Blue Moon Playlist Review Club - Season 2 - Episode 25 - OB1 – Soundtracks (pg 422)

Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
RobMCFC – Primary and Secondary Colours

Thanks to @RobMCFC for this topic and keeping the spirit of what was intended on the playlist. I know a few may have BLUE right by the rules. Also nice to see a few end of playlist reviews back too. Guess most were hungover prior. ;-)

Of the first five, the Jayhawks "Blue" that I was familiar with, was the pick for me. Lou Gramm's "Midnight Blue" was a nice mid 80's nostalgia memory for me, in owning that album/cassette at the time. I hadn't listened to that in years. I enjoyed "Apple Green" probably the most of the new material, while "Yellow Moon" was a nice funky soulful song by the Neville Brothers that was very nice bass led, and reminded me of New Orleans visits. Even Taylor's "Red" was a nice tune, so it was 5 for 5 with me on the initial offering. I was a bit surprised to not have "Blue Sky Mining" among the first group upon further reflection and consideration of my own songs, but I too just ran out of runway there. I've been relistening to that enjoyable album since.

On the songs new to me, "Haint Blue" by Bell X1 was the big winner for me. Sounds like this Irish band spans many genres and one I'll be checking out some more given other bands they've been compared to. Thanks to @lastmanback on another fantastic new suggestion.

Other new songs I enjoyed:
  • "Blue" - A Perfect Circle (nice tune from the supergroup)
  • "Into the Blue" - McCusker, Drever, and Woomble (recognized the Idlewild sound)
  • "Blue Sky" - Patty Griffin
  • "Red Light Spells Danger" - Billy Ocean (missed this in its day, very nice tune taking me back!)
  • "Bleu" - Loraine Club (I did not have an electronic disco/groove band from Dublin on my shortlist, but this was a pleasant surprise too)
  • "Sproston Green" - The Charlatans
  • "Powder Blue" - Elbow (hadn't heard their first album prior, need to check out)
  • "Yellow River" - Christie (could have sworn this was early Elton John on first listen)
  • "Goodbye Mr Blue" - Father John Misty
  • "Green Grow the Rashes O" - Eddi Reader (not to be confused with the REM redo)
  • "Reds In My Bed" - 10cc (another song from long ago not heard, very nice tune)

Of the songs I knew, the winner was clear, "Suite Madame Blue" - Styx. This was an early staple of my favourite US rock bands, and pre-Tommy Shaw too. A great overall album I loved from my childhood. Dennis De Young could rock more than just the ballads, as heard here.

Other enjoyed well known songs:
  • "Blues Run the Game" - Jackson C. Frank
  • "Red Eyes" - The War On Drugs
  • "Blue" - Joni Mitchell
  • "Still Got The Blues" - Gary Moore
  • "Red" - Sammy Hagar, the Red Rocker
  • "Jack-in-the-Green" - Jethro Tull
Click to expand...
Completely overlooked “Blue Sky Mine”. Could have had “The Rivers Runs Red” from the same album.
 


Soundtracks

Something a little different this week. Tracks submitted for this playlist need to be music from the soundtrack of a movie or TV show. I’m not excluding songs but they must be music created for the soundtrack and not existing pop songs that have been incorporated into a soundtrack. So Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” doesn’t count but Duran Duran’s “A View to a Kill” would. However, instrumentals are the preference.

The initial list of five tracks is focused on the work of the three Johns that are my favourite film composers: Williams, Barry and Carpenter; there is one exception.

I haven’t gone for the unfamiliar but I have hopefully not gone for the over familiar either.

The non-John track is from one of my favourite westerns “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”. However, it’s not the iconic Ennio Morriconne theme tune but a piece called Ecstasy of Gold.

John Carpenter stands out from the rest because the instrumentation he uses is primarily electronic keyboards; also, he scores his movies that he has written and directed. Assault on Precinct 13 is one of my favourite movies and one of my most memorable cinema going experiences.

John Barry has produced some exceptional TV and movie music. He has a distinctive style that often marries more contemporary instruments with traditional orchestral ones. The body of work he produced for the early James Bond movies is perhaps the finest ever created for a movie series, although fans of the third John might dispute that. Spotify doesn’t actually have the piece I wanted to use but from the same movie, my favourite Bond film “You Only Live Twice”, we have Space March (Capsule in Space), which beautifully scores SPECTRE’s spaceship swallowing up a a nuclear power’s one.

John Williams is arguably the greatest composer of film soundtracks. His partnership with Steven Spielberg has been enduring and spectacularly successful so I had to include an example. I have chosen Welcome to Jurassic Park, which, perhaps strangely, I find to be the most moving film accompaniment of all, in addition to being the soundtrack to one of the most memorable film moments I have witnessed as it scores the first appearance of the dinosaurs in all their CGI glory, a truly groundbreaking event.

Finally, it’s only fitting that as I am writing this just after the news has broken of the passing of the magnificent, marvellous, magical Dame Maggie Smith to include a piece from the Harry Potter movies: Hedwig’s Theme.

And let’s try to avoid musicals!
 
Great idea for a playlist. I only heard "Ecstasy of Gold" for the first time about 7 or 8 years ago and it is a truly brilliant piece of music.

I'm going to to with a John Williams theme:-

"The Imperial March" - by John Williams, from The Empire Strikes Back.
 
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RobMCFC said:
Great idea for a playlist. I only heard "Ecstasy of Gold" for the first time about 7 or 8 years ago and it is a truly brilliant piece of music.

I'm going to to with a John Williams theme:-

"The Imperial March" - by John Williams, from The Empire Strikes Back.
Click to expand...

Excellent choice. I whittled down from fourteen tracks that I started with and that was one of them. I could easily do a three hour playlist just from the three john's and probably Williams on his own.
 
OB1 said:
Excellent choice. I whittled down from fourteen tracks that I started with and that was one of them. I could easily do a three hour playlist just from the three john's and probably Williams on his own.
Click to expand...
Depending on what else I think of, there may well be another JW theme in my remaining two choices.
He stands alone as the greatest film composer IMO.
 
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I'm not going to nominate it but Mendelssohn's Wedding March would qualify. It was written as "soundtrack" music for performances of A Midsummers Nights Dream. Though technically it's an intermezzo so a pedant could disqualify it.

Nice theme going to give some proper thought for my last two but first is going to be this...

The Windmills of Your Mind - Noel Harrison.

Written for The Thomas Crown Affair. In early editing they blocked in Strawberry Fields Forever till they got the song.
 
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threespires said:
I'm not going to nominate it but Mendelssohn's Wedding March would qualify. It was written as "soundtrack" music for performances of A Midsummers Nights Dream. Though technically it's an intermezzo so a pedant could disqualify it.

Nice theme going to give some proper thought for my last two but first is going to be this...

The Windmills of Your Mind - Noel Harrison.

Written for The Thomas Crown Affair. In early editing they blocked in Strawberry Fields Forever till they got the song.
Click to expand...
Great movie.
 
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