presence to me and the enhanced sound of some CD's sounds kind of far away to me. It probably sounds fantastic on an expensive system with giant speakers where you can hear every high and low, but it just sounds very distant to me, even with headphones on, so you can see why I don't trust my ability to judge these things. As a result, I keep the audio-processing down to a minimum except for removing some obvious pops or clicks or doing some fade-outs or fade-ins when I don't think it will alter the original too much.
#04 & #05: Two German love duets by four pretty good singers.
#04-#06: Three love duets by six pretty good singers.
#07-#10: Four exultant songs with a special emphasis on the occasional dance break.
#09: I really enjoy hearing them sing about Strauss, Mickey Mouse, the Mona Lisa, Gandhi, the Charleston, Valentino, Fred Astaire, & Camembert cheese.
#11 & #12: Two lilting guitar-driven (or at least it sounds that way to me) songs with backing choruses (and the occasional falsetto). It's interesting how they both significantly changed the meanings of the titles of the songs.
#11: Yes, I know what you're going to say....French actors playing Spanish characters in an American musical.
#13: Another lilting song. I love hearing a song that seems so uniquely American (well, I guess it can hardly be considered otherwise with that title) sung in Spanish (oh, wait a minute......now that I think about it, don't tell your conservative friends......they might think it's our National Anthem or something (and if you live outside the United States, that joke probably won't mean much to you........we had a small furor a while ago about Spanish language versions of the National Anthem that our president decidedly and publicly disliked)........actually, all things considered, I guess those conservatives wouldn't be listening to this compilation anyway..........especially in the border states. Although I guess we could send the National Guard to protect us against Mexican stage actors who insist on singing Gershwin rags.).
#14: A fantastic version.
#14-#16: Three songs about contentment and a sense of security from the ones they love.
#19: They took the melody of Irving Berlin's 'You Can't Get A Man With A Gun' from 'Annie Get Your Gun' and gave it new lyrics. I'm not sure, but I remember hearing somewhere that the new lyrics turned it into a song about a sweater. Some nice Icelandic person out there will have to confirm that for me. The song is an exception from the other ones in the compilations since the modified song isn't really from a show, but it definitely qualifies as alternative stage music.
#20: Had to end with this song. Hey, Big Guapo!

There are a lot of great performances here and fun orchestrations. I enjoy these compilations a lot and even if you don't like stage music, you may like these anyway. If you do like stage music, I hope you got as much of a kick out of listening to these as I did.

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 1

2007-06-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

With the Tony Awards coming up (well, I'm not really sure when I'm going to post this, so it might already have come and gone), I thought I'd post these. Actually, I didn't realize the Tony's were coming up until about a week ago, so Volumes 1, 2, & 6 were only made up in the last few days so these are the ultimate rush jobs! I know I'm probably the only one who cares about such things, but I didn't get the chance to give them as much thematic consistency as I would normally like to, so I had to settle for what little musical consistency they have.

[Update: Well, as you can tell, I didn't end up coming in until well after the Tony's, so I guess I did all that last minute rushing for nothing. But I'm pretty sure the music still sounds good anyway. Just think of it as being in time for next year's Tony's.]

I usually like to give these compilations a little more narrative flow, but I wanted to post them before the telecast on Sunday rather than hang on to them (though, to be honest, I wanted to watch The French Open this weekend, so I may end up posting this after the fact rather than spending hours chained to a library computer on the weekend). Still, I think they're pretty good listening anyway. (And I didn't have time to double-check the years or origins on some of these, so please excuse any lapses in accuracy! I think all the origins are right though, but sometimes my mind doesn't work as well as it should. Let me know if you see anything off. Thanks!)

I can't believe it's already been a year since I posted Volumes 3-5. Well, I know the stage music I post has a pretty limited audience on the blog, but I keep meaning to post more of it anyway, but I never get around to it. I can't believe Volumes 3-5 were (more or less) the 4th posts on the blog! It doesn't seem that long ago! Well, I've been meaning to get around to making up Volumes 1 & 2, but have only gotten around to it now. I guess that annual reminder of the Tony awards gets me motivated. It's always that way with those award show things. Same thing happened with the Oscar Winning Scores compilations; I don't think I realized the Oscars were coming up either until a week or two before. Talk about rush jobs. Well, there always seems to be more than enough to do without thinking about what's coming up.

Back when I said I was leaving a space for Volumes 1 & 2 (on the Alt Stage Music, Vols. 3-5 post), I mentioned that it was originally a tape compilation that I always wanted to do a digital update of. Well, so many of the tracks I used on that original tape are in storage that I had to re-do these things from scratch. Practically all the tracks are different from the ones I used on the original tape, so this pretty much qualifies as a brand new comp. And there's so much potential material that I could literally make up 10 volumes, but I thought I'd better limit it to 3 new ones for now (especially if I wanted to avoid the nervous breakdown).

The basic concept of these 'Alternative Stage Music' comps (or really any of the comps designated as 'Alternative') is to feature the music in styles or themes that are generally different from their originals. In this case, styles that sound different from the original stage versions. Of course, that could apply to almost any pop or jazz version so it's a bit of a cheat in this case, but I tried to concentrate on versions that you wouldn't normally associate with their stage counterparts. Still, I ended up using a few that sound pretty similar anyway (probably a factor of that whole 'rush job' thing).

Because there were so many possibilities, the selections seemed to cluster in the various volumes. Volume 1 seemed to have more rock and pop, Volume 2 centered around lounge & jazz, and Volume 6 ended up with a lot of doo wop, vocal harmony, and 1960's rock and pop. The original tape's Side B had mostly Motown, but so much of that seems to be in storage that I didn't get around to doing that one. Maybe one day that'll be Volume 8 or 9 (as if anyone but me cares at this point!).

So much of popular music used to come from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway that you really have an endless selection to choose from and many of the selections tend to skew to older ones; there don't seem to be as many rock bands today willing to do cover versions of songs from Spring Awakening, Grey Gardens, or Les Miserables, I guess. It's a real shame that pop music has strayed so far from the stage and vice versa. Although I suppose people would argue that a lot of stage music today has really moved more towards contemporary rock and pop, but not so that people would play it on the radio or that it would register on the Top 40 like it once did. Considering what the Top 40 looks like though, that could either be a good or a bad thing, I suppose.

If someone did a version of 'Mack The Knife' or 'Summertime' today would it become a big hit? Well, I guess it would depend on who did it, but it seems doubtful (not unless they added a lot of new lyrics like say, Gwen Stefani or Jay-Z did when they had their own 'stage' hits with songs like 'Rich Girl' or 'Hard Knock Life'). I suspect if somebody did a version of 'Summertime' today it would be considered more of a novelty rather than a legitimate bid at chart-topping (at least one that could be played on the radio or that might get a lot of downloads).

Still, there are an awful lot of people who did (and continue to do) cover versions of stage music. So, there's still an awful lot to enjoy. And you can always enjoy these as well (I hope)! Happy listening to all (assuming anyone is still out there who checks this blog!).

Track List:

ASM, Vol. 1 - 01 - Sammy Davis, Jr .with Buddy Rich - Come Back To Me (1966) - [from the stage show, 'On A Clear Day You Can See Forever' (1966) (Lerner & Lane)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 02 - The Supremes - I Am Woman - [from the stage show, 'Funny Girl' (1964) (Jule Styne & Bob Merrill)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 03 - Louis Prima & Keely Smith - I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face - [from the stage show, 'My Fair Lady' (1956) (Lerner & Loewe)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 04 - Dolly Parton - I Get A Kick Out Of You - [from the stage show, 'Anything Goes' (1934) (Cole Porter)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 05 - Los Indios Tabajaras - Begin The Beguine (instr.) - [from the stage show, 'Jubilee' (1935) (Cole Porter)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 06 - The Beatles - Till There Was You - [from the stage show, 'The Music Man' (1957) (Meredith Willson)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 07 - Linda Scott - I've Told Ev'ry Little Star (1961) - [from the stage show, 'Music In The Air' (1932) (Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 08 - Splitsville - I'll Never Fall In Love Again - [from the stage show, 'Promises, Promises' (1968) (Burt Bacharach & Hal David)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 09 - Ronnie Dyson - Why Can't I Touch You (1970) - [from the Off-Broadway stage show, 'Salvation' (1970) (C.C. Courtney & Peter Link)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 10 - Love Generation - She Touched Me - [from the stage show, 'Drat! The Cat' (1965) (Ira Levin & Milton Schafer)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 11 - Jacki Bond - Reviewing The Situation (1967) - [from the stage show, 'Oliver!' (1963) (Lionel Bart)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 12 - Bobby Darin - Mack The Knife - [from the stage show, 'The Threepenny Opera' (1928) (Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, & Marc Blitzstein)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 13 - The Doors - Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) - [from the stage show, 'The Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny' (1930) (Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 14 - Captain Sensible - Happy Talk - [from the stage show, 'South Pacific' (1949) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 15 - Hi-Skool - Summer Nights - [from the stage show, 'Grease' (1972) (Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 16 - Erasure - Too Darn Hot - [from the stage show, 'Kiss Me, Kate' (1949) (Cole Porter)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 17 - The Fifth Dimension - Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) - [from the stage show, 'Hair' (1969) (Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, & James Rado)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 18 - Big Mama Thornton - Summertime - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George Gershwin & DuBose Heyward)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 19 - Janis Joplin - Summertime - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George Gershwin & DuBose Heyward)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 20 - Billy Stewart - Summertime - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George Gershwin & DuBose Heyward)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 21 - Cher - It Ain't Necessarily So - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George & Ira Gershwin)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 22 - Ray Charles & Cleo Laine - Bess, You Is My Woman - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George & Ira Gershwin & DuBose Heyward)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 23 - Little Richard - I Feel Pretty - [from the stage show, 'West Side Story' (1957) (Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim)]

pw = youdont

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 1 - Part 1 (Rapidshare) (around 70 MB)
Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 1 - Part 2 (Rapidshare) (around 54 MB)

OR

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 1 (Megaupload)

around 124 MB

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 2

2007-06-23T11:46:00.001-07:00

I didn't originally intend Volume 2 to center around lounge and jazz, but it just ended up that way. It's still good listening though, but the thematic concept's probably not as interesting. It seems that you could swing a dead cat and pretty easily hit 50 or 60 albums that revolve around lounge and jazz artists doing a Broadway compilation, so I don't think anybody really needs me to do one, but it's still fun. 'So and So Does Broadway!' has a pretty familiar ring, so this may not be the most interesting comp, but it's still good music nonetheless. And if you enjoy swinging a dead cat, by the way, I really hope you don't make a habit of reading this blog.

Enjoy!

Track List:

ASM, Vol. 2 - 01 - Trini Lopez - America - [from the stage show, 'West Side Story' (1957) (Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 02 - Peggy Lee - Heart (1960) - [from the stage show, 'Damn Yankees' (1955) (Adler & Ross)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 03 - Edmundo Ros - It Ain't Necessarily So (instr.) - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George & Ira Gershwin)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 04 - Quincy Jones - On The Street Where You Live (instr.) (1964) - [from the stage show, 'My Fair Lady' (1956) (Lerner & Loewe)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 05 - Jackie Davis - Heat Wave (instr.) (1959) - [from the stage show, 'As Thousands Cheer' (1933) (Irving Berlin)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 06 - Toots Thielemans - Falling In Love With Love (instr.) (1964) - [from the stage show, 'The Boys From Syracuse' (1938) (Rodgers & Hart)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 07 - Astrud Gilberto - It's A Lovely Day Today (1966) - [from the stage show, 'Call Me Madam' (1950) (Irving Berlin)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 08 - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - My Heart Belongs To Daddy (instr.) (1967) - [from the stage show, 'Leave It To Me' (1938) (Cole Porter)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 09 - Bob Thompson - The Song Is You (1960) - [from the stage show, 'Music In The Air' (1932) (Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 10 - Johnny Williams - The Varsity Drag (instr.) (1961) - [from the stage show, 'Good News' (1927) (DeSylva, Brown, & Henderson)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 11 - Bobby Hammack - This Can't Be Love (instr.) - [from the stage show, 'The Boys From Syracuse' (1938) (Rodgers & Hart)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 12 - Andre Previn & His Pals - Zip (instr.) (1957) - [from the stage show, 'Pal Joey' (1940) (Rodgers & Hart)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 13 - Al Hirt - I Love Paris (instr.) - [from the stage show, 'Can-Can' (1953) (Cole Porter)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 14 - Don Ralke - I Got Rhythm (instr.) (1960) - [from the stage show, 'Girl Crazy' (1930) (George & Ira Gershwin)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 15 - Johnny Keating's Kombo - Bali Ha'i (instr.) (1962) - [from the stage show, 'South Pacific' (1949) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 16 - John Barry - Baubles, Bangles & Beads (instr.) (1961) - [from the stage show, 'Kismet' (1954) (Borodin, Wright, & Forrest)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 17 - Balsara and his Singing Sitars - My Favorite Things (instr.) - [from the stage show, 'The Sound Of Music' (1959) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 18 - Stephane Grappelli - Makin' Whoopee! (instr.) - [from the stage show, 'Whoopee' (1928) (Donaldson & Kahn)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 19 - Jimmy Smith - This Nearly Was Mine (instr.) (1968) - [from the stage show, 'South Pacific' (1949) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 20 - The Dukes of Dixieland - If I Were A Bell (instr.) (1961) - [from the stage show, 'Guys And Dolls' (1950) (Frank Loesser)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 21 - Jaye P. Morgan & Perry Como - Two Lost Souls (1955) - [from the stage show, 'Damn Yankees' (1955) (Adler & Ross)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 22 - Carmen McRae & Sammy Davis, Jr. - People Will Say We're In Love - [from the stage show, 'Oklahoma!' (1943) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 23 - Mel Torme - Too Close For Comfort - [from the stage show, 'Mr. Wonderful' (1956) (Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener, & George Weiss)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 24 - Judy Kaye - Taking A Chance On Love (1995) - [from the stage show, 'Cabin In The Sky' (1940) (Vernon Duke, John Latouche, & Ted Fetter)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 25 - Wayne Newton - But Not For Me - [from the stage show, 'Girl Crazy' (1930) (George & Ira Gershwin)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 26 - Lou Rawls - On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever) - [from the stage show, 'On A Clear Day You Can See Forever' (1966) (Lerner & Lane)]
ASM, Vol. 2 - 27 - Eydie Gorme - If He Walked Into My Life - [from the stage show, 'Mame' (1966) (Jerry Herman)]

pw = youdont

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 2 (Rapidshare)
Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 2 (Megaupload)

around 99 MB

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 6

2007-06-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

Want some vocal harmony or do you just want to hear The Zombies do the 4000th version of 'Summertime'? Well, step right on up just in time for the Tony's (or somewhere around there). And before you say anything, yes I know I put on two versions of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' that weren't next to each other, but maybe it just goes to prove that you never walk alone.

Enjoy!

Track List:

ASM, Vol. 6 - 01 - The Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - [from the stage show, 'Roberta' (1933) (Jerome Kern & Otto Harbach)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 02 - Hash Brown & His Ignunt Strings - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - [from the stage show, 'Roberta' (1933) (Jerome Kern & Otto Harbach)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 03 - The Skyliners - Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart - [from the stage show, 'Thumbs Up!' (1935) (James F. Hanley)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 04 - The Galahads - Hello Dolly (1964) - [from the stage show, 'Hello, Dolly!' (1964) (Jerry Herman)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 05 - The Four Lads - Standing On The Corner - [from the stage show, 'The Most Happy Fella' (1956) (Frank Loesser)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 06 - The Mystics - It's Only A Paper Moon - [from the stage show, 'The Great Magoo' (1933) (Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg, & Billy Rose)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 07 - The Browns - They Call The Wind Maria - [from the stage show, 'Paint Your Wagon' (1951) (Lerner & Loewe)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 08 - The Spaniels - Stormy Weather - [from the stage show, 'Cotton Club Revue' (1933) (Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 09 - The Zircons - Stormy Weather - [from the stage show, 'Cotton Club Revue' (1933) (Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 10 - Dion & The Belmonts - Where Or When - [from the stage show, 'Babes In Arms' (1937) (Rodgers & Hart)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 11 - The Champs - Once Upon A Time - [from the stage show, 'All American' (1962) (Charles Strouse & Lee Adams)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 12 - The Happenings - I Got Rhythm - [from the stage show, 'Girl Crazy' (1930) (George & Ira Gershwin)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 13 - The Mamas & The Papas - Glad To Be Unhappy - [from the stage show, 'On Your Toes' (1936) (Rodgers & Hart)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 14 - Jay & The Americans - Some Enchanted Evening (1965) - [from the stage show, 'South Pacific' (1949) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 15 - Chad & Jeremy - If I Loved You - [from the stage show, 'Carousel' (1945) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 16 - Gerry & The Pacemakers - You'll Never Walk Alone - [from the stage show, 'Carousel' (1945) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 17 - Ian & the Zodiacs - It Ain't Necessarily So - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George & Ira Gershwin)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 18 - Bill Page - It Ain't Necessarily So (instr.) - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George & Ira Gershwin)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 19 - The Zombies - Summertime (1965) - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George Gershwin & DuBose Heyward)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 20 - The Nice - America (instr.) (1968) - [from the stage show, 'West Side Story' (1957) (Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 21 - The Cowsills - Hair - [from the stage show, 'Hair' (1969) (Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, & James Rado)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 22 - The Chenille Sisters - Frank Mills (1988) - [from the stage show, 'Hair' (1969) (Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, & James Rado)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 23 - Hurricane Honeys - Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man - [from the stage show, 'Show Boat' (1927) (Kern & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 24 - The Chordettes - They Say It's Wonderful - [from the stage show, 'Annie Get Your Gun' (1946) (Irving Berlin)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 25 - Sally Mayes - The Party's Over (1994) - [from the stage show, 'Bells Are Ringing' (1956) (Jule Styne, Betty Comden, & Adolph Green)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 26 - Shelley Fabares - Bye Bye Birdie (1963) - [from the stage show, 'Bye Bye Birdie' (1960) (Charles Strouse & Lee Adams)]
ASM, Vol. 6 - 27 - Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge - You'll Never Walk Alone - [from the stage show, 'Carousel' (1945) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]

pw = youdont

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 6 (Rapidshare)
Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 6 (Megaupload)

around 96 MB

TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 2

2007-06-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well, since the blog is still here, I thought I'd post this. It was done and sitting on the hard drive for probably 7 or 8 months. As usual, it's all the clean-up work (trimming, tagging, annotating, etc.) that I hate to do, but the selection and order hasn't changed much in all that time. It's funny, but picking the songs and deciding the order is the easy part. Often, picking which songs to put on a compilation is a really fast process probably because I already have lots of ideas about what to use by the time I start to make one. But it's all the after-process that seems to be the real bottleneck. Just writing these lame entries for the posts can take me forever. Just look at the Railway Children, for example. Everything on that one was ready to go (everything was uploaded, I had the links, etc.) from the time I posted the album cover. Everything except for writing the post and then by the time I actually wrote it, I didn't feel like saying anything anyway!

I guess I haven't worked on finishing this particular comp though because I didn't like it as much as Volume 1 or Volume 3. Sometimes that's the problem with these later volumes. You use up the best material on the first volume and subsequent entries seem to be filled with leftovers and are much harder to make work properly. This particular volume seemed to have less cohesion than 1 & 3, so I wasn't as interested in finishing it, I guess.

But after I finished it and listened to it again, I liked it better. It grew on me and it had more cohesion than I thought. I know I'm probably the only one who cares about stuff like that, but it's one of the primary things that makes me like one of my compilations or not.

Before I made digital comps, I had been making up tape compilations for a long time before it occurred to me that cohesion was something I was trying to do with them. I like them to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. If they're good, after you've listened to them, it's like being taken on a ride. Sometimes they go in one direction and then they morph into something else. They have different moods, themes or sounds.

So if I can't get them to do that, I don't usually think they're that good. It adds that extra dimension to listening to it that I enjoy, but I always wonder if anybody else but me cares about it. Of course, I make these things up for myself, so it's really kind of academic anyway, but still I always wonder.

I think of it as a kind of narrative to the compilation. I think it's why I add these boring notes to these compilations. When I first started the blog, you'll notice I put on these incredibly long notes (much longer than the boring ones you read now) because I always imagined people would listen to the compilations and then go back and read the notes later and they would serve as a semi-interesting reference for anyone who was interested. But then I realized from some of the feedback that people were reading them up front before they listened to the music and that it was exhausting them, so I stopped doing it as much. It should've occurred to me that naturally people would read them first. I just thought they would be interesting to read either as you're listening to the comp or afterwards, but I should've realized that people aren't going to want to have to keep coming back to the blog just to read the text while they're listening to the compilation. Duh!

Also, it didn't seem to make too much difference either way. People didn't seem to comment on them anyway so I suspected that I was the only one who cared about this stuff and now I only do it occasionally on certain ones. It hadn't really occurred to me until much later to include these notes with the files so people could refer back to them instead of having to come back to the blog. But usually I write the notes after I've already zipped & burned the compilations, so it didn't occur to me to do it until just recently.

And I always think of compilations as having 3 basic (and arbitrary) distinctions. I think of 'mixes' as one continuous piece of music with things like crossfades usually of many different kinds of music. I think of 'collections' as a looser group of songs with no particular order. And I think of 'compilations' as being individual songs in some kind of order usually with a particular theme.

So I think of what DJ's do as mixes. People are doing some great mixes all around the blogosphere. Like what Record Brother did with his great blaxploitation mixes, for instance. Or what Quite Quite Fantastic used to do or what Pops & Scratches or Abstract Fidelity does, for instance. Diverse collections designed to create a sonic picture.

And I think of what Timbo at Licorice Pizza does as somewhere between mixes (ones that create an aural landscape and that take a lot of hard work to make into a seamless piece of music) and compilations (because of their specific themes and selections).

And I think of what PixelMutt used to do as collections of songs. Fantastic collections of individual songs that were grouped by theme but in no particular order.

All kind of arbitrary distinctions, I know, but it's the way I tend to think of it, so if you see me using those terms on the blog you know what I mean when I use them. It's also why I tend to bore everybody by using the word compilation 50,000 times on the blog. I can't think of any other good word to use since all the other ones seem to mean something else to me.

Also, when I listen to someone else's compilations or mixes I often try and figure out what their particular narrative is. Why did they choose to put this song after this other one? Why did they choose this piece of music versus another one? But I think narratives are often very personal and hard to discern. I usually have a hard time figuring out why people choose the order that they do, but it's fun for me to think about while I listen to the great music. I suppose that's why I always wonder if people can tell what my narratives are. I think that's why I put them in the notes sometimes. I think it's always hard for someone else to tell what motivates other people in general. Unless we can climb into someone else's head, it's always hard to tell what's going on in there whether it's about why someone chooses a particular song or whether it's about what they chose to eat for lunch. Still, I like thinking about it as I'm listening to people's comps (the songs, not the lunch).

It's always a lot more fun for me if my comps have a tight cohesion and so I tend to think of them as a little dissatisfying when I can't get them to work. Of course, some of them can't really have that cohesion like Oscar Winning Scores or Soundtrack Gamut, A-Z, for instance. There really isn't much of a narrative there and the only unifying theme is the alphabet or the year, but that's also kind of fun. It's fun to try and come up with an entry for 'A' like Airport '79 that would sound good as the first track. Or 'Z' that has a good sounding finale.

I guess that's why I don't do instrumental compilations as often because it's much harder to come up with that kind of narrative. Or an interesting unifying theme that hasn't already been done privately or commercially somewhere. And with these things, it often falls to musical consistency rather than a thematic one. Or it alternates between the two at the expense of the other (I know, I know, again something that's only interesting to me).

Take the mystery compilation, for instance. I would add individual tracks to ones that were already set because they were thematically consistent, but they sometimes interrupted the flow of the music. For example, I added 'The Cheap Detective' after I'd already finished that section of the comp and although it really qualified more as a film noir, I really had to put it after Murder By Death since it was a virtual sequel to that movie. Originally, there was a more consistent sound in that section since they were mostly comical neo-classical pieces there. 'The Cheap Detective' was really a great loose jazzy piece that ends up interrupting the flow of music, but thematically I really had to put the two Peter Falk's together!

Or conversely, I didn't put 'They Call Me Mr. Tibbs!' right after 'In The Heat of the Night' even though it was an actual sequel (and not just a virtual one), but it didn't fit musically so I sandwiched 'Harper' in between the two. So it often ends up being a toss-up between musical consistency and thematic consistency on these things. Well, these are the kinds of silly things I think about when I listen to them. When it works right, it's a lot of fun, but when I can't get that overall flow or cohesion to work properly (either musically or thematically), the comps don't seem as good to me somehow.

So this TV Characters comp seemed to have less cohesion and flow, but after I wrote the notes I realized it had more than I thought it did, so that may be why I liked it better than I did before.

And not to make this post any longer, but I forgot to mention the whole reason I'm posting this. It was because 'Filmpac' so kindly mentioned that Volume 1 was popular in p2p and wondered if I had any more volumes. I never got the chance to tell him how much I appreciated hearing that. Not only because I enjoyed hearing that someone else besides me listens to these things, but because I stopped doing p2p 3 or 4 years back (partly because of the whole 'no online connection at home' thing, and because of other things going on) coincidentally right around the time I started making digital compilations. I had always intended on sharing them on p2p and I was always curious as to whether anybody would've downloaded them and so I'm very grateful to 'Filmpac' for letting me know vicarously how the 'TV Characters Sing Just For You' was received on p2p.

I guess now that I think about it, music blogging is another way to tell how these would be received, but it seems to be a whole different animal somehow. I guess because it's much harder to download something on p2p because of limited bandwidth, queuing, availability, etc., you really have to want it in order to pick something. It's much easier on blogs to sample things even if you're not that interested in them, I suppose. Of course, you get the advantage of comments on a blog versus the limited IM'ing in p2p to get feedback on these things. But still it's something I was always curious about and I really appreciated 'Filmpac' for telling me that. I finally get that question answered (at least on the TV Characters compilation). And since that was the first compilation on the blog and it was before I had any premium accounts, I still have no idea how many people have ever downloaded that comp, so it was especially nice to find out how it was received on p2p. (As if I needed another reason to like 'Filmpac'.)

Well, for anybody who still cares after reading this, here's Volume 2. As always, I hope you enjoy it! (Now that I think about it, I try not to post music people will find excruciating, but you never know.)

Track List:

01 - Rowan & Martin, Judy Carne, Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, Jo Anne Worley, Goldie Hawn, Henry Gibson, Gary Owens & Larry Hovis - Cuckoo Laugh-in World (1968) - [from the TV series, 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In' (1968-1973)]
02 - Patrick Macnee & Honor Blackman - Kinky Boots (1964) - [actors from the TV series, 'The Avengers' (1961-1969)]
03 - Barbara Feldon - 99 - [from the TV series, 'Get Smart' (1965-1970)]
04 - Edd Byrnes - You're The Top (1959) - [from the TV series, '77 Sunset Strip' (1958-1964)]
05 - Jackie Gleason - You're a Dan-dan-dandy - [from the TV series, 'The Jackie Gleason Show' (1952-1959)]
06 - Billy Crystal - You Look Marvelous - [from the TV series, 'Saturday Night Live' (1975-Present)]
07 - Mr. T - The One And Only Mr. T (1984) - [actor from the TV series, 'The A-Team' (1983-1987)]
08 - Larry Hovis, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon, & Robert Clary - This Is The Army Mr. Jones (1966) - [from the TV series, 'Hogan's Heroes' (1965-1971)]
09 - Ken Curtis - Dodge City - [from the TV series, 'Gunsmoke' (1955-1975)]
10 - Joe E. Ross - Ooh! Ooh! (1963) - [actor from the TV series, 'Car 54, Where Are You?' (1961-1963) & 'The Phil Silvers Show' (1955-1959)]
11 - Steve Allen - How's Your Sister (1964) - [from the TV series, 'The Steve Allen Show' (1962-1964, 1968-1972, etc.)]
12 - Ted Knight - Hi Guys - [from the TV series, 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' (1970-1977)]
13 - Jim Nabors - Gomer Seys Hey! (1965) - [from the TV series, 'Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.' (1964-1970)]
14 - Catherine Bach - Down Home American Girl (1981) - [from the TV series, 'The Dukes of Hazzard' (1979-1985)]
15 - Donna Douglas, Nancy Kulp, & Cast - Lady Lessons - [from the TV series, 'The Beverly Hillbillies' (1962-1971)]
16 - Cher (with Beavis & Butthead (Mike Judge)) - I Got You Babe (1993) - [from the TV series, 'Beavis & Butthead' (1993-1997)]
17 - Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas with Geddy Lee - Take Off - [from the TV series, 'SCTV' (1976-1981)]
18 - Michael McKean & David L. Lander - Squiggy's Wedding Day (1979) - [from the TV series, 'Laverne & Shirley' (1976-1983)]
19 - Bill Mumy - Sloop John B. '96 (1996) - [actor from the TV series, 'Lost In Space' (1965-1968)]
20 - Leonard Nimoy - A Visit To A Sad Planet (1968) - [actor from the TV series, 'Star Trek' (1966-1969)]
21 - William Shatner - Rocket Man (1978) - [actor from the TV series, 'Star Trek' (1966-1969)]
22 - Adam West - Batman & Robin (1976) - [from the TV series, 'Batman' (1966-1968)]
23 - Frank Gorshin - The Riddler - [from the TV series, 'Batman' (1966-1968)]
24 - Burt Ward with Frank Zappa - Boy Wonder, I Love You (1966) - [from the TV series, 'Batman' (1966-1968)]
25 - David Selby & Nancy Barrett - I Wanna Dance With You (1969) - [from the TV series, 'Dark Shadows' (1966-1971)]
26 - Renzo Cesana - (All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings - [from the TV series, 'The Continental' (1952-1953)]
27 - Carroll O'Connor & Jean Stapleton - Two Sleepy People (1973) - [from the TV series, 'All In The Family' (1971-1979)]

pw = youdont

TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 2 (Rapidshare)
TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 2 (Megaupload)

around 101 MB

Notes on the compilation:

#1-#4: Some kooky cool cuckoo 60's tunes

#2-#3: Spy gals!

#4: Is that 'nervous number' he's singing about, '99'?

#4-#6: You're fantastic! (or at least you look that way)

#4-#7: People who are just too good to be true.

#6: When I first saw Billy Crystal do this character on Saturday Night Live, I thought 'Is he parodying Fernando Lamas on the Tonight Show?' because I remember seeing Fernando Lamas saying these phrases to Johnny Carson. But it seemed to be such an obscure reference, I was never sure until I saw Billy Crystal later explaining the origin of the character and it turned out that that was what he was parodying! I think that's why I enjoy it because it captures Mr. Lamas so perfectly without being a direct impersonation.

#7-#8: Mr. T or Mr. Jones? I just can't tell them apart. Well, they're both in the military (and paramilitary). If it weren't for the mohawk it would be impossible to tell.

#7-#10: Serving their nation and their towns in uniformed service (well, sure technically some of them didn't wear much of a uniform, but you get the idea).

#9-#10: The most suave and sophisticated lawmen you're ever likely to find.

#10-#13: Catchphrase songs.

#10: Here's a catchphrase that Joe E. Ross used on both 'The Phil Silvers Show' and 'Car 54, Where Are You?' Two for the price of one!
#11: Here's a song filled with catchphrases Steve Allen used on his show. How do you spell, 'Schmock, schmock', Clyde?

#11-#13: Greetings and salutations!

#13-#15: Some down-home singers.

#14-#16: Female issues? (The search for the right girl continues.....)

#14: 'I wonder what she'll say?'.....Well, Boss Hogg, just like Gomer, she says 'Hey!'

#16-#18: Well, do I really need to say what these 3 tracks have in common? (besides duos & dialogue breaks.......okay, they're all Ivy League scholars)

#16-#19: Rock excursions.

#19-#21: Sad and regretful space songs.

#21-#22: From Rocket Man to Batman....self-important self-mockery? You be the judge.

#24: 'I hope you know this is a girl writing!' I sure hope so too for your sake, Boy Wonder!

#26: Renzo Cesana played the suave 'Continental' on 50's television and has been so brilliantly parodied by Christopher Walken on Saturday Night Live. If I'm not mistaken, Renzo was also a familiar sight in various movies as the archetypal Italian character with the wandering eye. An actual wandering eye, that is. It seemed to me that one of his eyes was cross-eyed unless I'm confusing him with another actor. He seemed to appear in a ton of movies and TV shows.

The Big Bus (1976) (David Shire) [Bootleg]

2007-06-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

David Shire is another favorite composer. I can't remember when I first became a fan of his music. I think it may have been when I first listened to his 'David Shire At The Movies' compilation on the Bay Cities label. That was one fantastic compilation! It seems they released another compilation more recently, but I can't remember if I've ever listened to it. I kept thinking that was just a re-release of that old out-of-print album, but I guess it's a new version or maybe a 'sequel'.

Or I might've become a fan from his Broadway work with Richard Maltby on musicals like, 'Baby'. That was one of those albums that I heard played on the radio and then pretty quickly after went to the record store and bought the LP and then eventually bought the CD when those new-fangled contraptions came out (contrary to the erroneous supposition that file-sharers don't spend any money on their music).

In fact, now that I think about it, 'The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3' was the first CD I ever bought from F.S.M. when they were first putting out albums. I just had to have it; boy, I love that score. Though it reminds me of the funny story of how they charged $700 or $800 worth of fraudulent charges on my credit card that all coincidentally were for publishing-related companies back east like paper companies and newspapers. Well, maybe that's not such a funny story. Still, a great label with incredible releases that I would urge everybody to support (just not with phony charges and I would pay cash if I were you).

Or it might have even been when I first heard the theme from Farewell, My Lovely. I always loved that theme and was blown away by it. I think I only had a copy of the main theme, but a friend of mine was an even bigger fan of that score and gave me a copy of the CD with Monkey Shines on it. I didn't even realize the whole score had been released until he gave me a copy of it. I guess that disproves another erroneous supposition that generosity only existed after the advent of that dreaded thing known as file-sharing. I guess they missed out on the money I wouldn't have spent on it since I didn't even know it existed before he gave me a copy. Boy, I bet I really hurt their sales by not giving them that non-money. Of course, once I got a copy it made me want to buy the CD, but I guess that's beside the point.

So here's his score to the Joseph Bologna / Stockard Channing disaster spoof about the disastrous maiden voyage of an atomic-powered bus. The movie wasn't exactly a classic parody (and the score is probably not David Shire's best), but I still enjoyed it which is more than you can ask of any movie (or score), I suppose. As is the case sometimes with bootlegs, the music is pitched a little low, but you can always easily fix this by using some kind of normalizing software if it really bothers you. Or you can use volume control. (I don't like to alter these things too much before I post them. I'm terrible at it and would probably only make things worse, so I figure all you audiophiles out there who really care about these things would prefer getting an unadulterated version instead.)

This was about 4 years before Airplane (and Supertrain, now that I think about it). And 1 year after One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Jaws, but that probably doesn't have to do with anything.

Enjoy!

Track List:

The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 01 - Main Title
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 02 - Cyclops Factory Explosion
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 03 - Dan & Kitty
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 04 - A.W.M. / Bus Travel
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 05 - The Bomb
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 06 - The Wrong Wire / Springfield Foam / Bath / Sybil & Claude
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 07 - Sharing A Bath / A Good Bet
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 08 - Harbinger Curve / Busport 1975 / Kitty In The Kitchen
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 09 - Kitty In Jeopardy / Dan's Confession / Jack Returns
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 10 - Cliffhanger / Dan Goes Over The Winch / On The Road Again
The Big Bus (Bootleg) (1976) (David Shire) - 11 - End Title

pw = youdont

The Big Bus (1976) (David Shire) (Rapidshare)
The Big Bus (1976) (David Shire) (Megaupload)

around 48 MB

The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas)

2007-06-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! Sorry about that guys! This was meant to be an upcoming post. I uploaded the cover and meant to save it as a draft, but must've saved it as a post instead before I logged out! I just haven't written the post for it yet, but it should be coming up in the next 2 batches of posts (probably the one after next). Sorry, didn't mean to tease anybody, but I was just as surprised as you guys when I logged onto the blog and saw this sitting here!

Well, as is usually the case with these things, it's all uploaded, but I just haven't gotten around to writing the post. It's all this clean-up work at the end that kills me!

I loved the comments that First Moon, Jason, & especially Planet Xtabay left. Again, sorry about that guys! I ran out of time and had to log out so quickly I never noticed this sitting here!

Well, I guess it won't be a surprise when it eventually shows up again. :)) But on the bright side, it did get more comments than my average post!

====================================

Well, since I posted the album cover it seemed only fitting to post the album as well.

Here's another soundtrack to a favorite movie from my childhood. Well, that designation probably doesn't mean much since a few hundred movies fall into that category, but it's still a good, entertaining movie. I hope you enjoy listening to this great memory of a great film as much as I enjoy posting it.

P.S. Boy, was that great commentary worth waiting for, or what? It takes a long time to write stuff this boring.

[Update: Man, these links have been sitting around forever. I hope they're still good. And in the interim, 'Filmpac' was (as always) so kind to post his own copy! Is that man generous and helpful or what?]

Track List:

The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 01 - Overture
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 02 - Roberta's Theme
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 03 - Mother's Theme
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 04 - The Robbers
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 05 - More Than Ever Now - [Vocal by Vince Hill]
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 06 - The Paper Chase
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 07 - A Kindly Old Gentleman
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 08 - Perks Must Be About It
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 09 - The Birthday Waltz
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) - 10 - Finale

pw = youdont

The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) (Rapidshare)
The Railway Children (1970) (Johnny Douglas) (Megaupload)

around 46 MB