Lost Classics: Willy Finlayson - On The Air Tonight

Here is a classic song by a Scottish artist named Willy Finlayson, released in 1984.  A cover of a Pete Barden track,  it's a haunting synth ballad, and seems to have been totally forgotten by most people.  Featuring great synths and a haunting sound, this is a real gem.  It was also featured in Nightmare on Elm Street 2 way back in the 80s.

Joseph Williams - Classic Soundtrack Music

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.

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.

Mummy Calls - Classic Synthpop from the 80s

One of the best and underrated albums of the 80s,  this classic self titled album by Mummy Calls, a British band featuring lead singer David Banks was released in 1987.  A collection of amazing synthpop and power rock, this is one awesome album.

I picked this up more than a decade back, a true classic of British synthpop.  I didn't realise someone had already posted their songs up on youtube, so I decided to write this post to let people know about this great band. 

I can guarantee almost everyone who reads this post will have heard there most famous song at least once in their life. Remember the movie "The Lost Boys" from 1987? Well you might recognise the distinctly British accent vocals of David Banks when the haunting song "Beauty Has Her Way" is heard in the movie.  Quite the masterpiece, this album features that legendary song along with many more classics.

Check out these lost classics.  Never released on CD as far as i'm aware which is a disgrace.

Enjoy these tracks.  Highlights are "Sexual Desire", "Kiss Me", "Deadly Night" and "In The Darkness".