Sunday, January 20, 2019

A Score To Settle Podcast - Episode 21, Listening To... Alan Silvestri

Happy New Year and welcome to the first episode of the podcast for 2019! I hope everyone has been enjoying a great start to the new year so far. I am opening with an installment of my "Listening To..." series, focusing on specific composers. This time I am diving into the film and TV music of fan favorite composer, Alan Silvestri. At an early age, Silvestri took to playing both drums and guitar, furthering his studies at Berklee College in Boston and quickly deciding to simply move to Los Angeles to put his talent into practice.  He began by performing in and arranging songs for touring bands, such as Wayne Cochran and the CC Riders, later finding his way into television scoring and hitting it big in this arena with the popular series "CHiPs", where he provided disco-flavored music for each episode. 

This percussive, rhythmic approach brought him to the attention of director Robert Zemeckis, who in 1984 needed to find a composer to score his South American-set comedy-adventure ROMANCING THE STONE. With this project, Silvestri and Zemeckis began a fruitful partnership that continues to this day, with Silvestri scoring all of Zemeckis' films, from BACK TO THE FUTURE and WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT to FORREST GUMP and THE POLAR EXPRESS. Outside of the Zemeckis canon, he also composed wonderfully robust music for action movies, such as PREDATOR, comedies, such as SOAPDISH, Westerns (YOUNG GUNS II), animation (THE CROODS), science fiction (THE ABYSS) and has recently been called into service in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to underscore the adventures of CAPTAIN AMERICA and also THE AVENGERS.

I hope that everyone who listens will enjoy the episode, whether it's your first or you're a long time listener. As usual, forgive me any technical and factual gaffes. Below is the embedded player from which you can listen or simply click on the website link to head directly to where the podcast is hosted on Podbean.

Feel free to subscribe and download the episode via iTunes, just search their store for "a score to settle" or launch from the link below. If you do listen through iTunes, take a moment to rate the show and write a review, it will help bring more notice. The podcast is also now available on Spotify! Check out the links to the Facebook and Twitter accounts, the latter of which can be found at @score2settlepod. Thanks again!





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Sunday, December 2, 2018

A Score To Settle Podcast - Episode 20, Christmas Special 2018

Happy holidays and welcome to the next new episode of the podcast! In closing out this year, the first full year of creating this podcast, I decided to present a holiday-themed installment, focusing on music from classic theatrical and TV movies about Christmas, or those tangentially connected. While of course this will represent only a small sampling of the many films found in this genre, my selections here span the years from 1938 up until the current century and include such popular titles as A CHRISTMAS CAROL (two versions, in fact!), MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, SCROOGED, HOME ALONE and ELF. Music composed for these movies originate from such notable talents as Franz Waxman, Henry Mancini, Danny Elfman and John Williams. I find that these wonderful scores can really be enjoyed both during the holiday season and throughout the year.

I hope that everyone who listens will enjoy the episode, whether it's your first or you're a long time listener. As usual, forgive me any technical and factual gaffes. Below is the embedded player from which you can listen or simply click on the website link to head directly to where the podcast is hosted on Podbean.

Feel free to subscribe and download the episode via iTunes, just search their store for "a score to settle" or launch from the link below. If you do listen through iTunes, take a moment to rate the show and write a review, it will help bring more notice. Check out the links to the Facebook and Twitter accounts, the latter of which can be found at @score2settlepod. Thanks again!



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Sunday, November 11, 2018

A Score To Settle Podcast - Episode 19, Listening To... John Williams (Part 2)

Welcome to the next new episode of the podcast! In this installment, I return to my focus on that most famous and renowned film composer, John Williams. Previously, in Part 1, I charted Williams's career beginning with his TV and early film work in the 1960's, also noting that even prior to this he made a career as a session player in orchestras around Hollywood, on other composer's scores. I then progressed through the 70's, spotlighting themes and scores that often go unheralded and overlooked while noting certain developing musical hallmarks.

 Part 2 commences with the 1980's and continues through to Williams current era of marvelous musical contributions to cinema, again highlighting often overlooked scores that were composed alongside the popular blockbusters. These include titles such as MONSIGNOR, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, JFK, SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET and MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. 

 I hope everyone who listens will enjoy the episode, finding it both entertaining and engaging! As always, forgive any technical or factual errors on my part. Below is the embedded player from which you can listen or simply click on the website link to head directly to where the show is hosted on Podbean.

 Feel free to subscribe and download the episode via iTunes, just search their podcast store for "a score to settle". If you do listen through iTunes, take a moment to rate and write a review of the show, it will help bring more notice. Check out the link to the Facebook page along with my Twitter account, the latter of which you can find at @score2settlepod. Thanks again!

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Sunday, October 21, 2018

A Score To Settle Podcast - Episode 18, Halloween Special 2018... My Top 10 Favorite Horror Scores

Happy Halloween and welcome to the next new episode of the podcast, 'A Score To Settle'! Getting into the spirit of the season, I felt compelled to join the fun and craft a list of my Top 10 favorite horror movie scores. Admittedly, I'm not much of a horror movie fan, however if a favorite composer provided the music (such as Jerry Goldsmith) or the story seemed especially intriguing (such as Clive Barker's NIGHTBREED), then I found myself motivated to take a look and a listen. This list is of course my own personal favorites and not centered around "most popular" or "most successful" titles, so the "slasher" and "torture" sub-categories aren't represented, with no offense to respective fans of those movies. Instead, you will hear music from horror movies about mad scientists, about outer space space, set on the open sea and even one example that journeys into Hell. I also share some of my own memories of discovering the films and their scores featured on this Top 10 list.

I hope everyone who listens finds the episode entertaining and, of course, frightening! As always, forgive any technical or factual errors on my part. Below is the embedded player from which you can listen or simply click on the website link to head directly to where the show is hosted on Podbean.

Also, feel free to subscribe and download the episode via iTunes, just search their podcast store for "a score to settle". If you do listen through iTunes, take a moment to rate and write a review of the show, it will help bring more notice. Check out the link to the Facebook page along with my Twitter account, the latter of which you can find at @score2settlepod. Thanks again!


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Saturday, September 22, 2018

A Score To Settle Podcast - Episode 17, Listening To... John Williams (Part 1)

Welcome to the next new episode of the podcast! In this installment, I am focusing on the music of the most famous and beloved film composer in the world, John Williams. His richly melodic and developed scores have thrilled and stirred audiences for more than four decades, whether accompanying sharks, space ships, wizards or bullwhips. In charting his career and listening for the hallmarks of his style, I wanted to primarily spotlight music before he achieved superstardom as well as those other movies concurrent to the popular blockbusters that are perhaps less notable or less well-known to general audiences. My aim is to focus a bit more on the John Williams you might not have heard.  

Here in part one, I talk about his early career, first as a session player on various film and TV scores recorded in Hollywood, then to his own work in the 1960's including TV series such as LOST IN SPACE and THE TIME TUNNEL and wacky adult comedies with goofy titles like NOT WITH MY WIFE, YOU DON'T. I continue on through that decade and on to his scores from the 1970's, as the variety of projects expanded along with his musical vernacular. This runs the gamut from THE COWBOYS to THE MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING, THE TOWERING INFERNO and THE FURY, all of which showcase Williams's immense compositional range, something often undervalued, along with his ability to perfectly accompany any cinematic story. 

I hope everyone who listens finds the episode entertaining and informative and as usual, forgive me any technical or factual errors on my part. Below is the embedded player from which you can listen or simply click on the website link to head directly to where the show is hosted on Podbean. Also, feel free to subscribe and download the episode via iTunes, just search their podcast store for "a score to settle". If you do listen through iTunes, take a moment to rate and write a review of the show, it will help bring more notice. Check out the link to the Facebook page along with my Twitter account, the latter of which you can find at @score2settlepod. Thanks again!

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