Well, dear readers, it is very late and therefore I must once again write these here notes in a hurry. I must not lag, I must not dilly-dally or shilly-shally. I must dive right in with no time for pleasantries or even unpleasantries. In short, here come the notes. First of all, I am sitting here like so much fish listening to one of my all-time favorite motion picture soundtracks, Hotel, music by Johnny Keating. Why this man didn’t become a major film composer is anyone’s guess. He was a jazz/big band conductor and arranger who did quite a few albums for, including some Phase 4 recordings on London. But somehow in 1967 he suddenly scored two motion pictures – Robbery and Hotel, both one-word titles. Robbery is a very good score, but Hotel is way more than good, it’s absolutely fantastic, with incredible themes, orchestrations, and suiting the movie perfectly. First of all, I love the movie, which I saw in Cleveland, Ohio – I saw it three times in one day, actually. As soon as I got home to Los Angeles, I bought the soundtrack album, which I played to death – it was an incredible audiophile album on Warner Bros. I was obsessed with the score. There were two themes from the film that also had lyrics and were sung by the great Carmen McRae, who also appears in the film. Film Score Monthly finally released a CD of it, and I’ve played that to death, too. Keating would write only one more film score to a 1972 British film called Innocent Bystanders, which I’ve never seen. If you’ve never seen Hotel, you should. If you’ve never heard the score, I’m sure it’s on the Tube of You. The sound alone will thrill you, but so will the music. Prior to that, I did watch the fifth and final Bill Elliott mystery movie, Footsteps in the Dark. Like the others, it really isn’t great, but like the others, it’s only sixty minutes. This one does have a kind of clever plot turn towards the end, so that was fun. There was some location work, but I suspect it was all done very close to the Allied Artists studios, which were in East Hollywood near Vermont (not so far from LACC) – it’s the PBS studios now. They do talk about great locations; you just never see them. In the final film, we had chatter about Sunset and La Cienega, Santa Monica Boulevard and Beverly Glen, and Sunset Boulevard motels. And then, I listened to a CD of the Malcolm Arnold Dances – the English, Cornish, Scottish, and Irish, along with the Sarabande and Polka from his ballet, Solitaire, which I sure would love to see – it’s a Kenneth MacMillan ballet. I’ve only found one short bit from it. This CD is an Chandos and conducted by Bryden Thomson – it’s one of the better Chandos CDs. I got it because it’s this performance of the gorgeous Sarabande that I hear on my classical radio station, and I prefer it to Arnold’s own recording of that piece. But everything is terrific on this CD, and it rivals Arnold’s Lyrita recording of these same pieces.
Yesterday was a weird kind of ME day. I didn’t fall asleep until around four-thirty, which was annoying, then woke up at eight-fifteen with bad allergies. I took my twenty-four-hour Claritin-D and waited for it to kick in. I got back to bed around ten, fell asleep, and woke up a little after one – not sure how much sleep it was, maybe seven hours or a bit more. Once up again, I answered e-mails, and realized that a bunch of big Kritzerland bills were set up to be paid, which was really horrible and is going to make this week, especially tomorrow, really difficult for me. In fact, I’m not quite certain how to deal with it yet. We shall see, I suppose. I hate that stuff. I did find out that the Tonight’s the Night CDs will finally be ready today and hopefully the helper will go get them so we can get them shipped out. And I found out that The Sap of Life and Cole Porter III will be here next Tuesday, so that’s a load off.
Then I went and picked up some packages, got Taco Bell for food, ate said food, which was fine, and then the day was basically over. I also found out that the playlets are NOT extending – I thought it was a terrible idea and thankfully sanity prevailed. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish and watched the movie. The rest you know.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll relax and rest my voice, then we have our stumble-through at three. I don’t think I’ll go out with folks, mostly to protect my voice. I will, of course, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll finesse the commentary, print out the commentary and show order and get everything ready for the show on Wednesday. Then I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I will just relax and rest my voice until it’s time to mosey on over to Vitello’s for sound check at five. Doors open at six-thirty, then we do our show at eight, and some of us will grab a bite after the show. Then the rest of the week will be starting to figure out the Group Rep cabaret thing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, relax and rest my voice, hopefully pick up some packages, have a stumble-through, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What motion picture soundtracks were your favorites – that you played to death when you got them? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, unhappy at all the bills that were paid, and which is going to make life VERY difficult tomorrow. Well, maybe some miraculous orders will come through.