Notablog

Song of the Day #1028

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:17:16 -0500

Song of the Day: In the Heat of the Night, lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, music by the multitalented composer, conductor, arranger, and producer Quincy Jones, is featured in the 1967 film, starring Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier ("They call me Mister Tibbs!"). The Quincy Jones soundtrack received a Grammy nomination for "Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show." It's a great title song, sung by the great Ray Charles (YouTube clip at that link). Check out other notable versions as well: Bill Champlin (who sang it for the TV series) and the very jazzy Nancy Wilson (from her 1968 album, "Welcome to My Love"). The Bergmans, Jones, Champlin, Charles, Wilson, even Poitier! ... all Grammy winners in their lifetimes. Last night's memorable Grammy telecast (even Betty White won a Grammy!), with its moving memorials to Whitney Houston, Etta James, and others, reminds us to celebrate the healing power of music.

Song of the Day #1027

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:03:00 -0500

Song of the Day: I'm Every Woman, words and music by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, was a huge hit in 1978 for Chaka Khan. A #1 R&B track, the record peaked at #21 on the pop chart. It was reprised by Whitney Houston, who performed it in the 1992 film, "The Bodyguard," in which she co-starred with Kevin Costner. The song went to #4 on the pop chart and was a #1 Dance Club Hit. The soundtrack album won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, sporting Whitney's cover of "I Will Always Love You," which went on to win "Record of the Year," while Whitney herself captured the "Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female." Check out Chaka's original version here, a terrific remix from her 1989 album, "Life is a Dance," and, finally, Whitney Houston's remake, in which she gives a shout-out to Chaka as the song fades out. Tonight, tune in and see who the new winners are at the 54th Grammy Awards. And remember multiple-Grammy Award-winning singer, Whitney Houston, who passed away yesterday at the age of 48.

Song of the Day #1026

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:40:32 -0500

Song of the Day: Airport ("Love Theme") features the last soundtrack composed by Alfred Newman, who passed away less than a month before the film's release (and a month before his 70th St. Patrick's Day birthday in 1970). Nominated for 10 Oscars (only Helen Hayes walked away with a statuette, for "Best Supporting Actress"), the movie is credited as having initiated the 1970s "disaster film" genre, which reached its height, so-to-speak, in 1974, with "The Towering Inferno." The Oscar-nominated Newman score is highlighted by this lush love theme (YouTube link). (This particular take on the love theme is from "As You Remember Them," a Time-Life collection on vinyl that I've always treasured.)

Song of the Day #1025

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:00:00 -0500

Song of the Day: In Like Flint ("Where the Bad Guys Are Gals"), composed by Jerry Goldsmith, is featured in the whimsical 1967 sequel to "Our Man Flint" (1966). This was the last movie ever made in CinemaScope. This composition (which, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, became "Your Zowie Face"; listen to a sample here) has the kind of infectious melody heard throughout the film that once heard never seems to leave the psyche (and, yes, it has a similarity to another one of my favorites: "Call Me"). Check it out on YouTube here and here (along with a piece on "Spy Vogue") and in a Nelson Riddle arrangement too! And check out "The Musician's Magician" (YouTube link), a mini-"In Like Flint"-tribute to the great composer, who was born on this date in 1929.

Song of the Day #1024

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:52:00 -0500

Song of the Day: The Towering Inferno ("Something for Susan") [YouTube clip at that link], composed by John Williams, is an encore to our 80th birthday notice. It is a reminder that before he was John Williams, he was "Johnny Williams," a jazz pianist working in clubs around New York City. His early jazz sensibility is still evident in this intimate cue from the blockbuster 1974 Irwin Allen disaster flick. Check out YouTube to see the romantic scene between Paul Newman and Faye Dunaway, caressed by the sweet music of the Maestro.

Song of the Day #1023

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:20:00 -0500

Song of the Day: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ("Hedwig's Theme") [YouTube clip at that link], composed by the prolific John Williams, derives from the 2001 Oscar-nominated and Grammy-nominated score for the first film in the Harry Potter franchise, one of my all-time favorite fantasy series. The theme became the central musical leitmotif of the entire series, as powerful a contribution to thematic cinema scoring as any that Williams has ever made in his remarkable career. Happy 80th Birthday to the Maestro! Bravo!

Song of the Day #1022

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:06:20 -0500

Song of the Day: Jurassic Park ("Journey to the Island"), composed by the living legend that is John Williams, contains some of the most majestic themes in the corpus of this great composer, who, tomorrow, turns 80 years old. The composer earned Oscar nominations for two of his scores this year; he now surpasses the mighty Alfred Newman for the all-time most music nominations (47 and counting...) in the history of the Academy Awards. This dino-mite 1993 film is one of my all-time favorite "monster movies" centering on the unintended consequences of human action. And it was another in a string of terrific collaborations between Williams and director Steven Spielberg. Check out this YouTube moment.

Song of the Day #1021

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:09:19 -0500

Song of the Day: The Verdict ("The Bottom") [sample clip at that link], composed by Johnny Mandel, captures perfectly the mind-set of Frank Galvin, a seemingly washed-up attorney, who has one last chance to take on a big case, one last chance for personal redemption. The character is played by the Oscar-nominated Paul Newman, in what was, arguably, his greatest performance as an actor. The acclaimed director Sidney Lumet, who passed away in April 2011, said this of Newman's work in the 1982 film: "The slightest gesture, the slightest look, deep riches pour out." Amen. (Oh, and This Verdict Is In and It's Not 'The Bottom' but the Very Top!: The New York Giants Win the Super Bowl!! Bravo!!!)

Song of the Day #1020

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:44:00 -0500

Song of the Day: Heaven Can Wait features the Oscar-nominated score of composer Dave Grusin. It's one of my favorite cinema comedies (actually an adaptation of Harry Segall's 1938 play of the same name, and a remake of the 1941 film, "Here Comes Mr. Jordan"). But it's also a movie whose final sequences take place at the Super Bowl. And that's where the New York Giants are today, facing off with their arch football rivals, the New England Patriots, whom Big Blue beat at the 2007 Super Bowl. (Okay, okay, I'll give handsome Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady 1/2 of 1 point, just for admitting to a "man-crush" on New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.) But I say: One Mo' Time! Go Eli Manning! Go Giants! And Go Grusin for capturing so many moods in his kaleidoscopic main theme from this 1978 film (YouTube clip at that link).

Song of the Day #1019

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:07:00 -0500

Song of the Day: Goldfinger ("Into Miami") [YouTube clip at that link] is the sexy, jazzy second track from the stupendous John Barry score to my absolutely all-time favorite 007 flick, starring the one and only Sean Connery as James Bond.

Song of the Day #1018

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:00:00 -0500

Song of the Day: It's Just Begun, words and music by Jimmy Castor, Johnny L. Pruitt, and Gerry Thomas, is one of the most famous tracks recorded by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. It is featured during a sizzling breakdance sequence (YouTube link) in the 1983 smash hit film "Flashdance." This entertaining movie sported a robust soundtrack of hit singles. And yet, this track never appeared on the soundtrack album! The track actually predates the movie; it first appeared in 1972 as the title track to the second album released by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. Castor passed away in January 2012. But his music lives on; this song, in particular, has been sampled countless times by hip hop artists. Check out the gloriously funky original on YouTube.

Song of the Day #1017

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500

Song of the Day: Horror Hotel (in the U.K., known as "The City of the Dead") features the music of two composers: Douglas Gamley, who wrote the spooky themes, and Kenneth V. Jones, who composed the jazz music heard throughout. This 1960 film stars a superb Christopher Lee and a terrifically terrifying Patricia Jessel, who plays the witch, Elizabeth Selwyn, burned at the stake in Whitewood, Massachusetts on March 3, 1692 (coincident with the Salem Witch Hunts), but still living as Mrs. Newless (a play on Selwyn, spoken backwards), the owner of the Raven's Inn. It's one of my all-time favorite horror movies. Some have compared it to "Psycho," in terms of structure, but the films were released months apart (Hotel actually started shooting in 1959, a month before filming began on "Psycho"), and this Hotel is no derivative. The version released in the U.S. is slightly shorter than the U.K. original; the U.S. edit can be viewed here. The creepy Main Title by Gamley can be heard at 00:01-01:24; some of the best Jones jazz can be heard at 31:21-33:04 (my favorite at 32:49). The first human sacrifice in the movie takes place on Candlemas Eve: at the hour of "13" (the stroke of midnight, when February 1st becomes February 2nd), the bells in the churchyard ring 13 times. At which point, poor Nan Barlow (played by Venetia Stevenson) is ritually slaughtered. That makes today, uh, gulp, "Candlemas"; I say: Happy Groundhog Day (a big shout out to Staten Island Chuck and Punxsutawney Phil)!

Song of the Day #1016

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:15:00 -0500

Song of the Day: All About Eve ("Main Title") [sample at that link] opens composer Alfred Newman's Oscar-nominated score for the iconic 1950 film, which was nominated for a then-record 14 Academy Awards (tied in 1997 by "Titanic"). The film won a total of 6 Oscars, including Best Picture. It boasts an outstanding cast, led by the incomparable (and Oscar-nominated Best Actress) Bette Davis, who utters that famous line: "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night" (#9 on the list of the American Film Institute's all-time movie quotations). And a special nod to Oscar-nominated Supporting Actress Thelma Ritter, who, as Birdie, just can't believe the life story being spun by Eve (Oscar-nominated Supporting Actress Anne Baxter): "Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." (And check out the Live Lux Radio Theater version of the story!) Today begins my Annual Tribute to Cinema Songs, Scores and Other Compositions featured in film, a traditional Film Music February en route to the 84th Academy Awards.

The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies: New Issue

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:41:00 -0500

The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies concludes its 11th year with an all-new issue: Volume 11, Number 2. Subscribers should be receiving the issue in the coming weeks. It features these provocative essays:

Sacrifice and the Apocalypse: A Girardian Reading of Atlas Shrugged - Oliver Gerland III

Objectivism and Christianity - Eric B. Dent

The Sim-Dif Model and Comparison - Merlin Jetton

What About Suicide Bombers? A Terse Response to a Terse Objection - Marc Champagne

The Six Million Dollar Rand (Review of 100 Voices: An Oral History of Ayn Rand) - Neil Parille

Flourishing and Synthesis (Review of Ed Younkins's book, Flourishing and Happiness in a Free Society) - Allen Mendenhall

The JARS website features both abstracts and contributor biographies for the current issue.

Those who have been following JARS developments know that it is now our policy to publish back issues on our site, fully accessible and free of charge to all those who visit us online. Since electronic publication of essays from our back issues lags by a full volume, I am pleased to announce today the online availability of Volume 10, Number 2, the culminating "Tenth Anniversary" issue of JARS that presented a terrific symposium on Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand. The essays are archived here; authors include Stephen R. C. Hicks, Lester Hunt, Adam Reed, Peter Saint-Andre, Roger E. Bissell, and Robert Powell.

But please don't wait a year to see our new issue online; it's available now! Subscribe today! You can subscribe via Paypal on our home page or subscription page, or by printing and filling out this form and mailing it in with your check or money order.

I should note also that The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies is now being abstracted in a variety of indexes managed by ProQuest. Our scholarly reach is expanding with each newly published issue.

Song of the Day #1015

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:41:00 -0500

Song of the Day: Golden Girls ("Thank You For Being a Friend"), composed by Andrew Gold, was the main title for this golden television comedy, which starred the late Bea Arthur, the late Rue McClanahan, the late Estelle Getty, and the very much alive Betty White, who, today, turns 90. As crazy and entertaining as ever, perfect in her comic timing, and still laughing it up on such shows as "Hot in Cleveland," the lady is poised for another 90 years! Take a look at the opening of this hilarious show, with its theme music, on YouTube. And Happy Birthday, Betty!