The Warriors - OST

I absolutely love this film and this soundtrack.The film is about a gang called the Warriors (natch)  who get framed for killing another gangleader called Cyrus from rival  gang the Gramercy Riffs. You see, Cyrus had a plan to unite all the gangs and stop all the fighting in New York but after Cyrus is assassinated all the bad ass gangs scurry to their respective hovels/boroughs and the Warriors are left to get back to Coney Island (their home turf) while they are behind enemy lines. And every other gang in the city wants them dead. Standard plot-driven fair, yet this film is much more than that,......its A balls-out-neon-lit-comic-book-retelling-of-a-fucking-greek myth!!!! What more could you want? Fuck 300!!! This is where the real shit is at.

Based on the Greek legend of Anabasis, which is the account of an army whom after siding with  Cyrus the Younger (another Cyrus. See? See? It's getting all meta and shit) find themselves isolated within enemy territory after the battle of Cunaxa and have to fight, kill, eat and survive while they trek 1000  miles back to Trabzon at the shores of the Black Sea.

When released in 1979 it seemed  to be just a lock stock violent exploitation film with its own unique near future look at inner city violence but it wasn't until the Directors Cut DVD (released in 2005) that director Walter Hill was able to reveal how  his love for comic books and this particular myth have influenced his making of the film. Yet even without the Special Edition  embellishments the film has a distinct visual style (I mean just look at all those gangs!!!), which gives a very comic book look to the cinematography and framing of every scene.

This soundtrack is a strange mix of soul and r & b with a few choice tracks from the score by Barry De Vorzon and of course some great  bits of dialogue from the film including Cyrus' "Can You Dig It?" speech (many boffins of the 1990s might recognise it sampled from the  Pop Will Eat Itself song) and the sexy badass voice of Lynne Thigpen as the omniscient Radio DJ.

It's a very cool soundtrack for a great cult film. A lot of the R & B  tracks leave a lot to be desired (I'm not really a big fan of the genre)  but the inclusion of the iconic Warriors Theme and the disco cover version of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas "Nowhere to Run" (which sets up the one  great musical gag of the film- see above!) make it a nice  piece of platter. Besides the cover art is the bomb.

Melbourne Haul Part Three

So here it is. Part Three of my recent sojourn to Melbourne



2000 and THIRTEEN Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks

Here is a great comedy record. Another in Carl and Mel's 2000 Man series, this one from 1974. The second to last in their five  album series this continues their hilarious  premise of interviewing a man who is over 2000 years old. This was recorded 13 years after the character was created hence the title 2000 and Thirteen. I of course couldn't turn down the opportunity to buy this in the year of it's namesake.

Here a boffin from youtube has awesomely uploaded the LP

CAR WASH- Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Various inc Norman Whitfield and Rose Royce)

A funk/ blaxploitation classic. I love this album. As well as  the title track which is the most well known, there are some other great tracks on here including a cool bit of dialogue of Richard Pryor from the film. For me any soundtrack which includes dialogue from the film is always a worthy inclusion. This is the thing Tarantino got so right with the Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction soundtracks decades later.

for added awesome,..... here is the Trailer.

STAR WARS/THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK; THE ADVENTURES OF LUKE SKYWALKER

Total Geekgasm. This is one of those finds where the initial excitement of finding it has to be counterbalanced by the price. Sure it looks like  a must-have but are they asking you to pay through the roof? Only $20? Don't mind if I do.

 Its a cute and quaint little piece of ephemera having lifted sound effects and dialogue wholesale from the film and narrated  by Malachi Throne who voiced the original Star Wars Teaser Trailer

Malachi Throne was all over Science Fiction in the 60s and 70s/ He was also an original actor in Star Trek having been originally offered  the part of Bones McCoy which he turned down. He didn't want to play second fiddle to Shatner and Nimoy.

Its also  interesting how people are talking about J.J .Abrams bridging the Star Wars and Star Trek universes through his making of the new films but Malachi may be the first to have crossed both worlds way back in the 60s and 70s.

He also passed away on the 13th of March this year. Such a sad loss.

CRUISING- Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Various)

 This is a great Soundtrack with some great tracks. I'm curious to know whether this soundtrack greatly reflects the music from the S & M gay subculture in the late 70s early 80s  which the film depicts. The songs sure have a barrel load  of homoerotic subtext. Brimming with aggressive male desire with ":Heat of the Moment" or outright bold faced innuendo like Mutiny's gutter funk track "Lump", i'd be interested to know if these tracks were indeed the backdrop to this lifestyle back then or picked up and embellished by the studio itself

This film is fascinating on so many levels. Originally protested at length  by the gay community when it was released, many were afraid it would create a hysteria about gays and S & M which would translate into further hate crimes perpetrated against them. And fair enough.  At first glance  the film does seem to depict leatherboys/ gays as twisted  and subversive individuals. A depiction which the gay rights movement were definitiely working hard to rally against. Also the film set a moralistic tone which  could have easily transcribed to the old notion that subversive environments are a breeding ground for misfortunate situations  which could result in getting yourself killed (i.e. if you're going to wear leather and whip each other for fun it's really oniy a matter of time before you start knifing each other for kicks) But once again with the passing of time and a few decades critical analysis, views towards the film have changed  and it has been heralded as an important part of Queer Cinema History. It shows a lifestyle or facet of gay culture quite unflinchingly in the pre-AIDS era. And its most beguiling but intriguing aspect is whether Pacino's protagonist inner struggle is to do with him a) discovering his sexuality, b) being frightened of it and  C) what will happen if he gives himself over to it. The subtext in the 80s was mostly would he himself become a thrill killer if he explores this world too much longer but after 30 years it could also be read that he is discovering he is not as straight as he initially once thought.

HORROR AND SCIENCE FICTION- Various

This is a great Soundtrack Compilation. It has some truly rare source material on it such as Maniac, Patrick, Inseminoid, Mad Max and Phantasm.  It is pretty much a sampler of my Soundtracks most wanted list so I was over the moon to find it at Round and Round Records in Brunswick. Truly Awesome.

Anyhoo, that about wraps up this post. Yes i bought a lot of stuff and now my credit card is aching but there were  a few items which I just couldn't pass up and I just had to grab them. You all know how it is. Until next time. Check yuz later.

How much does one little scratch cost you?

Phantasm.

 I love this soundtrack. One of the most prized items in my collection The soundtrack to the 1979 Horror flick Phantasm. Horror flick is really too generic of a term, more like Evil-Mortician-from-another-dimension-wants-to-turn-you-into-a-homicidal-dwarf-and-portal-you-to-another-planet-which-may-or-may-not-be-Mars-via-flying-killer-orbs-flick.

Yes it really does contain all that and more.

I'm watching the third film in the Quadrilogy as we speak and it is no wonder these films have been granted such high cult status.

This record is worth a lot of money. Copies have sold through Discogs for about $120. It's being sold on ebay for $350+.  Every now and again if a new copy turns up on ebay it wont sell for less than 3 figures.

Its valuable for a lot of reasons. Its rare, it's over 34 years old, and it has quite a lot of cult cache. A lot of the record's value is in it's desirability; it's a hit cult franchise and it was out of print on all formats for over a decade.

So here's my problem. The record has a scratch in it. Just one. The sleeve is in VG condition and the album plays through near mint. Except for track 6 on side one. Just one place where it gets stuck. I've tried to wash it delicately, tried to apply pressure to the tone arm to try and skip through the groove but alas it doesn't fix. Still stuck. It's an infuriating predicament.

So I guess my $350 record is really only worth 20 bucks. Oh well.

I love this soundtrack though, i really do. The title theme is as iconic as say Halloween or Jaws or Suspiria or any others of its ilk. And in many ways is the blueprint to a lot of horror themes since then. An off kilter lullaby, choral singing, a bit of synth for added effect.  Its a classic.

Melbourne Haul Part Two

So here is part Two of my recent haulage from Melbourne. Quite a few awesome numbers and a few must-have atrocities in this bunch.....case in Point..

GURU JOSH- Infinity (1990s Time for the Guru)

I'm listening to this as I type. It brings back so many atrocious memories. It's so weird that this song was a number one hit. Its like history is saying Really?  a skinny be-goateed little shit wrote the tune that ushered in the last decade of the millenium.  I'm impressed with Guru Josh's social acumen though in what seems a particularly ballsy move; in the absence of any real zeitgeist (or anyone who is yet to appreciate the term) why not create your own.
Hmmmm Well played guru, well played.

Anyway and onto the real stuff...

LOUIS AND BEBE BARRON- Forbidden Planet OST

This record is a beautiful purchase. I love this soundtrack. The first all electronic soundtrack to a film ever. Recorded by Louis and Bebe Barron who are arguably  the godparents of Electronic music. I've long been fascinated by them as I'm also  a long time admirer of uber creative power couples, and these guys fit the bill to a tee. John and Yoko? Fuck that! Give me Louis and Bebe anyday. Besides just look at these photos and tell me you wouldn't give your right arm to be  fly on the wall in this studio, even if just for a week.

Also, to keep the John  and Yoko comparison goinn for a moment, you can keep your "bed-ins" and your "holding hands naked crap" , these  are the most romantic photos  EVER!!

I'm also stoked because i just realised this was a 2012 Record Store Day Only reissue, (on the Revola/Poppydisc label) one of only 500 made. On beautiful green vinyl too. I opened it and put it on just now, first time, and the unveiling was so cool.  First the lovely label print.

.....and then the sliding out of the disc to reveal the green vinyl. I had no idea. Like a little reveal of nested surprises. Just awesome.

BAUHAUS- Bela Lugosi's Dead

A  goth classic. I remember this track from my youth. I just remember it was Daaaarrrrrrkkk and  diiiffferrent.  Two things that pretty much sold me on any recording back when I was 16 when I first heard it over (gulp) 24 years ago.
The song was recorded and released in 1979 and is considered one of the first goth rock songs ever recorded and for that alone it has great historical value in my collection.  Having given it a good listen, the song is really quite awesome. It comes off as being very minimal but its quite a layered composition. The beautiful drumming and that muted dub style guitar, and the little filigrees of distortion
and echo that come off from the main "bed"  of the song. Plus check out these primo goth lyrics;

White on white translucent black capes
Back on the rack
Bela Lugosi's dead
The bats have left the bell tower
The victims have been bled
Red velvet lines the black box
Bela Lugosi's dead
Undead undead undead
The virginal brides file past his tomb
Strewn with time's dead flowers
Bereft in deathly bloom
Alone in a darkened room
The count
Bela Logosi's dead
Undead undead undead


A million teenage emo's could not come up with anything better even if they were cutting themselves, mainlining despair  and shitting out bats all at the same time.

THE JUNGLE BOOK-Mike Sammes Singers and Geoff Love and his Orchestra and various

I bought this album for my son. He has profound hearing loss and has just received his binaural cochlear implants. He has just had them turned on and I keep wanting to find him little albums and things he might like to enjoy listening to now that he  has hearing and also as he gets older. This album, although its not original recordings fro the movie does have music by Geoff Love and his Orchestra. I own few other Geoff Love Albums and he seems to be quite the fixture amongst session musos of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

ELVIRA Presents HAUNTED HITS-Various

Finding this record made my day!!

Such a wonderful piece of Horror fandom/ trash ephemera. It has a whole buch of horror themed classics and new gear on it such as the Monster Mash, Flying  Purple People Eater, The Blob, (which I was thrilled to find was written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach), the Addams Family them  but also more out there new wave and post punk gear like Oingo Boingo and the Tubes.

Also it came with an astounding poster.....

Hubbada hubbada!

this is great find and I'm so happy I own this.

Until next time

 see you around folks

PNRG

Search for Weng Weng Kickstarter

This is great. I've only just "met" Andrew Leavold on facebook, but I can tell as a fellow die hard cult filmist this Kickstarter looks awesome. They are currently at 99% and only have 5 days to go. Get behind it! Pledge Here

Melbourne Haul Part One

I went to Melbourne recently and spent waaaaayyyyy to much money, but I'm going to be living pretty tightly over the next few months so I thought I'd have one last vinyl blow out.

I went to one of my all time favourite record stores which is Record Paradise in Brunswick. I used to visit it in St Kilda when it used to be Warren's Record Paradise, run by a grumpy old dude called, you guessed it, Warren. The new premises in Brunswick is gorgeous and even better than the old one and the whole trip there felt good for the soul.

It really is a collectors paradise.

I went to many other stores to get all this booty but Record Paradise was definitely a hi-light of the trip. Other stores included Dixon's Recycled, Greville Records, Round and Round Records , Chapel Street Bazaar and Collectors Corner/Missing Link

So here's part one of my rundown on the loot.

 Rock N Roll High School OST- The Ramones and Various.

I love this record and this film. The film where Adelaide Band "The Exploding White Mice" herald there name. This has some great Ramones classics like "I Want You Around"

 

 EXORCIST II The Heretic- Ennio Morricone 

A commercial flop at the movies this is the soundtrack to the much maligned horror film. Its not too bad as far as Soundtracks go. Morricone  does a similar juggling act to Jerry Goldsmiths the Omen by playing up the evil Eastern diety type music via chanting, drumming and choral singing in an eastern scale. This is the 

kind of music every post 9-11 terrorist action movie  plays the very moment the  Arabian character steps into view.

 It has this amazing track  Pazuzu's theme which I find very entertaining.

NEVER SAY NEVER-Romeo Void

I have been dancing to this track all week. It's awesome. Released in 1981 and the only song this band is really remembered for. It featured in the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on Wave 103

When I was a teenager the promise of any woman saying  "I might like you netter if we slept together" was both frightening and alluring all at the same time. The singer Deborah Iyall is like a proto Beth Otto of the Gossip

 

SOLDIERS UNDER COMMAND/TO HELL WITH THE DEVIL- Stryper

Christian Metal-along with Petra it doesn't get any better than this. These have all the staples of any other Hellfire, Satan worshipping, Hoof Stomping Metal Record but all the themes are inverted.

 

They're so hilariously earnest someone should do a Spinal Tap mockumentary about christian rock like this. (wait on I think I just had an idea)

Also the drummer is an amazing doppleganger for a TJ Hooker era Heather Locklear. What do you think?

                                               

THE LAST STARFIGHTER- Original Soundtrack

This was a gorgeous find. This movie had it all and what a slick premise. Those hours "wasted" playing video games were actually an extra-terrestrial recruitment drive to fight an intergalactic war, it seemed to be the best idea going.

 

Looking back its incredibly cheesy but as a kid I remember thinking it was all so plausible and it tapped into something every kid feels at that age being  plucked from obscurity into  heroic greatness.  This film has some serious cult cajones, you can even download a version of the game here.

 

anyhoo, thats enough for now. Part Two coming soon folks.

Where it All Began.....

This is where it all began. I purchased this album in 1990 in Port Adelaide South Australia. It must've been the Salvation Army or something but i remember I paid $2 for it.

I took it home and fell in love with it. Apart form the usual horror soundtrack staples consisting of sharp bursts of strings (insert cheap scare here), or descending minor diminished scales (something is about to leap out at you), composer Joseph Loduca goes to some incredibly cool and weird places with this score.
Lots of discordant piano and strange tribal rhythms evoke a Cthulu-esque quality. Not to mention the iconic Evil Spirits in the woods whorling sound that greets the listener on side two.

In fact I would often forgo side one and just go  straight to side two,  starting with that gorgeous swirling sound

case in point...

....and that one purchase pretty much got me started on collecting horror soundtracks. Since then i've bought maybe a 100 more. Some of them are now worth quite a bit. Evil Dead sells on eBay for about $350 (near mint of course, mine has been played quite a bit and shows signs of wear. A few pops and crackles.)  I played it all the way through the other day and there are no skips or sticks. A solid fantastical musical score and just a beautiful discovery. Joseph Loduca FTW!

Listening to Slayer all on a Saturday Morning

 Jeff Hanneman died yesterday. A founding member of Slayer I thought it only fitting to give this LP a blast on the old Sherwood this morning. This album holds a strong resonance for me as I'm sure it does for a lot of teens of the 80s. I was 14 when this album came out. It was released 6 days before my birthday. I remember hearing the double kick assault coming from my local Underground/Alternative Record Shop, Verandah Music and I went in transfixed. I was directed to the record in the New Arrival stack by the store guy. I was of course still a good Christian boy and I was well versed in the evils of Satanic Rock Music. I guess that was exactly why the record was so interesting to me. It was dark and ultimately forbidden. Even listening to it then and there felt like a sin. Like my ears were doing something wrong. Apart from all the devilish imagery on the front cover....

 

 I remember it was the back cover which spoke volumes to me.....

There is a great level of "playful" aggression in this image. Kerry King is the seriously angry type while Tom Araya can't for the life of himself take it seriously. Dave Lombardo is doing his best to look like an 80s metal pin up boy while Jeff, obscured by his mop of blonde hair, is happy to play along.

As a teen this image said so much to me. It was a promise of things to come. In 5 years i would be a young adult and this was the way I could be if I chose to.Cool as fuck. Also after having been warned off these angry satanic bands by my church, my parents and my peers it seemed to also say, "Its OK to be Angry. Look at how much fun playing angry can be. Our guitarist wants to murder those Stella Artois cans but our singer thinks its all so hilarious. No-ones being hurt, we're just goofing off but we're using the language of anger to do it" Or something like that.

This was all so incredibly new and insightful to me at the time. I also remember thinking it was definitely an artifact which would upset my parents no end. Satanic Imagery, angry hateful posturing, the consumption of alcohol. I mean for goodness sake, to add insult to injury even one of the tracks was called Jesus Saves. Surely them and all who listen to them were going to hell!!(or perhaps it should be stated "South of Heaven") I bought this album 25 years later from eBay. A classic of the genre I thought it definitely belonged in my collection. And it does. RIP Jeff I'll give this one a good spin for you today.