Top Ten Ebay Wins July 2007

John Barry

1. The Dove CB $68.99

2. The Black Hole/Howard The Duck CD $40.00

3. The Black Hole/Howard The Duck CD $40.00

4. The Black Hole/Howard The Duck CD $40.00

5. The Black Hole/Howard The Duck CD $39.00

6. The Lion In Winter Varese CD $37.99

7. Follow Me Japan 45/PS $37.55

8. On Her Majesty's Secret Service England Promo 45 $32.00

9. Dr. No England EP $31.00

10. Mary, Queen Of Scots/A Thousand Days CD $31.00

Ennio Morricone

1. Ennio Morricone Chronicles 10CD $358.00

2. Nostromo Italy 2CD $124.49

3. Il Giro Del Mondo Japan CD $99.99

4. Lolita Japan CD $89.00

5. L'Immoralita CD $56.00

6. The Thing CD $51.00

7. Napoli - Miranda Martino LP $49.99

8. The Thing CD $49.22

9. Diciottenni Al Sole Japan EP $49.00

10. Mondo Morricone 3CD $49.00

Jerry Goldsmith

1. The Fox Box $278.00

2. Link Varese Club CD $218.00

3. Night Crossing Intrada VJF 5004D CD $169.16

4. In Harms Way Japan CD $163.00

5. Raggedy Man Varese Club CD $162.50

6. The Boys From Brazil Japan Cd $142.50

7. The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud Promo LP $127.51

8. The Burbs Varese Club CD $102.50

9. Psycho II CD $99.99

10. The Burbs Varese Club CD $76.01

Elmer Bernstein

1. Ghostbusters Varese CD $86.01

2. the Great Escape 2CD $74.99

3. Stars 'N' Bars Varese Club CD $68.07

4. The Great Escape 2CD $66.00

5. The Great Escape 2CD $57.00

6. Ghostbusters Varese CD $56.00

7. The Black Cauldron Varese CD $47.59

8. Movie And TV Themes Gold CD $42.33

9. Kings Go Forth/Some Came Running CD $41.00

10. Walk On the Wild Side CD $38.51

James Horner

1. Vibes Varese CD $306.00

2. Apollo 13 Score CD $71.00

3. Apollo 13 Score CD $50.00

4. Fitzwilly Varese CD $50.00

5. Jack The Bear CD $47.00

6. Krull 2CD $39.99

7. Batteries Not Included CD $39.55

8. Cocoon CD $38.99

9. Where The River Runs Black CD $34.00

10. Where The River Runs Black Cd $34.00

John Williams

1. Hollywood Bowl (7-14-07) Tickets (6) $1,111.00

2. Hollywood Bowl (7-14-07 Tickets (4) $718.00

3. Hollywood Bowl (7-14-07 Tickets (4) $430.00

4. The Poseidon Adventure FSM CD $319.89

5. Hollywood Bowl (7-14-07) Tickets (2) $249.99

6. The Towering Inferno FSM CD $201.72

7. Hollywood Bowl (7-14-07) Tickets (5) $200.00

8. hollywood Bowl (7-13-07) Tickets (2) $196.00

9. Space Camp Japan CD $187.50

10. The Towering Inferno FSM CD $152.50

A Genius, Two Partners And An Idiot

This film was released in 1975 and promoted in the United States as a sequel to "My Name Is Nobody". It starred Terence Hill, Patrick McGoohan, Klaus Kinski and Miou Miou. Sergio Leone and Damiano Damani directed, or so the DVD states. Understandably, Sergio Leone chose to be uncredited in the film (We would all like to think he had absolutely nothing to do with it). The music was composed by Ennio Morricone and remains the only thing worthwhile in the film. I looked all over for this movie and wouldn't locate it until it came out on DVD in 2004 (not even a rerun on late TV). There are times when you have to be careful in what you wish for. This was one of those times. It was dreadful! I couldn't wait for it to end. It reminded me of the film "OK Connery" ( a James Bond ripoff starring Sean Connery's brother) that I again waited years to finally see and was very disappointed (even this had an Ennio Morricone score with the late great Bruno Nicolai). You sense "OK Connery" was going bad when you see the Moneypenny charactor running around shooting at the bad guys with her gun pointing straight into the ground. So just how did "A Genius" go so wrong here? These are not bad actors. We all loved Terrence Hill in "My Name Is Nobody" which I saw in downtown Bangkok, Thailand in 1975. England's Patrick McGoohan was just fabulous as Danger Man, Secret Agent, and the Prisoner in the TV 60s. So again, what happened? Well, I don't exactly know. But, I do know, that this is perhaps the worst spaghetti western ever made! It was films like this that gave spaghetti westerns a bad name...DVD 2004 WHAM! USA.

On the other hand, the score by Ennio Morricone was a delight. It reminds you of the great music in "My Name Is Nobody", and is just as good. The music had many releases throughout the world except in the United States Of America. The LP releases were: Italy Deram-XDEF 128, England CBS-69231, Germany Ariola-OT 27207, France Philips-9286329 and Sonopresse-GT 36510. The CDs as shown above: 1995 Japan SLC Inc. SLCS-7262 and 2004 Italy Hexacord HCD-04.

Top Ten Ebay Wins June 2007

John Barry

1. Follow Me JBCD-1 CD $439.99
2. The Best Of 007 With John Barry Japan LP $107.50
3. The Dove CD $78.49
4. Follow Me Japan 45/PS $53.01
5. Howard The Duck CD $50.00
6. Until September/Starcrash CD $47.55
7. Goldfinger US LP $42.99
8. Raise The Titanic Japan 45/PS $41.00
9. King Kong FSM CD $41.00
10. The Black Hole/Howard The Duck CD $40.00


Ennio Morricone

1. Ripley's Game CD $200.00
2. Metello SLC Club Japan CD $199.00
3. Red Sonja/Bloodline Varese Club CD $99.99
4. The Island CD $84.89
5. Concerto Per AIRC 2CD $80.99
6. The Thing CD $63.00
7. Bixio Collection (Can) CD $61.00
8. I Film Della Violenza Italy 2LP $60.00
9. Je M'Appelle Malabar Canada LP $57.99
10. Nuova Consonanza LP $56.00


Jerry Goldsmith

1. In Harm's Way Japan CD $339.99
2. The Burbs Varese Club CD $149.19
3. 13 Rare Jerry Goldsmith CDs $143.50
4. Boys From Brazil CD $112.49
5. Night Crossing CD $90.00
6. Chinatown CD $87.00
7. Supergirl 2CD $82.99
8. Chinatown Expanded CD $81.00
9. Night Crossing CD $80.99
10. The Wind And The Lion CD $80.00


Elmer Bernstein


1. The Great Escape 2CD $79.00
2. The Great Escape 2CD $70.00
3. Ghostbusters Varese CD $53.00
4. Ghostbusters Varese CD $51.96
5. Ghostbusters Varese CD $51.62
6. Ghostbusters Varese CD $51.00
7. Ghostbusters Varese CD $41.00
8. The Ten Commandments MCA CD $35.00
9. The Sweet Smell Of Success/Walk On The Wild Side CD $35.00
10. More Music From The Ten Commandments CD $33.00


James Horner


1. A Far Off Place CD $76.00
2. Commando CD $56.00
3. Cocoon CD and Cocoon The Return CDs $56.00
4. Suites & Themes CD $49.99
5. Cocoon CD $45.07
6. Krull 2CD $39.99
7. Where The River Runs Black CD $39.60
8. Jack The Bear CD $37.50
9. Krull 2CD $36.50
10. Cocoon CD $34.09


John Williams


1. Hollywood Bowl (14 Jul 07) Tickets (4) $1,200.00
2. Hollywood Bowl (13 Jul 07) Tickets (4) $600.00
3. Hollywood Bowl (13 Jul 07) Tickets (4) $480.00
4. Hollywood Bowl (14 Jul 07) Tickets (4) $450.00
5. The Poseidon Adventure FSM CD $251.00
6. Hollywood Bowl (14 Jul 07) Tickets (2) $210.00
7. Spacecamp (Only 100 copies made) Japan CD $178.00
8. The Towering Inferno FSM CD $115.10
9. Hollywood Bowl (14 Jul 07) Tickets (2) $104.50
10. The Poseidon Adventure FSM CD $102.50

The Legend Of Frenchie King

The film was released in 1972 while I was living in Hawaii and starred Bridget Bardot and Claudia Cardinal. I bought the VHS a couple of years ago, but could only watch about 30 minutes of it and lost interest. That's all I know about this film. Makes one wonder how you could go wrong with these two females in your movie. I still own the VHS so I may yet finish this film on the basis of the music alone.

England released an LP right after the release of the film and a CD appeared in Japan in 1994. Composer Francis Lai (France's answer to Henry Mancini) composed this score and it turned out to be surprisingly entertaining. There were three vocals in the CD sung by Claudia Cardinale, Little Sammy Gaha and Micheline Presle. The best was the main title song by Little Sammy Gaha (never heard of him). The score itself is in a very frenchie spaghetti western fashion. I believe it was Francis Lai's first attempt at a western. I did enjoy it as the CD was very enjoyable throughout and I doubt that Morricone, Nicolai or Goldsmith had to worry about the competition. Lai is very famous for things like "A Man And A Woman, Live For Life, Love Story, etc. My personal favorite score by Francis Lai is "La Course Du Lievre A Travers Les Champs" ("And Hope To Die" was the title in the US). The "Legend Of Frenchie King" score is very rare and is rarely seen on CD. I do recommend the score, but not the film. The CD was released in Japan on the SLC label SLCS-5034 with a twelve page booklet with photos, all in Japanese.

The Molly Maguires

"The Molly Maguires", starring Sean Connery and Richard Harris was released in 1970, while I was living in Honolulu, Hawaii, by Paramount Pictures. Rather surprised that Sean Connery wasn't playing the undercover Pinkerton cop instead of Richard Harris. I thought Mr. Harris was miscast in this film. The only film I enjoyed his performance in was "Cry The Beloved Country". The movie is a historical drama played out in the coal mines of Eastern Pennsylvania in the 1870s. This is another film that did not perform well for Paramount. I enjoyed this one as well, mostly due to Connery's performance and the music of Henry Mancini. After the film I began reading books on the subject and found it to be most intriging. It's a great little film that needs to be on your Top Ten List of historical films to watch.

"The Molly Maguires" has a dramatic score by composer Henry Mancini. As usual, Henry composed, arranged and conducted. He is normally associated with lightweight scores such as "Breakfast At Tiffanys" and "The Pink Panther". When he does receive a rare dramatic film to score he shows you what a truly great composer he really was. This is a most enjoyable score filled with lovely tracks and listenable dramatic interplay. Surely one of his best efforts in the 1970s. The CD has been out-of-print for some time now and will cost you a pretty penny to own. The CD is on the Bay Cities label BCD 3029, 1970, with a 4 page booklet and liner notes by Jon Burlingame.

The Texican

"The Texican" was finally released in 2005 on DVD by Columbia Pictures. It starred Audie Murphy and the lovely Diana Lorys. The original release was in 1966, while I was living in Oklahoma, and was filmed in Spain. There was a VHS release in 1996, but I was hoping for a DVD release full of additional features...not a chance.

This film died an early death rather quickly after it's initial release. It took me by complete surprise as I enjoyed it very much. The only problem I had with it was a fairly lame bad guy played in the role by Broderick Crawford (Highway Patrol 1955 TV Series). I have always been an Audie Murlphy fan and since I was heavily into spaghetti westerns at the time was delighted to see him in this genre. Loved the score even if the composer was ripping off Ennio Morricone. I thought the acting was fine except for Mr. Crawford and I was looking forward to "The Texican II" which was to be called "Maverick Guns" co-starring Cesar Romero. According to the book "The Films Of Audie Murlphy" by Bob Larkins and Boyd Magers, Audie had a drinking problem while filming and the sequel, for unknown reasons, was never filmed. When the film ends, the screen fades to black and to the delight of film music fans the main/end title music continues to play out.

The score was released in Italy in 1996 on the RCA label OST 129. There are 30 tracks in all, but only 11 tracks of "The Texican". The others are from the western films "All' Ombra Di Una Colt", Per Il Gusto Di Uccidere", and "Dinamite Jim"...all by composer Nico Fidenco. The CD itself is titled "4 Western Scores". "The Texican" is a delightful Morricone like score and fits the Audie Murlphy film perfectly. I have been after the score for many years. It was only available on a couple of bootleg LPs from Italy. The highlight of course was the main title which was prominent throughout the film. As for the other scores, Fidenco does a great job especially on "Per Il Gusto Di Uccidere". I would say he went totally wrong on "Dinamite Jim". Three out of four is a winner!

Take A Hard Ride

Film released in 1975, while I was living in Thailand, by 20th Century-Fox starring Lee Van Cleef and Jim Brown. Directed by Antonio Margheriti who worked on the sound effects for the Sergio Leone film "A Fistful Of Dynamite" (Duck You Sucker in the United States) in 1971. I haven't caught this movie in it's entirety so no comment on it here.

What could possibly be better than a Jerry Goldsmith western score, except perhaps an Ennio Morricone or Bruno Nicolai western score. Non-the-less, this is a wonderful score by Mr. Goldsmith. A hard driven melody main title lets you know you are in for an exciting musical and entertaining event. The CD has 19 tracks and a 16 page booklet with a picture disc (not a very good one, but a picture disc all the same). The first part of the booklet examines the film while the second half is loaded with excellent comments on the score by Douglass Fake. Released in February of 2000 on the Film Score Monthly label FSM Vol 3, No. 1. Only 3000 copies were officially printed.