Many people have dreamed about being in a movie. While it amounts to no more than a dream, for many, finding the perfect movie soundtrack to play whenever you want is quite easy. The two releases covered here will not only provide a fantasy soundtrack, but will whisk you away to England in the ‘60s or Italy in the ’70s and early ‘80s.
Alfie was one of the most important films of the 1960s. Released in 1966, it was a galvanizing cinematic success that not only solidified London as the center of world cinema for a brief time in the early and mid-‘60s but also provided the breakthrough role for Michael Caine, which launched him into international stardom. He’s never looked back.
For a film that would be considered the height of ’60s Swinging London, this soundtrack is an American jazz tour de force. While Italian clothes, scooters, and cappuccino highly influenced the mod movies and culture of the time, Jamaican music and American jazz and R&B fueled the sound of the early stages of Swinging London.
Original copies of this highly sought-after soundtrack album fetch big bucks on the collector’s market, due to its immaculate sound and innovative jazz music. Though primarily the musical brainchild of saxophonist Sonny Rollins, Oliver Nelson’s arrangements set the cool cinematic mood. The title song, done here in instrumental fashion and written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, was recorded by many artists at the time, most notably Cilla Black and Dionne Warwick. Black’s version is not included here, but was played during the end credits. The US soundtrack release included a version sung by Cher.
This jazz score is cool and sophisticated. In keeping with Lewis Gilbert’s directorial approach, it eschews any brash sounds or popular music that would detract from the story. More than 60 years after its release, this still stands as one of the most accomplished yet, in many respects, unassuming soundtrack albums of the 1960s.
This reissue was mastered from the original analog tapes and pressed at QRP on 180-gram vinyl in poly-lined sleeves. It comes in a sturdy gatefold package with photos and liner notes within an outer sealed plastic bag that can easily be opened by tearing away the perforated top. This is the perfect jazz soundtrack recording to get the full Acoustic Sounds treatment.
Changing the scene to Italy, we have Eli Roth’s curated collection of music from the Cam Sugar soundtrack label of Italian sexploitation movies from the ‘70s and early ‘80s. The title shouldn’t fool anyone. This is really not a collection of disco tracks, but instead mostly music from saucy Italian comedies of the era. Roth is a well-known director, actor, producer, and screenwriter of television and film, and, like other directors such as Quentin Tarantino (with whom Roth has worked in various capacities), Martin Scorsese, and others, is a big fan of Italian genre films.
This double-album set reflects a wide variety of sounds, from edgy funk to loungey Euro film music, touches of psychedelia, and of course thumping heyday-era disco, but with more of a louche European flair. Some of the key composers and soundtrack maestros featured here, such as Nico Fidenco, Riz Ortolani, Stelvio Cipriani, and Bruno Nicolai, are legendary figures in Italian genre films with classic soundtrack music work dating back in some cases to the 1950s.
Two tracks from Giuseppe De Luca date back to 1969 and are, in fact, the highlight of the set. Some of the films represented here include Taxi Girl, Nude Odeon, Eros Perversion, and Porno Holocaust. These artists are icons of Italian genre films, even though they may not be as well-known as composers such as Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, and Giorgio Moroder.
The 180-gram double vinyl, housed in poly-lined sleeves, album gatefold package comes in blood red with a provocative, stylized, photocopied, bootleg-album approach and a men’s magazine of the era feel taken from titillating stills or poster art from the movies.
The package contains a 29-page booklet that is worth the price of admission. It has detailed liner notes, plenty of lurid photos from the films and posters, interviews with iconic genre actress Edwige Fenech and composer Franco Campanino, and an essay on actor Franco Lechner, known as Bombolo. There is also an extensive bibliography, making this a go-to vinyl package repository on Italian genre films of the period.
Hopefully, this is only the first installment of Italian soundtrack music from Roth. Music that concentrates on more of the early- and mid-’70s soundtracks and music from the 1960s of these genre pictures would be more than welcome. There is a special, triple-vinyl edition that includes such items as alternative artwork on a special gatefold mirrored card sleeve, a bonus 45 RPM 7″, a set of postcards, and a special poster. That edition is very limited and will sell out quickly. Given the nature of this regular two-LP release, while it may not go out of print right away, it will eventually and is sure to become a valued and indispensable collector’s item.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
Sonny Rollins, Alfie (Original Music From The Score)
A+
VA, Eli Roth’s Red Light Disco: Dancefloor Seduction From Italian Sexploitation Cinema
B
