As Leslie Nielson passes at the spritely age of just 84, we take a moment to remember the comic brilliance and the legend that was behind Police Squad, Airplane & Naked Gun. Not to mention appearances in Forbidden Planet, Ransom, The Poseidon Adventure & The Untouchables. One of my all time favourite comedians, he will be sadly missed. All I can say now is thank you for being such a great inspiration.

UK's top 100 Movie Themes-No.'s 40-1

As promised, the last forty of the top 100 voted for movie themes courtesy of Pearl & Dean. Swooping into the top spot, Ravel's Bolero suprised us all!

1. 10 - Ravel's Bolero (Maurice Ravel)
2. 633 Squadron (Ron Goodwin)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Richard Strauss)
4. Back To The Future (Alan Silvestri)
5. 28 Days Later (John Murphy)
6. A Bridge Too Far (John Addison)
7. A Fistful of Dollars (Ennio Morricone)
8. Star Wars: A New Hope (John Williams)
9. 1492: Conquest of Paradise (Vangelis)
10. Chariots of Fire (Vangelis)
11. 300 (Tyler Bates)
12. Apocalypse Now (Richard Wagner)
13. Raiders Of The Lost Ark (John Williams)
14. Superman (John Williams)
15. Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr.)
16. A Clockwork Orange (Beethoven arr. Carlos)
17. Beverly Hills Cop (Harold Faltermeyer
18. Ghost (Alex North)
19. Breakfast At Tiffany's (Henry Mancini)
20. Jaws (John Williams)
21. A Star Is Born (Paul Williams, Barbra Streisand)
22. American Beauty (Thomas Newman)
23. A View To A Kill (John Barry)
24. Gladiator (Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard)
25. 1941 (John Williams)
26. The Dam Busters (Eric Coates)
27. 55 Days At Peking (Dimitri Tiomkin)
28. Jurassic Park (John Williams)
29. The Great Escape (Elmer Bernstein)
30. You Only Live Twice (John Barry, Leslie Bricusse)
31. Zorba The Greek (Mikis Theodorakis)
32. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (Ennio Morricone)
33. Titanic (James Horner)
34. Amelie (Yann Tiersen)
35. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)
36. Doctor Zhivago (Maurice Jarre)
37. Pulp Fiction (Nick Roubanis arr Dick Dale)
38. Alfie (Burt Bacharach)
39. Dr. No - The James Bond Theme (Monty Norman)
40. A Summer Place (Max Steiner)

UK's top 100 Movie Themes-No.'s 60-41

As promised, the next twenty of the top 100 voted for movie themes courtesy of Pearl & Dean. The famous tune associated with Pearl & Dean, "Asteroid", was re-recorded at Abbey Road studios in 2002, conducted by the composer, Pete Moore, pictured above.

41. Bend It Like Beckham (Puccini)
42. Austin Powers (Soul Bossa Nova) (Quincy Jones)
43. Battle Of Britain (Ron Goodwin)
44. Top Gun (Harold Faltermeyer)
45. Batman (Danny Elfman
46. Born Free (John Barry, Don Black)
47. Schindler's List (John Williams)
48. Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (Burt Bacharach, Hal David)
49. Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney )
50. War Of The Worlds (John Williams)
51. A Room With A View (Puccini)
52. The Magnificent Seven (Elmer Bernstein)
53. Deliverance (Eric Weissberg, Steve Mandel)
54. M.A.S.H. (Johnny Mandel)
55. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone (John Williams)
56. Lawrence Of Arabia (Maurice Jarre)
57. Platoon - Adagio For Strings (Samuel Barber)
58. Shaft (Isaac Hayes)
59. E.T. The ExtraTerrestrial (John Williams)
60. Edward Scissorhands (Danny Elfman)

The album "Pearl & Dean Presents The Nation's Favourite Movie Themes" is available exclusively from Amazon

UK's top 100 Movie Themes-No.'s 80-61

The Nation's Favourite Movie Themes

As voted for on the Pearl & Dean website:

61. Rocky III (Sullivan / Peterik)
62. Dances With Wolves (John Barry)
63. Goldfinger (John Barry)
64. Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Klaus Badelt)
65. Armageddon (Trevor Rabin)
66. Casablanca (Herman Hupfeld)
67. A Nightmare On Elm Street (Charles Bernstein)
68. Beetlejuice (Danny Elfman)
69. Love Story (Francis Lai)
70. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Ryuichi Sakamoto)
71. The Deer Hunter (Stanley Myers)
72. Blade Runner (Vangelis)
73. Halloween (John Carpenter)
74. The Godfather (Nino Rota)
75. A Man And A Woman (Un Homme et Une Femme) (Francis Lai)
76. A Shot In The Dark (Henry Mancini)
77. Diamonds Are Forever (John Barry, Don Black)
78. The Exorcist - Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield)
79. Alice In Wonderland (Danny Elfman)
80. Alien (Jerry Goldsmith)

UK's top 100 Movie Themes-No.'s100-81

With Pearl & Dean's "The Nation's Favourite Movie Themes" released this coming Monday the 22nd of November, it is time to reveal the results of their national poll of the UK's top film themes as voted for by the great British public. The album is available exclusively through Amazon and has been compiled from votes cast on over a thousand pieces of music. Here, in voting order (which is not how the tracks are listed on the CD incidentally) are numbers 100 down to 81. Tomorrow will reveal numbers 79 to 60, and so on until Friday, when the top 40 will be published.

81. Where Eagles Dare (Ron Goodwin)
82. Avatar (James Horner)
83. Gone With The Wind (Max Steiner)
84. Saving Private Ryan (John Williams)
85. The Bridge On The River Kwai (Kenneth Alford)
86. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (Howard Shore)
87. The Pink Panther (Henry Mancini)
88. Zulu (John Barry)
89. The Spy Who Loved Me (Marvin Hamlisch, Carole Bayer Sager)
90. Midnight Cowboy (John Barry)
91. The Italian Job (Quincy Jones, Don Black)
92. The Terminator (Brad Fiedel)
93. A Few Good Men (Marc Shaiman)
94. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (John Williams)
95. Rocky (Bill Conti)
96. Star Trek (Michael Giacchino)
97. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (Howard Shore)
98. Aliens (James Horner)
99. Braveheart (James Horner)
100. The Last of the Mohicans (Trevor Jones)

Doctor Who Series 4 - The Specials - IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

It’s come to our attention that the iTunes version of Doctor Who Series 4 -The Specials in the US and Canada has a fault on Disc 1 Track 9 (Greats of Past Time). iTunes have been made aware of the problem and are currently working on fixing the audio. In the meantime if you have already purchased the album, here is a link to the track:

http://www.silvascreengroup.com/greatsofpasttime_fix.zip

Francis Lai - New Release

Yes, you heard it here first folks: Silva Screen is releasing FRANCIS LAI - THE ESSENTIAL FILM MUSIC COLLECTION and seeing as it is some of the most romantic film music ever written, what better time than February to release it, just in time for Valentine's day?

1. 13 Jours en France
Theme from the 1968 Claude Lelouch/Francois Reichenbach documentary about the Grenoble Olympics. Aka ‘Challenge in the Snow’.

2. Bilitis
Theme from the 1977 David Hamilton film about a young woman’s summer of self discovery. Starred Patti D’Arbanville.

3. Concerto Pour la Fin d’Un Amour
Based on a theme from the 1969 Claude Lelouch film ‘Un Homme Une Me Plait’, originally featured on the 1971 album ‘Francis Lai Joue Francis Lai’.

4. Emmanuelle II
Theme from the second film in the erotic franchise starring Sylvia Kristel… Also known as ‘Emmanuelle: Antivierge’ or ‘Anti-Virgin’.

5. Ballet Apocalypse
Theme from Lai-scored segment of Claude Lelouch’s musical odyssey ‘Les Uns et Les Autres’ which spanned forty years of life in France, set to and about music.

6. Folies Bergéres
Second theme from another musical sequence within Claude Lelouch’s spawling epic ‘Les Uns et Les Autres’…

7. Itinéraire d’Un Enfant Gâté
Theme from the 1988 Claude Lelouch drama starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Richard Anconina.

8. La Belle Histoire
Lai goes Latin for this bizarre Claude Lelouch film from 1992 in which the lives, loves and losses of several characters are portrayed in tandem with those of their former incarnations during the time of Christ.

9. La Course du Lièvre á Travers Les Champs
This oddball caper film from René Clement saw Robert Ryan in one of his final roles alongside Tisa Farrow (sister of Mia)

10. Le Lecon Particuliere
Yet more extra-marital angst as Nathalie Delon stars as a married woman who becomes entangled in a love affair with a teenage boy.

11. Le Genre Humain
A return to form for Lai and Lelouch, as they revisit themes and colours from their earlier work. Aka ‘Le Courage d’Amour’.

12. Le Passager de la Pluie
Charles Bronson stars in this René Clement thriller about a US Army Colonel on the case of a ruthless sex attacker. Aka ‘Rider On The Rain’.

13. Les Etoiles du Cinéma
This theme was penned to accompany a weekly film segment on French television channel FR3.

14. Les Misérables
Claude Lelouch takes on Victor Hugo’s original story alongside that of a modern day man influenced by the famous tale of Jean Valjean.

15. Les Ripoux
Director Claude Zidi’s film about a ‘Bad Cop’ who makes good when he’s given a new partner to keep him in line.

16. Pour L’amour de Tes Yeux Noirs
Theme from 1987 romantic drama by Nikita Mikhalkov which sees Marcello Mastroianni star as a man retelling his tale of love to a fellow passenger on board ship.

17. Love Story
Lai’s now legendary theme for ‘the’ Hollywood romance of the 1970s… Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal star as the young lovers overcoming the odds and familial prejudices to be together.

18. Mayerling
Terence Young’s 1968 take on the famous ‘murder-suicide’ story concerning Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his lover, Baroness Mary Vetsera, who were found dead together at the royal family’s hunting lodge in 1889. Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve star.

19. Un Homme et Une Femme
This light, easy pop theme has become one of Lai’s most famous and it was his first for a major film. The music serves the almost wordless story of ‘A Man and a Woman’, who find each other but can’t love each other, perfectly.

20. Vivre Pour Vivre
A love story, albeit another affair, framed by the events of the Vietnam War. Yves Montand stars as the womanising War reporter, alongside a young Candice Bergen.