Gothic horror
For some reason it was only today that I was struck by the coincidence that ‘Gothic’ was both the name of the theater in Denver I played last night, and the name of my first and only orchestral score for a movie, Ken Russell’s thundering 1986 depiction of Byron and Shelley and the birth of the Frankenstein legend.
I have many good memories of that experience, as a well as some bad ones. It was wonderful to hear my music performed by an orchestra for the first time; and, given how out of control a composer usually is when it comes to scoring a movie, I could have done far worse than to get paired up with Ken Russell, who doesn’t take crap from anyone and who has a deep and scholoarly love of music.
Here’s an interesting story though. Ken had the reputation for being something of a tyrant and a hothead on the set. The movie was being produced on a low budget by Virgin, their first venture into feature films. To save money the producers pulled a stunt called ‘upgrading’, whereby a grip becomes a focus puller, a focus puller becomes a camera operator and so on, in order to get the credit on his/her resume but still being paid the old fee. In addition several of the crew were regulars on Virgin’s music videos and were working for free to get the feature experience. As a result the crew had a young average age—mid-20’s perhaps—whereas Ken was well into his 60’s, and quite a hard drinker to boot.
The movie was shot in England’s Lake District, masquerading as Lake Geneva. For the first few days of the shoot everyone walked on eggshells around Ken. Every time a lamp got knocked over, or the correct prop was not on the set in time for the shot, people would glance nervously over at Ken. But he could be seen visibly closing his eyes and counting to ten while his anger abeyed. Half way through principal photography the crew was just beginning to get comfortable, remarking on how calm and easy-going Ken was despite his reputation.
Then on the eleventh day, a parrot was required for a scene. There is only one professional parrot handler in the whole North of England, and he and his prize bird were on the set ready for the shot, probably delighted to get a rare booking like this. The shot required the parrot to sit at the right hand end of his perch in order to stay in the frame. The handler placed the parrot there, but each time the assistant director yelled “and…. ACTION!” the parrot immediately shuffled to its left along the perch and out of the frame, ruining the take.
After about five takes had been wrecked this way, Ken Russell, who had been lurking in the shadows watching a monitor, burst onto the set and was on the point the point of throttling the poor parrot handler—and probably would have succeeded had he not been physically restrained by the cast and crew.
After that, Ken’s outbursts became more frequent. It was not uncommon for a crew member to shush a colleague and whisper, “Careful… Ken’s got PHS today.” (Parrot Handler Syndrome.)
I’m happy to say Ken was always kind to me and I never found myself on the receiving end of PHS. But on the day we recorded the orchestral score, at the Angel Studios, a converted church in North London, I did get to witness it first hand.
I had never worked with an orchestra before, and I’d made the mistake of signing a deal with Virgin where I had to pay all recording costs out of my own fee. I reckoned I could just about afford the London Philharmonic plus an orchestrator for one day. We had 18 cues to record. I carefully prepared and sequenced them all in my Fairlight and gave the recordings to the orchestrator to transcribe. But I don’t read music and have little or no formal training, so I trusted him to transcribe my Fairlight versions faithfully. This he had not done. Orchestral players being heavily unionized as they are, on the dot of 9am they opened their sheet music for the first time. I stood there in the middle of a 96-piece orchastra thrilling at the sounds of my compositions. But every few bars, something was off. I made mental notes as they played each cue through. I had to walk from one section to the next saying, “Ok cellos… that part that goes ‘da DAAA da da…’ what’s your top note there?” “Erm, A flat?” I thought about it and said “…ok…. change that to an A natural will you?”
They obviously thought I was a complete dunderhead. I could see Ken through the control room window, already well into his ever present crate of red wine at this early hour. By late morning we were already 50% behind where we needed to be. At about 2 minutes to 12, I had just made a couple of minor changes to a cue and was ready to run it one last time. “Er sorry Mr Dolby,” said the first violin, “it’s almost twelve and we have to go to lunch.” “Well they’ve almost nailed it, can’t we just add on the equivalent mintues at the end of your lunch break?” I asked, perplexed. “Sorry, Mr Dolby, that’s the rules.”
I was speechless.
They were just beginning to put down their instruments when the heavy studio doors burst wide open, and Ken Russell came storming in the room, flush with Burgundy, the veins sticking out on his neck. He strode to the middle of the floor, glaring around at the musicians. “You… fucking… BASTARDS!!” he screamed: “You have this wonderful gift—from GOD!” (hand outstretched to the heavens) “—to play your instruments, and all your can think about is your FUCKING TEABREAK!”
The reverberations died down, leaving a deathly hush in the studio. After a few seconds the silence was broken by the tap of the conductor’s baton on his music stand. “Cue 11a once again please, gentlemen.”
I saw Ken in the canteen. He complimented me on how the music was sounding. I said I was sorry he got a bit het up there for a moment. He leaned in to me and whispered: “Well it did the bloody trick Dolby, didn’t it?”
December 5th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
The unionization of orchestral players adds about as much red tape to music making as your ‘beloved’ recording companies. Yes, players need representation and protection from tyrannical conductors, but things have gotten out of hand and the music business is more business than music these days. Most classical composers today shy away from orchestral writing due to the minimal rehearsal time afforded their pieces and the ‘on the clock’ attitude of most orchestral performers. We tend to favor chamber music, due to the time and dedication these musicians devote to whatever works they’re preparing. The fact that your soundtrack work was being simultaneously sight-read AND recorded is a testament to the prevailing attitudes of our current climate. That being said, I’m glad you got to apply your atmospheric compositional approach to this kind of ensemble. Hearing one’s own work come to life by 100 orchestral players IS thrilling, isn’t it?
BTW… didn’t you write some music for Fever Pitch years ago? I seem to remember bits of Ferrari in there (dreadful movie, though!).
Great stories!
Beech
December 5th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
He heee… Gothic was awesome. I bought the LP soundtrack and was so happy when I finally found a CD years later. That little naked fella perched on the bed in the poster is a friend of mine Kiran Shah (the IMDB will show you all he’s done). It’s a small world ain’t it Kiran? – pun intended
Oh and check out the Paparazzi room in the Forum and look for the “No Flies on Thomas” thread for a rare archive treat.
Great to read this Gothic PHS story! Have fun in Austin everyone.
Mike
December 5th, 2006 at 11:35 pm
Oh…love this story, love Ken Russell, love Gothic, and love the soundtrack to Gothic — the cassette of which has been in plain sight (and not infrequently enjoyed) for twenty years!
(Quite fond of parrots, too, including the cheeky ones.)
December 5th, 2006 at 11:45 pm
I noticed the “Savage Henry” on the Gothic Marquee…
another (happy?) coincidence?!?
I’m guessing “Savage” wasn’t one of the terms used
often with Henry
December 5th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
Oh, my goodness. Sorry to double-dip, Thomas, ladies and gentlemen…but *the* Mike Quinn? Just figured that out! A gifted guest in the house. Love your work too, fellow. Coolness Barometer riding extremely high at present…and about time, too!
December 6th, 2006 at 12:39 am
This is a really funny story. You mentioning the unionization of orchestra players reminds me that this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of an event like this. In his book about ELO (I think from memory it’s called “The ELO Story”) Bev Bevan talks about how the orchestra they hired for the album Eldorado acted in a similar fashion (I believe it was even the London Philharmonic). He claims that you can hear the sound of the orchestra putting down their instruments in the actual recording at one point, though I’ve never heard it. Apparently, it’s one of the main reasons that ELO recorded in Germany from that point onwards.
December 6th, 2006 at 6:27 am
December 6th, 2006 at 6:51 am
Love this entry, Thomas. You’re a great storyteller. Please keep sharing these as your time allows!
“Gothic” came out during my year in London, and I went to see it at one of the cinemas at Leicester Square. (Probably followed by cheap Chinese – with cranky waiters – at Wong Kei…) One of my best friends is from Keswick, and Ken Russell is a family friend/neighbor. My friend always decribed him as “quite a character.”
After I saw “Gothic”, I called my friend who was home for a few days in the Lake District, off on one of his periodic fell-walking trips. My friend’s mum answered the phone and chatted with me for a couple of minutes. I said that I’d just seen her neighbor’s new movie, and I described it as “pretty freaky, but good.” She said, “Oh, wonderful. Ken will love that.” Then she yelled to someone else in the room, “Ken, love! Dougal’s American friend has just seen your movie. She has a review for you.” Next thing I know, I’m on the phone with Ken Russell, telling him that “Gothic” was “ummm, errrr, reaaaally freaky, but good.” He apparently liked that appraisal and issued forth this incredibly demented laugh over the phone. Ranks up there as one of my most surreal phone calls ever… (But I did have the presence of mind to compliment him on his choice of composer!)
December 6th, 2006 at 9:22 am
By a funny coincidence, Thomas, I was just listening to “Gothic”
last night (!) and I will say again what I say [or write] every
chance I get: “Gothic” is magnificent. Stunning. Gorgeous.
Knock-a-person-on-his-or-her-butt amazing. It may have been,
er…quite the “interesting” {and, er, expensive} experience to
have it recorded by the London Philharmonic [awesome!], but the final product is enough to make a music-lover’s heart fibrillate.
I NEVER kid or exaggerate about music, I swear on a stack
of Prefab Sprout CD’s. *Now* you know I’m serious.
No, I don’t have a cultured background, but I do appreciate
well-crafted music.
Ken Russell might have been a somewhat nerve-wracking man
to work with [sounded quite a bit like my father, Joe, actually,
except way more reasonable], but he did have a point about not
letting teatime come between the Orchestra and the creation of
great music. I cannot understand the London Philharmonic
players’ mindsets at all–good lord, the music needs to come
FIRST!!! Was it just a JOB to them? Incomprehensible! Thomas,
*you* understand that the music is the important thing, and we
all appreciate your dedication. You know we do.
I totally relate to frustration with parrot behavior–I cohabitate
They unquestionably have
with three of the little darlings.
minds of their own. They only want to do what *they* want to
do. But when I walk into the room and my lorikeet says, “Hello
Kara”, then it’s all worth it.
As Merujo said, you’re a great storyteller! Thanks for sharing!
Peace and parrot toys,
Kar[m]a
December 6th, 2006 at 10:37 am
A small footnote: I spotted this news item today about a Fairlight CMI signed by 44 pop stars including myself (I’m in hallowed company!) that’s up for auction on eBay, and expected to raise $100,000 or more for charity. They normally go for about $10k these days. $90k / 44 = over two grand per autograph. Hope this will put an end to the debate about whether my autograph on ‘The Sole Inhabitant’ is worth ten bucks!
http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=3864
December 6th, 2006 at 10:51 am
Great story, Keep ‘em coming.
You came out with some great stories on the old forum as well.
I hope your keeping all this for the ‘Sole Inhabitant’ book….. next year maybe!?:-)
December 6th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
TMDR footnoted, “Hope this will put an end to the debate about
whether my autograph on ‘The Sole Inhabitant’ is worth ten
bucks!”
That at *least*. WHAT debate? Guess I missed it.
But anyway,
I myself figured that, as you’d worked so hard to perfect the
audio for the “S.I.” CD, that I’d like one that you’d ’signed off on’, so to speak. Worth it? No question. Thank you.
[Nope, hasn't arrived yet, but it's probably been caught up in all
of the 'holiday mail'.]
Peace and lip balm,
Kar[m]a
December 6th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Miz: there was a debate between myself and another person about TMDR’s signature in the forum. This person expressed that $10 was too much for his signature and I immediately chimed in with my two cents, or $10 worth. I’d say we all got quite a bargain at $10 if someone just paid $2,000 for it.
Cheers!
Brian
December 6th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
What a great story! Sounds like a good/bad/good/weird dream. Oh! To trust someone with your scores and then having them placed before the orchestra with problems every few measures….clock ticking… Yikes!!!!
I just added Gothic to my Netflix queue
December 6th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
Debate is good. No issue’s there. The value is all down to the individual.
You know the one thing that astounded me more than anything?
The freebie meet and greets.
My wife is a massive Duran Duran fan and when they reformed I purchased a “meet and greet” package. Although I bawked at the price (anything to keep the other half happy) – it included a “party” where the famous five would appear for “at least an hour” or something. One issue – she didnt want the package without me there – so I had to buy two. Of course, once inside I was dumped
and left to my own devices whilst she meandered with the other fans and heroes (which gave me a good chance to stand in the corner and sob with my credit card bill). I can’t remember (or have purposely blocked out) the price. Suffice to say that I could probably have spent the money instead on wallpapering the house on $10 Dolby autographs.
December 6th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
Dear Phos,
This morning, I needed to drive my daughter to school. Ordinarily, she uses a cello a school while at school and practices on her lovely Chinese made student grade cello at home. It’s been cold here, even though school is just a few blocks, schlepping a cello in the cold uphill both ways was more than I thought she’d cotton to. At the end of the street this morning, I looked up out my window and a huge “V” was up in the sky. A pair of con trails had formed this huge character. Right in the middle of the “V” was the still visible daytime visage of the moon. Earlier, today, before reading this post, I put “Gothic” at the top of my Blockbusters.com queue so it would get here soon. New podcast that I viewed today explains your childhood fear of flying, the con trails etc. Things to make me go “Hmmm”.
My own Gothic musings. http://stellar808.blogspot.com/
I recall seeing the movie many years ago. Ran across the info about your part in the soundtrack today at eBay for starters. Followed it to Amazon, now again here. The “Gothic” imagination and it’s machinations. Mr. Russel sounds like an art director I worked for in Atlanta once. Glad you weren’t eaten alive.
Johnny
December 6th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
What a great story. Love this blog.
I saw that someone bid on the Fairlight! So how much higher it will go?
Getting those keys signed must have been a logistical nightmare. Was it mailed to everyone who had to pass it on to the next big rock star? That’s a package you wouldn’t want the delivery people to drop down 3 flights of stairs with 22 signatures already on it!
December 7th, 2006 at 2:32 am
I remember watching Gothic many years ago mainly because TMDR’s soundtrack was on it. I found the film a bit difficult to get into at the time, and it helps if you know the background of the characters portrayed in the movie, for that reason I am going to watch it again.
We British workers do like our teabreaks
Good on Ken Russell for putting a rocket up the London Philharmonic, I’m surprised they even attempted to have a tea-break!
I did think it was odd there was a difference in price between the autographed copy and the standard copy…but hey no one is forcing you to buy it.
December 7th, 2006 at 5:58 am
The Gothic soundtrack is great music. I love Mary’s Theme especially, and I also like “It’s His”. But the CD version has a serious case if digi-itis. It has all the signs of truncation without dither. So Thomas… any plans to remaster the back catalogue?
December 7th, 2006 at 7:52 am
Great Story sir! Read the debat did you? You know really it reflects quite well on you despite the libelous remarks. I mean look how many people rushed to your defense. The great thing is most of us concurred that we didn’t know the reason for the 10 dollars and didnt even care! That should make you feel good right? I dropped 10 bucks yesterday on a guacamole burger and warmed over french fries… and I wont even be able to look at those months later…I hope…
December 7th, 2006 at 8:14 am
Thomas, have you ever thought about releasing sheet music of your work in general? I remember on the old site you used to have photos of some of the sheet music you wrote by hand with the lyrics
Theres a huge online site called MusicNotes.com where everything is officially licensed through the label or the artist. You can preview the work, then buy it, and print it out. Its really wonderful! I always wanted to have the sheet music and be able to play “One of Our Submarines” 
December 7th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
“But I don’t read music and have little or no formal training,…”
Proof that life’s just not fair.
December 8th, 2006 at 8:58 am
Ah, Heretics, but Thomas hears all that wonderful music inside his
The trick lies in getting it out of there–straight from cranium to keyboard, I should think. It’s
head, note for note!
interesting how some people can play by ear, and some can’t. Both styles are good.
You know what I noticed the other night when I was listening to
‘The Flat Earth’, Thomas [or whomever happens to be reading this, hee hee]? I heard this very soft humming along with with
the Russian-sounding keyboard in “Dissidents”–quite charming, I must say. Gives one a clue as to how the music gets from the cranium to the keyboard, perhaps.
Peace and beautiful music,
Kara
December 8th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Maybe that points to a problem with my music. If I sing in the shower the water curdles. Going to check out Dissidents right now with headphones. MMM….. Thomas on headphones!….MMMMMMM! Thanks for the astute observation Kara., er Kar(m)a
December 8th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
Although one of the most complex and nigh-impossible questions to answer, particularly in one’s youth, is: What Kind Of Music Do You Like?, I can thank Mr. Dolby here for years of allowing me to put on “Dissidents” and let the question be answered thusly.
Of course there’s always room for “Mimi On the Beach” and “Rock Me Amadeus,” but “Dissidents” was/is one of those totally unconscious bull’s-eyes; out of the blue, suddenly adored it. I still play the 12″ sometimes.
When I asked TMDR what on Earth the samples mean (“Ushugomente…ushugomente…”) at an entirely unrelated trade-show in Vancouver in the middle of the rather unfortunate Grunge Era (“O Light Of Intelligent Pop, Where Hast Thou Gone!?”), he replied that it was something he had managed to record from Eastern Europe off his Ham radio.
Cool. (TGAOW, indeed!)
In any case, by the time I croak, tombstones will probably come standard with iPods, and “Dissidents” will be in my top ten there.
Prior to that, thank you, Kara, for your keen mind and research.
Um…bless us, every one…sort of thing. Rock on, tourbus people!
December 29th, 2006 at 11:17 am
I have an autographed LP jacket of the Flat Earth, signed by Mr. Dolby in 1988. I imagine it’s worth more than $10, but I won’t sell. It’s framed and on my wall.
I had bet a friend that the bass on Aliens was cleverly constructed from short samples of a real bass player. A friend said no way–must be a standard straight bass track.
I briefly met Thomas Dolby at an appearance at a Waxie Maxie’s in Northern Virginia and asked him if I was right. Indeed, 4 to 8 bar samples, arranged as needed!
He graciously signed my LP: “Yes, Samples!” Giving me the proof to settle my friendly bet. (Wrong title I know, but an LP takes an autograph better than a CD.)
Thanks Mr. Dolby!
January 4th, 2007 at 3:56 am
Commenting on the bahaviour of the musicians on the orchestra:
I once read that Jon Anderson said that YES went to record their 2nd album along with an orchestra, in 1970.
Jon thought the musicians would get involved in the music, but he said Yes were treated to a total disdain. He said something like: ”the musicians did the session automatically, eager to get out quickly. Those classical musicians are of a diffrent breed, they couldn’t care for other music than the one from the great composers”.
January 4th, 2007 at 4:36 am
Be sure to catch Ken Russell now in Celebrity Big Brother!
Thanks for the story Thomas, it was very entertaining,
Peter
January 12th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Frank Zappa devoted an entire chapter of his 1988 autobiography to bitching about symphony orchestras and their “it’s just a job” attitude.