quentin tarantino

Roy Orbison – The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967)

Roy_fastest_posterIf you are like me, you have lived your entire life unsure as to if Roy Orbison was blind or not.

That being understood, learning that Orbison was cast as a sharp shooting ace in a 1967 MGM Western was a revelation.

The Fastest Guitar Alive tells the tale of Orbison’s Johnny, a Civil War era confederate spy/troubador, singing and shooting his way through a mission to steal some Union gold with his futuristic guitar-rifle.

I’ve read that MGM was so hot to recreate the success that they had with putting Elvis in the movies that they signed his Sun Records peer, Orbison, to a 5 picture deal. 

The deal was quickly rescinded upon the lackluster critical and box-office response to The Fastest Guitar Alive.

Orbison’s lack of on-screen charisma must have been extremely apparent to the Studio, because you will notice that there is not one single line of dialogue from their top billed actor throughout the entire trailer. That has got to be a first.

The soundtrack was a scant 7 songs, but definitely had a few standouts.  “Pistolero,” and the “There Won’t Be Many Coming Home,” which was brilliantly used in Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight.”

Roy Orbison – There Won’t Be Many Coming Home

Giorgio Moroder – Cat People (1982)

CatPeople_ArtNot traversing any uncharted territory here, just spinning some warm Giorgio Moroder vibes to fend off the impending winter.

In 2015, Cat People probably plays like a b-movie to some, but when compared to a true changeling b-movie, like 1981’s The Howling, Cat People is a cut above. A psycho sexual horror flick with some decent acting, and a transformation scene that traumatized my young mind.

The oft celebrated wizardry of Giorgio Moroder expertly heightens the taboo nature of the feline/ incest storyline between Nastassja Kinksi and Malcolm McDowell. I just typed that.

Lately I’ve been all in on “Leopard Tree Dream,” which is one of the more impactful scenes from the movie, where Kinksi and McDowell meet in a dream and discuss their primal and familial roots. This track is essentially a fluid reprise on the main theme, seeing Moroder hop on his flying carpet and build upon his magical synthscape.

As creepy as McDowell’s monologue is during the Dream Sequence in question, it does add some nice texture to Moroder’s track.

It’s somewhat blasphemous to have a post about this soundtrack and not include the David Bowie sung title track, “Cat People (Putting Out The Fire,) but that song has transcended this soundtrack with it’s inclusion on Bowie’s Let’s Dance album and the brilliant usage of the song in Inglorious Bastards.

Leopard Tree Dream – Giorgio Moroder

Paul’s Theme (Jogging Chase) – Giorgio Moroder