A period score, but one with plenty of groovy touches – a masterpiece of 60s film scoring from the great John Addison! Addison's music for the famous Tony Richardson version of Tom Jones is every bit as playful as the images on the screen – with only marginal aesthetics of the period of the story, and instead lots of romping melodies, carried out on horn parts, percussive passages, and even some cool harpsichord bits. Most of the tunes move quite quickly – as does the action on screen – and titles include "Sylvan Misadventures", "Ladies Are Irresistible", "Love Theme From Tom Jones", "Wine & Women", "If He Swing By The String", and "The Squire Steps In". LP, Vinyl record album

Burt Bacharach's fab score to a goofy crime film that starred Peter Sellers, and which features lots of groovy instrumental tunes from Burt, plus a vocal track sung by The Hollies, and even one by Peter Sellers! Titles include "After The Fox", "Italian Fuzz", "Hot Gold", "Tourist Trap", "Bird Bath", and "Love Times 2". LP, Vinyl record album

A great Elmer Bernstein score for this creepy psycho drama! At the best times, the score has the jazzy overtones of Walk On The Wild Side or Man With The Golden Arm – serious and soundtracky to be sure, but with some great work in a drama jazz style that was always Bernstein's best calling card in the picture business. And despite the darkness of the plot, there's actually some nice groovy numbers that have a real 60s go go feel to them – with plenty of swinging horns, and some driving and lively rhythms! Titles include "Birdito", "Party In The Ward", "The Cage", "Seclusion", "Electrotherapy" and "Black Straight-Jacket". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the coolest soundtrack music you'll ever hope to hear – all played by a cat who could equally handle the sitar, guitar, Fender Rhodes, and electronics pictured on the cover! Francois De Roubaix is easily one of our favorite soundtrack composers ever – a French talent at the end of the 60s who never got the same international exposure as some of his countrymen, but who had an ear for odd instrumentation and funky undercurrents that rivals that of Serge Gainsbourg, Michel Colombier, or Jean-Claude Vannier – although we might even be tempted to say that Francois is even more way-out than any of them! This collection really lives up to its "essential" promise – and mixes together weird electronic numbers, bass-heavy funk tracks, jazzy groovers, and lots more – all with arrangements and production that are totally fresh, and which should turn you into the same sort of De Roubaix fanatic that we've been for years. Titles include "Le Samourai", "L'Homme Orchestre", "La Vie A Bord", "Les Caids", "Bataille Navale", "Clara 1939", "Journal De Bord", "Le Rapace", "La Scoumoune", "Dernier Domicile Connu", "Tom/Les Prisonniers", "Adieu L'Ami", and "Far From Dallas". CD

Groovy soundtrack for this 60's international intrique film starring a young Horst Bucholz. Georges Garvarentz wrote and directed the music, with the sort of flair that he brings to the best of projects like these. The stuff's not as funky as his 70's stuff, but it's got a lot of nice moments, with good spy and crime themes to them. Tracks include "Fight At The Turkish Bath", "Bulldozer Leads The Dance", "Surprise Depot", "Man With The Steel Hand", and "Chase On The Calatma Bridge". LP, Vinyl record album

Nude woman on the front, erotic song titles on the back, Swedish name of a composer in the credits – everything you need to make a nice sexy soundtrack! Unfortunately, the bulk of the album is largely orchestral – not bad, mind you, but just not with the kind of eye-popping porno sound that you might expect from the rest of the package. The soundtrack's actually a pretty decent one – with lots of sad strings, some electric bass, and a bit of percussion in the mix – and titles include "Petting Waltz", "Feelings In A Dive", "Strip-Tease Party", "Beguine Erotic", and "Sex Happening". LP, Vinyl record album

What a movie! Bob Hope, Frankie Avalon, and Tuesday Weld on the same screen! But even better, the great Jimmie Haskell handled the music – and he comes up with some excellent touches that make the record groove a bit more than many of its contemporaries. Jimmy contributes some cool instrumental tunes that pop organ, guitars, and drums around other instrumentation – and also brings a nicely syncopated approach to vocal numbers by members of the cast, giving them the punch of some of his work for Reprise at the time. Frankie sings "I'll Take Sweden", "Would Ya Like My Last Name", and "The Bells Keep Ringin"; Tuesday sings "Give It To Me"; and Bob does "Nothing Can Compare With You" over instrumentations that sound a lot like Dean Martin's at the time. Instrumental titles include "Watusi Jo", "Kissin Polka", "I'll Take Sweden", and "The Bells Keep Ringin". LP, Vinyl record album

A weird batch of folksy rock tunes – composed and produced by Harley Hatcher for Sidewalk Enterprises, and sounding a lot more like a Sidewalk or Tower soundtrack than something on RCA. The groups are the usual obscurities that would show up on a Mike Curb soundtrack – pictured on the back cover, but still leaving us to wonder if they really existed at all. Tracks include "Holiday Rider" by The Saturday Revue, "Jailer Let Me Go Home" and "A Hurt In My Heart" by Don Epperson, "Playin Hard To Get" by Billie & Blue, and "Wine Women & Song" by Terry Stafford. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic album from Italian soundtrack genius Ennio Morricone – done for a film titled G-Force, and which deals with jet pilots – but one that moves at a much slinkier pace overall! The tunes here bubble and brew in that early 70s Morricone warmth that we love so much – not the tension of his horror soundtracks, but instead the spacious sounds that he opened on some of his more majestic mondo scores of the time – delivered here with very light strings, floating woodwinds, isolated instrumentation, and slow-stepping piano lines that are really beautiful! The complete charm here is the way in which Morricone can make the music still sound so striking – very different than more common sleepy or romantic modes that are usually at this pace – and instead completely rapturous throughout. There's lots of warm and subtle passages on the album – gently swelling as the tracks move on, occasionally giving way to jazzier numbers, but always retaining the charm of mellow Morricone. Titles include a number of tunes called "Forza G" and "Sospesi Fra Le Nuvole" – with a total of 15 tracks in all! CD

A very nice soundtrack for this obscure film loosely based on the novel by Joyce – clearly a tough task, given the scope of the original book! Myers' score is suitably crazy – with a strange array of orchestral pieces, moving in and out in a "suite" format, and sounding a lot like a Nino Rota soundtrack overall – with plenty of playfully instrumental moments. Titles include "Proteus", "Nestor", "Circe", and "Ithaca". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite soundtracks of all-time!! Piero Piccioni's score for this one is an insane mix of weird grooves, crime jazz, sound effects, and some of the coolest organ riffs you'll ever hear! (At times, we'd swear we were listening to Sun Ra on the keys!) All this fantastic music is the backdrop for an insane film starring Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni that's about a crazy assassin game that's played in the future. If that sounds a bit wild, it is, and the music is in perfect step with the nutty plot. Features the great version of the title theme with vocals by Mina, plus "The Chase", "Spiral Waltz", "The Trap", "Reprieve", "The Pawn", and "Keep Running". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful grooves from the legendary Piero Piccioni – a set that's a great follow-up to some of his famous 60s work – touched with a few more sexy 70s touches than before, but in a way that's still extremely groovy! There's lots of electric piano lines on the set – almost a Stelvio Cipriani vibe at times – but these are mixed with fuller arrangements from Piero, with slinky woodwinds and some great rhythms that extrapolate styles from bossa nova, then go off in all these cool jazzy directions! The music was scored for a documentary of the "mondo" variety, but has a feel that's much more like the best love/sex soundtracks of the time – with titles that include "Katmandu", "Starless Sky", "Inventions", "It's Possible", "Nights To Come", "New Ways To Live", and "Love Will Find A Way". 2LP set features 12 bonus tracks – appearing here for the first time ever! LP, Vinyl record album

A really great pairing of Italian soundtrack talents – the mighty Roberto Pregadio, who gave us the Kriminal and Satanik records – and the great Franco Micalizzi, who served up lots of funky cop/crime grooves in the 70s! This obscure western is scored with a flair that really seems to bring out the best of both composers – modes that are very special, and which move far past any cliches or expectations you might have about the genre! There's some nicely fragile songs that have a surprising amount of power – mixed with bolder passages that almost feel more like they were penned for a contemporary story instead of a western – all wrapped together with really beautiful sound, and just a bit of guest vocals from I Cantori Moderni. Titles include "Fiesta En El Pueblo", "Ballata Per Un Pistolero", "Senza Scampo", "Fiato Sospeso", "Corral De La Moreria", and "Giardini Viennesi". LP, Vinyl record album

A really beautiful little set of tracks – music composed to accompany vintage porn films from the 70s – played to perfection by the great Alex Puddu! The story behind the project is great – a friend was involved in rescuing and issuing rare porn from the underground – most of which no longer had any sort of soundtrack. Puddu was called in because of his skills with vintage-styled grooves – and stepped up perfectly with the sweet instrumentals you'll hear in this wet – tracks that are heavy on sweet keyboards, slinky basslines, and funky guitars – often served up with tighter, funkier styles than you'd hear in the original films – even though the overall sound is still very vintage. There's lots of Fender Rhodes on the set – and titles include "Hot Mouth", "Horny At The Office", "Boys & Girls & Danish Hot Dogs", "She Wants It Black", "After Party", and "Bad Love". (Deep Funk, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly our favorite Shorty Rogers album ever – an incredible soundtrack that's unlike most of his other work of the time! The record features Shorty's score for the film Tarzan The Ape Man (and a cover that has Shorty being carried in the arms of same!) – and as you might guess from the setting, there's a heck of a lot of drums on the album – a highly rhythmic, junglistic approach that's carried off by 5 drummers who are clearly using a lot of Latin percussion too. Shorty tops them off with a great horn sextion that includes Don Fagerquist, Buddy Childers, Bud Shank, Frank Rosolino, Bill Perkins, Bob Cooper, and Bill Holman – and the reed players really make for the best moments on the set – stepping out in snakey lines that complement the driving rhythms nicely, all pushed along their path by the rest of the horns. The record's got a blasting, savage quality that's really great – jungle jazz at its best, and carried off perfectly throughout! Side two features the extended "Tarzanic Suite" – and other tracks include "The Elephants Wail", "Los Barbaros", "Paradise Found", and "Trapped". (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the weirder biker soundtracks you'll ever hear – featuring half vocal numbers sung by 60s folk singer Randy Sparks, half instrumentals written by Jim Helms. Sparks' style has evolved here a lot since his earlier work – taking on a hippy dippy approach that was certainly an attempt to be down with the kids, but which gets a bit too dippy, and not enough hippy for our tastes. The Helms instrumentals are the best – with some punchy drums, and nice touches of organ and guitar to keep things moving along in a very cool way. Titles include "By Force", "Chopper Charley & Motoguzzi Molly", "Borasca", "Scrambler's Theme", "Bemusement", and "Mandy, How's The World". LP, Vinyl record album

Tangerine Dream's incredible, synthy soundtrack to Thief – which is one of the coolest crime flicks ever made in the City Of Chicago – and as great as director Michael Mann and star James Caan are, the soundtrack has a lot to do with that! The droning synth and guitar sound sets the mood in an icy cool way, and the album also stands really strongly on it's own, as one the coolest sets of electro rock instrumentals of the early 80s. Includes "Beach Theme", "Dr. Destructo", "Diamond Diary", "Burning Bar", "Beach Scene", "Scrapyard", "Trap Feeling", "Igneous" and "Confrontation". LP, Vinyl record album

A tasty collection of cuts from Italian 70s police thrillers – written and performed by the likes of Goblin, Stelvio Cipriani, Paolo Vasile, and Franco Bixio. Most of the cuts are lifted from soundtracks that have been reissued on Cinevox on CD – and the overall groove is a mix of guitars, keyboards, and lots of tight funky riffing – the kind of sounds you'd expect to hear behind a fashionable cop in 70s Rome! Titles include "Mark Il Poliziotto", "La Polizia Ha Le Mani Legate", "La Via Della Droga", "Controrapina", "Vai Gorilla", "Trumpet's Flight", "A Pugni Nudi", "Il Giorno Del Cobra", and "Notturno". 13 tracks in all! (Funky Compilations, Soundtracks) CD