Press Release from Dragon's Domain:
Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE GIL MELLÉ COLLECTION: VOLUME 1, featuring the world premiere releases of two scores composed by Gil Mellé from his lengthy filmography.
Released in October, 1985, HOT TARGET was a UK/New Zealand co-production directed by Dennis C. Lewiston, starring Simone Griffeth, Bryan Marshall and Steve Marachuk. The screenplay was written by Lewiston and Gerry O’Hara. HOT TARGET follows Christine (Griffeth) who is the trophy wife of a successful businessman in New Zealand. Her seemingly idyllic descends into chaos when she meets Greg (Marachuk), a mysterious American. Their chance encounter in the park reveals a dark tapestry of deceit and ulterior motives that begins to slowly unravel, leading ultimately to a shocking murder. Mellé’s score is a masterful blend of orchestral richness and electronic innovation, featuring vibrant jazz influences.
Airing on television in 1984, JEALOUSY was written and directed by Jeffrey Bloom (BLOOD BEACH), starring Angie Dickinson, Paul Michael Glaser, Bo Svenson, Susan Tyrell, France Nuyen, Richard Mulligan and David Carradine. JEALOUSY is presented through three interconnected vignettes, each exploring the profound impact of jealousy on a woman’s life. While two of the segments were scored by prolific television composer Jimmy Haskell, the first segment, ‘Georgia’, featured music composed by Gil Mellé, who also provided the opening and closing titles. Mellé's score is rhythmically captivating and beautiful, perfectly encapsulating the essence of Dickinson’s dark fantasies.
For nearly five decades, composer Gil Mellé innovated in mixing electronic and orchestral music when he wasn’t playing the nuances of modern jazz or enjoying his collection of unique microscopes at home. Mellé had made a mark in the world of jazz as an outstanding baritone saxophonist and composer who was also noted as a painter. In film and television, his music has been extraordinarily notable, if not well preserved, on records and CDs. His TV-movie music in the early ’70s included a trio of high-profile films for television: MY SWEET CHARLIE, THAT CERTAIN SUMMER, and FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY. His most well-known film score was THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, but as an innovator in the use of electronic music in movies of the 1970s and ’80s, Mellé contributed to a many science fiction, fantasy, and horror television and feature film scores, including NIGHT GALLERY (theme and episodes), THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (original TV-movie), A COLD NIGHT’S DEATH, THE QUESTOR TAPES, KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, STARSHIP INVASIONS, WORLD WAR III, and many others. Mellé’s efforts preceded almost everyone else’s experiments in electronic film music and resulted in the first true electronic film score.
Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE GIL MELLÉ COLLECTION – VOLUME 1, featuring the world premiere releases of music composed by Gil Mellé for HOT TARGET and JEALOUSY PART 1. James Nelson has mastered the music at Digital Outland.
