Enoch Light- Great Themes from Hit Films

Well would not be a month of the Show without something from Command and/or Enoch Light.  Celebrating half of this month’s theme of movies with this release from 1962. I paid $1 for this.  Why do I love Light so much?  Well, no just because his records are great.  At this point, I have nothing left to say about the artist and that contributes to short posts.

Recorded on magnificent 35mm magnetic film, this record features that Command magic on such film themes as Never On A Sunday, El Cid, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Exodus, and The Hustler.  A little bit more bland as compared to some of Light’s work but none the less, still a very interesting record.  

For a sample, we have the theme from the Italian film, La Dolce Vita, which borrow heavily from “Mack the Knife”. We also have one of my favorites, “Tonight” from West Side Story.  Was a bit on the fence with this one since it was a musical first but eh, here we go anyway. Both films won Oscars, LDV for Best Costume and WSS, 10 out of the 11 it was nominated for. Pretty good haul.

Satisfactory.

Enoch Light and the Light Brigade- Film on FIlm

This was $1.  Given the quality of work that Enoch Light has put out as well as his innovative arrangements, buying his records is usually a no brainer.  Happy Memorial Day.  Despite the fact that this post has been written in advance of the US holiday, please note that I most likely played in the annual Memorial Day Hockey Tournament here in town and am most likely pretty beat.

This record came out on Project 3 Records, a subsidiary of Light’s Command Records that specializes in what was at the time high tech recording techniques.  Keeping with this theme, this album presents soundtrack work recorded on 35mm magnetic film, aka the title Film on Film.  According to the back cover, the use of film for recording yields a high quality product, great for “stereo separation, clarity of definition, subtlety of dynamic contrast and general musical realism.”  It is also 15 times the cost of tape.  But for the purposes of the novelty of this record as well as Light’s quest for the best sound techniques, the extra cost is acceptable.

The songs are pretty good but other than “Born Free” and the “Theme from Alfie”, these are not exactly soundtrack standards compared to other numbers from the same period. As with other Light productions, there is a rather lengthy description of the songs in the gate-fold.  

For a sample, I went with French composer Maurice Jarre’s “Paris Smiles” from the film Is Paris Burning?  Pretty good track.  It features the guitar work of Tommy Mottola who was featured on this blog earlier this month.

For a buck, it is satisfactory enough.  Would have liked some more common theme songs nut what can you do.

Enoch Light and His Orchestra- Great Themes from Hit Films

DSCN3679This was 80 cents.  I will buy anything from Command Records and Enoch Light.

I had a lot of technical difficulties last night that I did not get resolved until about noon today (or yesterday depending on when you read this).  It involved many things that I hardly know including coding.  Loads of fun.  I got things back running but all the fun is going to make todays post short.

I did learn some fun facts, however.  I did 254 posts last year.  People in 48 countries looked at my site including Latvia, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Jamaica, and the usual suspects of developed nations and whatnot.  Other than my peeps in Canada, the next foreign country with the most hits was Brazil, followed by Russia and the UK.  The most popular post was the Ed Gerlach record, followed by Sonny James at the Astrodome and the Bob and Doug McKenzie album I posted last month.  The most popular day for site traffic is Monday.  The best time is 2 am but my settings are also way off so I believe that translates in to 7 or 8 pm.DSCN3680

This album was released in 1964.  The movies are mostly from the previous year .  Real good song selection ad instrumentation on this but what do you expect from a Command Record?  Nothing less.

Enoch Light
Enoch Light

For a sample, here is the Beatles’ “A Hard Days Night”. Oh what the hell.  Since the sight is uploading properly, here is Light’s take on Henry Mancini’s “It Had Better Be Tonight” from The Pink Panther.  From one master to another.

Satisfactory.

DSCN3679