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September 10, 2004Danny Elfman's the man. No question about it.
When it comes to soundtracks, Danny Elfman is the man.
When you hear the theme from "Beetlejuice," "Batman," "The Nightmare Before Christmas," either of the Pee-Wee Herman movies, or even the opening melody for "The Simpsons," you immediately know what film it’s attached to—and you immediately know Elfman did it.
There just something about his scores that’s creative and lush and voluptuous in a way that I really appreciate.
And he's married to Bridget Fonda, thus serving as a beacon of hope for nerdy guys everywhere.
Posted by patrick at September 10, 2004 05:13 AM
CommentsTotally agree with you on Danny Elfman. Kind of funny that an 80s art-band rockstar has gone on to become one of the great film composers of our time -- but then again, he learned/copied from the greats; Bernard Hermann and Nino Rota.
And there's a great Danny Elfman moment preserved forever on Nickleodeon or some such channel. He and his band appeared on The Gong Show back when they were still USC students going by the name The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. They were yet to become a household name with the 80s kids, they were... odd, to say the least, they had marching band members and Elfman dressed as a rocket ship, complete with smoke shooting out of his ass... and I see the clip and think two things. 1) My god, these kids were the Dada-ists of their generation, and 2) True talent really does make an impact of the "WTF?" kind when it first emerges.
Elfman is a genius, and I absolutely love his stuff. The compilation CDs of his soundtrack bits are incredible, and in the long run, he's going to wind up on that short list of innovative film composers.
Ironically, John Williams is the polar opposite of Elfman. Elfman creates original stuff. Williams recycles from everyone else. If you don't believe that, just grab any three random CDs by Holst, Prokofiev and any one of the Russian Five. Two minutes into it, you'll swear you're listening to a Star Wars soundtrack...
Posted by: Jon Bastian at September 12, 2004 10:53 PM
What the!? My comment disappeared. Let's see how much of it I can remember...
First off, if you have never seen that bit from The Gong Show, let me know. I'm almost certain I have an .avi of it somewhere.
Also, if you're keen on obscure Danny Elfman material, take in the 1980 movie made by his brother entitled "The Forbidden Zone." In this, his first score, Elfman uses existing arcane tracks such as "Pico and Sepulveda" and adds in instrumentals and songs of his own. Particularly interesting is his re-do of the classic "A is A" alphabet song.
The movie itself is simply insane. Danny has a small role as Satan, and his band members appear as seedy, hooded minions with such delicate dialogue as "My boss is just dyin' to stick his fork in that there tomato."
Posted by: Mad Monarch Voards at September 17, 2004 11:01 AM
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