Like the beat, beat, beat of the tom-tom...

[storytimewithjoe]

While jammin' down to Cole Porter tunes, I think to myself about how much music has changed over the decades. It *used* to be that particular song-writers were sought for movies, or pop tunes. And then for quite a while, it didn't seem to matter who WROTE them, but who performed them. And nowadays, the big thing seems to be who PRODUCED or remixed the music.

My, how values change. Do we even HAVE Cole Porters any more? That is, do we have people who are sought after specifically to write that perfect score? Maybe David Byrne (of Simple Minds who composed the Oscar-winning soundtrack for the Last Emperor), or in more obvious ways, Danny Elfman - Tim Burton movies galore, the Simpsons, etc.

Thoughts?

Comments

[lijss.livejournal.com]

Don't forget John Williams for all of your big box office hits, but even he is started to get left by the wayside. It's a good thing he wrote pretty much all of the music for the blockbusters in the eighties and early nineties.

[joeguppy.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... good point. But John Williams (who is a music GOD), is orchestral. He isn't a "songwriter" the way that Cole Porter was. Who else nowadays is a sought-after songwriting commodity?

[madknits.livejournal.com]

Mr. Williams is highly derivative and unoriginal.

We don't have anyone like Cole Porter, because Porter was all about wit and innuendo. Today, it's all about how many times you can use the word "fuck". People don't want cleverness, they want in-your-face.

[lijss.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I have to agree with you as well. Listen to a performance of "The Planets" by Gustav Holst, and you have all three scores of the original Star Wars Trilogy. He's a funny little man though, and will probably outlive all of us. I did a performance with him last year and his mother was there (Esther Williams, not the swimmer). She must have easily been in her late eighties or early nineties, and she looked like she could be around for another twenty years!

[madknits.livejournal.com]

And the music he did for one of the Harry Potter movies was a complete rip off of Swan Lake. I kept thinking, "I've heard this theme somewhere..."

[lijss.livejournal.com]

Ha ha! I didn't even notice!

[joeguppy.livejournal.com]

"Mr. Williams is highly derivative and unoriginal."

OUCH! Harsh! I dunno. He ain't Mozart, but I really like his stuff. But again, we are talking orchestral vs. songwriting. Porter was indeed about getting away with as much as possible without having it utterly refused or rejected. And his cleverness was just epic.

I think the "in your face" mentality now is its own social rebellion, and people will grow tired of it, as they realize that intelligent conversation calls for some degree of clever repartee.

[madknits.livejournal.com]

It may be harsh, but it is breath takingly accurate. Yeah, I found the Star Wars theme thrilling. But sometimes he even stole from himself.

I think the "in your face" mentality now is its own social rebellion, and people will grow tired of it, as they realize that intelligent conversation calls for some degree of clever repartee.

I wish I had your confidence. My own observations is that American culture has been slouching more and more towards the lowest common denominator, and that wit an cleverness are now the provinence of a small and ever shrinking few.

Take a look at Paul Fussell's book, "Class" and you'll see the trends. The book is somewhat dated, but still pretty telling.

[lijss.livejournal.com]

Hey, he wrote "Double Double Toil and Trouble." Granted, they were someone else's lyrics, but beggars can't be choosers.

I hate to say it, but I think you're right. And unfortunately, I personally couldn't care less who the producer/mixer of a song is. Does that make me a bad person?

[joeguppy.livejournal.com]

I don't think so. Personally, I think far too much credit has been given to this area as of late. And admitedly, I am utterly ignorant as to what is involved in mixing and producing, so perhaps I'm missing the point. But to me, that is the embellishment to the main raw ingredient, which is the music itself. THAT is where the emphasis should be - I think.

[joeguppy.livejournal.com]

Huh?

[siobhan-genie.livejournal.com]

He's talking about Titanic.

[aumtattoo.livejournal.com]

Most definitely. James Horner, Thomas Newman, John Williams... I could go on and on but, instead, will provide you with a nifty link to a list of some of the more prominent composers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_score

As someone who used to work in the film/tv industry I can tell you that there is most definitely an A list, etc. and that those composers are hard to get and expensive as hell. But SO worth it! :-)

[divinite.livejournal.com]

Newman always stands out for me as a composer, always makes me think of the Six Feet Under Theme. That's a great piece of music.

Just looking at the Golden Globe Nominations this year:

Score: Alexandre Desplat, James Newton Howard, Gustavo Santaolalla, Harry Gregson, John Williams

Song: Gustavo Santaolalla & Bernie Taupin, Tony Renis & Marva Jan Marrow, Mel Brooks, Dolly Parton, Alanis Morissette

Interesting collection of people...

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

Ashman and Menken. (They did The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.)

Now that Ashman's gone, Menken has been working with Tim Rice, who also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber (I think on Phantom of the Opera).

Cole Porter often wrote for Broadway, and I think that's where you have to look for songwriters like that.

[tinne.livejournal.com]

Most of my "drawing music" consists of film scores: Horner, Barry, Williams, Goldsmith and Newman, etc. I even have some old Bernard Hermann from Hitchcock films, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and such.

BTW — not that you're showing your age or anything, young man, but that's David Byrne of Talking Heads who composed the score to Last Emperor, not from Simple Minds.

Ouch. ;-)

[joeguppy.livejournal.com]

D'oh! Ya know... I've always gotten them confused. Heads... minds... similar at least!

[morrisman.livejournal.com]

David Byrne also starred in one of my favorite "fun" movies, "True Stories", from 1986. Check it out sometime, I think Blockbuster has it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092117/