Music Crom.
posted by on November 9 at 20:59 PM
The world’s ratio of living cool dudes was dealt a crushing blow today, first with the untimely passing of Ed Bradley, and, later, the news that film composer Basil Poledouris had died of cancer. While a scan of the composer’s work reveals tracks full of both unexpected grace (Quigley Down Under, the Emmy-award winning Lonesome Dove) and self-aware bombast (would Verhoven’s Robocop or Starship Troopers have had half of their bloody satirical thrum without their soundtracks?), his main legacy comes from his gloriously large, blissfully unironic work in the action genre. Manly, thundering, and cranked-to-the-living-bejesus, this was music designed to grow hair where there was no hair before. As exhibit A, I humbly submit the opening theme to perhaps Poledouris’s most iconic work, Conan the Barbarian. Behold. BEHOLD.
Good music. Bad metalurgy.
Let's not forget.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg59tX2sCZ4
Basil Poledouris was a fine composer and an incredibly sweet, smart, thoughful man. RIP.
Thoughtful. sorry.
The Conan soundtrack is classic, all the way through. I hadn't thought of describing it as unironic, but that's nail-on-the-head correct.
For a softer Poledouris, check out the soundtrack work he did in collaboration with his daughter Zoe on John Waters' Cecil B DeMented.
I think that Basil's daughter, Alexis, used to live in Seattle. I believe she may have been involved with Consolidated Works, when they were at their original location. Can anyone confrim?
Personally, the opening theme to 'Hunt for Red October' with the Russian men's chorus always got me. RIP Basil Poledouris.
The world’s ratio of living cool dudes was dealt a crushing blow today
this is one of my favorite sentences of the week. nice. thanks.
Yes, Basil Poledouris' younger daughter, Alexis, lived in Seattle 2000-2002. I (Alexis) worked at The Empty Space Theater, with One World Theater, theater simple, and at Consolidated Works at the original and Boren Ave locations, with Matt Richter. Seattle is a dear place to me and I appreciate the love the city showed my dad (he lived on Vashon Island for the past few years). If you'd like to visit a message board in his honor go to http://basil.poledouris.com
Comments Closed
In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 14 days old).