The great thread of electronic/synthesizer soundtracks

[Micke]

Today I received my copy of Andrew Belling's soundtrack to the animated movie "Wizards" (1977) and it's been spinning
in my CD player almost non-stop since I got it. Belling's score, which is mostly electronic, is absolutely awesome!

Top LA studio synthesist Clark Spangler did the synth-work. Besides being a first-call synthesist for TV and motion pictures, he was a rep for Yamaha synthesizers.



Here's the beautiful end titles song:

[MrFrodo]

Here's something which has boggled my mind for lots of years. It's a clip from the original Rocky. at 0:50, as Sly Stallone (as Rocky) is stretching out, there is a synth sound issuing from the music on his record player (I'm assuming played by Bill Conti). It sounds like an ARP, but the pitch range (five F# notes spread over four octaves) suggests Moog or Oberheim. Could somebody enlighten me on this one?

[Micke]

Don't wanna see this thread die out...

"Endangered Species" (1982) - another long-forgotten movie with a decent synthesizer score by Gary Wright.



Here you can watch the whole movie:



Synthesizers & programming by Gary Wright and synth whiz Casey Young (who did a lot of the synth-work
on Gary's solo album "The Right Place", 1981).

Says Casey: "A bunch of stuff was used on this soundtrack, The Mega moog . Moog 55 + a 15, Oberheim 4v . Oberheim 8v and my Emu modular .
Polymoog , Emulator 1 , Moog vocoder . Oberheim dmx , roland drum machine . All of them were in sync ."

[MrFrodo]

Well Micke, I don't want it to die out either. That's one reason why I posted just above with a query about the Rocky soundtrack.

[Micke]

Yeah, I know. As for the synth used in that track you mentioned from the original Rocky movie, I really don't know but probably
Minimoog or ARP 2600. I'm not that familiar with Bill Conti's soundtracks but I read that LA studio keyboardist Mike Lang played on
his soundtrack to Rocky II (1979), which features a lot more synth work than the first movie. At that time Lang's synth setup
included a Minimoog, ARP 2600, CS-80 and a Prophet 5.

[MrFrodo]

Much appreciated, Micke.

I doubt the Prophet or CS-80 made it onto the original film soundtrack; neither of them existed yet in '76.

[Micke]

That's right, neither of those poly's could have been used on the first movie. I was thinking about Rocky II (1979).
Also, I don't think Mike Lang played on the first Rocky score from '76. I suggest you try to contact Mr. Conti if you
really want to know what synth it was.

[iProg]

Don't wanna see this thread die out...

"Endangered Species" (1982) - another long-forgotten movie with a decent synthesizer score by Gary Wright.



Here you can watch the whole movie:



Synthesizers & programming by Gary Wright and synth whiz Casey Young (who did a lot of the synth-work
on Gary's solo album "The Right Place", 1981).

Says Casey: "A bunch of stuff was used on this soundtrack, The Mega moog . Moog 55 + a 15, Oberheim 4v . Oberheim 8v and my Emu modular .
Polymoog , Emulator 1 , Moog vocoder . Oberheim dmx , roland drum machine . All of them were in sync ."

Is that Gary Wright the "Dreamweaver"-Gary Wright?

[Micke]

Yes it's him!

[tim gueguen]

Another bit from Space: 1999, sort of. After Star Wars came out ATV/ITC assembled a pair of movies from episodes of Space: 1999 in 1978. They ended up on TV and as home video releases, but there's no evidence they ever saw any theatrical release. Keith Mansfield's "Disco Dynamite," from Bruton's music library, was used as the closing music for Alien Attack, a compilation of "Breakaway" and "War Games."

[Esus]

Another bit from Space: 1999, sort of. After Star Wars came out ATV/ITC assembled a pair of movies from episodes of Space: 1999 in 1978. They ended up on TV and as home video releases, but there's no evidence they ever saw any theatrical release. Keith Mansfield's "Disco Dynamite," from Bruton's music library, was used as the closing music for Alien Attack, a compilation of "Breakaway" and "War Games."

That brings back some memories!

I used to use a lot of KPM/Bruton (now APM) and deWolfe library music back around that time. I always liked Keith Mansfield's work, and I'd transfer his vinyl to cassette for personal listening. I lost all my tapes in a move, so it's been years since I've heard any of it--thanks for the cue, Tim!
I seem to remember a Mansfield title with a plain green and white cover. I think there was a track called Force Majure. I've looked on eBay for a copy, with no luck. Anyone out there know where I can get it?

[Micke]

Esus; the "Force Majeure" track is available on this KPM album:
http://www.discogs.com/Keith-Mansfield- ... se/1505920

Someone in France is selling a copy here (a bit pricey though):
http://www.musicstack.com/item.cgi?item=2199165&

[Esus]

Micke, you are truly amazing!

I went to YT, and found another Mansfield piece I used to use--very much in a Kraftwerk/Passport vein:



Enjoy!

[Micke]

Yeah...Monkman, Mansfield, Hawkshaw, Lawson & Co. sure did some nice stuff for the KPM/Bruton labels.

I recently picked up the KPM album "Handplayed by Robots" with Ken Freeman and George Fenton and I like
it alot. One of the tracks called "Mobil Unit" was apparently used as the theme to the German "Spiegel TV" series:




I also very much like Freeman's synth-heavy score to "The Tripods" (1984):



and of course...his synth work on Jeff Wayne's "War of the World" is truly awesome.

[MrFrodo]

These are from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, even though they weren't used in the film. Can any of you ascertain just what kind of gear was used for these songs?