Unexpected random encounters with the music of John Williams

[Sunshine Reger 3,699]

Today at the hairdressers out of nowhere I heard this on the radio

 

 

Felt nice.

 

Have you ever encountered the music of John Williams in a context where one would not normally expect it?

[Thor 9,334]

Sure. On radio all the time. I heard a HARRY POTTER ringtone on the tram some 15-20 years ago. In sporting events. Etc.

[mrbellamy 7,882]

Star Wars music always pops up in funny places

 

"Rey's Theme" for Cannes Best Actress 2016

 

 

 

Craig Ferguson invoking "Imperial March" while talking about J-Lo's booty

 

 

 

The best one I have is when I was in high school, I was a drum major and went to a summer camp where they taught us marching drills and techniques and things. At the end of the camp, we would do a showcase for the parents which was traditionally always set to "Midway March."

 

And because it was such a staple of the camp, one of the counselors made a rock cover with novelty lyrics listing marching band-related facts and terminology. I actually used it to study for my quizzes.

 

This is about the nerdiest thing you will ever hear. 

 

 

[Bofur01 249]

Harry Potter in the Hairdresser today.

 

And not JW, but the 20th Century Fox fanfare played in between club music while waiting in line for a club in Korea, that was exceedingly strange

[Datameister 2,559]

The Sky Cabin at Knott's Berry Farm. I can't remember what it was now, but I seem to recall being surprised to hear something Williams playing in the background one time.

 

Damn, that's going to bother me now, trying to remember. It wasn't one of his best-known works but I was familiar with it.

[Pieter Boelen 1,032]

The Dutch satirical comedy news show "Sunday With Lubach" has a couple of Williams favourites.

"Across the Stars" and "Catch Me If You Can" are used quite regularly.

 

Any of our members here work on that by any chance?

That'd explain a lot!

[bollemanneke 4,279]

Memoirs of a Geisha in a documentary about China.

[Thor 9,334]

John Williams - and primarily the Indy theme - has been all over this weekend and last weekend's biathlon events in Oberhof. They play it just before the skiers are about to enter the shooting range (and easier to hear now that there is no audience noise).

[Marian Schedenig 11,313]

Decades ago, the Imperial March in some Ex-Yugoslavian election campaign video. Make of that what you will.

[A. A. Ron 2,441]

Someone played a slow version of the Raiders March on a church organ at my high school graduation. This was 11 years ago, but unexpected enough that I still remember it.

[Tom Guernsey 3,586]

Our music teacher player the theme from Jurassic Park at the end of assembly... he (rightly) expected I'd notice! It sounded pretty great on a church organ. He was an excellent organist and pianist.

[Tom Guernsey 3,586]

Watching The Americans on Amazon (great show by the way) and there’s an episode where they are all watching David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear and the music accompanying the tv broadcast... why it’s the opening titles from The Towering Inferno. Given that it appears to be the original footage (including sound) I assume this is actually what they did use for the broadcast.

[Marian Schedenig 11,313]

4 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Watching The Americans on Amazon (great show by the way) and there’s an episode where they are all watching David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear and the music accompanying the tv broadcast... why it’s the opening titles from The Towering Inferno. Given that it appears to be the original footage (including sound) I assume this is actually what they did use for the broadcast.

 

Now that you mention it, I believe there was a thread, ages ago, probably at MM.com or FSM, about film music used in Copperfield shows.

[Thor 9,334]

9 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Now that you mention it, I believe there was a thread, ages ago, probably at MM.com or FSM, about film music used in Copperfield shows.

 

Yeah, I vaguely recall that. Probably 20 years ago.

[Jim 6,166]

Every afternoon one of the DJs on Radio 2 use The Mission as background music while announcing the lineup of their session that day. It's pretty cool. 

[bollemanneke 4,279]

I just tried (and failed) to register on a government website for a vaccine if they have spare ones. The captcha audio suddenly used a viola version of the Imperial March.

[Jurassic Shark 16,049]

On 1/21/2021 at 9:48 PM, Tom Guernsey said:

Watching The Americans on Amazon (great show by the way) and there’s an episode where they are all watching David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear and the music accompanying the tv broadcast... why it’s the opening titles from The Towering Inferno. Given that it appears to be the original footage (including sound) I assume this is actually what they did use for the broadcast.

 

What's Copperfield doing now? It's like he's disappeared...

[Tom Guernsey 3,586]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

What's Copperfield doing now? It's like he's disappeared...

His personal history is now only scored by Christoper Willis...

[MrJosh 1,183]

Just the other day, saw a car screaming through a parking garage with The Asteroid Field blaring out the window, echoing through the garage. 

 

Wish I could have stopped him and chatted!

[Disco Stu 15,517]

32 minutes ago, MrJosh said:

Just the other day, saw a car screaming through a parking garage with The Asteroid Field blaring out the window, echoing through the garage. 

 

Wish I could have stopped him and chatted!

Wow I’ve never encountered anyone just randomly listening to JW in that way.

[mrbellamy 7,882]

1 hour ago, MrJosh said:

Just the other day, saw a car screaming through a parking garage with The Asteroid Field blaring out the window, echoing through the garage. 

 

Actual king shit

[Sunshine Reger 3,699]

11 hours ago, MrJosh said:

Just the other day, saw a car screaming through a parking garage with The Asteroid Field blaring out the window, echoing through the garage. 

 

Wish I could have stopped him and chatted!

I think I know that guy!

 

Was there a huge monkey on the passenger seat?

[Marian Schedenig 11,313]

This is getting weird.

[igger6 1,031]

I'm not that guy in this case, but I've definitely been that guy.

[Jurassic Shark 16,049]

The monkey?

[mrbellamy 7,882]

 

[Jay 45,133]

The Star Wars theme popped up in the new movie FREE GUY, and I was trying to tell if it was recorded by Beck directly for the film, or if it was an existing recording tracked in (the film is by 20th Studios which is now owned by Disney, so it would be easy to go either way)

 

I was surprised when during the end credits roll, it said it was by "The London Philharmonic Orchestra".  What version is this?  Anybody know?

 

 

[Holko 11,892]

Sounds like the '77 STAR WARS recording to me. Way too iconic not to recognise! Terrible crossfade to the theme reprise still in the main title.

[Jay 45,133]

So they put a typo in the End Credits?  If its the original recording, it'd be the London Symphony Orchestra, of course

[Sunshine Reger 3,699]

Imagine that character pulling a lightsaber to some random music and then everybody saying 'it's a lightsaber'. It would fall completely flat, even for the dummies. Where would Star Wars be without JW?

[Edmilson 11,599]

The Avengers theme was probably a Beck re-recording (he already did just that on Ant-Man), but the Star Wars theme was not, it sounds like they tracked it from the movies themselves, probably from the OT.

 

The London Philharmonic Orchestra was maybe a typo from a guy who confused it with the London Symphony Orchestra. 

[Holko 11,892]

Isn't it absolute bullshit that for the little limited releases very much under the radar Mike has to go through so many hoops and keep to so many rules and name track titles right even keeping obviously wrong ones, and wait months for approvals, and then all these big studios can just shit on all of that and get such basic stuff wrong for the actual big wide releases of stuff?

[Jay 45,133]

Yea

[Jay 45,133]

Wasn't expecting to hear John Williams music in the trailer for a Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers reboot, but here we are

 

 

I guess Disney owns it, so...

[Disco Stu 15,517]

Jay, I would never have watched that trailer if not for this post,  and I will never forgive you

[Sunshine Reger 3,699]

 

 

[Brando 2,722]

On 12/04/2021 at 5:25 PM, MrJosh said:

Just the other day, saw a car screaming through a parking garage with The Asteroid Field blaring out the window, echoing through the garage. 

 

Wish I could have stopped him and chatted!

 

On 12/04/2021 at 5:58 PM, Disco Stu said:

Wow I’ve never encountered anyone just randomly listening to JW in that way.

Believe it or not, I do this in my parking garage too. Weather permitting, I live in FL so its really hot, if I have the windows down and I'm coming home there's a good chance I'm blaring an End Credits cue.

[ConorPower 190]

The Season 2 Finale of HBO’s Euphoria opens with the main theme from The Fury! Not a needle drop I was expecting, but it definitely fit in with the melodramatic nature of the series, and the emotional swings of the character it appears alongside in particular. 
I’m sure it will be unknown to 99.9% of the audience - but it sure did work! Was delighted to here it. 
 

UPDATE: found the clip: 

 

[artguy360 2,168]

I'll never forget when I was in South Korea in 2013, a little Korean boy, who couldn't have been more than 5 years old was randomly humming the Imperial March very loudly while sitting with his parents in a cafe. He wasn't watching Star Wars or playing with Star Wars toys, he was just having a good time humming the Imperial March to himself.

[Jay 45,133]

 

 

[Disco Stu 15,517]

?

 

[Jay 45,133]

Your work must block TikTok?

 

Here's two links that might work

 

https://www.tiktok.com/@enbiggen/video/7060581260019797294

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZh_aSKhWua/

[Tom 6,386]

That is the sort of thing I would imagine Williams would enjoy watching.  

[Jay 45,133]

Now if only they had turned their phone sideways before filming...

[Once 1,041]

I'm pretty sure that video is 3D animated. Pretty cool, though.

[Brando 2,722]

There's similar videos like that with music from Up.

[Jay 45,133]

16 hours ago, Once said:

I'm pretty sure that video is 3D animated. Pretty cool, though.

 

They should have animated in proper 16:9 then!

[BB-8 5,942]

This one is nothing new but I would consider it to be a random encounter of the third kind.

 

Did Michael Jackson use Jaws music? | Retromash

[Marian Schedenig 11,313]

17 hours ago, Once said:

I'm pretty sure that video is 3D animated. Pretty cool, though.

 

Yes, there are various versions of it with different music and different (or no) "extra stuff" in the background. At least the original version is also clearly designed to loop seamlessly.

[Corellian2019 482]

Heard Presumed Innocent and JFK in the behind-the-scenes featurettes for All The President's Men; it was so overused that at one point I wished that I had never listened to Presumed Innocent. In fact, the disc's producer, Gary Leva, must have a penchant for Williams because he used Hook's "Prologue" for documentaries about THX 1138, and snippets of JFK for the 2007 documentary about A Clockwork Orange!