Trumpeteer

Oskar · March 14

On episode 63 of The Best Song Podcast, I discuss the stories behind the creation of the five songs nominated for the 1995 Original Song Oscar. That includes "Moonlight" from the remake of Sabrina, a song written by John Williams and Alan & Marilyn Bergman. For all three of them, this would be their final Oscar nominations in the original song category. I covered this film in episode 77 of The Baton, but it would be great for you to hear the song stacked up with its Oscar competition, and celebrate John Williams' final original song nomination.

Competition was tough for this Oscar, though Disney went all-in for Alan Menken's chance to win a fourth Oscar for original song with "Colors of the Wind," and Bryan Adams had a #1 hit song with "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman." While the five nominees are great, you'll hear some songs that failed to get nominated, including a very popular song by Whitney Houston.

JTN · February 8

This is going to be a day full of John Williams music. Wait, that's every day!

The newest episode of my podcast features the song "Somewhere In My Memory" from Home Alone, which was pitted against some banger tunes for the Original Song Oscar.

Happy birthday, Maestro!

Jurassic Shark · December 1, 2023

All great opinions about the win for Fame's score. But, the issue I bring up in my podcast is that the Academy allowed the score to be nominated alongside traditional underscores, which hadn't been allowed for about 30 years. Never mind that the Academy at large voted for Fame. The music branch voted to allow song scores to be eligible for Original Score alongside underscores. Song scores had their own category for many, many years and in 1980 the decision was made to specifically combine the two genres.

I try to keep a lot of opinions out of my podcast, as I simply want to tell the stories and let listeners make up their minds about whether a song should have been nominated for an Oscar, or win the Oscar. But I'll let you know here that the Academy should never have allowed song scores to be nominated alongside underscores, especially a musical like Fame, where there is almost no underscore. Alan Menken's wins were influenced by the songs, but there was a considerable amount of underscore in all four of his score wins.

I could have gone into more depth about this in the podcast, but the show is about the Original Song Oscar, not the Original Score Oscar. As I was researching for this particular episode, I found the rule change and immediately thought of my JWFan clan. I've been waiting for months to share it with you.

Taikomochi · November 29, 2023

One of the big tragedies for John Williams fans has been the selection of Michael Gore as the recipient of the Original Score Oscar of 1980 for Fame over John Williams' work on The Empire Strikes Back. It definitely remains one of the biggest upsets and surprises in Oscar history.

In the newest episode of my show The Best Song Podcast, I offer up the reason behind Fame being included in the list of original score nominees in the first place (especially since there is less than 10 minutes of non-song original music in the movie). I won't tell you here; you'll have to listen to episode 48 of the show to find out. And, I offer up my explanation in the first five minutes of the show, so you don't have to wait long.

Does this help to ease the pain of Williams' Oscar loss? Or does it sting even more?

I hope you'll listen to the rest of the episode, which features an interview with Dean Pitchford, the lyricist for the song "Fame," and an analysis of the other four Oscar-nominated songs and a brief listen to other songs that were left off the list. Enjoy the show!

Yavar Moradi · July 25, 2023

On 20/07/2023 at 6:35 AM, Jay said:

?

The Best Song Podcast is my newest podcast, which started in January 2023. The show is very similar to "The Baton," in that it is doing a year-by-year analysis of movie music. This time, I am giving the history of the 450-plus songs nominated for the Best Original Song Academy Award in the first 90 years of its existence (1934-2023). There are stories to tell about songwriters such as Sammy Cahn, Henry Mancini, and Irving Berlin, as well as the men and women who wrote nominated songs who didn't get much of their 15 minutes of fame.

Check it out:

July 16, 2023

Thanks, Holko, for putting in that post from Frank. I did not know he had thrown in the analysis of "Battle of Syracuse" at the last minute, though it makes sense because an article like that takes weeks of research and analysis. I had not planned to mention Frank's article, mostly because I had read it after I finished most of my script and didn't think it was important to mention it. But, it's an article about John Williams in one of the most well-known publications in the world. It deserved a mention and I hope it draws more attention to it.

Thanks also for the points about Tintin. My apologies for getting the date wrong. You have a good point about Mangold possibly using it as a temp track, something I did not think about when pondering its use.

On 13/07/2023 at 12:15 AM, Bryant Burnette said:

I've only made it up to 1941 so far!

Take your time. Hope you are enjoying what you hear.

KittBash · July 12, 2023

Hello, again! Episode 113 of The Best Song Podcast is now available This episode covers the score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which brings Williams full circle through five Indy films. I also detail the un-retirement announcement that Williams made earlier this year, and what it means for his future in film scoring.

Enjoy!

Bryant Burnette · January 14, 2023

I'm excited there's a possibility that Indy 5 won't be the final John Williams score. Unless it turns out to be as iconic as the scores from the first three Indy movies, it would not have been the best way to go out. Now, we have to see what Spielberg cooks up. Or, maybe JW will branch out and work for another director again?

It also means more episodes of "The Baton" down the road!

michael_grig · January 2, 2023

Folks,

Happy New Year! If you have not had the chance to listen to the new episode of The Baton featuring a discussion of the score to The Fabelmans, you can watch it in the player below. It was fun returning to the show after a two-year hiatus.

Also, I'm also starting a new podcast that will take us through the first 90 years of the Academy Award for Best Original Song. That podcast, called The Best Song Podcast, will mention John Williams at various points when he earns Oscar nominations for songwriting. Until then, I hope you'll enjoy the episodes, which will be found at this website and on the Podbean app beginning tomorrow (January 2) until it's approved for other podcast platforms.

Thor · January 2, 2023

I am so glad you finally were able to get around to doing this, Thor. I was finally able to listen to part one and there is a lot of great music that I had not heard in my research for my own podcast. I hope you're able to uncover more hidden gems!

Sandor · December 9, 2022

I've finally watched "The Fabelmans" and I am able to return to this forum so nothing could be spoiled for me. (I don't listen to JW scores before I hear them in the film.)

I think the score fits the tone of the film, and this is why I don't listen to the scores first. If I heard the music first, I would have been disappointed that it wasn't going to be some major theatrical film memoir about Spielberg's life. It's a very intimate portrait of his family and the "struggles" he endured (all of them pretty much expected), and the score, as John Williams has said, is a tribute to his parents. It was a good choice to make it an actors' film and not a director's film. The performances sell the movie, and everyone else is exercising great restraint, including John Williams. That also goes for cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who didn't do too many "look at me" camera tricks (except the really funny one in the last shot).

I'm going to take a day or two to digest the film and score, then get to work on returning to my podcast "The Baton" for an in-depth episode. I'm really looking forward to returning to the show after two years away.

Bryant Burnette · December 9, 2022

On 16/11/2022 at 7:36 PM, Bryant Burnette said:

I've been downloading these episodes and archiving them forever, but had not gotten around to actually listening to any of them until this week. I'm up to the Bachelor Flat episode now, and just wanted to say that it's a very enjoyable and informative show. Pretty thrilled I get to listen to the rest of Williams's career this way! Thanks, and keep kicking ass!

Thanks, Bryant! A new episode is in the works to discuss "The Fabelmans." I hope to have it produced before Christmas.

On 10/11/2022 at 4:06 PM, Romão said:

I know I'm very late to the party, but I started listening to this podcast yesterday and I'm already 10 episodes in.

Wonderful job, @Trumpeteer. It is particularly helpful in getting to know some of JW's lesser known scores and how the music plays works in the context of the film. I've been enjoying it tremendously and love your selection of clips. I think by the end of next week, I might've gone through the whole thing.

Besides the work you've put into getting to know the music, I'm particularly amazed and thankful for your dedication in watching all the movies JW scored and how that helps color one's opinion of the score.

I stumbled upon your podcast when searching Spotify for the Sleepers soundtrack, and your episode was the first result I got. And even for score such as this, which I consider to be a personal favorite and which I assumed to know very well, I was pleasantly surprised by your insights on how the music works in the film (for all the love I have for the score, I've never really watched movie more than a couple of times).

Great work, that's all I wanted to say. You're helping make my working day all the more pleasant

I'm glad you have a new appreciation for Sleepers. I was never a huge fan of the movie or score after seeing it for the first time in 1996, but after producing the podcast episode, I find some aspects of the score very enjoyable.

Keep your eyes out for a new episode coming in a few days!

Nathan95 · September 18, 2022

Hello, everyone! It's been a while since I've posted on this topic, not really a surprise since I posted the last episode in December 2020. But, as you know, two new John Williams scores are coming out soon, and The Baton is coming back to continue the John Williams musical journey!

I plan on releasing the episode covering the music for "The Fablemans" and the work Williams has done since "Rise of Skywalker" soon. And the episode for Indy 5 will be out shortly after that movie's release. I'm waiting to hear the music for both films until I hear them in the movies. (Though I broke my rule and listened to the music from Indy 5 premiered at the Hollywood Bowl.)

In the meantime, I'm working on another podcast, called The Best Song Podcast. It will debut in January 2023, and, like The Baton, will be an oral history of music through multiple decades. This time, I'll be discussing the songs that were nominated for an Academy Award in the first 90 years of the award, from 1934 to 2023. I'm having a lot of fun with the research, and listening to many of the songs has been a thrill and an education.

The research has been extensive, and I've started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $2,200 for preproduction costs. That includes buying lots of biographies of songwriters, hiring a graphic designer to create a logo and a professional voiceover artist to record the opening and closing of each episode. I hope you can give something to help me cover these costs. I don't get a dime of it unless the entire $2,200 is raised, so please give what you can.

Here's the link: The Best Song Podcast Kickstarter

aviazn · January 13, 2022

Hello, all. I was invited to speak about John Williams in a new episode of the podcast "Speeding Bullitt," which is very similar to my John WIlliams podcast in that it is an oral biography of Steve McQueen's life through his movies. The link below will take you to the episode I did, which discusses Williams' work on the Steve McQueen film "The Reivers."

As many of you know, "The Reivers" turned out to be a pivotal point in John Williams' career, and I was happy to educate the show's host on that, and other tidbits about John Williams' life before and after that film.

Show website link: Speeding Bullitt Podcast

I accidentally posted this in the wrong section. Let's discuss this here:

karelm · September 7, 2021

I was at the Sunday concert and it was a lot of fun. Of course, since I have finished my podcast, I knew there would be no new film music for me to hear, but that was fine. The Overture to the Oscars was new, I think? I have to look it up, but it sounded like the music that opened the 2002 Oscars when he was co-musical director.

I enjoyed seeing JW looking so lively at 89 years old. I spoke with a woman after the show, and after I told her John Williams was five months away from turning 90, she said, "He looked like he was in his 70s!"

But the highlight of the show was meeting Eduardo Victoria, who was a cohost on my podcast for the "War of the Worlds" episode. It was the first time meeting one of my cohosts in person, and we had a wonderful pre-show conversation.

SteveMc · June 4, 2021

I am attending the Sunday evening show. It would be great to have a JWFan gathering after or before the concert. I got to meet members of JWFan way, way back in 2004 after a Boston Pops concert with JW, and it was a big highlight.

Bayesian · May 10, 2021

Hi, folks! I brought in some of my cohosts from my John Williams podcast to offer their thoughts about the upcoming Indy 5 film and score. And since we recorded this close to Star Wars Day, I asked everyone to let me know their favorite "Star Wars" musical moments. Some were surprising, but most gave responses that were expected. Enjoy!

March 31, 2021

On 3/22/2021 at 12:55 PM, Jay said:

This is all true, except that eventually, he did write a bunch of cues to specific edited footage: Check out this list here. All the stuff with XMX numbering was written to specific footage, while the unnumbered cues after are the ones he wrote as you described

That's interesting about "The Witnesses," because it sounds a little choppy in the film mix, but that could have just been some last-minute editing choices made.

bruce marshall · March 22, 2021

Just to clear up and clarify some points being made here in this topic:

John Williams was asked by Oliver Stone to write a score for "JFK," which Williams quickly accepted. However, Williams was very busy with Steven Spielberg's "Hook," which at the time was being discussed as an original musical. Both films were set for a fall/winter 1991 release, and the timelines for scoring both projects created a conflict.

After "Hook" officially became a nonmusical, Williams had a little time to work on the "JFK" score. He visited Stone on the New Orleans set to talk about some ideas, and visited Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy was shot. After that, he wrote music to fit scenes as written in the script and concepts of the film. Stone and Williams agreed that the music would be recorded almost as concert suites, with Stone and music editor Ken Wannberg fitting the music into the film where needed. The only scene that seems to precisely fit the score and visuals is the team examining David Ferrie's home after his apparent suicide. The music for that scene doesn't appear anywhere else, and likely Williams was able to write music for that specific scene after Stone presented a rough cut.

If you never heard the soundtrack album, and you didn't know the story, you would think Williams composed the score pretty much in his usual fashion. I didn't know the back story of the composing technique until about 2005, and it offered a different perspective on the score but did not detract from the "enjoyment" of it.

I discuss many of these points with Brian Martell in my "JFK" epsiode of my podcast:

Naïve Old Fart · March 12, 2021

The music for this scene comes from "Garrison's Obsession," track 6 on the official CD release. The music comes from 1:20-1:59. The music underscores Oswald being questioned by police, ushered out of police headquarters to the throng of reporters where Jack Ruby is waiting and builds to the gunshot. After that, there is no music as Oswald falls to the ground.

Erik Woods · February 7, 2021

6 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Will JW make a guest appearance?

I would love that, but unfortunately no. The biggest celebrity I could get for this show was @Erik Woods.

February 7, 2021

As we all know, John Williams' 89th birthday is tomorrow (Monday), and I will be posting a special video episode of "The Baton" to celebrate. I will be joined by 12 of my podcast's cohosts as we share how we celebrate the Maestro's birthday, and talk about some of Williams' music we would use to introduce a new fan.

This video will make its debut as a YouTube "live" Premiere at 9 am Eastern on Monday, February 8. Link is below. I invite you to the Premiere to chat with other John Williams fans as the video plays. If you can't make the "live" video, it will be available at the same link as an on-demand video.

Celebrating John Williams' 89th birthday

January 19, 2021

18 hours ago, bruckhorn said:

I started in the middle and listened to a few episodes (scores I was familiar with). I have now downloaded all of the episodes.

I highly recommend them. The approach is amateur in the truest sense of the word: for the love of it. Very little techie talk (e.g.: chord progressions, use of pedal tones, use of modes) which usually comes from co-hosts. Heck, I think he misidentified a recorder as a flute, but I don’t expect him to point out the Wagner tubas in Empire. (Star Wars Oxygen didn’t mention it).

And yet, with all I’ve read/heard about Stars Wars, there was something in his Star Wars episode that was new to me. That’s something, right?

No, I’m not going to say what it was: you have to listen to it yourself.

Just as a reminder: I mention in the first episode that I am not a trained musician, so approach this podcast knowing that. Plus, I would personally be bored if every episode was a music theory lecture. My frequent cohosts add that when needed and I am very thankful for that.

@bruckhorn I am curious to know the new piece of information you learned in the Star Wars episode. Send me a private message.

January 19, 2021

Thanks @Biodome and @Bayesian for the kind words. They are much appreciated. I am happy that you discovered more music from John Williams and are going to watch some of the films. Many of the scores will be greatly enhanced from matching the music with visuals.

Hey @T.RASK you are the first to say that you are going backwards. That feels like reading a book from the last chapter to the beginning, "Memento"-style. Hope you find it enjoyable.

Falstaft · January 7, 2021

Thanks for posting those videos, @Erik Woods. I was trying to inform as many people as possible, and forgot the most important place!

Here is background on these videos: I hosted a virtual roundtable for 18 John Williams fans, all of whom cohosted "The Baton" with me. We talked for two hours about a lot of topics, including John Williams' legacy and the state of film scoring in the 21st century. There was also some lengthy debate about the music for two Indiana Jones films. But the highlight (at least for me) was a WORLD PREMIERE of a trombone overdub by Jim Nova of "Wide Receiver," the composition Williams wrote for NBC's football coverage.

I hope everyone enjoys this special bonus episode of "The Baton."

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