On a happy note, for film music fans, today is a "milestone". From FOHHH (Friend of HainesHisWay) Nick Redman:
I'm very proud to be able to share a personal milestone. Today marks the 20th anniversary of my being hired by Fox Music as a consultant charged with the responsibility of creating a viable "classic film music" restoration program. Fox (in common with most other studios) had a vast treasure trove of material stored on 35mm film in vaults that had essentially lain dormant for 50 years. At the time, in 1993, Fox had created a new record imprint (Fox Records) in association with Arista Records that would primarily feature new artists, but if some classic catalogue from the vaults could be resuscitated, those titles would be added to the pot for good measure.
When Elliot Lurie, then head of Fox Music, welcomed me aboard I had to tell him "I can't start this week, I'm having a baby!" He laughed and said "Ok, start when you can then..." (My daughter Rebecca was born on the 16th Feb).
I was very grateful to Elliot for the opportunity, and to agent Richard Kraft for recommending me to Fox, but I had no idea how to do the job, or even where to start. (A memorable quote from Elliot resonated: "Nobody here knows how to do what we're asking you to do, so don't come to us with any questions!")
I hoped he was joking.
Somehow though, in that first year, Arista was able to release CDs of "Stormy Weather (1943)," "The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)," "How Green Was My Valley (1941)," "The Robe (1953)," "Laura (1944)," and of more pleasure to the accountants, a 4-CD "Star Wars Anthology" set -- the sales of which paid for all the other sins.
But here we are, 20 years later, and the program is still thriving. Less of a well-oiled machine, more of a garage under the arches working on Lamborghinis. When we started we had no concept of this being a long-term program, but as things are wont to do in life, they evolve in surprising ways -- record labels come and go, personnel arrive and depart, it's a sea of constant change, but somehow there was always an executive or two in various departments, post-production, home video, etc. who would choose to find ways to support and help fund the tiny operation. In the early days we leaned on home video a lot, supplying audio cassettes to be packaged with video tapes, 24-carat "special edition" gold CDs to be packaged with Laserdiscs, isolated score tracks to synergize Fox Music's restorations with the movies themselves.
Over the years specialty labels dedicated to soundtracks have kept the program alive by releasing a constant product stream: to date as many as 600 albums of vintage Fox film scores have been issued to aficionados, with dozens more in preparation. In addition to those scores released on CD, at least 200 more have been restored, inventoried and vaulted for safekeeping under the supervision of Ron Fuglsby and Library Services...at the current rate of progress it'll take a while yet to complete the job but we're getting there....and without the help and support of the following individuals during the past two decades, nothing would have been accomplished....
First and foremost, always -- Tom Cavanaugh, Fox Music's head of business affairs...quite simply without Tom's constant help, support, encouragement, and boundless enthusiasm and generosity, both in business and as a dear friend--there is no-one like him--this program would not have survived in any way, shape or form. (To the next 20, mate?)
And also:
Dave Goldstein, Lewis Lagrone, Skip Lusk, Pam Kersey, Matt Walden, Mary Jo Menella, Cathy Merenda, Carol Farhat, Larry Zwisohn, Geoff Bywater, JoAnn Orgel, Cindy Cooper, Barbara Lehn, Robert Kraft, Armin Steiner, Dan Hersch, Warren Salyer, Ted Spellman, Greg Curtis, Craig Renwick, Ellen Ginsburg, Denise McCarthy, Hunter Woo, Pat Carreras, Mitzi Brewer,Ted Gagliano and especially Schawn Belston (for taking Ron under your wing when there was nowhere else for him to go!)
Mike Matessino, who first worked with me on the restoration of "The Sound of Music" in 1994, and has been a valued colleague and friend through hundreds of subsequent projects (we'll keep 'em coming!)
And without whom the public would never have heard the work:
Fox Records, Arista Records, RCA/Victor, Sony Music, Phillips, Polygram, Fox Home Entertainment, Varese Sarabande Records, Intrada Records, La-La Land Records, Film Score Monthly, Screen Archives Entertainment, BYU, The Film Music Society, Percepto Records, Rhino Records, and Kritzerland.
And thanks to Dave Shaw and Christine Lewison at Fox Home Ent, the Twilight Time Blu-ray label dedicated to releasing Fox classic movies, continues the synergy of movie and music by including isolated score tracks on every disc. The tradition, established so long ago, continues...
It's hard to believe it's been two decades -- next Saturday my daughter Rebecca (in her 2nd year of college) will turn 20. David Raksin's beautiful score for "Laura" 1944, as previously stated, one of our first releases in 1993, has just come out on Blu-ray, and to tie-in, we have reissued this beautiful music, complete for the first time, on Kritzerland (thanks, BK!)
The world is a circle, as Burt Bacharach (and Hal David), once said.
