"Doug's Corner"

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		"Doug's Corner"

"Doug's Corner"

Random ramblings from Intrada's "Grand Poobah."

3/16/10

Jeff tells me there are just under 200 copies of CERVANTES left in stock. That suggests the album may sell out before too many moons go by. If Les Baxter tickles your fancy, this is certainly one of his more colorful scores. Don't get left out.

Jeff also tells me that BILLIE / POPI is doing "just okay" and no one needs to rush and grab it before it sells out. I'd rather be saying it's selling like hotcakes but my mom taught me never to lie.

3/8/10

My take on the Oscars. I watched them in a hotel room in Durango, Colorado... on an emergency trip. Mary Ann's mother (whom I am quite close with) was hospitalized after a very bad fall that broke her hip. At age 93, it's something doctors (and family members) worry about. So in between our constant vigil and naps, Mary Ann, Regina, Veronika and I took time off to watch the Oscars.

Okay show. I had some hope that AVATAR would do better than it did. I'm okay with THE HURT LOCKER winning so much, but it wasn't my favorite film by a long shot.

Biggest outrage: omitting Farrah Fawcett from the tribute memorial for those entertainers recently deceased. What's up with that?? After having her death sidelined for a week by non-stop news of the death of Michael Jackson, I was floored that the Academy repeated the same travesty. I hope the producer of that memorial segment is whipped out of town with his (or her) tail between the legs!

No explanation for why John Hughes was singled out added to the sense that someone handled the memorials poorly. If there was a reason that insiders knew, or well-informed viewers knew, that still left the rest of us wondering.

Sandra Bullock's speech was good. Ditto Jeff Bridges. I didn't find the pairing of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to be all that comfortable or entertaining, but it worked out okay. The best funny bit was probably Ben Stiller in blue. The worst bit - after the afore-mentioned travesty - was having Tom Hanks simply (and no doubt unintentionally) come up and announce the best picture winner without any summary of the ten nominees. I dare say some people by that point may have forgotten what some of the other nominees were... a recap would've been appropriate.

The horror movie tribute was a nice idea but sure felt rushed or something. The montage certainly wasn't edited in a compelling manner. Rather it seemed sort of hodge podge. Oh, well.

And the music... a mess, in my opinion. Nice to have a brief production number centered around the original score contenders. But the non-stop playing of unrelated song tunes, movie themes and whatnot with little or no reference to the immediate proceedings was - to say the least - annoying. Okay, "The Way We Were" matched the entrance of Barbra Streisand, but we actually thought it was probably just a coincidence! I don't know if this oddball mixture of showtunes was the work of Marc Shaiman or not, but hopefully someone will focus back on the relevant movies next time.

Congratulations on seeing the incredibly talented Michael Giacchino get Oscar recognition!

All in all, I found the show flat and lacking something spirited. The emphasis on movies rather than production numbers was good but perhaps more imagination could have been used in setting things up. Maybe some pizzazz would've helped, I don't know. It needed something.

Whatever. We'll be watching again next year, no doubt.

2/28/10

Two more new Intrada CDs become available this coming Tuesday, March 2. They'll be posted for ordering on Monday, March 1. For fans of the early seventies, we have a 2-CD set covering an entire score by one of Hollywood's most famous - and successful - composers of all time. It's a limited edition release in our Special Collection series with just 1500 copies for sale. It's really beautiful music and may sell out quickly. But, then again, my crystal ball broke ages ago.

Our other release is not limited and there will be copies to go around for some time. Our latest MAF series CD, this one gets a lot of requests. It's a potent meld of instrumental music with some vocals. Think of the eighties, a solid album that never came out on CD (until now), and a really good movie. We've even licensed one brand new score track that makes its world premiere here! Have fun!

2/19/10

Here are some numbers for customers keeping tabs on our latest limited releases. We know you have a lot of choices out there lately and - most likely - limited funds to pursue everything you'd like. So maybe these numbers can help you sift through the possibilities. We have about 160 copies of MEET THE APPLEGATES left in stock. I don't imagine they'll last forever, but one never knows.

There are about 500 copies of THE DAY OF THE LOCUST available at this point. I think it's a classic album so having them around for awhile has appeal. The movie is sort of obscure, albeit there are reasons to check it out on DVD (from Paramount) if you can. Probably under-rated, it's a striking look at early Hollywood, and comes from the same director-composer team that gave us the admittedly richer and more successful MIDNIGHT COWBOY some six years earlier. Perhaps if THE DAY OF THE LOCUST had starred Dustin Hoffmann... well, who knows?

1/31/10

Two new Intrada CD releases coming up! They'll be announced tomorrow (Monday, February the 1st) and orders will begin shipping on Tuesday, February the 2nd. One's limited to 1500 copies, the other's limited to 3000 copies. Both are part of our Special Collection series. How I love that stuff from the seventies!

1/22/10

We get a lot of letters asking about the remaining quantities of BACK TO THE FUTURE.

We originally negotiated a special arrangement with the union to allow 10,000 pressings so we could get copies into as many hands as possible. Happily, the union has now become extremely helpful in making arrangements like this, enabling releases of all manner of previously unobtainable soundtracks. Regarding BACK TO THE FUTURE, I'm happy to say we've sold just under 6000 copies to date.

Normally I wouldn't discourage sales on an Intrada release (perish the thought) but, just the same, here's a good time for collectors still thinking about BACK TO THE FUTURE to take note. We should have copies around for while. Assuming you need to stretch your budget (like most of us), use this window to chase down some of those other goodies out there... like that magnificent early Trevor Jones score for NATE AND HAYES, or the massive Miklos Rozsa box set from Film Score Monthly, or... well, face it. There're lots of goodies out there!

One of those goodies was THE BLUE MAX. Given the multiple versions released over the last forty-plus years, we certainly had some discussions over the viability of yet another one, even an improved one. Mostly, it was a major challenge to obtain licensing from all the parties still involved, especially since the Sony release was still readily available. But everyone finally jumped on board and made it happen, to which I am very grateful. And I'm especially grateful to all of you who plunked down yet another twenty bucks on a score you no doubt had already spent a small fortune on over the years!

1/19/10

Thanks to you folks, we've moved roughly 2000 copies of THE BLUE MAX already. Since the title has been to the well a few times, I wasn't sure just how positive the response would be. Happily, it was solid.

Considering the age and considerable use of the master elements, I believe we managed to bring out the best sonics possible. Part of this is really just due to the fact that we opted not to heavily "process" the sound, something previous issues had done. It's worth keeping in mind that the score was recorded in London when stereo recording techniques were still seeing a growth curve. Yet the tapes themselves revealed a considerable amount of detail and stereo imaging. We were able to deliver more of it than has ever been done before. Personally, I'm just not a fan of making old analog recordings "imitate" 21st-Century digital recordings because... quite simply, they aren't. It also helped that we had access to all of the first generation elements as well, and not just copies of copies and safeties and whatnot. Us soundtrack labels are not always so lucky!