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".

Harold Faltermeyer - The Discovery - 2011 Style! - Syntesen

I came across this quite funky remake of Harold Faltermeyer's The Discovery score track.

Awesome just doesn't justify how cool this is!
I could imagine the next Beverly Hills cop sequel with this along with updated versions of the original score themes.

Romina Danielson - Passion (1988) - Definition of 80s

One of the rare cuts from the late 80s.  Great synths, and with a coked out video, this is the way to do it in style.

According to one of the people who filmed this, the story goes like this!


"I was the Director of Photography on this 80's music video mullet-headed awesomeness. The guy in the video is Jerry Buss' son-- ala the owner of the Lakers. Shooting the shower scene I kept saying she had to cover up her boobies but she kept forgetting and exposing herself. This was a godsend for me. I had just moved back to LA from NY, had no car, no home and $37 in my pocket. This job just fell in my lap and paid $3000 a day. Bam! I was back in business, just like that."

"I only met her on the set and only saw her during the 2-day shoot. I suspect she found some gold somewhere and is digging a cozy life. It was so wacky how that puny video encapsulated every aspect of the 80's-- bad hair, gaudy clothing, cheezy music, coke snorting, off-screen break dancing for some reason, tacky cars and noses stuck high in the air."

Half the extras kept retreating to a room to snort coke; chez 80's. Romina was the reason Joan Collins divorced her husband at the time, famously fainting on the witness stand during the highly publicized trial. She hated everyone on the set and loudly said so. She pointed at me and said in her thick accent, "This wonderful man is the only one I like!" Good times...


Good times indeed!

Fright Night 2011 Trailer Bites You, Is it any good?

The trailer for the new remake of Fright Night has just been released.

It stars Colin Farrell as Jerry Dandridge and Anton Yelchin as Charlie Brewster, with the infamous Evil Ed played by McLovin (Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse).  Judging from the trailer, it looks dark, serious and has some nice location settings in there.  There isn't much showcase of Peter Vincent who is now played by David Tennant (Dr Who), who apparently is a Criss Angel type magician rather than an old TV host.

I like that they have used the original logo and font for this remake, at least the designer had good taste to realise they couldn't improve upon perfection! You can see how it holds up well today.  It's a lot better than the generic fonts they've been using on so many remakes of classic movies.  You can see the original one from 1985 below which is virtually indentical. 

Overall, we're not going to expect any of Brad Fiedel's masterpiece synth music to show up anywhere in this! "Come To Me" was the theme of Fright Night in both the original in 1985 and sequel in 1988, so a new version would be welcome, but so far we don't know who is doing the score for this remake.

I'm sure most fans though would have enjoyed a Fright Night 3, a sequel featuring the original Charlie Brewster coming back to help a new generation of kids.  Then again, money talks in Hollywood, and remake's are on the rise.

As long as the movie is good and entertaining, and offers something new, then hopefully it should be an interesting result.

Here is the trailer for the original 1985 movie, and some of Brad Fiedel's music.

3D shows how to do a proper robot using classic Hardcastle Synths

This is a short clip of robot master 3D, quite a rare and vintage clip.  No need for fancy gimicks, just the robot!

Also check out the duo Fotostat, masters of the vintage robot dance.  They might have funky haircuts and wacky clothes, but they sure do a damn good robot movement.

Summer Job Opening Theme - 1989

An old song from a late 80s summer B movie called Summer Job which most people have never heard of, but still has some great music in it.  The soundtrack is impossible to find, but has some good AOR and summer themes in there.

Chaz Jankel - Tonight's Our Night - Forgotten Classic

Chaz Jankel or Chas Jankel depending on which record you might have put out some classic albums. This is one of this best tracks from the album "Looking At You", a forgotten classic.  I picked up this CD years back and its one of his best.

Some Soundtrack Classics - Montage favourites

Here are some classic montages, when songs on a soundtrack actually featured in the movie!