I’ve been thinking about John Barry a lot recently, and listening to his film soundtracks while I work during the day. Here are two particular favourites. The first is one of the lushest, most exotic pieces of music I know. The second perfectly captures the boozy resignation I associate with Dashiell Hammett.
The Girl with the Sun in her Hair:
Hammett:
(Belated) thanks for posting this – wasn’t familiar with the Hammett piece, and it does sound like a perfect fit. My personal Barry favourite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t99QQIXez4M
They haven’t posted the John Barry tribute yet but here are some podcasts from Jonny Trunk’s film music show on Resonance FM: http://podcasts.resonancefm.com/archives/category/shows/ost
Hope you and Roisin are well (and nice to ‘meet’ you, by the way)!
Hey Simon, thanks for commenting!
Shamefully, given my fondness for ITC adventure shows, I’ve never actually seen an episode of The Persuaders. Cracking theme though! And, you know, I’m no fan of the Bond films but Barry’s scores are sensational. I’ve been listening to them a lot in the last few weeks…
Thanks for the podcast links too. Am I right in thinking you’re a Doctor Who fan?
Re Bond, the score for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is great – very enjoyable film too, and I don’t even mind George Lazenby. I *am* a Bond fan though, so that’s probably to be expected.
I am indeed a Doctor Who fan – first real exposure was through the new series but steadily building up a supply of classic series DVDs. Especially have a fondness for what I’ve seen of Troughton and Davison thus far, and thanks to Christmas presents (and a disc from Tom) am starting to explore some more of the Pertwee years.
Are you going to this? I think Tom and myself are planning to go.
http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/film/film-talk-greene-on-screen-pg#performance-109556
Yeah, the score for OHMSS is great. Tom keeps telling me that it’s the best Bond film, so I shall probably give it a go one day. The fact that Telly Savalas is in it helps!
Glad to hear you’ve been getting into the classic series DVDs. Agree that Troughton and Davison are great, though I sometimes feel the latter’s let down by his stories/companions. Like Tom, I’m a Pertwee acolyte. I’m currently watching Season 7 through – every serial an absolute winner!
Sadly, I’m in London on the day of that Greene talk but I hope you enjoy it!
It is indeed a great film – I’ve always had a soft spot for Thunderball and From Russia With Love, too. Ah, TS! A career highlight? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxZ1xn2ml10
As for DW Season 7, I’ve only seen Spearhead From Space and Inferno. The latter was my first exposure to Pertwee in the role, though only one episode of it at the time – they screened an episode of it at an event I went to celebrating Delia Derbyshire; the episode which features Blue Veils and Golden Sands (ep 2 I think?). The only other Pertwee I’ve seen is The Claws of Axos, Frontier in Space and The Time Warrior. Any recommendations for where to go next?
While we’re on recommendations, am I right in thinking you’re a jazz aficionado? Have you ever seen All Night Long? It’s a re-telling of Othello with Richard Attenborough and Patrick McGoohan, set in the jazz scene – great cast of musicians turn up including Charles Mingus, Tubby Hayes, Dave Brubeck, John Dankworth and others. Lovely.
I’m always a bit sad that Telly never actually made it up to Birmingham. Still, I suppose it adds to the surreal nature of the film!
I wish I’d attended that Delia Derbyshire event, I remember reading about it. Still, I’m glad you got to see Spearhead and Inferno as a result. Two absolute classics! In terms of recommendations, it’s a bit difficult as some of the really good ones (Ambassadors of Death, Terror of the Autons, Mind of Evil, The Daemons) have yet to be released on DVD. Of the ones that you can buy, I’d unreservedly recommend The Silurians, The Curse of Peladon, Carnival of Monsters and The Green Death. The Three Doctors is also one of my favourites but be warned, it is very VERY silly.
Thanks for reminding me of All Night Long</em! It's been a while since I've seen it – probably when I was researching my MA. The fact that film exists of Mingus and Dickie Attenborough in the same room is certainly immensely pleasing…
There was some really interesting archive stuff at the Delia Derbyshire event. Thanks for the recommendations! I’d completely forgotten I’d seen The Daemons – it was part of an archaeology season on BBC4 a few years ago, so actually *that* must have been my first exposure to Pertwee. It’s a shame it’s not out as that was a fun story.
I’ve heard good things about Carnival of Monsters and I’ll have to check out The Three Doctors. I have no problem with silliness – one of my favourite classic Who serials is City of Death, and my favourite scene in The Two Doctors (which otherwise makes me glaze over a little, despite Troughton) is the scene in the kitchen where the Doctor reaches behind him and mistakenly picks up a cucumber to defend himself with. I love the petty bickering between Troughton and Pertwee in The Five Doctors, so the earlier multi-Doctor story presumably has plenty of that too.
Yep, it’s great to see that cast together. Have to admit I own very few jazz records but today I’ve been listening to Stan Tracey (Alice in Jazz Land) and Basil Kirchin (Particles). I’d definitely recommend Noah Howard’s The Black Ark, if you like free jazz stuff too. Oops, this has really gone off-topic…
Definitely get hold of The Three Doctors – the Troughton-Pertwee bickering is top hole, even better than in The Five Doctors. What’s great is it’s not that long after Troughton had left the role, and you can sense him settling back in and Pertwee bristling against this! There’s also a nice running gag about the Brig not believing that there’s now two docs running about. In fact, the serial is chock full of hilarious Lethbridge-Stewart scenes!
While I love Stan Tracey (he’s still gigging and always puts on a great show), I must admit Kirchin and Howard are new names to me. Thanks for the recommendations! I’ll have fun chasing them down.
Oh, yes, er…. so John Barry was good, wasn’t he?!
Right, The Three Doctors will have to go to the top of my list! In spearhead From Space the Brigadier’s reaction to the Doc having regenerated is pretty priceless too. I do love what I’ve seen of Troughton (aside from the multi-doc serials I own The Invasion, The Mind Robber and The War Games), it’s just a shame there’s so little left.
Definitely check out Basil Kirchin and also that Noah Howard record. I’d recommend listening to Jonny Trunk’s show when it goes out if you can, Saturdays 4.30-6.30 (you can stream Resonance FM online). As well as soundtracks he plays lots of library music, freakbeat and obscure jazz, plus electronic/radiophonic stuff.
Ha, yes! Midnight Cowboy is another Barry favourite of mine. To come full circle, the mooted podcast of Jonny Trunk’s Barry tribute still hasn’t materialised yet, but it’s worth checking out the one with Matt Holness guesting in character as Garth Marenghi, which is really funny and features some brilliant music (including Morricone and Henry Mancini). If you like that sort of thing…
http://podcasts.resonancefm.com/podpress_trac/web/5764/0/OST20090418-marenghi.mp3
Right, the Jonny Trunk thing sounds great. I shall definitely tune into that.
If you haven’t seen it already, I reckon the best Troughton is Tomb of the Cybermen. There’s a gorgeous moment when Trought comforts a scared companion by telling her about his family, and the villain, Klieg, is one of the show’s best power-crazed loons. I find it immensely endearing that Matt Smith is constantly singing Tomb‘s praises too!
I haven’t seen that one so I’ll have to look out for it. Thanks!
I am also a bit of a fan of the audio serials with Paul McGann (although I do also have one audio story each with Pertwee, C. Baker and McCoy). I put lots of these onto a disc for Tom before Christmas, I’d be happy to do the same if you don’t have them.
Anyway, nice to meet you albeit virtually!