Greetings! Scorekeeper here peeping through the knothole of time reflecting upon some noteworthy releases that hit soundtrack land in 2008. In an effort to make good on one of my resolutions for 2009, I want to shed more spotlight toward various labels that are continuing to make the present an unparalleled time in history to love film music.
I contend that 2008 was the greatest year ever for new soundtracks of previously unreleased or out-of-print material. To support my claim, here is a brief rundown of some of the supremely cool releases of 2008 from a pantheon of labels presently producing retro soundtracks. Many of these are limited editions and have already returned to out-of-print status. For 2009, I’m hoping to stay ahead of the curve a bit in order to purvey news of future releases in a timelier fashion.
Varése Sarabande CD Club [www.varesesarabande.com]
NORTH AND SOUTH (1985) (Volume 1 and 2) by Bill Conti
VIVA ZAPATA! • THE CARETAKERS (1952, 1963) by Alex North
MATILDA (1996) by David Newman
GANGS OF NEW YORK • THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN • THE SCARLET LETTER
(2002, 1985, 1995) (The Rejected Scores) by Elmer Bernstein
IRON EAGLE (1986) by Basil Poledouris
MY COUSIN RACHEL (1952) by Franz Waxman
THE MATRIX: THE DELUXE EDITION (1999) by Don Davis
ANNA LUCASTA (1959) by Elmer Bernstein
SHORT CIRCUIT (1986) by David Shire
Intrada Records [www.intrada.com]
THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL (1978) by Jerry Goldsmith
BUCK ROGERS: IN THE 25TH CENTURY (1979) by Stu Phillips
SCORPIO (1973) by Jerry Fielding
BODY DOUBLE (1984) by Pino Donaggio
THE DELTA FORCE (1986) by Alan Silvestri
WARGAMES (1983) by Arthur B. Rubinstein
BABY: SECRET OF THE LOST LEGEND (1985) by Jerry Goldsmith
LITTLE MONSTERS (1989) by David Newman
Film Score Monthly [www.screenarchives.com]
THE OMEGA MAN 2.0 (1971) by Ron Grainer
SHAFT ANTHOLOGY: HIS BIG SCORE AND MORE! (1971-1974) by Isaac Hayes and Various (Including scores for SHAFT by Isaac Hayes, SHAFT’S BIG SCORE! by Gordon Parks, SHAFT: THE TELEVISION SERIES by Johnny Pate)
MGM SOUNDTRACK TREASURY (1959-1983) by Various (Including nearly complete scores for THE APARTMENT by Adolph Deutsch, THE FORTUNE COOKIE by André Previn, HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE and DUEL AT DIABLO by Neal Hefti, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, by Johnny Mandel, THE FUGITIVE KIND by Kenyon Hopkins, A RAGE TO LIVE by Nelson Riddle, GOODBY AGAIN by Georges Auric, THE HAPPY ENDING by Michael Legrand, BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN by Richard Rodney Bennett, SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL by William Alwyn, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE and THE HONEY POT by John Addison, PUSSYCAT, PUSSYCAT, I LOVE YOU by Lalo Schifrin, THE HILLS RUN RED and THE HORNETS’ NEST by Ennio Morricone, THE 7TH DAWN and THE GLORY GUYS by Riz Ortolani, HANNIBAL BROOKS by Francis Lai, and THE FINAL OPTION by Roy Budd)
THE NAKED SPUR: CLASSIC WESTERN SCORES FROM MGM (1950-1956) by Various (Including nearly complete scores for THE NAKED SPUR by Bronislau Kaper, THE WILD NORTH by Bronislau Kaper, THE LAST HUNT by Daniele Amfitheatrof, DEVIL’S DOORWAY by Daniele Amfitheatrof, and ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO by Jeff Alexander)
UNDER FIRE (1983) by Jerry Goldsmith
THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST (1983) by John Williams
HEAVY METAL (1981) by Elmer Bernstein
SUPERMAN: THE MUSIC (1978-1988) by John Williams and Various (Including nearly complete scores for SUPERMAN, SUPERMAN II, SUPERMAN III, and SUPERMAN IV)
La-La Land Records [www.lalalandrecords.com]
NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER (1991) by Jerry Goldsmith
BLAZING SADDLES (1974) by John Morris
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (1987) by Bill Conti
METEOR (1979) by Laurence Rosenthal
THE OUTER LIMITS (1963) by Dominic Frontiere
BSX Records [www.buysoundtrax.com]
STARCRASH (1978) by John Barry
DEATH STALKER II • CHOPPING MALL (1987, 1986) by Chuck Cirino
PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES (2006) by Mark Snow
THEY LIVE (1988) by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth
A TIME TO DIE (1982) by Ennio Morricone
Concord Records
[http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/labels/Concord-Records/]
INDIANA JONES: THE SOUNDTRACK COLLECTION (1981-2008) by John Williams (Including nearly complete scores for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, and INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOME OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL by John Williams)
With labels clamoring to find the next high-demand soundtrack to release, 2009 could easily top its predecessor. Although my list of holy grail soundtrack releases is dwindling, there are still plenty of shock-and-awe titles left to be made available to the public once again if only for a short while.
Will 2009 be the year?
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