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Cues that made you a Williams fan


Ludwig

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We've discussed what films made you a Williams fan, but if you remember one of the first cues that had an immense impact on you, do share it here...

For me, it's probably a tie between the main titles for Superman and Star Wars. But the realization that these were by the same composer came later.

(EDIT: Quint, Mr. Shark, GreyPilgrim, thanks for your answers to this in the JP analysis thread. Perhaps you could do a little cut and paste to re-post here - they're good stories!)

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It started off with the more fanfaric and action-oriented stuff, but at some point it was all about the cues with a more spiritual/pastoral/religious feel. Eventually the latter became the CORE of my Williams fandom.

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Surprise, surprise, for me it was Stored Memories. Of course I had been a fan long before that, but it was that cue that triggered something in my brain. Combined with a certain other landmark score that year, it was responsible for a life-changing revelation that music, particularly film music, wasn't just something I had a knack/passion for - but that it was what I wanted to do.

My actual FIRST experience with John was most likely ROTJ, as it was I believe my first trip to the theater. I have a very vague memory of it that I treasure.

CE3K was the first of his albums I actually bought, I think in '89, after seeing it on tv. My parents always say that was the moment they knew what I was going to do with my life haha. Had a bit of a detour, but here I am.

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For me the single cue that made me into a John Williams fan was the Journey to the Island from Jurassic Park (both inside and out of the film). I have a very vivid (and here much repeated) memory of seeing the film when I was 12 years old and suddenly being powerfully aware of the majesty of the symphony orchestra when I heard the Journey in the theater. After that I naturally wanted to hear it again and hunted down the soundtrack (my cousin actually bought it).

After that came Schindler's List (my first CD) The Lost World (bought at the same time with Schindler's List) and the Star Wars scores and after that I was hooked and am on the same journey still. :)

P.S. I was soon obsessed by Imperial March after I began to delve into John Williams' music. That is simply one of the coolest badass pieces of music ever composed.

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Great idea for a thread! Whatever it was for me, it came from Sony's 2-disc Greatest Hits 1969-1999 album. I think I have to choose three (maybe four):

"Raiders March"/"Superman March": To this day, "Raiders" reminds me of being four or five years old and wondering how that guy could be a teacher and a cowboy at the same time. We had Superman recorded off TV, and we watched it enough that I can still remember some of the commercials. Both themes are an instant bridge to the most basic childlike connection with a character.

"Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra": When I got my hands on the 2-disc set, I had only vague memories of the motorcycle scene from Last Crusade, but this song so vividly recreated the idea of a fanciful/dangerous chase that I could imagine it perfectly.

"The Reivers": The first few times I hit this track, the lazy guitar picking at the outset made me skip it. Only after I left it on by accident did I discover the gorgeous string theme and galloping action music that come later. This, along with Born on the Fourth of July, was the first Williams theme I fell in love with without seeing the movie. For me, these two scores sum up the stories they tell so well that I don't need the movies.

"Duel of the Fates": The music video for this premiered on Channel One, a syndicated news-for-teens show that played in the morning at my school. Since I had been baptized into Star Wars superfandom two years earlier by the Special Editions (and my two-cassette A New Hope soundtrack), this was probably my first time ever anticipating music as a major part of a movie, and hearing it today brings me right back to that feeling.

(OK, so that turned into six tracks. Hey, it's a great album..)

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Time Tunnel for me before 1977 though I didn't pay attention to the composer's name. It was such a striking and dynamic cue. Then Star Wars came out and the music blew me away along with the rest of it. I couldn't say which cue in particular. It was the whole experience. Back then, which was good, one was more prone to listen to entire sides of LPs. No remote controls... This is probably why my parents didn't go nuts because of hearing SW music all the time!

Magazine articles gave details about Williams bio so I realized he had also composed Time Tunnel and I made sure not to miss the Towering Inferno on TV. And then Close Encounters nailed it in the cinemas a few months later. Information about Williams was scarce and I missed several films he had composed music for when they came out with the exception of Superman and the Lucas/Spielberg movies which were must see films.

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Hard to tell, it was a bit post Star Wars (not immediately after I saw the film, but when I got the Zubin Metha re-recording as a gift from an aunt)

I remember liking the Star Wars cues , Close Encounters Finale, Superman Main Titles in cinema , some cues in Jaws like Man against Beast and all of the TESB score sealed the deal

I already liked the Lost in Space music but didn't know it was Williams for some time

first soundtrack I bought is the TESB cassette

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I remember Jaws in 1976 and already being blown away by the cumulative affect of the music. Especially memorable was the very scary music for the research vessel in the ominous fog plus the Orca voyage out to see with the shark mouth in the foreground. But when seeing Star Wars a year or two later I was just blown away from the first note. I became a fan when realizing it was the same guy. Only a few months later would be Close Encounters and I was a deep fan by then though only five or six years old. It had a visceral emotional impact on me from the first notes.

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The Raiders march, more exact the march in Flight from Peru - I remember that I knew a little bit classical music and a lots of charts music and I wanted to figure out which musical power has an orchestra in a film. I discussed it with my brother and we saw Raiders of the lost Ark, then the march sounded when Indy was pulsating with his whip...

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Empire Strikes Back : Imperial March and Yoda's Theme.

The first CD ever that I bought was : John Williams conducts John Williams – The Star Wars Trilogy (1990).

So, I collect John Williams CDs since 1990, I was 16.


Journey to the Island, on the settee in the living room.

Are you sure It was'nt with Colonel Mustard in the Library?

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Journey to the island-theme from jursassic park. It was the 1st Williams score film i saw in cinema. It could have been hook two years prior but the cinema was full when we arrived so we went for another film.. i think. cant remember.

Though, i liked the indiana jones films before that-TOD was the 1st one i saw. (i didnt knew who williams was anyway) and i have a flashback everytime i hear the opening of 'Love theme from superman' I must have seen it in the mid 80's. I liked the superman theme too (used in some late 80's-early 90's cartoon).

Then i wanted to buy Lost world...but it was too expensive...and i ended renting it in the library one or two years later. I also got "filmworks" there. They had ESB SE but i could not get it in one year (must have been pretty popular...) so...

The 1st cds i bought were the SW SE trilogy in june 2000. (i saved money for months...) i still have the receipt.

Previously I had the jurassic park ost in tape recorded from a friend of my sister. He also put some star wars cues in the end to fill then 90 min tape.

it all went downhill from there :P

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It was really checking out these three CDs from the library (probably just looking for Star Wars and Indiana Jones music) and listening to them on the CD player in my room that blew my mind. Kind of my Almost Famous/Tommy moment.

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I probably already loved all the famous themes just from watching the movies, but I remember being pretty overwhelmed by the emotional statements I didn't quite realize he was capable of, like "Remembrances," "Face of Pan", the JFK prologue, "Hymn to the Fallen", as well as stuff that had the catchy melodies and big "capital letters" sound that I loved, like The Cowboys overture, "The Barrel Chase," "Jim's New Life," "The Banquet", the Midway march...etc.

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Journey to the Island for me also. I remember watching the VHS in 1994 when I was 8 and constantly rewinding that scene due to the music.

It would seem that that track is responsible for a lot of us becoming JW fans. It is one of the best cues ever composed for film and it is a perfect marriage of image and music.

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Even more than Leia's theme's horn solo? During last year's BBC Proms I saw the lead hornist interviewed and he reckoned it was the most beautiful horn melody ever written.

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Talking about ANH horn solos, I really love what Williams with the first statement of the Force Theme for two open horns and two muted. Instead of Dum Dum Da-Da-Da Dum, he compresses it into three triplets Da Da DAA Dum, with a cool legato slur to the third. Sounds bold yet pensive. Would be great to hear another variation with that same rhythm.

@ 2:19

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As a 11 year old promising horn player, I saw Star Wars and in the Binary Sunset horn solo  I thought "what the fuck"?!   :znaika:  

 

 

 

This. :)

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My earliest memories (even before the TPM score made me buy my first soundtrack album) are the following:

Journey to the Island

Throne Room and Finale

Battle of Yavin (Force Theme Statement)

Binary Sunset

Imperial March statements when you see the Executor in TESB

Setting the Trap

New York City Fanfare in Home Alone 2

The fanfare when Dack and Luke depart for the Battle of Hoth

Arrival at Neverland ( I was and still am amazed and astonished that JW captured the feel of pirates and the pirate town so perfectly, i remember shivers in that scene when i saw Hook for the first time as a child)

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Journey to the island, Father's study, Wrong choice, right choice, Star Wars main theme. I was quite surprised that all the film music I first noticed had been composed by the same guy...

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I find it pretty fascinating that "Journey to the Island" affected so many of us. I was in the theater and that was the exact moment I became aware of the power of orchestral music, and instantly a Williams fan.

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Journey to the Island, at the cinema.

Journey to the Island, on the settee in the living room.

Journey to the Island

For me the single cue that made me into a John Williams fan was the Journey to the Island from Jurassic Park (both inside and out of the film).

Journey to the island-theme from jursassic park.

Journey to the Island for me also.

I find it pretty fascinating that "Journey to the Island" affected so many of us.

tumblr_mapyc043fQ1rbcsw9o1_500.jpg

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