The 70 s began wit hout an y clear sens e o f i denti ty or belo ngi ng. Studi o m usi c d ep art ment s had b een d iss olved fo r s om e t im e, so com pos ers were rovi ng freel ancers. Youn g blo od was welcom e. There w ould be careers t o m ak e a s tand in th e m idd le of the free-for-al l, an d w e’l l l ook at Joh n Wil l-iam s, J erry Gol dsm it h, and J am es Horner sho rtly. As w e ent er t he d ecade ho wever, and determi ne what were th e no teworth y soun dtracks, yo u’ll s ee th at th ere’s never been a mo re w ret ch ed tim e for hum drum and mi scel lany.
Let’s lo ok at som e of the s tandou t cul t hi ghl ight s. In 1 971, St an ley Kub rick ad ap ted t he clas sics again for A Clockwo rk Or ange. The works of Beet hoven, Ross ini , and El gar fou nd nowh ere near the level of favo ur t hat 20 01 had on record t houg h, and th e fi lm fam ous ly di ed a d eath of moral o ut-rage. A noth er expressi on of social di ssati sfact ion came in M ichael Cain e’s gri tti es t character role in Get Cart er. The jazzy, h arp sicho rd -l aced mu sic from Briti sh comp oser Roy Budd m ade th e veng eful t hug seem even to ugher. It was a s co re t hat fou nd renewed appeal i n th e l ate 90s when a series o f Bud d’s w ork appeared o n CD . Shaf t was anot her co ol cat patrol li ng th e s treet s that year, b acked by a tun e t hat was fi nger-cl ickin g good . Is aac Hayes won a Best So ng Oscar for t he si ngl e and al bum t hat topp ed US charts.
Jo hn Carpent er m ade h is si t-up-and -t ake-n oti ce debut as director and com pos er in 1 973 wi th Dar k St ar. His s im pli sti c sy nth es iser scores woul d have tremend ous im pact on a fil m mu sic scene rapid ly fal lin g in lov e wit h electroni c ov erl ay s. The fo llo wing y ear Dav id Shire app lied th e 12 -t one m et hod of com pos iti on (s ee The Cob web in Chapt er 3) to the n ois y su bway heis t th ri ller Th e Taki ng Of Pelh am 123 . T hen in 197 5 cam e a surreal and ki nky rem ind er th at the M usi cal co uld s ti ll wo rk on bi g screen, wit h th e o ut-rageous R ocky Hor ror Pi ct ure S how. Vis ually (and o ft en mus ically ) i t fol-lo wed in t he fo ots teps of th e m on ster flicks o f t he 50s , but i ts real legacy was i n encouragin g audi en ce parti ci pati on to an unprecedented l ev el . The decade’s ot her Ro cky cam e a year later, an d intro duced beefcake Syl vester Stall one as a box ing champ fro m the Phi ladelp hia s lum s. Bi ll Co nti ’s train-in g m ont ag e fanfare is o ne mo re i nst an tly recogn isabl e mot if t o perfectl y captu re an acti vit y (ring fi ght ing) and an emo tion (the l oser triu mph s). 19 76 was also th e year of Bernard Herrm ann’s fi nal score. He’d been on e of the com pos ers hi t h ardest b y t he m ove away fro m earli er mu sical sty les. Sadl y
he died jus t as he’d fo und a com fo rtable go-between of j azz-fused pop and orchest ra fo r Marti n Scorsese’s Taxi Dri ver. The t ortured saxoph one t hat po rt ray s Ro bert DeNiro’s inner pain i s a p oign an t trib ute. Not o nly d id he di e befo re h earin g his mu sic t o film and m is s t he univ ers al accl ai m i t recei ved, but i f he’d li ved on a few years h e’d h av e seen a retu rn o f th ose m usi cal sty les and values h e deplored t he lo ss o f.
Bey ond th es e, th e few abou t t o fo llo w, and w hat’s already been covered in scatt ered fash ion in Chapter 4, there really is n’t m uch m ore t o tal k abou t for th e fi rs t half of t he 70s. Of far m ore i nterest w as a s eri es of re-recording s th at ap peared on viny l as of 1972 u nder the baton of con ducto r, prod ucer, and fil m m usi c aficio nado Charles Gerhard t. ‘The Sea Hawk: T he Cl as sic Fil m Scores Of Eri ch Wol fg an g Korn gold ’ was a pheno menal s ucces s, peaki ng class ical charts rapi dly. Clearly t he record-b uyin g pu bli c w ere keen to hear m ore than t he general wash o f p op so ng col lect ion s around at the ti me. Th e RCA label fol lowed i t wit h si mil ar col lectio ns for Max Stein er, Al fred Newm an, Bernard Herrmann , Franz Waxm an, M ikl ós Rózsa, Di mit ri Tio mki n, a second Ko rn gol d v olum e, an d a few celebrity t hemed comp ila-ti ons (e.g . Errol Fly nn). Ot her record l ab el s j ump ed ab oard th e revi val of in teres t, and fi lm m usi c coll ect ors sudd en ly found th em selv es abl e to actu-all y have a co llecti on! It was a m uch-needed rem inder o f the q ualit y o utpu t from the Go lden Ag e, an d m ost certain ly h el ped th e career o f o ne you ng com pos er...
The Force Is Strong With This One
Di recto r St ev en Spielb erg fo und him self m akin g a t em p t rack for Sug ar-la nd Exp ress (1 974) from t wo s co res by ‘John ny’ Wil liam s. The Reiver s (196 9) and The Cowboys (1 972) were th e s cores in quest ion; a pair eschew-in g p op for an orchest ra. They w ere i n o bvio us co ntrast to Wi ll iams ’s more hi gh pro fi le flirt at ion wit h dis co and di saster for The Pos ei don A dven ture (197 2), The Towerin g Infern o (197 4), and Eart hqua ke (19 74), wh ich acco rd ed to the general sty le of t he day. After t heir fruit ful col laborati on on Su garl and, there was n o on e better su ited to p lum b s ubm erged depths of fear for t he film th at forev er chang ed the way s um mer mo vies w ere con-ceived. Ja ws (1975 ) was m ore than jus t t he hit of t he year. It made s o m uch m oney t hat Hol lyw ood w as frant ic to learn the secret of i ts s uccess . Thi s was where concept was first cons idered, an d wo uld rap idl y l ead to the n ow
pain full y p rev al en t concept m ovie. Its ot her s uccess t he indu stry so ught t o repli cat e was t he album and si ngl e w hich prov ed an orch estral score (and on e ost ensib ly for a h orro r m ovie) co uld scale charts desp ite stron g p op op posi tio n.
Record sales, repeat vi ewi ng fig ures, and t he Oscar t hat Wil liam s won al l say s om et hin g to t he powerful effect h is m usi c h ad . Fro m th e o penin g poi nt-of-vi ew shot mo vin g thro ugh d eep w at ers , we’re m ade to u nderstand thi s is n’t s om e hol iday d ivi ng fo otage o r aquati c docum entary. Tho se lo w th ud-di ng notes leave us i n no un certain ty that danger l urks. Bri tain’s Deb bie Wisem an t old me t hat ‘as a film com po ser you kno w to avoi d t hat repeated sem it one p hras e si nce i t i s now forever asso ciated with s hark s.’ Several com pos ers have m ade s im ilar rem ark s, goin g t o s how how large an im pact it h as m ade i f mu sici an s con sciou sly st eer cl ear of s omet hing i n t heir wri t-in g process .
Two years l at er, Spiel berg int ro duced Wil liam s to his fri end George Lu cas who wanted h is new sci en ce fi ct ion film t o h av e an emo tio nal fami l-iarit y s ince th e back drop o f creatures an d lo cal es loo ked so alien. Star War s (197 7) i s ri ght ly hail ed as th e Secon d Com in g o f fil m m usic. Every aspect of the film ’s release was a genui ne p henom enon, coi ning t he w ord ‘b lock-bu ster’ t o d es cri be th e unprecedented level of queui ng that cinem as experi-enced for ticket s. The t wo di sc al bum im medi ately became t he b igg es t sel lin g non-p op reco rd in hi sto ry (at that t im e), and s aw more cover version s and con cert perform an ces t han anyth ing el se in fil m m usi c’s hi story. Fan s who com plain ed about the con cert suit e presentati on of the al bum woul d have to w ai t unt il t he Special Ed iti on re-rel ease of the fil m in 1997 . Wil l-iam s h as always been perfectl y clear about hi s practice of re-sequencin g hi s albu ms t hou gh. ‘What I usu al ly t ry to do, w hich m ay co me fro m years of m ak ing concert programm es, is to m ak e a m usi cal prog ram me based on m at eri al I've g ot from th e film that wil l make the mo st rewardi ng lis teni ng experience in term s of ent r’act e, ov ert ure, s oft, lo ud, fas t, sl ow, etc. So th ere's a gest al t o r con tou r to k eep t he li stener in teres ted.’
Thi s l evel of succes s and adorati on (and anoth er Oscar) d oesn’t co me wi thou t go od reason. Very sim pl y, the wall -t o-wall mu sic is flawless in s up-po rt ing the o n-screen ad ventu re, an d in comm un icat ing emot ion s t hat coul d easil y get l ost i n th e s pect acl e o f v isu al effect s. Th ere is the endles sly cop ied op en ing of th e en ormou s Star Destro yer passi ng o verh ead. Wi tho ut Wil l-iam s’s bo ld m arch you woul dn’t know that the l itt le sh ip is t he go od g uy. A
few m in utes later, wi tho ut the delicate ‘Prin ces s L ei a Them e’ for fl ute, the scene o f her sl otti ng the D eath Star plans in to R2 -D 2 coul d s eem li ke so me lady m aking to as t. Wi thou t t he adagi o (sl ow) v ers ion of t he ‘Force Theme’
as Luke g azes at Tatooi ne’s sett ing twi n s uns , he m ig ht as well be bird-watchi ng. With out t he up beat, goofy ho mage to a 1 930’s Benn y Goodm an sw ing band, th e Can tin a sequ en ce co uld seem prett y s ill y w ith so m any papi er m âché pupp et s and ru bber m asks . T he l ist go es o n w ay beyo nd thi s first th ird of t he film of cou rs e.
Apart from it s j aw-d roppi ng record sales and textb ook demo nst rat ion of every conceiv ab le way a score can benefit a film , t he real success o f the m usi c was i n con vin ci ng stud ios th e late Rom anti c st yle w as n’t com pl et el y dead. T his was th e Gold en Age st yle at i ts very best , heark en ing back to the work o f Ko rn gol d, St einer, and Rózsa from t he 30s and 40 s. Rom an tic m ean s large-scal e orchestral m us ic ins pired for o ther th an purely mus ical reas ons . It refers to a 19t h cent ury of rich harmo ny, m el ody, an d p oetry whi ch was exact ly what Georg e Lucas wan ted, to be li ght years away from th e Disco craze swamp ing ev ery thi ng els e.
There’s only ev er been o ne thi ng wrong wit h Star War s, and t hat’s the fact it has always comp letely overshado wed Cl ose En co unt er s Of Th e Thi rd Kind, whi ch cam e out the sam e year. Everyon e who’s seen it rem emb ers the si gni fi can ce of t he spaceshi p’s fi ve-not e m us ical mes sage (which t ook more th an tw o h undred an d fift y att em pt s t o g et rig ht fo r Spielb erg). Wi th onl y a parti al reli an ce on th e rom an tic form, audi en ces have never emb raced it as op en ly. It may b e at onal (not belon gin g to any k ey ) in pl aces, y et it p erform s ju st as im port an t a rol e i n t he film as in St ar Wars. The fil m is larg el y abou t com mu nicatio n vi a mu sic, so i t wo uld be un thin kable t o t ak e aw ay the t uba and syn thesi ser conversat ion of t he fin al e fro m the bli nkin g l igh t s how. Al l in al l, t here m ay never have been a m ore int ellectual ised cons iderati on of th e use of m usi c as an in tegral part o f a fi lm .
Will iam s’s next m ajor pro ject broug ht s cience fi ct ion down to E art h wit h th e arrival o f t he g reatest superhero, and greatest s uperhero them e. S uper-man : The Movie (19 78) features a ‘M arch’ o f such patriot ic po mp it has remain ed the warm -u p of choi ce fo r s porti ng t eam s t he world over. Wil l-iam s doesn ’t put a fo ot wron g in characteris ing t he al ien pol iti cs o f p lanet Kryp ton wit h b el ls, percuss ion, and synt hesi ser. Nor t he folk sy farm l ife of th e Kent fam ily in Sm all vil le, th e bust le of ci ty l ife in Met ro poli s, t he bu m-bl ing vi llai nous li fe of L ex Lu thor an d O tis , or the lov e affair w ith m odern
gal Lois Lane. Th en the com pos er shot back in to s pace t o t hat far away gal-axy for the sequel ado red by al l fi lm mus ic fans , Th e Emp ire St rikes Ba ck (198 0). M uch sp ecul atio n su rro unds why thi s sh oul d ho ld m ore appeal t han it s b racketi ng ch ap ters of t he tri logy, an d even o ver these o ther scores men-ti oned h ere precedi ng or fol lowi ng. On e ans wer i s th at it end s unresol ved wi th s everal plo t t hreads in peril. Mus ically that ’s t ran slat ed int o a m uch darker o veral l m oo d, w ith th e grand ‘Im perial M arch’ being at the h eart of all that’s su ddenly dis co vered t o be wrong wit h the Skyw al ker fam ily. Th ere are lo ts of g rey areas in th e score, such as t he brass rum ble put tin g a ques-ti on m ark ov er the head o f bo unty h unter Bo ba Fett, t he i nsin uaques-tio n by st rings o f pu re evil i n the swam p cave when Luk e confront s his fears, and th e consi stent ly sub tle tricks (such as no ticeable rare absences o f m usic) creat ing an ai r of som ethi ng amis s at t urncoat Lando Cal riss ian’s Clo ud City. It ’s temp tin g to ign ore Retur n Of The Jed i, wh ich fol lowed 3 years lat er, s ince it devol ved i nto a regu rg itat ion of m at eri al (som e li teral ly re-us ed fro m Sta r War s) for a d isp lay of Mu ppets an d teddy bears. Luke’s em o-ti onal arc sto ry sh oul d have rem ained at t he forefro nt of t hin gs, but does at least g et a sati sfyi ng pay-off s co red wi th th e firs t use of cho rus in t he t ri l-og y, g ivi ng th e fi nal li ght s ab re d uel a quasi -reli gio us feel . Mu sicall y and vi suall y i t’s an ant i-clim ax t o wh at was buil t u p, b ut as the o rigi nator o f the ph ras e ‘s pace o pera’, i t do es make for n early 6 ho urs of t he very best of Wil liam s’s career.
Look At The Size Of These Things
In several circles of fando m, a li ne of dialo gue from St ar Wars has been cheeri ly adapted to sum up th e co mp oser’s in fl uence as t he 70 s b ecam e the 80 s: ‘Do not und erest im at e the p ower of Jo hn Wil liam s.’ Incredib ly, havi ng m en tio ned all t hese enorm ousl y p opul ar successes so far, t here are s til l t wo m ore. M ore i ncred ibl e is t hat in between he sti ll had ti me to kno ck o ff acco mp an im en t t o Alfred Hi tchcock’s fi nal m ov ie Fa mil y Plo t (1 976), and a m arch t hat o ft en fi nds it self i n co ncert repertoi res for Mi dway (19 76).
Jaws 2 (1 978) expand ed all t he terror of th e o ri gin al , whi le The Fur y (19 78) had an over-t he-top ps ycholo gical waltz. He w as t he firs t t o sugg es t Drac-ul a (19 79) was a mi sund ers tood rom an tic, and th en gave Spiel berg a come-di c spark in his only real m is fire w ith 1941 (1 979). It is t o Spielb erg w e t urn
again fo r t he last two b lockb ust ers t hat rou nd ou t Will iam s’s decade-lo ng reign of sup rem acy and i nfluence.
The fi nal 80s treasure (an d Os car) wit h Spiel berg was E.T. The E xt ra-Terrest rial (1982 ). It was anot her mass ive albu m sel ler, agai n conform ing t o Wil liam s’s preference fo r con cert arrangemen ts of t he princip al them es (one of whi ch w as a sin gles chart success to o). Like each of th es e bl ockbus ters hi ghl ight ed, i t was reiss ued on an expanded CD. M ore t han any of the o th-ers i t s pli ts fan opi nio n as to whether s uit es or chron olo gical o rder best sui t hi s al bum s. Senti ment al ity i s E.T.’s general moo d, playi ng on t he heart-st rings of every ch ild who h ad an im ag inary friend, al ien or ot herw ise. On ce fami liar w ith th e film , an yone fo llo wing th e m usic can’t help bu t b e drawn to ward t he ast oun ding 1 5-mi nute bik e chase finale, whi ch bri ms ov er wit h up -t empo cheer. E. T. by no m eans b ro ught any kind of an end to thi s p eri od of grand eu r, bu t no ne of what fol low ed in t he 80s ev er att ai ned t he same heig hts of popu larity. Wh ile som e wou ld prove d ownrig ht forg et tabl e, at least th ere was Th e River (1 984), SpaceCamp (1 986), Th e Wi tches Of Ea st-wick (19 87), Empi re Of The Sun (198 7), The Accident al Tour ist (19 88), Bo rn On The Fou rth Of July (198 9), an d Always (19 89). Shift ing records o ff sh el ves, encouragin g repeat ci nema viewi ngs , and persuadi ng the rom an tic id iom back i nto fil m mu sic makes Will iam s a prin ci pal archi tect in thi s
The fi nal 80s treasure (an d Os car) wit h Spiel berg was E.T. The E xt ra-Terrest rial (1982 ). It was anot her mass ive albu m sel ler, agai n conform ing t o Wil liam s’s preference fo r con cert arrangemen ts of t he princip al them es (one of whi ch w as a sin gles chart success to o). Like each of th es e bl ockbus ters hi ghl ight ed, i t was reiss ued on an expanded CD. M ore t han any of the o th-ers i t s pli ts fan opi nio n as to whether s uit es or chron olo gical o rder best sui t hi s al bum s. Senti ment al ity i s E.T.’s general moo d, playi ng on t he heart-st rings of every ch ild who h ad an im ag inary friend, al ien or ot herw ise. On ce fami liar w ith th e film , an yone fo llo wing th e m usic can’t help bu t b e drawn to ward t he ast oun ding 1 5-mi nute bik e chase finale, whi ch bri ms ov er wit h up -t empo cheer. E. T. by no m eans b ro ught any kind of an end to thi s p eri od of grand eu r, bu t no ne of what fol low ed in t he 80s ev er att ai ned t he same heig hts of popu larity. Wh ile som e wou ld prove d ownrig ht forg et tabl e, at least th ere was Th e River (1 984), SpaceCamp (1 986), Th e Wi tches Of Ea st-wick (19 87), Empi re Of The Sun (198 7), The Accident al Tour ist (19 88), Bo rn On The Fou rth Of July (198 9), an d Always (19 89). Shift ing records o ff sh el ves, encouragin g repeat ci nema viewi ngs , and persuadi ng the rom an tic id iom back i nto fil m mu sic makes Will iam s a prin ci pal archi tect in thi s