Vince DiCola - The Legend

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.

Here are some of Vince DiCola's greatest tracks.

Tango and Cash 2 - Time For Some Wild Action Synths!

Here is the classic opening to the 1989 masterpiece starring Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell.  Two legends team up in a wild action movie with some vintage one liners and some cracking synths for the soundtrack.

Harold Faltermeyer provided the TR808 drums and the state of the art Synclavier produced score.  Sonically, its a full tour de force of vintage synthesizers conveying the action comedy on screen.  You can literally rewatch this movie again and again and you can never got bored!  It also features Mr Maniac Cop himself, Robert Z'Dar, the guy with the biggest chin on this planet!

Now that Stallone has brought back Rocky, Rambo, its time for more Tango & Cash. Rumours have been circulating of his attempt to bring back Ray Tango once more.  I say why not? Most buddy cop movies made today are complete and utter rubbish give or take a few.  Give us some proper buddy cop action movie's again please, not the rubbish we have had to watch for the past ten years!  And while they are it, put in some synthesizers again, we need some groove back in these sorry excuses for "action" movies!

If you like vintage synth soundtracks, then you get a copy of the Tango and Cash soundtrack from LaLaLand Records.

http://www.lalalandrecords.com/