Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo Discussion - Harold Faltermeyer

A very interesting video from the Red Bull Music Academy in Tokyo has popped up, featuring a nice long discussion by Harold Faltermeyer about his music and film scoring career, touching on his most famous work such as Beverly Hills Cop, Fletch and Top Gun.

Faltermeyer discusses his early beginnings, and there is even a very rare video of him with his family performing and singing. A very rare video indeed.

A key highlight of this video is the discussions around his method of film scoring, and how some of his iconic scores were simply done by virtue of him being left alone to complete them.

The Running Man and Tango & Cash are scores which Harold completed when left alone to his creative freedom. The results are simply astounding, in particular his score for The Running Man, a true dystopian vision of the future which is more relevant now than ever.

Additional discussion is placed on his production work for popular artists such as Laura Branigan, and The Pet Shop Boys.

All in all, Faltermeyer says he is back in Hollywood and available to score movies and video games.
Let's hope the upcoming Beverly Hills Cop 4 movie producers have the guts to hire Faltermeyer and bring some much needed funky synth back to the movie world.

Hold On - Corey Hart vs Keta Bill - Beverly Hills Cop 2

Those familiar with the movie Beverly Hills Cop 2 will notice that the soundtrack release has a glaring omission still not rectified to this day.

During a key scene involving the Playboy mansion, a notable synthesizer/guitar track is played titled "Hold On", which is sung by Keta Bill.

This song however was never released, and still remains unreleased to this day. Instead, a different version sung by Corey Hart was released on the soundtrack.

One thing people might not notice is that both versions of the song can be heard in the movie.  The Corey Hart version is indeed in the movie.

The Corey Hart version is heard faintly whilst the three lead characters are sitting in their car discussing their next move.

As to why the Corey Hart version was released and not the Keta Bill version remains a mystery.

The Corey Hart version is a slightly faster, more guitar driven version produced by Giorgio Moroder, whilst the other version is a more DX7 bass driven track along with its superior guitar solos.

La La Land Records Lethal Weapon Complete Soundtrack Collection Released

The 80s was full of buddy cop movies, and one of the finest is Lethal Weapon.  It was 1987 when Mel Gibson and Danny Glover gave us the hilarious and action packed team that eventually lasted another 3 sequels.

A big part of these movies were the soundtrack scores by Michael Kamen.  Orchestra heavy but with plenty of Jazzy themes and driven by the distinctive saxaphone sound, it was a classic and memorable set of soundtrack scores.

The classic Michael Kamen scores for all four of the Lethal Weapon movies are now being released in one collection by La La Land Records as part of an 8 CD boxset.  This is the first time all the scores in their almost complete form have been released, and a must have for any Michael Kamen score collectors.

You can check out more here:

http://www.lalalandrecords.com/LethalWeapon.html


The La La Land description is as follows.

(8-CD BOX SET) LIMTED EDITION OF 3000 UNITS
STARTS SHIPPING DEC 5th

La-La Land Records, Warner Bros. and WEA celebrate Warner Bros.' 90th Anniversary, with the LETHAL WEAPON SOUNDTRACK COLLECTION - an 8-CD BOX SET featuring Michael Kamen, Eric Clapton, and David Sanborn's iconic film scores from all four LETHAL WEAPON films. Each LETHAL WEAPON score is contained in its own 2-CD jewel case, and all four scores, along with a 40-Page booklet, are housed in an attractive slip case.

Finally, some of the greatest action film music ever composed — from the most celebrated cop-action saga of all time — is presented here in a deluxe presentation worthy of their legacy. The scores to LETHAL WEAPON 1-3 have been greatly expanded beyond their original soundtrack album presentations (the original soundtrack assemblies are remastered and presented as well.) and the score from LETHAL WEAPON 4 makes its world premiere with this set. A bounty of previously unreleased score music is featured here, literally hours worth, along with bonus score tracks and knockout songs from the likes of Sting, Elton John, George Harrison, The Beach Boys and more — not to mention the Bobby Helms rendition of "Jingle Bell Rock," which opens the original LETHAL WEAPON!

Produced by Neil S. Bulk and MV Gerhard and mastered by James Nelson from WB vault materials, this amazing release, limited to 3000 Units, features a 40 Page booklet with exclusive liners by film music writer Jeff Bond, with new comments from director Richard Donner, and explosive art design by Jim Titus. Once you dig into this sensational set, we know you'll agree with us when it comes to Michael Kamen and LETHAL WEAPON, you'll never get "too old for this sh#*!"

Superman IV - The Quest For Peace - Paul Fishman's Rare Music

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

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/cds/detail.cfm/cdID/390/

Lost Classics - Keta Bill - Hold On (1987) - Beverly Hills Cop 2 - Hef Loves It

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.

https://www.box.com/shared/lzih2271kt

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".

The Principal (1987) - How to deal with disobedience

If you like the good old school based ghetto movies, then make sure you watch Jim Belushi is his legendary role as "The Principal".  It features action, plenty of great one liners, and villians with greased up jheri curls to match the Soul Glow look.

You can just feel the energy when Jim Belushi literally kicks the crap out one of the pupils, and then gets on a motorbike to teach these asswipes a real lesson!

Check out some of these legendary scenes.  Even Louis Gossett Jr makes an appearance as a hard ass caretaker.  This movie also features a scene where Strafe's Set it Off is played, a great example of motion pictures and music as an artform.