AFOS: "Bad Things Come in Threes (Alright, Maybe Not Always)" playlist

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the release of one of my favorite films, Do the Right Thing, so I'm busy putting together something Do the Right Thing-related for the blog. In the meantime, airing tomorrow at 10am and 3pm on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel is the Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series episode "Bad Things Come in Threes (Alright, Maybe Not Always)" (WEB88) from June 18-24, 2007. Every track during WEB88 comes from a threequel like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or Ocean's Thirteen.


1. Hans Zimmer, "Hoist the Colours," Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Walt Disney
2. Ennio Morricone, "Il Buono Il Brutto Il Cattivo (titoli)," Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo, GDM
3. David Holmes, "Not Their Fight," Ocean's Thirteen, Warner Sunset/Warner Bros.
4. David Holmes, "11, 12 & 13," Ocean's Thirteen, Warner Sunset/Warner Bros.
5. Michael Giacchino, "Mission: Impossible Theme," Mission: Impossible III, Varèse Sarabande
6. The Four Tops, "Are You Man Enough?" (from Shaft in Africa), The Best of Shaft, Hip-O
7. Survivor, "Eye of the Tiger" (from Rocky III), Ultimate Survivor, Volcano Heritage
8. Jerry Fielding, "Prologue/Main Title," The Enforcer, Aleph
9. John Williams, "The Pit of Carkoon/Sail Barge Assault," Return of the Jedi, RCA Victor
10. Howard Shore, "The White Tree," The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Reprise/WMG Soundtracks
11. David Holmes, "Snake Eyes," Ocean's Thirteen, Warner Sunset/Warner Bros.
12. John Williams, "Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra," Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Warner Bros.
13. Danny Elfman, "March of the Dead," Army of Darkness, Varèse Sarabande
14. Ennio Morricone, "Il Triello," Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo, GDM
15. Alan Silvestri, "End Titles" (from Back to the Future Part III), Varèse Sarabande: A 25th Anniversary Celebration, Varèse Sarabande

Repeats of A Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series air Wednesdays at 10am and 3pm.

AFOS: "Kids Come Running for the Rich Taste of Samples" playlist

Airing tomorrow at 10am and 3pm Pacific on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel is the Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series episode "Kids Come Running for the Rich Taste of Samples" (WEB87) from February 26-March 4, 2007. The title is a play on the classic MST3K line "Kids come running for the rich taste of Sampo!" In WEB87, I played '70s--and at one particular point, '80s--themes that have been sampled by hip-hop artists and juxtaposed them with the songs that contain those film and TV music samples.


1. Johnny Pate, "Shaft in Africa (Addis)" (from Shaft in Africa), The Best of Shaft, Hip-O
2. Jay-Z, "Show Me What You Got," Kingdom Come, Roc-A-Fella
3. Curtis Mayfield, "Superfly," Superfly: Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition, Curtom/Rhino
4. Beastie Boys, "Egg Man," Paul's Boutique, Capitol
5. Isaac Hayes, "Hung Up on My Baby" (from Three Tough Guys), Double Feature: Music from the Soundtracks of Three Tough Guys & Truck Turner, Stax
6. Geto Boys, "Mind Playing Tricks on Me," We Can't Be Stopped, Rap-A-Lot
7. Shirley Bassey, "Diamonds Are Forever (Main Title)," Diamonds Are Forever, EMI/Capitol
8. Kanye West featuring Jay-Z, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)," Late Registration, Roc-A-Fella
9. Quincy Jones, "The Streetbeater (Sanford & Son Theme)," The Reel Quincy Jones, Hip-O
10. Masta Killa, Ol' Dirty Bastard and RZA, "Old Man," No Said Date, Nature Sounds
11. David Shire, "Main Title," The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Retrograde
12. Mix Master Mike, "Suprize Packidge (Remix)," Suprize Packidge (The Automator Remix), Asphodel
13. Dennis Coffey, "Theme from Black Belt Jones," Do You Pick Your Feet in Poughkeepsie?, Paul Nice Productions
14. Lalo Schifrin, "The Human Fly," Enter the Dragon, Warner Home Video
15. Love Unlimited Orchestra, "Theme from Together Brothers," Funk on Film, Chronicles/PolyGram
16. Stu Phillips, "Knight Rider," NBC: A Soundtrack of Must See TV, TVT

During the ep, I mentioned the time when a Conan O'Brien interview with Drew Barrymore drifted to the topic of TV themes. Viewers found out the frequently sampled Knight Rider theme was one of her favorite TV themes because its groove sounded sexy to her. I said, "Remind me to play the Knight Rider theme for Drew Barrymore if I ever run into her."

Conan likes to make fun of the sappy--and creepy--Charles in Charge theme ("I want Charles in charge of me!"), and on his old show, whenever someone would bring up theme songs, he'd break into a hilariously earnest version of the song that's way too enamored with Scott Baio. Now that he's up in the big leagues, I'm not sure if Conan will allow himself to sing obscure and dorky TV themes anymore, although Will Arnett, who's apparently a huge Mike Post fan, got the chance to resume his Law & Order theme air-guitar bit at the end of his interview Monday night, so that's a good sign.

AFOS: "The Wonderful World of Covers" playlist

Airing this week on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel is the 2007 Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series episode "The Wonderful World of Covers" (WEB91), which contains film and TV theme covers from all over the world, including a slammin' cover of Beyonce's Goldmember track "Work It Out" by the U.K. soul band Speedometer. jim.aquino.com is no longer online, as are all the pre-WEB97 playlists I posted on that site, so I'm reposting each playlist as each pre-WEB97 ep reairs.


1. Speedometer, "Work It Out," This Is Speedometer Vol. II, Blow It Hard
2. Los Straitjackets, "My Heart Will Go On," The Velvet Touch of Los Straitjackets, Yep Roc
3. The Lovejoys, "Streets of San Francisco," And You Don't Stop, Langusta Entertainment
4. Barry Adamson, "The Man with the Golden Arm," The Murky World of Barry Adamson, Mute
5. The Civil Tones, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Theme)," Vodka and Peroxide, Pravda
6. Euroboys, "Enter the Dragon," Jet Age, Sympathy for the Record Industry
7. Laika & the Cosmonauts, "Get Carter," Laika Sex Machine, Yep Roc
8. Green Day, "The Simpsons Theme" (from The Simpsons Movie), Reprise
9. Jimmy Smith, "Walk on the Wild Side," Walk on the Wild Side: Best of the Verve Years, Verve
10. Pressure Cooker, "Space: 1999," I Want to Tell You, Pressure Cooker
11. Triology, "For Love One Can Die," Triology Plays Ennio Morricone, Reverso/BMG Classics/RCA Victor
12. Laika & the Cosmonauts, "Psyko," Laika Sex Machine, Yep Roc
13. The Lovejoys, "Streets of Sao Paulo," And You Don't Stop, Langusta Entertainment
14. Renee Geyer, "Do Your Thing," It's a Man's Man's World, RCA
15. Speedometer, "Work It Out (Beatfanatic remix)," Freestyle Remixed, Freestyle

Repeats of A Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series air Monday night at midnight, Tuesday and Thursday at 4am, 10am, 3pm, 7pm and 11pm, Wednesday night at midnight, and Saturday and Sunday at 7am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.

Five favorite expanded score albums or box sets of 2008

5. Superman: The Music (Film Score Monthly)
This staggering eight-disc set compiles the scores from all four Christopher Reeve Superman movies and contains a beautifully designed mini-book filled with exhaustive liner notes. The expanded discs of the Ken Thorne scores from Supermans II and III were probably the main reason why Superman completists dove into savings that they otherwise reserve for their mortgage payments for their Luthor-owned condos in order to pay for this pricey set ($120!). I never liked Thorne's scores (the orchestra budget in II and III was clearly slashed, so Thorne's rearrangements of John Williams' music sounded tinny and undernourished). For me, the real previously unreleased gem of the set was the disc containing Ron Jones' energetic and underrated music from Ruby-Spears' decent '80s Superman animated series. Jones' Superman cues sound like the cues he later wrote for Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Best of Both Worlds" two-parter, which TNG showrunner Rick Berman reportedly disliked because he preferred the music on his show to sound boring.


4. They Live: 20th Anniversary Edition (AHI)
Obey. Consume. This expanded release of the bluesy score from John Carpenter's sharpest and cleverest post-Thing flick is your God.


3. Blazing Saddles (La-La Land)
The only previous times any of the music from Blazing Saddles was made available were when Elektra/Asylum included three songs from Saddles on the 1978 High Anxiety soundtrack LP and when "I'm Tired" made its CD debut on Rhino's 1998 Warner Bros.: 75 Years of Film Music box set. The release of the cues from John Morris' short but fantastic score to the Mel Brooks classic--another one of my favorite movies--was long overdue. All the major cues are on there, including the Count Basie Orchestra's performance of "April in Paris," which is to black cowboy music what Jay-Z's "Roc Boys (and the Winner Is)..." is to black superhero music.


2. Shaft Anthology: His Big Score and More! (Film Score Monthly)
FSM's Shaft set marked a couple of milestones: the first-ever release of the film versions of Isaac Hayes and J.J. Johnson's score cues from the first Shaft installment (the 1971 Enterprise/Stax soundtrack album was a re-recording) and the CD debut of Gordon Parks' Shaft's Big Score soundtrack. Though the release was actually sent to the pressing plant for manufacturing three weeks before Hayes' death, it ended up being the illest way to honor his memory.


1. Batman: The Animated Series (La-La Land)
Unlike previous superhero cartoon shows, B:TAS didn't recycle the same four or five score cues or repurpose creaky old library music. Shirley Walker, one of the few female composers in the business, and her B:TAS team composed an original score for every episode. Their use of a full orchestra made other animated action shows look like that pathetic El Mariachi musician character who prefers a synthesizer over bandmates. Sadly, Walker didn't live to see the release of her lovingly crafted music from B:TAS (before her death in 2006, only her score from the Mask of the Phantasm spinoff movie was released). She would have been thrilled about La-La Land's two-disc set, which is dedicated to her and compiles scores from 10 B:TAS eps, including Harley Quinn's debut ep, "Joker's Favor" (pictured above). I've been a fan of B:TAS since its 1992 premiere, so I've waited 16 years for a release like this. I never said thank you, La-La Land. And then La-La Land will probably say the following in that Batrasp that sounds like a cross between a whitened-up Keak da Sneak and a Muppet: "And you'll never have to."

New trailer proves movie version of '70s cartoon show Star Trek doesn't look promising

By special guest blogger Sonny Gautier

One of my favorite TV shows is the Saturday morning cartoon Star Trek, which NBC first broadcast in 1973. It aired right after Hanna-Barbera's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids cartoon and followed the adventures of Captain Kirk and the crew of a "starship" called the U.S.S. Enterprise. Their mission was to explore outer space. Along the way, the crew would butt heads with evil Klingon commanders, Orion pirates and dangerous energy cloud monsters.


The captain was bad. I dug that episode when he fought that turkey from the Orion pirate ship over a shipment of medicine for a sick Mr. Spock, his pointy-eared first officer from the planet Vulcan.


The Vulcan soul brother was an even badder dude than Kirk. He could read minds and he was always calm and cool like another hero of mine, John Shaft. When Spock traveled back in time to his childhood on his homeworld, he took down a wild Vulcan tiger by pinching it in the neck, which was some sort of mystical Vulcan ass-whupping move. That was bad. With moves like that, Spock will never die!


I also dug how the ship had a black crewmember manning the switchboard. I especially liked when Lt. Uhura got to be captain for a whole story because all the men from the Enterprise were captured by an all-female planet. Black folks don't often get such high positions of power on TV like Uhura did in that Star Trek episode.


So because I'm a fan of this forgotten cartoon, I was ecstatic about Paramount Pictures' upcoming major motion picture based on Star Trek.

That is until I saw the preview for it.

The movie doesn't look quite right. It doesn't look like the Star Trek I remember.


First of all, who cares about what Kirk and Spock were like as kids? The cartoon already showed us that Spock had a hard life as a mutt on Vulcan. His mama was human, his dad was Vulcan and the other Vulcan kids wanted to beat his ass. Why do we have to be told again how Spock came up? What else do we need to know, man? Can we just cut to the chase and see what the title says they're supposed to be doing, which is exploring space?


Kirk looks too young to be captain. He looks more like a cadet. And what the hell happened to his Orange Kool-Aid-colored hair?


The new Enterprise is too fast a ship now! In the animated show, the Enterprise was never that fast! This will take some getting used to.


Why is Spock trying to pimp-slap Kirk? He never pimp-slapped anybody in the cartoon.


One thing I dig about the preview is Uhura. She looks outta sight! Uhura was the finest sister on Saturday morning TV since Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space. Because Star Trek was a Saturday morning cartoon, I never got to see her in a bra. Now I finally get to. Right on!


Another thing I like is the brief footage of starships at war. The cartoon was never that intense and it never had so many things blow up. Man, I never saw so many ships attack each other like that!


There's not a lot of face-to-face dialogue in the preview. In the cartoon, everyone talked to each other all the time and did it real close to the camera. Real close. And only their eyes and mouths moved.


Where's the orange skinny dude with three arms? Where's the alien cat lady? Where are those forcefield belts that the Enterprise crew wore whenever they walked out into space? It's not Star Trek without them.


Often, a preview isn't really helpful in telling you if the flick is any good or not (that Superfly T.N.T. preview didn't prepare me for how much of a letdown that movie was), so I guess I'll reserve judgment until I see the entire Star Trek movie, which comes out this May. I hope it lives up to the cartoon.

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Sonny Gautier is a new Fistful of Soundtracks listener from Bed-Stuy and he offered to review the new Star Trek trailer for my blog. Due to brain damage caused by exposure to too many Sid and Marty Krofft shows, a then-adolescent Sonny lapsed into a coma in 1974 and didn't wake up until last month, which means he missed the 10 Star Trek feature films and four Trek live-action spinoff shows that followed the cartoon. Because Sonny's only taste of Trek was the Saturday morning version before he slipped into his coma, he didn't know Trek originated as a live-action show until I pointed it out to him via e-mail a couple of hours ago. Because he doesn't want to be laughed at for his mistakes, Sonny has demanded that I remove his post. Yeah right, like I'm gonna remove it. This shit's too funny.

"AFOS A-Go-Go" 11/04/08-11/10/08 playlist

1. Neal Hefti, "The Odd Couple," The Odd Couple, Dot
2. Neal Hefti, "Man Chases Man," The Odd Couple, Dot
3. Neal Hefti, "Batman Theme," Batman, Film Score Monthly
4. Royal Scottish National Orchestra, "Batman (T.V. Theme)," The Batman Trilogy, Varèse Sarabande
5. The Four Tops, "Are You Man Enough?," Shaft in Africa, Hip-O Select/Geffen
6. Levi Stubbs and Chorus, "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space," Little Shop of Horrors, Geffen
7. Ben Taylor, "Dolemite," Dolemite: Special Edition, R N P Muzak
8. W.G. Snuffy Walden, "West Wing Main Title," Music by W.G. Snuffy Walden, Windham Hill
9. W.G. Snuffy Walden, "West Wing Suite," Music by W.G. Snuffy Walden, Windham Hill
10. Sean Callery, "Palmer's Theme" (from 24 episode #118), 24, Varèse Sarabande
11. Bear McCreary featuring Raya Yarbrough, "A Distant Sadness" (from the Battlestar Galactica episode "Occupation"), Battlestar Galactica: Season 3, La-La Land
12. Jerry Goldsmith, "Welcome Aboard, Sir," Air Force One, Varèse Sarabande
13. Brian Tyler, "Ready or Not," Finishing the Game, Brian Tyler
14. Bernard Purdie, "Hap'nin," Lialeh, Light in the Attic
15. Stan Ridgway and Stewart Copeland, "Don't Box Me In," Rumble Fish, A&M
16. Jeff Beal, "Riding Off, Appaloosa End Credits," Appaloosa, Lakeshore
17. Jerry Goldsmith, "Lost in the Wild" (from The Edge), Jerry Goldsmith at 20th Century Fox, Varèse Sarabande
18. Neal Hefti, "End Title," The Odd Couple, Dot

"AFOS A-Go-Go" airs every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday in November (except the week of Thanksgiving) on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel.