Varese Vintage has just reissued a pair of soundtracks on CD from an accomplished master of the film score genre (Nino Rota) and an American blues legend (Taj Mahal). 1979's Hurricane proved to be Nino Rota's final score. It found the Italian-born composer (The Godfather, La Dolce Vita) adding a lush layer to the romantic "man-against-nature" adventure story. Producer Dino De Laurentiis (King Kong, Flash Gordon) insisted the movie penned by Lorenzo Semple Jr. (the Batman television show,
The Oscars are almost upon us, and soundtrack label Quartet Records recently announced four archival score titles all tied with winning Academy Awards across the '70s, '80s and '90s. The oldest title is also the only of the four which actually earned a trophy for Best Original Score: the 1970 drama Love Story. An adaptation of sorts of a bestselling romance novel by Erich Segal (who turned his screenplay into a novel at Paramount Pictures' request to drum up anticipation for the film), Love
IN MEMORIAM: JERRY VALE (1930-2014) : While readying the following article for publication, we learned of the passing of Jerry Vale on May 18, 2014 at the age of 83. Jerry was one of the last great gentlemen of song, and a mainstay of the Columbia Records roster for many years. He notched 18 singles on the Hot 10o between 1953 and 1967, and 27 on the Adult Contemporary chart through 1971, including the AC chart-topper "Have You Looked Into Your Heart" in 1964. Though best-known for his