Still more lazy thoughts from this one…

Posts from the ‘song’ category

Same Song, Different Movie: Canzonetta Sull’aria by Mozart

Continuing my thoughts from February regarding the use of song in film, “needle dropped” tunes are not officially considered part of a film score — those orchestral, choral, or instrumental pieces some consider background music. Both are equally utilized as cues by filmmakers for a specific purpose or to elicit certain reactions by the audience. I’m fascinated by this in general, and movie soundtracks have long intrigued me. A convergence of the music and film arts I’ve allocated much time toward. Some (not all) movie soundtracks have incorporated those songs the director or music programmer have showcased in their movie along with the film’s score.

Friday Song: Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield

It seemed the natural thing to do. Culminate my Exorcist week with the iconic instrumental so thoroughly associated with the film. A non-vocal tune that would equally impact the Top 40 pop chart like only a handful from the surrounding decades. No one seems to produce this art form in this day and age. Sure, I’ve highlight one from way back, and the 80s were more loaded than usual (Top Gun, St. Elmo’s Fire, Chariot’s of Fire). Still, none of those came from a horror film or carried the weight of a movie like Mike Oldfield’s did. To this very day, in point of fact.

Friday Forgotten Song: Summer Days by Angela Bofill

Like some, certain memories are tied with the music of the time. During this particular period, I was in my Jazz Fusion phase and the artists in and around the genre. Yet, still very much near the R&B stylings of the day. And with summer of 2012 coming to an end tomorrow, there is one song and artist that comes back to my mind’s eye whenever the autumnal equinox cycles passed.

In Honor of Those in the Background

Backing vocalist
– A backing vocalist or backing singer (or, especially in the U.S., backup singer or sometimes background singer or harmony vocalist) is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists.

Forty Years Ago To the Hour: Beginnings by Chicago

There are moments that truly stay with you, at least while the brain cells hold out during our stay on this mortal coil. I daresay graduating from the cauldron that was senior high school being chief among them. It was, and still is, an institution that guaranteed the person that finished the undertaking no longer resembled the one who started it. Everything changed by the time you got the diploma in your hand. You weren’t the same physically, mentally, or emotionally when it was done. No one had an easy time of it, even the popular kids. If someone says they did, they’re l-y-i-n-g. High school was that oddly endearing modern rite of passage. And much like keelhauling, most merely wanted to survive the experience.

Same Song, Different Movie: Gayne’s Adagio by Aram Khachaturian

Continuing my thoughts from February regarding the use of song in film, “needle dropped” tunes are not officially considered part of a film score — those orchestral, choral, or instrumental pieces some consider background music. I think both are utilized as cues by filmmakers for a specific purpose or to elicit certain reactions by the audience. I’m fascinated by this in general, and movie soundtracks have specifically intrigued me.

Friday Forgotten Song: Kyrie by Mr. Mister

Recently, author Joseph Maddrey concluded a wonderful set of articles with his final entry of a quite splendid southwestern trip he undertook and cataloged. His Four Corners Tour series looked, both pictorially and historically, at some decidedly beautiful locations in that region (a number of which were utilized in some classic and iconic films). It a worthy piece of writing and I highly recommend it to my readers. What was almost as interesting was his inclusion at article’s end of a memorable music video from the distinct period of big hair and padded shoulders that was the 80s. Mike and the Mechanics’ Silent Running being that song…