Monday, January 31, 2011

John Barry, James Bond theme composer, 1933-2011

The composer of one of the most memorable and enduring movie themes has died. John Barry, who wrote the James Bond theme and won five Oscars for his film music, passed away on January 30.

"I think James Bond would have been far less cool without John Barry holding his hand," fellow Bond composer David Arnold told BBC Radio. Barry's influence extended beyond the world of film scores; the Godfathers included an instrumental track named for him and in his style on their debut Hit by Hit, and David Gedge cited Barry as an inspiration for his Wedding Present offshoot Cinerama.

The Billboard obituary includes his James Bond music. The Internet Movie Database has more information about his numerous awards.

For just a small sampling of our library holdings, see:

The best of James Bond: 30th anniversary limited edition

CD 9464-9465

Goldfinger: original motion picture soundtrack
CD 21979

James Bond 007 collection
MP1527.4 .J35 2001

Friday, January 28, 2011

Mike Watt on the value of libraries

The Minutemen were a band that knew and cared about history. As Mike Azerrad reported in Our Band Could Be Your Life, the band took its name not only from the Revolutionary War militia but also a 1960s right-wing reactionary group, contrary to the legend that it was because each of their songs was a minute long.

In this trailer for a documentary about the 1980s California punk scene, Minuteman bassist Mike Watt describes being on the road with the band and pulling over at a library to settle an argument about which king had been excommunicated. (The segment starts at 1:10.)



These days, Watt is playing bass with the reunited Stooges and touring on his own. See and hear him at work with the Minutemen on their classic album Double Nickels on the Dime and in the documentary We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutmen.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Welcome

Welcome to 2011, the spring semester and Stan Getz Library blog.

We have a few goals with the blog for our readers: to share news about library-related events, to point out specific library resources, and to just generally talk about music because it's one of our favorite things to talk about.

Here's a link to get started.

Top Ten Ways to Make Your Band an Epic Fail in 2011

Berklee will teach you how to be a talented musician. But being a talented musician and a successful are two different things. This article spells out a lot of the basics of the business of a band, which is separate from developing your chops.