Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to a few LP transfers – they all come out very loud, so I have to see if there’s a way to lower the sound in terms of it going to the thumb drive. But they do sound good. Now playing is the VERY rare album The Wild Side of Henry Mancini. For a time in the mid-1970s I was the only human I knew who had a copy of it as it was never officially released – only a few promo copies got out in the mid-1950s. I just happened to see it at a used LP store around 1973 or thereabouts and since I loved Mancini, I bought it. Surprise of surprises to find out that it was the soundtrack to Touch of Evil and a completely different program of music than that film’s official soundtrack release on the same label. I couldn’t believe it. Finally, to have the main title music and a lot of other great stuff in superb mono sound. I think when I finally sold my copy, I got something like five hundred bucks for it. Interestingly, I also found it on a reel-to-reel tape with two or three other albums, but unfortunately at the 3 3/4 speed – I let Varese Sarabande use that tape for their LP release and CD release where they put the two albums together for the complete score. But that tape sounded horrible, and they would have been much better off doing a transfer of the LP, which is what Fresh Sounds in Spain ultimately did. Since selling that first copy, I’ve had two others (there are zero copies for sale anywhere on the Internet), one of which I sold, and the other of which I got yesterday at a local used LP store just a few blocks from here – haven’t been there in ages. And this rarest of rare LPs was in the used miscellaneous jazz section. Needless to say, I grabbed it – in great condition because no one ever played the few that got out there. And very inexpensive to boot. Fun hearing it again because it sounds even better than the Fresh Sounds release. But let’s move on to the other interesting news – I know I’ve mentioned in passing that I’d made a deal for the release of The First Nudie Musical to video on demand and streaming and a week and a half ago it was officially released and it’s getting a lot of publicity, the kind it hasn’t had in ages. I’ll be curious to see if it drives sales of the Blu-ray, which I’m currently having to repress for the third time. It’s done really well all by its lonesome with no help. So, the film is now on Amazon, iTunes, Apple, all of those platforms, and Cindy’s been doing quite a few interviews for it, including two today – one on Channel 5 here in LA, and one on what I’m guessing is a podcast for Rotten Tomatoes. I did that one with Cindy on the phone, and the woman who did the interview actually saw the film when it came out and she loves it, loves the restoration, and just raved about it. As soon as they let me know when that airs, I’ll post the link. Anyway, it’s been fun. By the way, if any of you dear readers feel like writing a review of the film, do so on the Blu-ray page – the more the merrier.
Yesterday was a fine day. We finally locked in our final cast member – won’t be much for him to do, but I’ll give him as much as I can, but he totally understands he’s coming in late to the party. So, that’s a big load off and hopefully we can get him blocked into the group numbers quickly. That was very good news. I only got six hours of sleep thanks to the computer deciding to have a senior moment – freezing, shutting its own self down, starting its own self up and then nothing working properly. So, I manually shut it down and restarted and then everything was fine, but it kept me up later than I’d intended. Once up, I got myself together (no mean feat) and then did the thirty-minute interview with Cindy.
Then I did some banking, then went to the mail place and picked up a package I’ve been waiting for anxiously. I’ve been angling for the contents of the package for over a year, and finally the contents arrived. Three original Harvey Schmidt paintings used for the Ben Bagley Revisited covers. I got worried when I opened the first one because it was clearly a Xerox that was then hand colored, but that worry was unfounded because the next three were all hand-painted and the real deal. So, I’ll get them all framed. They also sent me Harvey’s original art for The Fantasticks in Jazz album, so that’s fun. Here are the three originals – at some point I may push it and try for two more, as a suite of five would look great on its own wall.
Aren’t those great? Then I got some food from nearby La Fogata Mexican jernt – two beef tacos and two small chicken taquitos. It arrived about twenty minutes later and was really quite good and calorie friendly. Not enough food for a day, but I had stuff later. After eating, I made more LP transfers, which took most of the afternoon, but I just didn’t feel like writing and I have to be in the mood on the project with David Wechter. Then I watched the first three episodes of another limited series, just to see if they really do all follow the template I outlined a few days ago. This one is called Pieces of Her and stars Toni Collette. And sure enough, it begins, ubiquitous unnecessary song at the top. And within five minutes we’re treated to a woman seated on a toilet – I don’t know when this became a thing, but I’ve now seen this about fifty times – it’s completely unnecessary and really stupid and hint to filmmakers, no one wants to see anyone sitting on a toilet doing their business. And ten minutes later that same character is vomiting into the same toilet – we don’t want to see that either. It’s pretty bad, this one, so I’m giving up on it.
Then I went to Gelson’s and got a little fried rice from the hot food bar – it was a fresh batch – and a muffin top. I came home and ate the rice and then the muffin top and that was the food for the day. After that, I began listening to the LP transfers.
Today, I’ll be up by eight-thirty and out the door by nine, as I have to stop at Gelson’s on the way and pick up a little birthday cake for our assistant director. Then we have a rehearsal from ten to three and our musical director is thankfully with us. We’ll review and then I’m just going from start to finish and putting everything but the wrestling match on its feet. We’ll go thing to thing – we’ll be missing three or four people, but at least I can get most of this done so we’ll be ready for run-throughs end of next week. I think we’re going to have to add one more rehearsal day per week because we’re without people on the weekend up until we tech. I may be able to solve the Saturday issue as of next week because we could conceivably rehearse in the evening rather than the day. We’ll see. After rehearsal, I’ll grab something to eat, and then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, eat, maybe write, and then watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I may have to see the matinee at the Group Rep as one of the actresses who alternates in a role wants me to see her. We’ll see how I’m feeling. Otherwise, I’ll definitely write, and that will continue into Monday. I’ll decide if I want to bring the motor car to the dealer’s auto body shop – as long as they can guarantee me that it will be ready by six on Tuesday, it will work for me. Then this week is rehearsals and more rehearsals and then we’ll begin run-throughs as soon as I’ve staged the wrestling match, which I can’t do until we have the two blue gym mats we need for safety.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eight-thirty and out the door by nine, I’ll pick up a cake at Gelson’s, then have a six-hour rehearsal and get everything I can on its feet. I’ll eat, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, write, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: When you were growing up, what were your favorite album covers? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that Nudie is making its streaming and VOD debut and getting attention and thrilled to have these three original Harvey Schmidt paintings.