Finally! The Fury by John Williams cd has arrived...

Do you remember The Fury?

You know, the Brian De Palma film that was released before he made everybody go Psycho with Dressed to Kill.

After a long wait, I have finally acquired a reasonably priced brand new original Varese Sarabande cd
(which was released in 1990) of John Williams' re-recording of his score.

The film is available on dvd but it really is crying out for a remastered deluxe makeover with featurettes and extras.
I missed out on getting the remastered deluxe 2 cd Varese release of The Fury which featured the actual soundtrack music used in the film plus all of the re-recordings that are on this cd which arrived today. That out-of-print goodie is outside of my price range but I am fortunate to have this.

What can I say? I'm a Brian De Palma fan and a film nut and I love film music. I'm happy. Now I can add it to my inventory of De Palma musical mementos.
Two questions now come to mind as I am listening to - and savoring - this John Williams music: just who will score The Boston Stranglers, and how long do we have to wait for this next Brian De Palma movie, a movie story that seems to be a perfect fit for his talents?

Today and everyday, life is truly like the words that Ray Davies sings: "The world keeps going round."

Today is June 22, 2010. This marks the 31st anniversary of a horrific car accident which happened to me when I was 21 and somehow I survived. I was the passenger. My roommate was driving and he was killed. It is a miracle that I’m still alive. What would I have missed had I died?

• A local boy’s dream-come-true to have that wonderful record store experience in the Rotunda that allowed me to join the “Recordmasters Hall of Fame” – and we all know that if you were working there, you are automatically IN! Today the old playing field for recorded musical entertainment has been leveled and despite a few local business squatters around the country, there are fewer and fewer “brick” retailers as “click and pick” online choices are embraced by consumers who want their fix.

• My life in the film business in Baltimore and LA between 1982 and 1994.

• My return to Smalltimore in November after I missed another appointment with Mr. D in the Northridge earthquake in January 1994.

So far my life has been strange and lovely, painful and mysterious, boring and mundane, depressing yet uplifting. On a bad day, I guess I feel like everything is meaningless. On a good day I can see my life as a spiritual safari into the unknown. Thankfully it has been filled with lotsa’ fine music, film, comedy, great food, observing beautiful women and enjoying my dreams. These dreams are stories which usually are at best a zero sum game that leaves me guessing as to the meaning.

I have always felt that when it comes to the idea of appreciation, in making a connection with your love of life or your fellow human being, it is important and imperative that you tell other people how you feel about them. As I grow older the importance of appreciation through communication becomes even greater.

The bottom line is: no matter how I feel, up or down, I’m glad to still be around.

The Kinks - The World Keeps Going Round
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx0m9I6XGmY

The Tubes - What Do You Want From Life?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgjfi1DU1mQ

Rolling Stones - Dancin' With Mr. D.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_S532DjrZk

Spinners - I'll Be Around
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlPpYEkv6BM

Grin - You're The Weight (live)
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/concerts/player.html?type=concert&ConcertID=20053063%7C2755&StartTrackID=5

To access concerts and listen to them in Wolfgang's Vault is free, but you must first be signed up with them via a user id and password (which is also free). If you want to download specific shows, the price is indicated.

Are the stars, fate and karma now properly aligned to allow Brian De Palma to direct his greatest work to date?

Today is June 16, 2010. PSYCHO is now 50 years old. It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock when he was 60. This year, Brian De Palma will be 70 years of age in September of 2010. He is about to direct The Boston Stranglers - a film based on Susan Kelly’s book which opines that the crimes committed by Albert De Salvo (who was convicted of being the Boston Strangler) were not the work of one man but of multiple stranglers operating at the same time.


New York Magazine featured a profile piece on Brian De Palma in the August 4, 1980 issue written by David Rosenthal. Fresh from his recent picture Dressed to Kill, we find BDP on the cusp of directing “Personal Effects”, a thriller that became known as BLOW OUT. I am one of the De Palma fans who believe that this film is the greatest achievement of his career.


In the final paragraphs of the article David Rosenthal provides De Palma quotes which are important to consider in evaluating his own work as well as that of Alfred Hitchcock: “Dealing with Hitchcock is like dealing with Bach – he wrote every tune that was ever done. Hitchcock thought up practically every cinematic idea that has been used and probably ever will be used in this form. But I’ll take the grammar wherever I can get it. . . . I’m starting to get even more ideas about how to develop this vocabulary even farther. I’m just gonna be 40 in September, so I figure I got about 30 more good years.”


Well 30 years have now past by. His last three films Femme Fatale (2002), Black Dahlia (2006) and Redacted (2007) were not financially successful at the box office. Once again he is in the position of needing a “hit”. I am really looking forward to seeing this new project, but like all good things, we must wait for an outcome…..


(New York Magazine holds the copyright to this August 1980 article written by David Rosenthal.)