Tag: film

Joyful, Joyful (from “Sister Act 2”)

“It’s been (31) years since we watched nightclub lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier turn into Sister Mary Clarence to avoid getting killed in Sister Act,” (ABC News). “Whoopi Goldberg’s character was put in protective custody, inside a rundown San Francisco convent, to avoid her gangster boyfriend’s goons after she witnessed a killing. There, she became the director of the church’s choir, taking the nuns from meek singers to a chorus so beautiful they sang for the Pope.

Sister Act burst into theaters at a time when movie soundtracks were stand-alone bodies of work. And this 1992 film was no different. It set the tone for other movie soundtracks that we’d also memorize later that year, including The Bodyguard, Aladdin, and Boomerang.“

“Joyful, Joyful,” from the 1993 sequel Sister Act 2, based on “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s 9th symphony, moves through several sections. The first section, featuring Lauryn Hill, states the rubato melody in Db major; at 1:29, the St. Francis Choir picks up the tempo into full-on contemporary gospel (E major, later rising to F major at 3:05).

Neil Young | Theme from “Philadelphia”

“… Philadelphia (1993) gives us some star performances and was one of the first mainstream movies to address HIV/AIDS and homophobia with nuance and sensitivity,” (Collider.com). “The film was written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme.” From a review from Dan DeNicola: “Graced with splendid performances, this often stirring drama not only has its heart in the right place; it delivers a strong, convincing portrait, as well as a lesson about decency in a story aptly set in the City of Brotherly Love.”

Spoiler alert …

The film’s main character, attorney Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) succumbs to HIV after a hard fight not only for his life, but also for his rights after his law firm fired him due to his medical condition. But in the days before the drug AZT became available in the late 90s, HIV was nearly always a deadly disease. The film was quite a breakthrough and earned Hanks his first Oscar. “‘More people have stopped me on the street or come up to me in airplanes or sidled up to me in restaurants to talk about this movie than any other job I’ve done, and almost all of them have said something like, Thank you for doing it,’” (MentalFloss).

The film’s closing theme, Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” and the opening theme “Streets of Philadelphia” (Bruce Springsteen) were both nominated for Best Song Academy Awards in 1994; Springsteen’s track was the category’s winner. The short melody of Young’s track is a gently off-kilter seven measures of 4/4 featuring plenty of leisurely quarter-note triplets. The first and last iterations are in the same key, but there are many modulations among the repeated iterations in between.

Booker T. + the M.G.’s | Hang ‘Em High

Booker T. and the M.G.’s arranged songs like mathematicians construct proofs: just enough to get the desired result, and nothing more. As the house band for Stax Records in the 1960s, the group appeared on dozens of hit recordings for acts like Sam and Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Wilson Picket, and Otis Redding. They also had a number of instrumental hits on their own, including “Green Onions,” “Time is Tight,” a cover of the Rascals’ song “Groovin’,” and “Hang ‘Em High.” Their classic lineup consisted of Booker T. Jones, usually playing the Hammond B-3 and occasionally on piano, drummer Al Jackson, Jr., bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, and guitarist Steve Cropper.

Perhaps the group’s grandest recorded moment came in 1969, when they released the album McLemore Avenue, their reinterpretation of the Beatles’ Abbey Road.

“Hang ‘Em High” (1968) was composed by Dominic Frontiere for the Western of the same name, a vehicle for Clint Eastwood. The first cover of the soundtrack theme was released by Hugo Montenegro; the Booker T. version came out a bit later. Frontiere was responsible for the music for many television shows from the 1960s through the 1980s, such as The Fugitive and The Flying Nun (!). He also composed soundtracks for a number of movies during that period. Just before “Hang ‘Em High”, he wrote the music for the cult classic goth-horror movie Incubus, whose dialog is entirely in Esperanto, and which starred a pre-Star Trek William Shatner.

There are half-steps up at 1:15. 2:11, and 2:39. The tune stays in that key from there on, including during the spartan-even-for-the-MG’s coda that begins at 3:08.

Jerome Kern | Til the Clouds Roll By

Til the Clouds Roll By (1946) is described by IMDB as a “light bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs from his musical plays by contemporary stage artists, including a condensed production of his most famous: ‘Showboat‘ … unable to find immediate success in the U.S., Kern sought recognition abroad. He journeyed to England where his dreams of success became real …”

The film features Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, Cyd Charisse, Dinah Shore, Angela Lansbury, and many other stars. The trailer alone (below) is quite the production.

“Til the Clouds Roll By,” featuring June Allyson and Ray McDonald, starts in Db major, shifts to G major for the first dance sequence (0:56), Eb major at 1:49, and finally E major at 2:14.

Many thanks to regular contributor Jamie A. for this submission!

Camp Isn’t Home (from “Theater Camp”)

“Camp Isn’t Home” is the closing song from the film Theater Camp, which was released this summer. The song is written by Ben Platt and Noah Galvin, who both star in the movie, as well as Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, and Mark Sonnenblick. It begins in A and modulates up to B at 2:44.

The film is now available to stream on Hulu.

Theme from “Buckaroo Banzai”

From Genregrinder‘s review of The Advuentures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984): “Neurosurgeon. Physicist. Rock Star. Hero. Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) is a true ‘80s renaissance man. With the help of his uniquely qualified team, The Hong Kong Cavaliers, Buckaroo is ready to save the world on a moment’s notice. But after his successful test of the Oscillation Overthruster – a device that allows him to travel through solid matter – he unleashes the threat of “evil, pure and simple from the 8th Dimension”… the alien Red Lectroids. Led by the deranged dictator, Lord John Whorfin (John Lithgow), the Lectroids steal the Overthruster with the intent of using it to return to their home of Planet 10 ‘real soon!’ But, no matter where you go, there Buckaroo Banzai is… ready to battle an interdimensional menace that could spell doom for the human race.”

Was the movie a comedy, a sci-fi geekfest, or a fast-paced race-against-time thriller with sky high stakes? Yes. Was it so visually jam-packed with cutting-edge tech trinkets while simultaneously so light in plot continuity that it confused audiences? Also yes. But for audiences happy to see a movie with the look and feel of a cartoon book come to life — particularly one that featured an all-new universe where the effortlessly charismatic hero was somehow a top neurosurgeon by day and also a guitar-slinging rockstar by night — the movie was a cult hit. In addition to Weller and Lithgow, the cast’s other A-list actors include Ellen Barkin and Jeff Goldblum. Descriptions of the film pretty much can’t cut it, so watch the trailer, below!

The theme, which played under the movie’s closing credits, features the high-pitched three-note call of Buckaroo’s abovementioned overthruster (first heard at 0:26 as the theme starts), which was so centrally important to the plot that it should have been listed in the credits itself. After a start in A major, 1:04 brings a shift to Eb major for the B section. The modulation is ushered in by sudden shift to a I minor chord and then a V chord in A major just before the key change. So somehow, the improbable modulation feels more like a gentle exhale down a half-step to the new Eb tonic than a jarring shift. The overthruster’s call chimes in often as the two sections alternate again throughout. At 3:24, the regal fanfare which brings the theme to an end still features the now-iconic three-note chirp.

for Roger

Eleanor McCain | Up Where We Belong

In 2017, as a celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, Toronto-based singer Eleanor McCain released her sixth studio album, True North: The Canadian Songbook, a collection of 32 songs on CD, along with a stylish, bilingual coffee-table book. Each song was written by a Canadian, and ten different Canadian orchestras provided the lush musical accompaniment. The songs run the gamut of Canadian popular music, including covers of tunes by Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, and The Guess Who. McCain’s classical training is evident throughout the performances.

The selection here, “Up Where We Belong”, was composed by songwriter, singer, and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie, along with Americans Jack Nitschke and Will Jennings.

We’ve featured the original version of the song, by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, from the An Officer and a Gentleman soundtrack. The original version features one modulation towards the end; Joe Cocker’s gruff vocals couldn’t be more different than McCain’s polished delivery. In this version, McCain is supported by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. There’s a whole-step modulation from D major to E major for the chorus at 1:32, followed by a reversion to D major for the next verse at 2:07. The pattern holds for the second verse and chorus. 3:24 sees a shift to G major for the bridge, then another transition into F major for an instrumental chorus at 3:39 before settling into Ab major for the duration at 3:23.

Billie Holiday | Easy Living

“A tender ballad, ‘Easy Living’ has forthright lyrics that declare just how wonderful life can be when living for someone you love,” (MusicTales). “The songwriting team of Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin wrote ‘Easy Living’ in 1937 for the film of the same name which was well-reviewed and is best characterized as a screwball comedy classic. Their partnership was a productive one, producing a number of hits in the 1930s, and lasted until Rainger’s tragic death in a plane crash in 1942. 

Upon the film’s release, the song did not garner much public attention due to the fact that (it was) an instrumental track. That same year, however, Billie Holiday did a vocal cover of the song with Teddy Wilson’s Orchestra, and their version stayed in the charts for two weeks, peaking at 15th position. It is with her that ‘Easy Living’ is associated with to this day.” Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, and Wardell Gray also covered the tune, contributing to its status as a jazz standard.

Perhaps as a nod to its original status as an instrumental, Holiday’s version features a sizeable instrumental intro which encompasses both melody and solos and spans the entire form of the tune. The AABA form is built in G# major for the A sections and E major for B section (0:53 – 1:14). Holiday’s iconic vocal adds to the mix at 1:36.

Wild Uncharted Waters (from “The Little Mermaid”)

A live-action adaptation of Disney’s beloved 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey, was released this past May. Alan Menken, who wrote the music for the original film, collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda on some additional songs, including the one we are featuring here. Menken’s trademark soaring melody is performed by Jonah Hauer-King, who portrays Prince Eric.

The track starts in F minor and modulates up a 4th to Bb at 2:08

Start of Something New (from “High School Musical”)

The TV movie High School Musical premiered on the Disney Channel in 2006 and was the most-watched premiere in the network’s history; there have since been two spin-offs. “Start of Something New,” written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Neil, is the first track on the film’s soundtrack, which was the best-selling album of 2006.

The song begins in C, modulates to D after 8 bars at 0:28, and shifts up to E for the last chorus at 2:26.