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Like a lot of us, I guess, I discovered JW through Star Wars. Then I realized I knew - and loved - a lot of his music such as E.T., Superman and Jurassic Park.
 
I never looked back! 

Wishing a Happy Birthday to Michael Steele!
Here is a playlist with some highlights of her time with The Bangles.
The first eight tracks are all her lead vocal tracks with the band.  All, with the exception of "September Gurls," were written by her.  
Walk Like An Egyptian features her singing a verse, and "Let It Go" features her as a co-writer.
The rest of the tracks highlight some of her best basswork with the band, and some of her best backing vocal efforts, with most tracks featuring both, really.
 
 

 
 

No, he doesn't.

I watched Raiders Of The Lost Ark over the weekend

It has finally gone online!
The new Bangles fan forum on Reddit!
https://www.reddit.com/r/thebangles
https://old.reddit.com/r/TheBangles/

Definitely hope it will grow in the coming weeks and months and increase awareness and knowledge of the band, as well as a place for fans to hang out and discuss the band.

An image they probably should have stuck with.  But note the cash registers they are touching, subconsciously indicating their future....

Favorites

I’ll listen to this podcast more often!

Favorites

And another one...
 

Great episode!
The transition material heard at about 53:28 really anticipates Max and Liesel from The Book Thief.  A pity Williams has not fully expanded on this musical idea.

The Deadwood Movie is at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes
 
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadwood
 
The poster's great!
 

You've neatly summarized one of my favorite things about the music of John Williams. You get these passages where there's a fairly clear, fairly simple harmonic structure - sometimes even verging on "pop" in its flavor, as you said - but it's spiced up by some funky dissonances. And it's a well-known fact that dissonances tend to be less obvious when split between different octaves and/or different timbres. Williams especially likes to do this with the bassline...throw some pretty straightforward chord progressions into the middle registers, but write a conflicting bassline beneath, sometimes even a minor second or a tritone away from the root. It's a great way of building tension - and then of course releasing it when you come to a more straightforward tonality. I love it when he does this as part of a big crescendo or build-up - consider the final seconds of the first Battle of Yavin cue, right before the contrapuntal Force theme passage in the brass. Another good example is the moment before the beginning of the bike chase in E.T.

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She actually did play violin for a time as a child.

LOL Micki with the violin. 

Today marks 35 years since the release of The Bangles' first LP record, All Over The Place.  While the band is best remembered in the public consciousness as a part of the excess, sound, and nostalgia of the 80s, a lot of their material actually goes against the grain of the times.  This is very true of All Over The Place.  The guitar driven approach of the record hearkens back to the music of the 60s, yet with a style all the band's own.  Of all their 80s records, this one probably best reflects the band's live sound.
    The record came about after the local success of the band's self-titled EP.  Original bassist Annette Zilinskas left shortly before recording of AOTP commenced to pursue lead vocal opportunities in her boyfriend's country-punk outfit.  She was replaced by Michael Steele, who had cut her teeth in The Runaways and more than a dozen other local bands.  Steele had been eyeing the position for awhile, and immediately clicked with the band's material.  More, she added a new (and I think, critical) dimension to Hoffs and the Peterson sisters' already potent vocal mix.  In what was described as a "forced marriage," production duties were given to David Khane, who, although apparently a nightmare to work with and emotionally abusive to boot, must be given credit, at least on this album, for bringing out the essence of the band's sound, and solidifying what would become their signature 4-part vocal harmonies.
     
    The material on the album consists of songs that had been part of the band's live sets.  A couple of covers are present, but almost all were written by lead guitarist Vicki Peterson herself, or together with rhythm guitarist Susanna Hoffs.  Their songwriting shines together, showing great promise for a partnership that, unfortunately, was rather short-lived.  Tracks like "Hero Takes A Fall," and, especially, "Dover Beach" are fantastic.  Hoffs gives spirited lead performances on those tracks, as well as "He's Got A Secret" and the infectious "James."  V. Peterson and Hoffs share vocal duties on the energetic "Tell Me," which contains a nice little bass showcase.  Vicki takes lead on a couple of other tracks, notably "Restless," and harmonizes wonderfully with her sister Debbi on the string based "More Than Meets The Eye."  Debbi herself takes lead duties on the two covers on the album (other than the bonus track "Where Were You When I Needed You), "Live" (The Merry-Go Round) and the delightful "Going Down To Liverpool" (Katrina and The Waves), while providing some great, and clear beats from behind her drums.  Steele's basslines fit right in, and her backing vocal contributions, though not as extensive as on later albums, do add some nice flavor, especially on "Liverpool" and "James."
     
    Unlike on their next effort, Different Light, money was not exactly plentiful on this one, so Khane did not exercise his penchant for employing studio musicians to polish the sound here.  Thus, there is a certain rawness to the whole album.  Nonetheless, perhaps for the singles, a little additional guitar work is believed to have been solicited from one of Steele's former bandmates, Mike Condello, and perhaps from Steele herself.
     
    "Hero Takes The Fall" and "Going Down To Liverpool" were released as singles, the video of the latter featuring Hoffs family friend Leonard Nimoy.  Both made only moderate impact on the charts, but they, along with strong critical reception, a tour as the opening act for Cyndi Lauper and Huey and The News, and favorable word of mouth, led to increasing attention for the band, especially in American college campuses, but also as far as the U.K., where they were not unknown as a topic in musician's circles, with Steele basslines gaining especial attention.
     
                        
                       The "Hero Takes A Fall" music video attracted the attention of another musician, Prince, who became enamored of Ms. Hoffs, and joined the band on stage on a couple of occasions, giving them a new track, "Manic Monday."  The situation would attract media and corporate attention, defining the future of the band's image and sound.
     
    But, before all that, stands All Over The Place, a strong and certain debut.  Many, if not most, committed fans (and critics) number it as their best effort altogether.  It is not hard to hear why.  For me, there really is not a bad track on here.
     
    
     
     

The Bangles's first LP, All Over The Place, turns 35 today! 
A review I posted over on the Pop/Rock thread: 
Here is the album insert:
 

My wish would be for the Chicago Symphony to re-record the score to RETURN OF THE JEDI. I really don't like the quality of the original recording and that legendary CSO brass would own that score.

I'll say it again: In isolation, the Original Star Wars Trilogy is complete. However, the Saga is most certainly incomplete. Allow me to explain.
 
The Emperor, the Sith Master, was shown to have been thrown down a shaft, followed by an explosion. Anakin Sykwalker was redeemed, having turned back to the Light Side of the Force. The Special Edition of ROTJ implied that the Empire was defeated, but 'the Republic being reestablished' was not shown.
 
Not a single thread was left dangling? These threads remain:
 
- In Revenge of the Sith, the Emperor spoke of creating life, cheating death, and being afraid to loose power. "It's ironic, he could save others from death - but not himself." The Emperor tempted Anakin to the Dark Side with promised assistance and attainable Force powers that would be the answer to Anakin's problems and the explanation for his existence - not a "minor plot-point".
 
- Why did the Emperor expose himself to such precarious circumstances? Upon arriving to a battle station that he knew would be imminently attacked by the same fighting force that destroyed the first Death Star, he trusted his apprentice to summon Luke Skywalker to be turned to the Dark Side. Once face-to-face, the Emperor tempted Luke to kill him in anger. Father and son were then pitted against each other. If Luke defeated Vader, Sidious would take on a new, stronger apprentice. If Luke would "not turn", he would "be destroyed". Since Luke did not finish Vader and would "never turn to the Dark Side", The Emperor chose to kill the new Jedi Knight... and expected Vader to do nothing, only watch as his son was tortured while crying out to him for help. A bit risky, wouldn't you say? I wonder why The Emperor was willing put himself in extreme danger in so many ways? (Actually, I don't.)
 
- As "the last of the Jedi", what does Luke choose to do with his new responsibility?
- With the Sith destroyed, how can the Force be in Balance if only the Jedi remain?
- Was the Prophecy of the Chosen One fulfilled... or was it "misread", as Yoda suggested?
 
As you can see, many threads were already quite 'loose' or entirely unresolved. The Rise of Skywalker will make sense of the entire sequel trilogy and prove that the original hexalogy was, indeed, unresolved.
 
Finally @Chen G., care to present evidence that 'having a plan is more commercially dangerous than not having one'?

Michael Steele leading The Bangles in a cover of The Yardbirds.  Used to be a regular part of their sets.
 

It is now down to 12 minutes.  Turns out the first big chuck was for West Side Story.  He had begun scoring and then told Spielberg that "you are going to need a better composer than me for this."  To which Spielberg said, "okay."