Michael Kamen - Bicycle Blues

Artist: Michael Kamen

Song: Bicycle Blues

Album: Let Him Have It

A spare, difficult score for a spare, difficult film about the murder of a British policeman by teenagers in the 1950s, and the resulting catastrophic trial that resulted. Kamen has deliberately kept the musical elements as minimal as possible, which works in the context of the film, if not in the context of a soundtrack album. ~ Steven McDonald, All Music Guide

but the original song is Bicycle Boogie, by Bob Gaddy and Friends (1952)...

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Kamen at IMDB

HAL 9000 - Daisy Bell

Artist: HAL 9000

Song: Daisy Bell

HAL 9000 is the sentient on-board computer of the Discovery One spacecraft in Arthur C. Clarke's fictional Space Odyssey saga.

HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey

(…) When HAL's logic is completely gone, he begins singing the song "Daisy Bell".

"Daisy Bell" was composed by Harry Dacre in 1892. In 1961, the IBM 7094 became the first computer to sing, singing the song Daisy Bell. Vocals were programmed by John Kelly and Carol Lockbaum and the accompaniment was programmed by Max Mathews. This performance was the inspiration for a similar scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Danny Elfman - Stolen Bike

Artist: Danny Elfman

Song: Stolen Bike

Album: Theme From Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

This fantastic theme fits perfectly with the whimsical, classic tale of a boy and his bike. Madcap and iconic work by Danny Elfman for anyone who ever truly loved their bike as a best friend.

Danny Elfman was originally the frontman of art punk band Oingo Boingo, who had a hit with the title song to the movie Weird Science. Later he became better known as the guy who wrote the theme to The Simpsons, as well as composing soundtracks for many other popular TV shows and films. The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo were formed as a musical theatre group in 1972 by Richard Elfman, before they became the influential new wave band known simply as Oingo Boingo, fronted by Richard's younger brother Danny. They were best known commercially for their hit song "Weird Science", from the film of the same name and their fourth album Dead Man's Party. Boingo broke up in 1995, but Danny Elfman was already well on his way to becoming a popular and acclaimed film composer, working closely with many famous film directors most notably Tim Burton (…)

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Various Artists - American Flyers

Artist: Various Artists
Album: American Flyers (1985) original soundtrack

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This soundtrack is impossible to find, as it was originally released on the GNP label in Vinyl only. It contains mostly up-tempo score by Greg Mathieson and Lee Ritenour, with some rock songs as well. In recent years a high-quality CD-R has appeared in underground circles, but if you can find it in either iteration, it's worth a listen for fans of the movie, or up-tempo instrumental rock music from the 1980's, interspersed with some good heartland-rock music from that era that doesn't match-up with the score at all, but none the less fit the movie well. Here are the tracks by listing:

1. American Flyers - A vocal cut by Glenn Shorrock that fits a rock/country feel and sets up the songs on the album well.
2. Traveling Music - A Mathieson/Ritenour tune with guitar and brass
3. Brand New Day - Really nice uplifting vocal song by Danny Hutton. Of all the (new) songs on the album, I like this one most. It makes me want to get out on my bike and just go!
4. Gone Ridin' - Good vocal track from a young Chris Issak. Fans of Chris may not be too familiar with this early song of his.
5. Bad Moon Rising - Classic CCR tune, I'm sure you know it well.
6. Brothers' Theme, Pt. 1 - Nice quiet instrumental with Ritenaur guitar.
7. 'j' Factor - Very short (1 min) synth cut build-up.
8. Theme from American Flyers (Hell of the West) - Much like an opening title theme, contains the theme by Mathieson & Ritenour
8b. Breakaway - Missing from Amazon's listing is the epic by Mathieson & Ritenour which is some active and changing rock music that really fit well on screen, and offers a great listen.
9. Brothers' Theme, Pt. 2 - Reprisal of the first theme, only a little more electric.
10. Treadmill - The most dated and peculiar cut, with sampled voices breathing, with the brassy theme played on top of heavy sampled drums.
11. Epilogue (Third Race) - A lot like end titles, it mixes the brassy theme with Ritenour's guitar into one complete piece.

All in all, while this album is somewhat dated, I think to this date I haven't really heard anything quite like it. The uptempo instrumental cuts are quite good and make for good workout music - it's kind of a shame that Ritenour and Mathieson didn't work together much again, and scored no more films. Add to that, the songs are good too.

Chris Isaak - Gone Ridin'

Artist: Chris Isaak

Song: Gone Ridin’

Album: Silvertone (1985)

The rock and roll singer-songwriter, musician and actor, Chris Isaak was born in California in 1956. Although he has touched on many styles over his career, he is best known for his rich vocal style, as heard on his single "Wicked Game".

He released his debut album Silvertone in 1985, it was a low key success, brought to greater attention when the track "Gone Ridin'" was used by Director David Lynch in the film Blue Velvet. This would be the first of many Isaak/Lynch collaborations.

The single "Wicked Game" from Isaak's third album 1989's Heart Shaped World took him into the top 10, while the video for the single won three MTV awards. The track was used by David Lynch in his film Wild at Heart and Stanley Kubrick used the track "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing" in his film Eyes Wide Shut.

Along with Isaak's album releases he has taken on roles in the films Little Buddha, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and Silence of the Lambs. He has also appeared in the TV shows Friends and The Chris Isaak Show, where he plays himself.

Chris Isaak's debut album, Silvertone, named after his three-piece backup group, sets the pattern for his subsequent albums in its meticulously constructed retro sound. Isaak enters a time machine and emerges around 1960, when Roy Orbison is ruling the charts with his melodramatic ballads and Elvis Presley has just returned from the Army. Of course, what passed for a style 25 years before is in Isaak's hands stylization, and when he wails in an Orbison falsetto of romantic desperation, then does a flat, -Presley-like recitation in the album-closing "Western Stars," it all seems over the top. But he is just about sincere enough to pull it off, and James Calvin Wesley is a strong enough guitarist to keep the arrangements on track. So, to the extent that you can resist the "Is this guy kidding?" impression, the music is appealing.

In feature film American Flyers this song is used to score scene which shows protagonists training on bikes on way to a big race.

Well the moon is on the highway, darkness fills the sky.
As long as I keep driving, I know that I won't die.
And I'm gone, gone, gone.
Gone Ridin'.
Well I broke up with my baby, told myself I won't cry.
Broke up with my baby, told myself a lie.
And I'm gone, gone, gone.
Gone Ridin'.
Get gone Cal.
Well the moon is on the highway, darkness fills the sky.
As long as I keep driving, I know that I won't die.
And I'm gone, gone, gone.
Gone Ridin'.
Gone Ridin'.

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Yann Tiersen - La Dispute

Artist: Yann Tiersen
Song: La Dispute
Album: Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)

With his whimsical, melancholy music, Yann Tiersen has become a sought-after composer, not only for his soundtrack work, but in his own right. Borrowing from French folk music, chanson, musette waltz and street music, as well as rock, avant-garde, and classical and minimalist influences, Tiersen's deceptively simple style has been likened to Chopin, Erik Satie, Philip Glass, and Michael Nyman. The Paris-based composer became popular outside his native country for his score to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie, but like most seemingly overnight successes, he had been working for years before the film's success brought him international acclaim. Born in Brest in Brittany, on June 23, 1970, Tiersen was raised in Rennes and made a name for himself as one of the star pupils at his local conservatory (despite middling academic grades). Tiersen studied violin and piano from the ages of six to 14, and eventually trained to be a conductor. However, Tiersen rebelled against his classical training and, inspired by the likes of Joy Division and the Stooges, played guitar with several local post-punk-influenced bands during his later teenage years. At the same time, Tiersen was also composing soundtracks for short films and accompaniment for plays. Several of these pieces ended up on his first album, Valse des Monstres, in 1995 and introduced his delicate but deeply emotional style, and which also featured intricate arrangements incorporating instruments as varied as toy piano, banjo, harpsichord, melodica, and carillon, as well as piano and guitar. …. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Scores scene in which older man recalls biking contests in youth.
Incorporates sound of a spinning bike wheel and layered lyrics.

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[excerpt translated from French] I go to work every day on my old
bicycle you loved... it's the same circle that leads to nowhere and I'm tired...

Irving Berlin - A Couple Of Swells

Artist: Irving Berlin

Song: A Couple Of Swells

Album: Easter Parade - OST (1947)

Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was an American composer and lyricist widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history.

This “buddy song” was 1st recorded by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney for the musical Easter Parade, but covered many times. A stanza regrets not having a bicycle.

Easter Parade is a 1948 musical film starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. It features music by Irving Berlin, including some of Astaire and Garland's best-known songs, such as "Steppin' Out With My Baby" and "We're a Couple of Swells."
The film won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. It also received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical. It was the most successful picture of Astaire's career and it was the highest-grossing musical of the year.

We're a couple of swells
We stop at the best hotels
But we prefer the country far away from the city smells
We're a couple of sports
The pride of the tennis courts
In June, July and August we look cute when we're dressed in shorts
The Vanderbilts have asked us up for tea
We don't know how to get there, no siree
No, siree
We would drive up the Avenue, but we haven't got the price
We would skate up the Avenue, but there isn't any ice
We would ride on a bicycle, but we haven't got a bike
So we'll walk up the Avenue
Yes, we'll walk up the Avenue
And to walk up the Avenue's what we like

Wall Street bankers are we
With plenty of currency
We'd open up the safe but we forgot where we put the key
We're the favorite lads
Of girls in the picture ads
We'd like to tell you who we kissed last night but we can't be cads
The Vanderbilts are waiting at the club
But how are we to get there, that's the rub
That's the rub

We would sail up the Avenue, but we haven't got a yacht
We would drive up the Avenue, but the horse we had was shot
We would ride on a trolley car but we haven't got the fare
So we'll walk up the Avenue
Yes, we'll walk up the Avenue
Yes, we'll walk up the Avenue till we're there

We would swim up the Avenue but we haven't any lake
So we'll walk up the Avenue
Yes, we'll walk up the Avenue
Yes, a walk up the Avenue's what we'll take

Luis Enriquez Bacalov - Bicycle (Bicicletta)

Artist: Luis Enriquez Bacalov

Song: Bicycle (Bicicletta)

Album: The Postman – Original Soundtrack (1995)

The Postman is the soundtrack of the 1994 Academy Award-winning film The Postman (original title: Il Postino). The original score was composed by Luis Enríquez Bacalov.

The album won the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.

Romantic, charming, yet simple and poignant is the main theme from the Postman. As if that weren't beautiful enough, it is also recorded in various arrangements (harpsichord and string, for one, anda guitar and bandoneon versio). All are delightful!

What was also a pleasant surprise was the poetry recitals on the CD (these were not actually in the movie). I found myself repeatedly listening to Morning by Sting and to Poetry by Miranda Richardson. Much of the music is accompanied by the beautiful themes of the movie, too. Perhaps the greatest consequence of the CD was that it led me to Neruda's Poetry (love sonnets, odes). The poetry on the disc is just the surface. Did you know Neruda won the Nobel Prize for his beautiful poetry in 1971?

Musically and poetically, this CD is a must-have.

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