After 20 Years, they are finally doing a sequel to Dumb & Dumber, the early 1990's comedy classic starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.
The Todd Rundgren score for the original surfaced a few years ago on youtube, with some classic themes in there. He made quite effective use of his own song "can we still be friends" which he redid as part of the musical score, updating it and melding perfectly with the rest of the score.
Empire of the Sun are a unique band with a unique sound, so it may be possible that they will bring something equally as good as Todd Rundgren did all those years back.
Let's hope they do something great. Dumb & Dumber's music was very distinct, so hopefully Empire of the Sun can do something as good.
Normally, fan requests for sequels are never met, but in this instance, it seems they felt the time was right. 1994 and now 2014, time sure does fly.
After almost 19 Years, there is another installment of Beverly Hills Cop, except this time it will be on TV, rather than the big screen.
This is expected to be a continuation of the movie series with Brandon T Jackson as Aaron Foley, the obligatory son of Axel Foley.
Unfortunately, there is no Harold Faltermeyer involved with this, so nobody knows what type of music we will get with this pilot episode.
What people don't realise is that without Harold Faltermeyer's music, Beverly Hills Cop loses a great deal of its success.
Faltermeyer's electro synth work is catchy, memorable and simply evokes a fever of action and comedy like no other.
There seems to be no music for tv shows as in the days of Miami Vice with Jan Hammer and movies like Harold Faltermeyer, so it remains to be seen whether this new continuation will be a flop or simply another nail in the coffin of a vastly underused character.
Axel Foley should have had many more adventures, it seems like this next one may bring more, but who knows what will happen.
For the first retro review, it is Teen Wolf from 1985. This movie was originally filmed before Back To The Future, and was released shortly after that to capitalise on the success of Michael J Fox as the lead actor.
The plot is ridiculous, a high school basketball player turns into a wolf and nobody bats an eyelid, but that is the charm of the 80s. Its funny, ridiculous, hillarious and has great moments throughout.
Miles Goodman composed the music for the movie and all of the songs. They have a distinctive sound throughout, with guitars, synths and gated drums.
The soundtrack however only consists of 9 tracks, with lots of score being absent. It was released on CD and Vinyl in 1985 on the Metronome label in Japan, and in Germany. Since then, there has been no re release or expanded version, which is surprising given the movie has a cult following.
Some of the key tracks missing are as follows:
Miles Goodman's instrumental rendition of "Staying Alive" composed in the synth fashion of the rest of the soundtrack.
Interlude score pieces, such as Beer Keg scenes.
The Wolf Dance opening score at the high school dance. This funky jam is a percussive heavy track making use of the Linndrum and some groovy bass.
The alternate "Big Bad Wolf" song. On the CD and Vinyl releases, this song sounds different due to the drums and vocals being used. In the movie version, different vocals and drums are used and it sounds sufficiently different.
Given that the songs only take up around half an hour, it would be easy to include everything on an expanded release. It may be likely that Intrada, La La Land or Perseverance Records may do a release.
1. Flesh On Fire James House
This is a fantastic song, great galloping guitar, synths and a vintage 80s melody. Linndrum percussion throughout this track. One of the best of the decade.
2. Big Bad Wolf The Wolf Sisters
This is a funky track, with vocoder and again percussion heavy with the Linndrum.
The movie version is slightly different with an unreleased intro and alternate drums and vocals.
3. Win In The End Mark Safan
The iconic theme from the end basketball game. Not much is known about Mark Safan, but the track is a perfect end to a satisfying 80s movie.
4. Shootin' For The Moon Amy Holland
A great theme, making use of the DX7 and Miles Goodman's talents for orchestral themes.
5. Silhouette David Palmer
This is the track played during the house party, and is visuallised perfectly on screen through Scott Howard slashing his way into his female friend Boof!
6. Way To Go Mark Vieha
Another classic played during the halfway point of the movie showcasing how Scott Howard as the Wolf is helping win all their games. The music matches the hilarity of the onscreen action.
7. Good News David Morgan
A great song, buried in the background before the wolf dance.
8. Transformation Miles Goodman (instrumental)
Probably the most recognised song in the movie, this is the key instrumental music for Scott Howard's first transformation at home. Absolute perfection.
9. Boof Miles Goodman (instrumental)
A great interlude, and uses the melody from Shooting from the moon to great effect.
If you've ever watched Superman IV, you might recall the funky gym workout music that plays with the immortal "no pain, no gain" uttered by Christopher Reeve. This music forms part of several music tracks composed by Paul Fishman specifically for the movie, some of which ended up completely removed when the final film was released.
None of this music was available for more than 20 odd years until Film Score Monthly released the 8 Disc complete score set for the Christopher Reeve Superman series.
There are several great tracks, about eight in total, and include some great instrumental music, including the song "Life's Too Dangerous" which was supposed to appear during a deleted scene. The only way to get this music is to buy the complete eight disc set, but it is worth every penny, as you not only get this music, you get the complete scores and songs for all four Superman movies.
This is great rare synthesizer music which any vintage fan will enjoy. It is too bad some of these were cut from the final film, but at least the music is finally available.
The Paul Fishman songs are on Disc 6 of the set.
Superfly Guy 4:11
Headphone Heaven 3:23
Revolution Now 4:26
Saxy Sadie 4:47
Krypton Nights 4:44
Life's Too Dangerous 3:14
Workout 2:27
Lois Love 4:56
If you were left unfulfilled by Djawadi's Fright Night score this year, then you can at least ease your pain a little by getting the music for the superior original movie.
After almost 26 years comes the first official release of Brad Fiedel's Fright Night score. After being bootlegged to death, its quite surprising that its taken this long, but better late than never.
Also check out a new interview with Brad Fiedel here:
FRIGHT NIGHT
Music by BRAD FIEDEL
INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 183
The score from Columbia Pictures' darkly humorous horror film Fright Night (1985) proved challenging to release: the master elements were initially missing. Now, 26 years after its initial release, Intrada presents Brad Fiedel's long-awaited score. After much additional searching, Sony was able to locate a single ¼” 15 ips two-track scoring session master containing approximately 16 minutes of music. Further search led to a DAT transfer of the ¼” 7 ½ ips two-track stereo safeties of the remaining cues. With these two finds, Intrada was able to proceed on a release of Brad Fiedel's score.
Fright Night tells the tale of a Charlie, a teenage boy who enlists the help of TV host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowlel) in a real-life battle with the undead, featuring a horror homage that would become its own trendsetter -- pitting the duo against a ladykilling, Yuppie bloodsucker who just moved in next-door. Fiedel responded with a score that was both state-of-the-art and old school -- imbuing the hip villain with the stuff of supernatural legend. But while Fiedel tracked the story from a humorous beginning to an unexpectedly shocking climax, Fright Night’s experimental jolts were also firmly bound by the same melodic laws of a classic Hammer film, filled with themes and motifs that paint The Vampire as an eternal creature of seduction.The main theme introduces Jerry Dandridge with a swaying, hypnotic rhythm, enticing Charlie to peep on his neighbor, and the beautiful call girl he’s undressing. It’s a sensual build worthy of a rock god and his conquest.
Because of differences between the above-mentioned master reel and 1/4" safeties, Intrada presents all 16 minutes of the score from the high quality session master as a single track to start the CD. All of the individual tracks that make up that track also appear in the subsequent score presentation, allowing listeners to finally enjoy Brad Fidel's long overdue score.
One of the reasons why Inception was such a big hit was partly because of the music used during one of the trailers. Many thought the music had been created by Hans Zimmer, but in actual fact, it was done completely by one man, Zack Hemsey. Titled "Mind Heist", its an epic track, used to great effect. Even today, people think Hans Zimmer created it, but its all done by Zack Hemsey.
His music is so good, it has even been plagiarised by Steve Jablonsky during a key scene in Transformers Dark of The Moon, something which Hemsey addressed on his blog here.
Zack Hemsey is actually a Hip Hop MC and composer extraordinaire. He started off composing for hip hop group called Nine Leaves where he is also an MC. His unique blend of electronic and orchestral gave Nine Leaves a very distinct sound.
Hemsey's first album contains Mind Heist and many other tracks which have been used in several more movie trailers. He doesn't actually compose for film, its actually Hollywood that has actively persued his music to be used.
Another lost classic, it beggars belief how this one has never been released, given the fact it features during the infamous Playboy mansion scene in Beverly Hills Cop 2. This is the original version of "Hold On" by Keta Bill which is a million times better than the Corey Hart version.
You can picture the funny guy in the tuxedo pulling off his hilarious dance moves with the playboy bunnies while Axel tells his pals to follow their dicks and find the bad guys. Even the dirty old Hef makes a cameo in this classic piece of cinematic extravagance.
Both versions are featured in the movie, you can even hear Corey Hart's version very faintly during one of the scenes with the 3 main characters.
As to why this legendary classic has never been released remains a mystery. The best song from the movie and its not even on the soundtrack. Worse than that, none of Harold Faltermeyer's scores have been released for either the first or second movie which is unnacceptable.
Anyway, enjoy this lost classic, its not perfect quality, but Keta Bill herself gave this out a few years back, so the fact we even have this is a miracle in itself.
Isn't it stupid how great songs are never released? This is a good example of a song which features at the end of Shakedown (1988), also known as Blue Jean Cop, and a movie starring Mr Robocop himself, Peter Weller.
The music score was done by Jonathan Elias (Vamp, Tuff Turf), and had some great tracks on there. The end credits song however has never been released in any format. It was composed by Jonathan Elias himself and features some unknown singer "Nikki Ryder" on vocals, in fact most people aren't even sure if its a female or male voice on vocals! Sounds like John Waite.
Here is the track though ripped from the dvd to enjoy, a classic soundtrack song.
If you remember those great movies of the 80s, you will always come across a few gems that are being played in the background of key scenes. One of my favourites is this track by Joseph Williams from the Goonies soundtrack.
A brilliant song, great synths, guitars, melody and captures the mood perfectly.
And he also had a few tracks in the classic movie "Space Camp". Brilliant music.
The Legend, that just sums up how good this composer is, a true pioneer in synths. From Rocky IV to Transformers and his legendary synth solos, this man is a true powerhouse of motion picture soundtracks. As to why he was never offered more soundtrack scoring work? Probably due to ignorance and a lack of appreciation of his skills.
True fans though know how iconic his music is. Just listen to his version of Bill Conti's Rocky Theme which he used as a demonstration for Stallone to showcase his abilities for the Rocky IV soundtrack. This version was never released until 2010, when the entire original score was released for the first time on Intrada records.
Stallone decided not to use DiCola's version of the "Gonna Fly Now" theme in Rocky IV, instead using the Training Montage theme that DiCola came up with. I guess Stallone felt he wanted something slightly different for this movie, but it would have been great to have it somewhere in the movie!
Apparently Stallone was so impressed, he hired him immediately, and with Jeremy Lubbock, they both created a synth/orchestral masterpiece that still holds up today. You only have to listen to "Hearts on Fire" and the way it changes into "Up The Mountain" to hear how good he is.
You could say he mastered the art of motion picture soundtracks way before Hans Zimmer went and generically shat on everything in the 90s (Not that Hans Zimmer is bad! But much of 1990s scores and onwards have been very generic).
The last I heard on the scoring front was the one he did for a movie called "Sci Fighter", but other than that, there hasn't been much activity.
A classic score for a classic movie. Harold Faltermeyer created an iconic score for this 1984 action comedy starring Eddie Murphy. The funky electro synth instrumentals were featured throughout this movie and inspired countless other imitators throughout the 80s.
The highlights of this unreleased score (as of 2011) are "The Discovery", and the amazing end shootout score, which goes from serious to funky to comedy and back again, all in the space of 10 action packed minutes. Its mind boggling how this score has never been released. Even Serge is probably unimpressed with that!
A youtube user named "msupplies1" has however managed to extract large chunks of the scores for both Beverly Hills Cop and Beverly Hills Cop 2 which is quite amazing and will tide you over until the actual scores are released.
A true synth master, Faltermeyer made a return in 2010 with "Cop Out", but it remains to be seen whether it is permanent. Let's hope so, because these days, many soundtrack scores are complete and utter rubbish and more synths are required!
