A new podcast...looking at film scores. This will be an in depth musical and historical look, explain
(1)
Well, we've waited long enough for a new soundtrack to discuss, so we're gonna make the most of it! Join Warren, Gergely and Jason as we give our thoughts and observations on the music from No Time To Die.Lots of work goes in to these, so if you like it, please let us know, but definitely let others...
The No Time To Die soundtrack by Hans Zimmer is out (along with the film) so we got straight on a call together to review it! One of us loved it, one liked it, and one fairly unimpressed - this review promises to be a mixed bag of opinion!Spoilers galore, so make sure you don't listen if you haven't...
NO TIME TO DIE SOUNDTRACK REVIEW!
Please please spread the word, These are an awful lot of work! It makes it much more worthwhile if more people listen :)
The No Time To Die soundtrack by Hans Zimmer is out (along with the film) so we got straight on a call together to review it! One of us loved it, one liked it, and one fairly unimpressed - this review promises to be a mixed bag of opinion!Spoilers galore, so make sure you don't listen if you haven't...
We are finally back!
Sorry everyone, been a hectic summer. Check out this fascinating interview with the Lead Trumpet on the latest Bond soundtrack No Time To Die.
We'll be back next week with a review!
Today we are delighted to be joined by Mike Lovatt - Lead Trumpet on the latest James Bond film soundtrack for No Time To Die.What was it like to play on this hotly anticipated and long awaited Bond film?How does one end up on the session? What was it like working under Hans Zimmer? We find out on t...
Today we are delighted to be joined by Mike Lovatt - Lead Trumpet on the latest James Bond film soundtrack for No Time To Die.What was it like to play on this hotly anticipated and long awaited Bond film?How does one end up on the session? What was it like working under Hans Zimmer? We find out on t...
To celebrate the release of the OHMSS50 concert on YouTube, come and join 10 members of the band as we revisit the most incredible event and performance we've all ever experienced 2 years ago at Piz Gloria in Switzerland.
We don't need to tell you, but Piz Gloria was the setting for the majority of the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service and for the 50th anniversary year die-hard fans gathered along with many familiar faces such as George Lazenby himself to mark this big anniversary.
Q The Music performed a special set during the evening including 20 minutes of music from the film. The atmosphere was electric!
You can view the full concert (without commentary) from Monday 31st May.
(Photo credit Sascha Braun)
Well well... Listen to this...
https://twitter.com/007/status/1392878689793318923?s=19
“A classic linen suit, silk knit polo and gingham shirt: summer dressing from Orlebar Brown's 007 Heritage Collection. Available now at https://t.co/vHkXDj4ixe https://t.co/k3y5IBoeNw”
For anyone interested, as Warren mentioned in the latest episode, here is the link to the JBT Single version with the channels separated:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pu0g4v4i7xaza02/AAAc0h5SnlYy2hO-OYnNyX6Ta?dl=0
Shared with Dropbox
EPISODE 4 out now! James Bond Theme - The Orchestration.
This month Jason and Warren go deep under the hood musically and look at all the aspects that went into making the most iconic theme tune of all time.
How did Vic Flick create that sound? What is the actual line up on the original record? What are the elements that subsequent versions always miss off? We explore this and a whole lot more!
Please note, this is part 1 on the James Bond Theme, we'll be exploring it's compositional credits and subsequent legal battles in the next episode(s).
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7fArzWzdCDH3ZnPmc35biV?si=-3xkPpHoSiG2NHPjgutqRQ&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1
Welcome back, and this one is all about the Orchestration and Composition of the James Bond Theme.Join Jason and Warren as they break down the Theme's compositional elements, looking at aspects often overlooked and welcome guest Steve Down to give a real in depth look into how the most iconic Guitar...
Greed, money, betrayal - these would be the words we'd be using if Scorey Time needed a clickbait headline. So feel free to read until now and just share this post. :)
However, if you want to learn more, we'll tell you the story of United Artists' most ambitious musical marketing campaign and how a Latino band got hooked up in one of the weirdest musical cash-grabs of film music history.
By 1965, it became clear United Artists was sitting on a musical goldmine quite literally - on 20 March 1965, the soundtrack to Goldfinger reached Number 1 and stayed there for three weeks until it's greatest rival, the Mary Poppins soundtrack took over for 13 weeks. The year was a game changer anyway - out of the 52 weeks of the year, 29 were led by soundtracks to hit movies - and seeing how United Artists got its glorious three weeks thanks to band, the label knew they had to strike the iron while hot. There was a problem however...
All three of the Bond albums were in print, so releasing a best of compilations could only have been achieved if they risked losing sales on the titles still in print. I mean why would anyone buy Dr. No, From Russia with Love AND Goldfinger if the best cuts were available on a single disk. The thought was scary and in fact, it took United Artists the 10th anniversary of Bond to release such a compilation for the first time. But until then, they still needed that sweet sweet Bond money and came up with a most unusual alternative...
Music to Read James Bond By
The unusual concept album proposed that this album is ideal for reading the novels of Ian Fleming - just like the apparently still living golden girl did on the front cover. But the album was actually a cleverly marketed cover album featuring contracted artists who were apparently very happy to cover Bond songs or just throw in some random contributions. To give you an idea of how weird this album is, it is one of the very few albums where original tracks appear together with cover versions.
If we break down the 12 tracks on Music to Read James Bond By, 4 of them are original soundtrack recordings (Jamaica Jump Up from Dr. No, 007 and Girl Trouble from From Russia with Love and Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger), four were cover songs and four were "original compositions" meaning they were random filler tracks provided by people were about to leave their contracts and had to dump a song in order to fulfil their obligations. (If you listen to the whole album, it's easy to guess which song it is).
So with four tracks that you can get on the official soundtracks and four track that you'll only listen to if your daily attire is a crimson kimono, how are the four cover songs? Actually not bad - Ferrante & Teicher were already the kings of film theme covers and Al Caiola's "From Russia with Love" explains why United Artists threw more money at him when the inevitable sequel - Music to Read James Bond By 2 - was released. But we're here to talk about the somewhat "Underneath the Mango Tree" confused cover of The La Playas Sextet, now simply named The La Playas (since the band regularly had around 10+ members, this made sense).
The La Playas were an NYC-band who were actually part of the Latin wave of the 1950s and usually recorded whatever strain of music got popular from the continent - they released several "Pachanga" albums when it was supposed to be the next best thing. But since the 1960s was about Bond, a Bond cover they did, trying to find a common musical ground between Jamaican beats and their own Latino roots. How well they managed - check it out yourself. They have one historical achievement though - this was the first time "Under the Mango Tree" was officially titled "UnderNEATH the Mango Tree" on an album by United Artists.
Music to Read James Bond By did good enough business to warrant a Thunderball tie-in sequel (with a scuba girl doing some underwater reading this time). In a later instalment you'll be able to learn how that went down and why there were no more continuations of this fad...
Mango and ackee and cocoa bean... - is Under the Mango Tree secretly genius for its all-inclusive fruit diversity? Read Scorey Time's hard-hitting investigative report on how these fruits are actually (and most likely accidentally) commenting on Jamaica's rich history and the movie's plot.
Let's start with mango, which is actually not native to Jamaica - rather it came from Southeast Asia and was spread across the tropical countries by cultivators. As a result, there are actually several different types of mangos that are specific to the region and could easily die in any other climate. For instance, one of Jamaica's most popular subtypes is called 'Julie' which loves its original Indian roots, but needs annual fungicide treatments on the islands. And there's another difference to take into account. If you eat mango from the shops, most likely you taste something different because unripe fruit is harvested and sent to foreign markets, while freshly picked fruits - the ones you might take from the titular mango trees - taste much sweeter and juicier than their unripe versions.
Like mango, the second fruit called ackee is another species that's originally from another continent. It was originally cultivated in West Africa and was first transported to Jamaica some time before 1773 (the first recorded mention of the plant on the island). The British public first got a taste of ackee when Captain William "Mutiny on the Bounty" Blight brought the plants to the Royal Botanic Garden - earning the honor of lending the name to the plant's scientific name (blighia sapida). Ackee is also known as soapberry - and not just because of its shape or build - but because it is used as a laundering agent and also as fish poison. And it's not only poisonous to fish - certain parts of the unripe fruit carry hypoglycin A and hypoglycin B also known as "soapberry toxins" which cause - get this - "Jamaican vomiting sickness." Despite its potential lethal qualities, ackee is very much beloved in Jamaica. It is its national fruit and is often served with saltfish - a favourite of Usain Bolt who often has it for breakfast.
The third ingredient of the song, cocoa beans need no further introduction - however, it should be pointed out that this plant was also brought in Jamaica and wasn't native there. Originally hailing from the Yucatán peninsula, the Mayans already worshipped cocoa as a gift of the Gods whereas the Spanish thought of it as liquid gold. After spreading cocoa all over the Caribbean in order to harvest its plentiful bounty, the English took over cocoa plantations in 1655 and carried on until 1850, when new taxation rules made cocoa growing unprofitable. The plant was pretty much abandoned in favour of more lucrative plants until the industry got centralized in 1957 and now Jamaica produces some of the finest cocoa in the world - though not in the amounts as some of its gigantic rivals.
So why is the song secretly genius? Because the three fruits actually reflect on Jamaica's melting pot of cultures which is very much represented in the plot of Doctor No. Mango comes from Asia much like Dr. No and most of his goons. In fact, the original novel talks about the villains ‘ Asian heritage to such an uncomfortable degree that I'm not really comfortable repeating the specific phrases. Ackee on the other hand represents native people like Quarrel and Puss-Feller - this fruit is beloved in Jamaica but is virtually unknown everywhere else. And cocoa bean represents the British colonial rule typified by Bond - it was a heavily industrialized plant which was abandoned when things got uncomfortable.
So yeah, the next time you hear "mango and ackee and cocoa bean", think of how these fruits can actually have a nice ulterior meaning whether the composer wanted it or not. I hope you enjoy overanalyzing lyrics - next week, we'll investigate if the "nine little chil' in a row" is truly indicative of the island's population growth.
Welcome back for no.2 in our concerts in the community series! Join hosts Warren Ringham, Chris Wood (of Bond On Vinyl), Frank Wilson (of "What's The Score" podcast) and Don Zuiderman (of "00 Files" podcast) as we play tracks performed by Q The Music and chat Bond and take your questions.
Bond cover songs are a multitude - yet very few of them get official music videos or become breakout songs for their performers. Enter Austrian(!) reggae band, founded by Fritz Jerey and Timothy Afolabi and was joined by Portuguese singer Claudia Do Carmo Correia de Magalheas later on. And yes, their cover of "Under the Mango Tree" is exactly what you'd expect from a 90s Eurodance version - right down to the fake LP scratches added to the beginning of the song.
The song in this post has been edited to be only a sample. If you want to see the whole thing - including the music video, follow this link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDejRxTbJ0
Join members of Q The Music as we count down our favourite songs to PLAY (not to be confused with favourite songs to listen to, or most iconic!). We polled our regular musicians (more than 20) to rank the songs based on their personal favourites to play and we'll be telling you why and we'll also have clips as we go!
We've all seen the million top 25 Bond song lists, and they always cause controversy, but what are they like to perform? Find out on Tuesday at 1930 London time.
Today we answer the most burning question on everyone's mind - what is boolooloop? No, it's not what you think it is and there's an even more shocking twist to the story.
The phrase of course must be familiar from the song "Under the Mango Tree." (sidenote - this is the official title of the song, even if many covers call it "Underneath the Mango Tree" simply because that's in the lyrics). Now at the end of the first verse, the song goes something like this:
"Underneath the mango tree
Me honey and me make boolooloop soon"
And here's the story how Monty Norman usually recalls the origin of the phrase. "I thought, it has to be as Jamaican as I can make it and I asked around for various authentic sounding phrases, the names of flora and fauna and so on. Someone told me that ‘making love’ was ‘make boolooloops’, wIich i’ve never heard since but it worked for the song!"
Even though I know Mr. Norman has never said anything contradictory regarding the score of Dr. No, I was still wondering what boolooloop actually meant and if it was actually a slang term for s*xual in*******se.
The first question was easily answered by the second edition of the Dictionary of Jamaican English, edited by F.G. Cassidy and R.B. Le Page. Bululups (ending with an s) is actually not s*x, but is a pet name for people who are dear to you - you can call your child or even sweetheart bululups or simply bulu. So boolooloop (as it's usually spelled in the lyrics) in itself does NOT mean s*x, it means children - and of course making children can be a playful way of indicating in*******se. Though the fact Norman's recording uses a singular and not a plural form indicates how he understood the phrase.
But here's the second question - is this slang term actually used? The obvious answer is that now it IS used. For the majority of people, Dr. No is the most commercially accessible representation of Jamaican culture (besides Cool Runnings of course) and if there's one word of the local language you know, it's boolooloop. But was this a widespread phrase when Monty inserted into "Under the Mango Tree?"
My method to explore this was simple - I looked at my highly representative collection of cover versions of "Under the Mango Tree" to see if this is actually used. While there were some funny misunderstandings (the band named The La Playas called it hululup for one) and most covers used it just like the original versions - the actual native Jamaican bands covering the song in the sixties didn't have the phrase!
In particular, Count Owen (whose cover we shared a while back) completely cuts out the boolooloop thing and gives a more prosaic reading "make love very soon". Another close native cover I could find by an unknown performer also changes the lyrics to "make bulu soon", obviously preferring the shorter version. But there were other versions that kind of skipped over the whole thing and just repeated the moon line twice. Now improvisation is frequent with these Jamaican covers - including some raggae inserts - but consistently skipping the boolooloop part can mean one of three things.
A) The phrase wasn't nearly as widespread as Monty Norman thought it was, so it had to be rephrased or completely eliminated for the native audience.
B) It was so incredibly dirty that it had to be censored as it might have been way too straightword compared to what was allowed in Jamaican radio at that time.
C) Jamaican artists of the 1960s intended to confuse future music historians by sending them on a wild goot chase.
While ScoreyTime is exponentionally growing, I don't assume there's a 60+ year old Jamaican granny in our core audience ü yet. Then maybe we can find out if this phrase was actually widespread or Dr. No managed to have an effect on the language of its host country.
TL;DR Saying I love boolooloops in Jamaica will send you straight to jail.
So just how much music from the Dr. No soundtrack can be found in the actual film? While we intend to publish more detailed breakdowns whenever we discuss a new movie, Dr. No requires an unusual structure because frankly there's so little overlap between the two. If you don't have time to take notes from our podcast, here's a complete breakdown:
1. James Bond Theme - various portions have been edited into the movie on eight different occasions (opening credits, introduction, leaving the casino, arriving in Jamaica, arriving to hotel on tarantula night, driving to Miss Taro, arriving at Miss Taro, end credits)
2. Kingston Calypso - heard as the movie opens with the Three Blind Mice
3. Jamaican Rock - not used
4. Jump Up - heard as source music at Puss-Feller's club when Bond meets the photographer
5. Audio Bongo - not used
6. Under the Mango Tree - heard as source music on the record player at Miss Taro's house
7. Twisting with James - not used
8. Jamaica Jazz - not used
9. Under the Mango Tree - not used
10. Jump Up - not used
11. Dr. No's Fantasy - not used
12. Kingston Calypso - not used
13. The Island Speaks - heard in edited form as Bond and Quarrel are rowing to Crab Key
14. Underneath the Mango Tree - heard as source music as Bond is following Quarrel to Puss-Feller's bar
15. The Boy's Chase - not used
16. Dr. No's Theme - not used
17. The James Bond Theme - not used
18. Love at Last - heard as source music while Bond is interviewing Dent in the clubhouse
Stay tuned to find out how some of the unused music would have featured in the film itself!
As we keep swimming in more Dr. No goodies, please enjoy a few unique additions you can only see by joining our page. These might include cover songs, additional little trivia about the episode's topic and maybe even a few restorations...
Let's kick off with a 1968 cover of Underneath the Mango Tree by Count Owen from the LP 'Rock Steady Calypso'. However, if you listen closely, you might notice something strange about this version. Can you hear what it is? The first one to give the correct answer will win the knowledge of having a more consequential grasp of grammar rules than Monty Norman.
(The song has been edited for the purpose of the video. The full version is 3:53 and is widely available on streaming sites.)
Delighted to announce Episode 3 is now available on all major podcasting platforms! Hope you all enjoy it, and do let us know in the comments!
We're back to wrap up our look at the Dr No. soundtrack - this time delving deeper into the cues themselves.* Who really sang Mango Tree and why are there several people claiming it?* Did you know one cue on the soundtrack often labelled as "not used in the film" actually WAS used in the French prin...
Check out the link to a trailer of new music composed by Jason Frederick, link to the full downloads on the YouTube description :)
A new score to the 1928 surrealist masterpiece The Fall Of The House Of Usher by composer Jason Frederick, now available wherever fine music is streamed or f...
Episode 2 - Dr No - is now out on all major podcast sites.
We delve deeply into the soundtrack, the compositional techniques and the controversy around the Jamaica sessions (and alleged theft of scores!)
Composer Jason, musician Warren and soundtrack lecturer Gergely bring a variety of experience and expertise to delve deeply into the musical sounds of Monty Norman.
Please check it out and recommend it to a friend!
Well, we are finally back and launched properly for 2021. 2 (presenters) are now 3 with the addition of Gergely Hubai - a Soundtrack expert...Today we dive into Dr. No - * What is the true story behind why various parts of the score sound so different?* Why do the orchestral parts of this score soun...
GOOD NEWS!
Yes, we've been ridiculously quiet, yes we were supposed to be back last summer, BUT, we are about to come back BIGGER and BETTER than we even thought.
Why? Well, two has become three, as joining composer Jason and musician Warren is film music expert and lecturer Gergely Hubai.
We'll be back with a Dr No bang in March as we go deeper and more detailed than ever before into the world of soundtracks, starting with the James Bond films.
Right! Apologies, we are getting used to this podcasting lark!
You should find our first podcast on every major podcasting platform now - if it's not on the one you want, comment below and we'll try and add it!
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-yys74-d73dd1?utm_campaign=au_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=au_share
In a brand new podcast looking "under the hood" of scores and songs, we start our journey with Billie Eilish's song for the James Bond film No Time To Die. We'll be back later in the year with a look at Bond scores: What techniques are employed? What is the Barry/Bond sound, and how is it created? W...
In a brand new podcast looking "under the hood" of scores and songs, we start our journey with Billie Eilish's song for the James Bond film No Time To Die. We'll be back later in the year with a look at Bond scores: What techniques are employed? What is the Barry/Bond sound, and how is it created? W...
Well, it's finally here! Our first episode...hope you enjoy!
In a brand new podcast looking "under the hood" of scores and songs, we start our journey with Billie Eilish's song for the James Bond film No Time To Die. We'll be back later in the year with a look at Bond scores: What techniques are employed? What is the Barry/Bond sound, and how is it created? W...
Apologies, we are going to have to delay our first show. We've had some teething difficulties on the tech side. Hoping to re-record at the weekend or early next week.
So!
Tomorrow we'll be recording a break down of the new Bond song and analysing all the aspects which make it up.
Here's one point I can't wait to get into:
Johnny Marr...
“When I heard the song, I thought ‘this is fantastic’. It’s very brave, being very minimalist. It’s her sound, and then the trick was to Bond-ify it,” he explained.
“It was already a great song, but from a sound point of view, to Bond-ify it without doing the obvious."
Ummmmm 🤔🤔🤔🤔
Like it or loathe it, could it be MORE obvious than that last chord?
What do you think?
Massive thank you to the incredibly talented Reuben Wakeman for the artwork design!
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To celebrate the release of the OHMSS50 concert on YouTube, come and join 10 members of the band as we revisit the most incredible event and performance we've all ever experienced 2 years ago at Piz Gloria in Switzerland. We don't need to tell you, but Piz Gloria was the setting for the majority of the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service and for the 50th anniversary year die-hard fans gathered along with many familiar faces such as George Lazenby himself to mark this big anniversary. Q The Music performed a special set during the evening including 20 minutes of music from the film. The atmosphere was electric! You can view the full concert (without commentary) from Monday 31st May. (Photo credit Sascha Braun)
Join members of Q The Music as we count down our favourite songs to PLAY (not to be confused with favourite songs to listen to, or most iconic!). We polled our regular musicians (more than 20) to rank the songs based on their personal favourites to play and we'll be telling you why and we'll also have clips as we go! We've all seen the million top 25 Bond song lists, and they always cause controversy, but what are they like to perform? Find out on Tuesday at 1930 London time.
Bond cover songs are a multitude - yet very few of them get official music videos or become breakout songs for their performers. Enter Austrian(!) reggae band, founded by Fritz Jerey and Timothy Afolabi and was joined by Portuguese singer Claudia Do Carmo Correia de Magalheas later on. And yes, their cover of "Under the Mango Tree" is exactly what you'd expect from a 90s Eurodance version - right down to the fake LP scratches added to the beginning of the song. The song in this post has been edited to be only a sample. If you want to see the whole thing - including the music video, follow this link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDejRxTbJ0
As we keep swimming in more Dr. No goodies, please enjoy a few unique additions you can only see by joining our page. These might include cover songs, additional little trivia about the episode's topic and maybe even a few restorations... Let's kick off with a 1968 cover of Underneath the Mango Tree by Count Owen from the LP 'Rock Steady Calypso'. However, if you listen closely, you might notice something strange about this version. Can you hear what it is? The first one to give the correct answer will win the knowledge of having a more consequential grasp of grammar rules than Monty Norman. (The song has been edited for the purpose of the video. The full version is 3:53 and is widely available on streaming sites.)
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