Press Release from Quartet:
Quartet Records, in collaboration with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, presents the world premiere release of two 70s killer-animals exploitation film scores from the vaults of American International Pictures.
THE FOOD OF THE GODS was directed by Bert I. Gordon (“Mr. BIG”) in 1976. Loosely based on the novel by H.G. Wells, it concerns a group of friends who travel to a remote Canadian island to hunt, only to be attacked by giant killer rats that have populated the place. Elliott Kaplan, a trained and seasoned television composer who composed scores for episodes of Ironside, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Fantasy Island and Banacek, wrote a highly sophisticated, Impressionistic score, blending orchestra with Moog synthesizers to create an unnerving atmosphere for the movie, reminiscent of both Leonard Rosenman and the more experimental Jerry Goldsmith.
FROGS, directed by George McCowan in 1972 and starring Ray Milland, was a funny film about another group of helpless victims celebrating a birthday on an island estate crawling with killer frogs, birds, insects and reptiles. The score was done by AIP’s main composer, Les Baxter, successful writer of Exotica music, and responsible for the lavish scores for Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe–based films. Baxter offered a brief but unusual score and broke new ground by performing it entirely on a Moog synthesizer provided by recording engineer Joe Sidore.
FROGS was one of Les Baxter’s final film scores, but he and composers like Elliott Kaplan added immeasurably to the rich and wild legacy of ’70s exploitation filmmaking.
This album has been produced, mixed and mastered by Chris Malone from original stereo elements vaulted at MGM in mint condition. The package includes exclusive, in-depth liner notes by author Jeff Bond.
