FSM Readies "Dr. T," Warner Bros. Two-Fer

Film Score Monthly, one of the best sources for soundtrack reissues and info in the pre-Internet age, has had a lot of weird press lately. FSM founder Lukas Kendall had an oddly overstated reaction when discovering that this year's Star Trek: The Next Generation box set had been uploaded onto a torrent site. (It was easily the Internet at its worst on both sides - FSM posters might have overreacted at what was already a callous, disgusting act on the part of the pirates, leading to little solved.) Then there was his somewhat mercurial post on the main site concerning the volume of output from the labels and subsequent confession of limited edition CDs overpressed by his label. It's not end-times stuff, but it does prove that a change needs to be made in the successful-but-still-needing-to-adapt film score market.

In the meantime, though, we do have some positive news coming from FSM: two new releases - one a bundling of two LPs long out of print, and one an exhaustive archival edition of a most unusual film score. Details on each title after the jump!

FSM will released a two-fer of the original LPs to the television series Kung Fu and the film Man in the Wilderness. Both were released on Warner Bros. Records (the latter seemingly only got a release in the U.K.) but never got a release on CD until now. Kung Fu combines music and dialogue from the famed ABC series starring the late David Carradine in a career-making role, while Man in the Wilderness is a taut, multifaceted score to a suspenseful action film starring Richard Harris, composed by his sometime arranger Johnny Harris.

The label's second set of the week is an exhaustive, three-disc presentation of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T., a 1953 musical notable for being the only film written by Theodore Geisel, of course better known the world over as children's author Dr. Seuss. (Don't pinch yourself, readers - Seuss did not have any posthumous input into the wretched live-action versions of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and The Cat in the Hat (2003).) Seuss wrote the script for this bizarre, cult-classic film, and penned the lyrics to each song written by Frederick Hollander, composer of such films as The Blue Angel (1930) (in which Marlene Dietrich sang "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)" and Sabrina (1954). This oversized collection collects all the music as heard in the film, alternate cues, pre-production work and other ephemera.

Ordering info for the two-fer is here, while Dr. T.'s page is here. The track lists are below.

Jim Helms and Johnny Harris, Kung Fu / Man in the Wilderness (Film Score Monthly Vol. 13, No. 15, 2010 - original LPs released 1973 and 1971)

Caine's Theme
The Shaolin Temple/The New Student/Ten Times Ten
The Ancient Warrior/Shawn's Theme
A Children's Game/Divine Strength
Alethea/Su Yen
Grasshopper
Power of the Other/The Lotus Pond/One With Nature
Dark Angel (Hymn)
On Evil/The Peaceful Path/Time of the Soul
King of the Mountain/An Eye for An Eye
The Search
Sign of the Dragon
Main Title (Capt. Henry Theme)
Zach Discovers Water
Shadows of Reckerys
Zach Makes His Bed
Zach's Music Box
Zach Bass Theme
Mandam Massacre
Lost Horizons Part One
Lost Horizons Part Two
Henry Meets Redthorn
Henry Continues
Zach Goes Mountain Climbing
Survival Time
Zach Bass Theme
Zach Meets Redthorn
Zach Goes for Henry
Finale (Zach Bass Theme)

Tracks 1-12 released as Kung Fu: Music & Dialogue from the Warner Bros. T.V. Series (Warner Bros. BS 2726, 1973)
Tracks 13-29 released as Man in the Wilderness: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture (Warner Bros. K 46126 (U.K.), 1972)

Frederick Hollander (and Dr. Seuss), The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, (Film Score Monthly Vol. 13, No. 16, 2010 - original film released 1953)

Disc 1: Music for the Original Version