A Score To Settle

In this episode, I turn my "Listening To..." focus towards the inimitable composer Jerry Goldsmith and specifically, his music for films released in 1982. In that year alone there were five theatrical releases which featured his eloquent accompaniment - POLTERGEIST, NIGHT CROSSING, THE SECRET OF N.I.M.H., THE CHALLENGE and FIRST BLOOD. It was a typically busy year for Goldsmith and he produced sev...

In this episode, my guest is composer and musician Ben Wise. Ben writes, records and performs both with the indie/folk band TINY Goliath and as a solo artist. In the early 2000's, he began a career scoring commercials (i.e. "jingle writer"), a move which then grew to include web series, animated shorts and short films, including winning awards for the latter. We talk about his musical background,...

In this episode, I talk about and present examples of the marvelous music of Elmer Bernstein, specifically his jazz-oriented scores, like THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, and those in the "Westerns" genre, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN for example. Bernstein was part of the unofficial "second generation" of film composers, along with Alex North, Franz Waxman and others, following on from the "godfathers" of M...

In this episode, I am talking with soundtrack album producer and film music journalist, Dan Goldwasser. We focus on his work for both archival score releases, such as THE FIRM and AIRPLANE!, and for recent scores, in this case KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE and FERDINAND. I ask him about how these projects are begun, who's involved and roadblocks encountered. We also talk about being a movie music f...

In this episode, I devote the first segment to Michael Kamen's score for the 1988 fantasy film, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, directed by Terry Gilliam. It's been a long-time favorite, both of Kamen's output as a composer and also overall among my entire collection. For the second segment, I invited my friend and fellow soundtrack fan, George S. Nader, to discuss one of his favorites, that b...

In this episode, I talk with composer Edwin Wendler about his work in film, such as the short film WRONG HOLLYWOOD NUMBER, in television series, such as "Fear Factor", along with his background in Vienna, what caught his ear in movie music as a fan, his start in the business, collaborations and current trends, big budget movies and more. If you're interested in checking out Edwin's music and caree...

In this episode, I talk about and present examples of the music of Bernard Herrmann, a legendary, enigmatic and trend-setting figure in film scores, specifically as the Golden Age of Hollywood began to wane and transition into broader styles and textures. I titled this "Listening To..." and plan to revisit this topic with various composers, whether to present attributes of their overall style or f...

In this episode, I continue my conversation with classic soundtrack editor and producer, Neil Bulk. Some of the topics discussed include his beginnings as a soundtrack fan and collector, re-recordings of movie music, fan demands when it comes to album releases from the niche labels and at the end, Neil tries to get me to actually narrow down my favorite scores.   Connect with the podcast on Facebo...

In this first episode of the podcast, I talk about Jerry Goldsmith's score for the 1976 science fiction movie LOGAN'S RUN and also begin part 1 of my conversation with classic soundtrack album producer and editor Neil S. Bulk. The discussion includes his work on the archival releases of Danny Elfman's score to 1989's BATMAN and Michael Kamen's music for the LETHAL WEAPON series.   Connect with the...