#Original 1987 Motion Picture Soundtrack

[darktripz]

JON McCALLUM - SURF NAZIS MUST DIE - Original 1987 Motion Picture Soundtrack

[vinyl-cassette-and-cds]

Posting this because I wanted to post some better pictures than the first set I posted.

[nubluv]

🎃 кєєρ уσυя fυя вαвιєѕ ѕαfє

[the-hottest-band-tournament]

Round Two

Black Flag 

Defeated opponents: The Cockroaches

Formed in: 1976

Genres: Hardcore punk

Lineup: Henry Rollins – lead vocals

Greg Ginn – guitars

Kira Roessler – bass, backing vocals

Bill Stevenson – drums

Albums from the 80s:

Damaged (1981)

My War (1984)

Family Man (1984)

Slip it In (1984)

Loose Nut (1985)

In My Head (1985)

Propaganda: 

Oingo Boingo 

Defeated opponents: Stryper

Formed in: 1979

Genres: New wave, pop

Lineup: Danny Elfman – vocals, rhythm guitar

John Avila – bass guitars, vocals

Steve Bartek – guitars

Mike Bacich – keyboards

John Hernandez – drums, percussion

Sam Phipps – tenor saxophone

Leon Schneiderman – baritone saxophone, alto saxophone

Dale Turner – trumpet, trombone

Albums from the 80s:

Oingo Boingo EP (1980)

Only a Lad (1981)

Nothing to Fear (1982)

Forbidden Zone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1983)

Good for Your Soul (1983)

So-Lo (1984)

Dead Man's Party (1985)

Boi-ngo (1987)

Boingo Alive (1988)

The Best of Oingo Boingo: Skeletons in the Closet (1989)

Propaganda: 

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Rhapsody in Blue · Gary Graffman · New York Philharmonic Orchestra George Gershwin · Zubin Mehta Manhattan: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ℗ 1979 Sony Music Entertainment Released on: 1987-02-03

+

Song of the Day - “Rhapsody In Blue”

Today is the 100th anniversary of the premiere of George Gershwin’s masterpiece “Rhapsody In Blue” - February 12th, 1924.

This much-anticipated concert, on a snowy afternoon at Aeolian Hall inn Manhattan, was called "An Experiment in Modern Music”. It was performed by Gershwin himself on the piano, backed up by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra.

This exquisite piece, the quintessential blending of classical music and Jazz, was a perfect reflection of New York City, and really of America, being, as Gershwin put it, "a musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, our unduplicated national pep, our blues, our metropolitan madness.”

For me, it never gets old... and while this original version is obviously special, my favorite version of it is Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic with Gary Graffman on the piano recorded for the soundtrack of Woody Allen's “Manhattan”… perfection….

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

[duranduratulsa]

On the turntable today...

Freddy's Greatest Hits by The Elm Street Group featuring Freddy Krueger Robert Barton Englund (1988)

Are You Ready For Freddy? by Fat Boys featuring Robert Englund & Heather Langenkamp (1988) (12" Single)

Dream Warriors by Dokken (1987) (12" Single) Autographed by Don Dokken, George Lynch and Jeff Pilson

Working Girl Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1988)

Roll With It by Steve Winwood (1988)

#elmstreetgroup #freddy #freddykrueger #robertenglund #freddysgreatesthits #fatboys #areyoureadyforfreddy #heatherlangenkamp #anightmareonelmstreet4thedreammaster #Dokken #dreamwarriors #anightmareonelmstreet3dreamwarriors #workinggirl #stevewinwood #rollwithit #80s #records #album #lp #12inch #12inchvinyl #vinylrecords #vinyl #autograph #dondokken #georgelynch #JeffPilson

[thriftstorerecords]

Surfin’ Bird b/w My Beach Pee-Wee Herman Columbia Records/USA (1987)

From the Original Soundtrack of the Paramount Motion Picture BACK TO THE BEACH

[rhapsodynew]

UCR News has published all the albums that will be released in May and later!

Stay with us and you won't miss these new items! 🤘

See below 👇

🔥MAY

3 .05

• Indigo Girls, Glitter & Doom – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• Maurice White [Earth Wind and Fire] – Manifestation: Deluxe Edition

• Melanie – Central Park 1974 (2CD set)

• The Yardbirds – The Ultimate Live at the BBC (4CD box)

• Various artists – Holland-Dozier-Holland: Detroit 1969-1977 (4CD box)

10.05

• John Entwistle [The Who], John Entwistle – The Ox Box Set (6CD box)

• Kings of Leon – Can We Please Have Fun

Peter Gabriel, Back to Front – Live in London (Blu-ray)

• Queen – Queen Rock Montreal (2CD/3LP)

• Sebastian Bach [Skid Row], Child Within the Man – The Staple Singers, Africa ’80

17 .05

• Collective Soul, Here to Eternity

Don McLean, American Boys

Joe Bonamassa – Live at the Hollywood Bowl With Orchestra (CD/DVD set)

• John Oates, Reunion

Kerry King [Slayer], From Hell I Rise

Little Feat, Sam's Place

Oliver Wakeman [Yes], Anam Cara

Pink Floyd – Animals 2018 Remix: Dolby Atmos (Blu-ray/digital)

• Robin Trower – Bridge of Sighs (4CD 50th anniversary edition)

• Slash – Orgy of the Damned

• Various artists – Long Distance Love: A Sweet Relief Tribute to Lowell George (Elvis Costello, Ben Harper, Dave Alvin, others)

24.05

• Lenny Kravitz, Blue Electric Light

Paul Weller, 66

Michael Shrieve [Santana] – Drums of Compassion

• Rainbow – Boston 1981

• Yes – Talk (expanded 4CD anniversary reissue)

31.05

• Anthony Phillips [Genesis] – The Golden Hour: Private Parts and Pieces XII

• Black Sabbath – Anno Domini 1989-1995 (4CD box)

• Crowded House – Gravity Stairs

• Enuff Z'nuff, The 1987 Demos

Howard Jones – Human's Lib; Dream Into Action (CD and Blu-ray reissues)

• Iron Butterfly – Live at the Galaxy 1967

• The Rascals – It's Wonderful: The Atlantic Studio Recordings (7CD box)

• Ratt – Rarities

• R.E.M. – Fables of the Reconstruction (vinyl reissue)

• Richard Thompson, Ship to Shore

Ringo Starr – Crooked Boy (black vinyl/compact disc EP release)

• Squackett [Chris Squire and Steve Hackett] – A Life Within a Day (CD and Blu-ray reissue)

• Various artists – No Songs Tomorrow: Darkwave, Ethereal Rock and Cold Wave 1981-1990 (4CD box with the Cure, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, Soft Cell, others)

JUNE AND LATER 🔥

• Bon Jovi – Forever

• Loverboy – Live in ’82 (CD/Blu-ray)

• Robert Hunter [Grateful Dead] – "Tales of the Great Rum Lovers" (2 CD deluxe edition)

• Black Country Communion – V

• David Bowie – Rock and Roll Star (5CD/Blu-ray box)

• Grateful Dead – Mars Hotel: a gift edition dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the band.

• Jethro Tull – Bursting Out: The Inflated Edition (extended 3CD/3DVD reissue)

• Phish – Evolve

• Jackson Browne – For Everyman (reissue on vinyl)

[zaiden327]

超極私的GOTH ALBUM 10選

POiSON GiRL FRiEND「Love Me」1994

音楽家というより自分にとって火とか水みたいな存在。生きてるうちにこういう感じになれたらいい。インタビューで尊敬してる人は？って聞かれて伏し目がちに「ジョン・ライドン」って言ってて、わかるわって思った。ノリコさんのブログの、倦怠と憂鬱、でも満たされてる感、そして自己承認欲求がごちゃ混ぜになってる感じがめちゃ好きです。↓

http://www.psychopla.net/pgf.text1j.html

Momus「Tender Pervert」1988

中学生の頃、近所のブックオフでジャケ買いして以来の心の支えです。聴いている間中、なんかフワフワした毛のない生き物に包まれてる感じがする。最近のモーマスはなぜかいつも眼帯してて、YouTubeのチャンネルにめっちゃ変な動画上げてた。なんなんだろう。

https://www.youtube.com/@momasu

Suede「Dog Man Star」1994

スエードは自分にとってカッコ良さを巡るめちゃ巨大な指針だが、実は長いことこのアルバムの良さがわからなかった。長いし暗すぎる。でも今はこれしか聴けない。もうダメかもしれない。爆裂するバーナードの自意識とのたうち回るギター、悔恨と憂鬱を死ぬほど美しく表現できるブレットの歌唱。薔薇の香りにむせながらベットに伏せ、自らの過ちを悔みながら死ぬ。

My Bloody Valentine「Isn`t Anything」1988

中学生の頃に聴いて、アメリカの郊外に暮らす孤独なティーンエイジャーが泣きながらナイフ振り回してるみたいだなとか思った。自分は80年代後半のマイブラの感じが一番ゴスなんじゃないかとか考えてる（どこにでもいそうなのに陰りと華があり、芯を持って怖い音楽を奏でている人たち）ので、その時点でこのジャンル／概念の門外漢なのかもしれない。

WICCA PHASE SPRINGS ETERNAL「Suffer On」2019

ヒップホップ好きな友人にこれを薦めまくって辟易された思い出からもわかるように、これはもはやヒップホップではなくニックドレイク的な何かなのかもしれない。Tigers Jawからここに至る彼の軌跡を考えると、泣きそうになる。自分と誕生日が近いのもあって謎の親近感がある。未だに見た目ただのお兄さんって感じだし、たぶん全然タトゥーを入れてないのも良い。

The Crow : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 1994

この映画が好きな奴とは分かり合えるという謎の確信がある。サントラ自体は80～90年代に至る暗くて華のあるロックの総進撃的な内容だが、それよりも劇中で主演のブランドン・リーが雨の屋上で楽器始めたての中学生みたいなギターソロを披露して勝手にエモさ極まった挙句、ギターをアンプに叩きつけて壊すシーンを見て欲しい。ここにゴスの、ロックの全てがあると勝手に思ってる。↓

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inUCmh3LY9Y

G-Schmitt「Struggle To Survive」1988

ここにきてやっとみんなの知ってるゴスがきた、お前はそう思ってるだろう。もはやタイトルに全てが集約されてる気がする。自分にとってゴスは生きるための熾烈な戦いという側面がある。たとえ一人だけになっても美学を保って生き残ってる奴がホンモノだと思う。あと誰も言及してないけど、ドラムがこのバンドの要な気がしてる。

RZA「Ghost Dog:The Way of the Samurai」Soundtrack 1999

何かを勘違いしたまま、だが確信したまま消えゆく主人公があまりにも愛おしすぎる映画だが、小雨の降る夕方の街を散歩するのにこれほど良い音楽は存在しない。サントラは二種類存在し、自分はこのジャケじゃないやつのほうが好き。↓

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrPJ2sObEig&t=1102s

黄耀明「愈夜愈美丽」1995

英題は「Legend - Late Night Beauty」らしい。すごいタイトルだと思う。達明一派を経た香港のポップスターが、西洋への憧れを夜の匂いの中に纏わせた名盤、なのかもしれない。どっちにしろこの人は日本では完全に見過ごされてるので誰かに再評価と言及をお願いしたい。ペットショップボーイズやデビッドボウイらに影響を受け、何かを誤解し、そして作られたのはあまりにもオリジナルすぎるオリエンタル電子歌謡。とにかく關淑怡とデュエットしてる曲を聴いてほしい。あまりに美しいから。彼は故レスリー・チャンとの共作もあり、そちらも素晴らしい。

余談だが、達明一派の片割れの劉以達もすごい才能の持ち主なのでチェックして欲しい。彼のソロアルバム「麻木」は香港のポップシーンと地下音楽界が交錯する凄まじい怪作なので必聴…だけど聴く方法がほぼ無い（YouTubeに昔アップされてたんだけどいつの間にか消されてた）彼が音楽を手掛けたAutumn Moonという映画のサントラも素晴らしい。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2LKZjR-FnY&t=116s

Caroline K「Now Wait Fot Last Year」1987

ジャケの曖昧な視線が全てを物語っている。人生の一枚ってくらい大好きだけど、ここまで曇り空と考え事が似合う音楽って無いと思う。ノイズ／インダストリアル的な文脈で語るよりも、初期のFeltやYMGに通ずる諦念と憂鬱を感じる。

そしてこれも余談…。去年の5月にSPREADにアレッサンドロ・アドリヤーニが来た時、彼が何してる人なのかよくわからないまま見に行ったんだけど、まさかこれ再発してる人だとは知らなかった。サンキューとか言えば良かった。

[omegaplus]

# 4,380

Berlin: “Take My Breath Away” 7″ (1986)

I made a recent jaunt to my local shopping mall’s retro- video arcade; the epitome of time travel back to the Eighties and Nineties. Here’s one that I didn’t hear from my first-ever visits to the arcade last year: “Take My Breath Away”. Either I wasn’t paying attention or they simply added it to their playlist over time. Go figure. It’s been a year since its opening and After Burner II (1987) still hasn’t made an appearance. That place is seriously slacking. C’mon McFly! Get with the program, you fucking dolt.

Giorgio Moroder had two all-important contributions for the Top Gun (Scott, 1987) soundtrack: one with Kenny Loggins for “Danger Zone” and the other producing Berlin’s signature single, the latter used for the heated passionate scene between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis.  Those were easily two of the best tracks on the record, and those two contributions helped the movie’s original motion-picture soundtrack achieve nine-times certified platinum. And what do you know? I remembered purchasing the 7″ last year from Riverhead’s Sunday Records.

[turtlethon]

Turtlethon Extra Slices: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze”

US Release Date: March 22, 1991 UK Release Date: August 9, 1991

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is the follow-up to the hugely successful first live-action Turtles movie, released in the US through New Line Cinema. Much has changed in the year since the original TMNT film made its debut, coinciding with Turtlemania reaching its peak. Its director, Steve Barron, reportedly bowed out during post-production, the project heading in a different direction than he had originally envisioned. Judith Hoag, who played April O’Neil, was also unhappy, feeling that the finished product was too violent and that the more spiritual elements of the original story – I’m guessing this would have related to the mystical connection between the Turtles and Splinter ultimately confined to the campfire scene – were left on the cutting room floor.

As discussed in the entry for the first movie, the darkness present in that initial cinematic Turtles outing generated some consternation, not only from pundits and parental groups but from certain parties concerned with the business side of TMNT, most notably action figure licensee Playmates. What’s remarkable is that the final cut had already been watered down from what Barron had envisioned: most notably, the scene where Shredder’s right-hand man Tatsu took out his frustrations on one of the Foot Clan hoodlums was intended to have been considerably more violent than it ended up being. The pencilled-in punk rock soundtrack was swapped out for more commercially palatable hip-hop and new jack swing material that would shift plenty of units when the inevitable cash-in “Music from the Motion Picture” CD was released. These considerations would go on to dramatically impact the creative direction of the sequel: if there was so much money to be made in a gritty Turtles movie, so the thinking went, surely a brighter, agreeable one would draw in an even bigger audience.

The clock was also ticking. It was apparent to all involved that the dizzying levels of success the Turtles had achieved would be fleeting; inevitably kids would move on to whatever the next hot new trend would be before too long, and so there was a need to rush the second movie into production almost immediately after the first proved to be a hit. Barron was replaced by Michael Pressman, whose work in the years immediately prior had mostly been in the made-for-TV-movie field; meanwhile Paige Turco would be drafted in to fill the role of April. External factors would also lead to the Turtle whose original voice actor had the highest profile needing to be re-cast: Corey Feldman was dealing with addiction issues during the production of TMNT II, and so the decision was made to replace him with Donatello’s in-suit actor Leif Tilden for this chapter of the trilogy.

We open with shots of various New Yorkers enjoying pizza before being introduced to Roy’s, where delivery boy Keno (Ernie Reyes, Jr.) is tasked with making yet another visit to the home of April O’Neil. Upon arriving, he spots a robbery in progress at a neighbouring shopping complex. Keno confronts the crooks and uses his martial arts prowess to take out a few of them, but soon finds he’s bitten off more than he can chew, their numbers overwhelming. The Turtles intervene, having spotted the raid in-progress from nearby, and so an extended fight scene unfolds.

It’s immediately apparent how much things have changed from the first movie, where in their initial appearance the Turtles were barely glimpsed at all, acting quickly under cover of darkness to avoid being seen. Here they show no such restraint, yukking it up and engaging in slapstick reminiscent of the 1987 cartoon at its worst as they use toys and other items dotted around the stores they wander into to defeat their opponents. (I’m reminded particularly of the atrocious fight in the baby store from “Four Turtles and a Baby”, one of the lowest points of the entire series.) Jim Henson’s Creature Workshop has continued to develop the technology used in bringing the Turtles to life, something on show here: from the outset we can see that the team are now more wide-eyed, expressive and capable of pulling off cartoony expressions than before. As a result, they more closely resemble their animated counterparts from the Fred Wolf series.

A particular sequence of note involves Michaelangelo wielding sausages as makeshift nunchucks; this was removed from the initial UK release of the movie on the instruction of the then-director of the British Board of Film Classification, James Ferman, who was unwilling to recognise any distinction between the improvised weapons and the real thing. From the Region 2 DVD release in 2002 onward this scene was restored, the twin moral panics of the Turtles and nunchucks corrupting the youth both by then only vague memories which had long since receded out of the public consciousness.

Keno is instructed by the Turtles to call the police and request someone pick up the defeated robbers; by the time he returns not only have the crooks all been tied up, but his pizzas have been taken, a wad of cash left in their place.

April returns to her fancy new apartment at the same time the Turtles sneak in the window. The group yuk it up some more while also discussing the defeat of the Shredder at the end of the previous movie and their need to find a new home, given that the Foot Clan learned of the existence of their old lair. Splinter soon emerges and reminds his sons of the importance of remaining invisible as ninjas. He goes on to add that thoughts of Shredder should remain buried in the past.

At a garbage dump, a hand and a familiar bladed gauntlet are seen emerging from the debris. By sheer coincidence, this site was also selected as the fall-back location for the Foot Clan, its remaining members seen arguing among themselves in a hideout nearby. Tatsu again flies into a rage, declaring himself the group’s new leader, but this proves to be short-lived: Shredder returns, remarkably resilient for someone who up until now was thought to have been crushed to death by a garbage truck. He declares his intentions to target April as a means of getting back at the Turtles and Splinter, the only thing he now cares about.

Reporting for Channel 3 News, April chats with a spokesperson for Techno-Global Research Industries (TGRI), Professor Jordan Perry, at the site of a contaminated area the firm is now working to clean up. Perry says little of any substance in the piece, which is watched on TV by the Turtles and Splinter. Freddy, a member of April’s news crew, sneaks behind a taped-off area once filming is over and discovers giant dandelions, a tell-tale sign that something has occurred with a huge environmental impact. Later, Perry informs one of TGRI’s employees that all the mutated dandelions must be removed, explaining that allowing the press to film there was the best way to ensure no-one suspected anything unusual was taking place.

Unbeknownst to April, Freddy, the rookie on her crew who discovered the giant dandelion, is an undercover member of the Foot. He takes his findings back to Shredder. Now clad in snazzy new purple attire, Shreds orders Tatsu to prepare his troops for an upcoming mission.

Splinter entered an extended period of meditation after watching April’s report, and upon her return home summons her along with the Turtles to the roof of the apartment building. There, he reveals that he kept the cannister that contained the ooze which, fifteen years earlier, transformed him along with the Turtles into their current forms; when re-assembled, the initials printed on it read “TGRI”. Now, he tells his students, the truth about their past has re-surfaced, and with it a potential danger to the people of the city.

Professor Perry is seen in a lab on TGRI’s premises, examining records that show only one cannister of the type possessed by Splinter remains, the rest marked as “disposed”. He’s soon taken captive by Tatsu and a group of Foot ninjas. Later, the Turtles sneak into the building and examine the records on Perry’s computer, only to be confronted by Tatsu and his men, who goad their enemies with the prospect of claiming the last remaining full cannister. A fight breaks out which initially seems promising but again the Turtles are limited to performing slapstick routines with the items scattered around them, largely forbidden from using their weapons. Things peter out with Tatsu hurling a smoke bomb at the green teens, allowing both him and his men to escape.

Later, the Turtles begin preparing to move out of April’s apartment when Keno wanders in, suggesting that given the staggering number of pizzas she orders she may as well take another from an unsuccessful delivery intended for a neighbour. April struggles to make excuses after the delivery boy spots Michaelangelo’s nunchucks sitting on the counter, attempting in vain to demonstrate her proficiency with the weapons in a sequence that I’m sure severely traumatised James Ferman. None of this convinces Keno, who spots the Turtles hiding in plain sight and forces them to come out into the open. After learning of their history, he reveals his own knowledge of the Foot and their recruitment activities, suggesting he could work his way into the operation on their behalf, an idea endorsed by Raphael but swiftly shot down by Leonardo and Splinter.

Under duress from both Shredder and Tatsu, the kidnapped Professor Perry begins the procedure of using the remaining cannister of ooze to transform the two most vicious animals the villains could find. Meanwhile the Turtles say their goodbyes to April, heading underground in search of their new home. Raphael’s temper (and his on-again, off-again tension with Leonardo) flares up again as he refuses to participate in this exercise, stomping off to find a better use of his time. Moments later, Michaelangelo unwittingly stumbles upon an abandoned subway station, complete with unused train carriages, and the group begin to discuss the possibility that this could serve as their new residence.

At the Foot’s hideout, Shredder demands from Perry that the mutants be ready for battle with the Turtles as soon as possible, noting the failure of both his ninjas and himself in defeating the team, and that the next battle will be “freak against freak”. At Channel 3, April is pressured by a station manager called Phil – Charles from the first film is never mentioned – to do a more ratings-friendly story on swimsuits rather than pursue her investigation of TGRI.

Back to Shredder again. Having tired of waiting around, he demands Tatsu remove the bar keeping the two new mutants in their makeshift junk cell, a grey hand and a brown furry one occasionally poking out. Dutifully the underling does so, and the beasts are revealed: snapping turtle Tokka and wolf Rahzar, though neither are named at this point. After Shredder declares himself to be their master, the mutants mistakenly think him to be their “mama”. Both are, to the great frustration of Shredder, mere infants; it’s explained to him by Perry that this should have been obvious from the outset. Like the Ninja Turtles, who in this continuity grew from infants to adolescents over the course of fifteen years, Tokka and Rahzar will learn and develop over time, but for now are far from the fearsome warriors the masked villain had envisioned. Shredder orders them to be terminated, but Perry pleads that there must be a use for them, demonstrating that their relative strength can make them useful in carrying out tasks around the hideout.

It’s remarkable that we’re forty minutes into TMNT II and Shredder, an intimidating and grandiose figure in the first movie, is following the exact same trajectory that his animated counterpart did back in season two of the 1987 show, already becoming an ineffectual schmuck who clearly has no clue what he’s doing. With that observation out of the way, we now return to the movie, already in progress.

Raphael helps Keno to infiltrate the Foot’s operation as per his earlier suggestion, the delivery boy impressing a recruiter in a combat exercise. As a further test, Keno is required to remove a set of bells from a mannequin in a cloud of smoke; after doing so with unseen help from his Turtle ally he becomes a full-fledged member of the group, later reuniting with Raph in the scrapyard hideout. It doesn’t take long before both are spotted by Tatsu. Raphael orders Keno to flee, soon finding himself face-to-face with Shredder.

Keno relays the news of Raphael’s capture to April, and the other Turtles soon stake out the scrapyard in search of their brother. Conscious that they’re walking into a trap, the group discover Raph gagged and tied up. Shredder has the remaining Turtles placed inside a net, raised via a crane and about to be dropped on a set of scrap metal spikes until Splinter intervenes, a well-placed arrow cutting the team free ahead of time. The reunited Turtles continue to deliver quips and one-liners more than kicks or punches and find themselves vastly outmatched by the brute force of Tokka and Rahzar, with Donatello being thrown through the roof of the shack where Professor Perry is being held. After Michaelangelo discovers a manhole leading back to the sewers, the group escape with Perry underground; Tokka attempts to give chase but is too big to fit, and after getting stuck prevents the Foot from pursuing the team further.

Perry is amazed by the existence of the Turtles, and in a bit of role-reversal pieces together the events that led to their origin and recounts these to them before they can reveal their backstory themselves. After being introduced to Splinter, he goes on to explain to the group the properties of the substance that caused them to take on their current forms: “an unknown mixture of discarded chemicals was accidentally exposed to a series of radiated waves, and the resulting “ooze”, as you put it, was found to have remarkable but dangerous mutinogenic properties.” Though the cannisters were intended to be buried, one was lost down a sewer.

Donatello is troubled by the revelation that the Turtles were merely an accident, convinced there must be more to their origin that what Professor Perry is telling them. Splinter offers words of wisdom, telling his son to not “confuse the spectre of [their] origin with [their] present worth”, adding that “the search for a beginning rarely has so easy an end”.

Shredder unleashes Tokka and Rahzar on the streets of New York, encouraging them to engage in general mayhem and destruction as a means of getting to the Turtles. The next day, April reports on the resulting wreckage for Channel 3; in a call-back to the first movie she corners Chief Sterns, who goes out of his way to not directly address the issue of the two mutants and refuses to do anything about them. It soon dawns on April that only the Turtles will be able to stop Tokka and Rahzar. After concluding her broadcast April is pulled into a nearby alley by a group of Foot Soldiers, one of whom removes his mask to reveal his identity as her trainee. Freddy declares that he has a “message” from Shredder for the Turtles. Later, April is seen meeting up with the Turtles in their new home, where she relays what she was told: that if the Turtles don’t appear that night at a construction site, Shredder will unleash Tokka and Rahzar in Central Park.

Professor Perry begins the task of creating an anti-mutagen that will revert Tokka and Rahzar back to their original forms, the Turtles offering their assistance. (Along the way Mikey accidentally drops a slice of pizza into the mix, but keeps this quiet.) The team are surprised to learn that the final substance won’t take the form of a spray, but will be a liquid that the two mutants will need to consume for it to take effect. Enjoy this shot of the anti-mutagen in a Bart Simpson glass because this movie, for better or worse, is so 1991.

The Turtles arrive at the construction site carrying a box of donuts, soon finding themselves again face-to-face with Shredder and his army of ninjas. Wielding the remaining cannister of mutagen, Shreds tells the team that the substance which made them will now be the cause of their destruction, summoning Tokka and Rahzar. The green teens attempt to offer up the donuts as a peace offering, but the ruse falls apart when the ice cubes concealed within containing the anti-mutagen are tossed aside. Like in their prior encounter, the Turtles are hurled around, vastly overpowered by Shredder’s new mutants; soon the battle spills into a neighbouring nightclub.

Performing in the club is one Vanilla Ice – not portraying a fictional character, but rather himself - who to what I presume is the delight of the patrons briefly pauses his set to watch in astonishment as the Ninja Turtles do battle with their oversized opponents. After the music begins playing again Ice launches into a freestyle rap about the events unfolding in front of him. Meanwhile Perry meets up with Donatello and notes that the portions of the anti-mutagen ingested by Tokka and Rahzar aren’t working as intended, the excessive consumption of CO2 making them burp profusely. Donatello suggests a further dose might act as a catalyst for the anti-mutagen, picking up a nearby fire extinguisher.

While all this is unfolding, Keno is meditating with Splinter, but can’t contain his frustration at having to stay behind while the Turtles have their big confrontation. The team’s sensei is insistent that taking on Shredder is a job only his students are suited for, but the delivery boy won’t listen and makes his exit. This all feels tacked on; Keno had already made the mistake of getting into trouble with Raphael earlier, for him to need to learn this lesson a second time comes across as if the writers are struggling to find a way to keep him involved.

As Vanilla Ice repeats his “GO NINJA GO” chorus, the Turtles use barrels to take Tokka and Rahzar off their feet, forcing them to ingest the contents of the fire extinguishers until both doze off.  The team take on further waves of Foot Soldiers as “Ninja Rap” continues; after defeating their foes the green teens get in on the dance routine themselves, ultimately joining Ice on stage in perhaps one of the most notorious scenes in TMNT history.

This moment that will live in infamy is mercifully interrupted, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see the Shredder in my life. Still wielding the TGRI cannister, he promises to produce further mutants, over and over again in future movies until this series becomes unprofitable – though not exactly in those words – until Keno intervenes, kicking the container out of the masked villain’s hand. Shreds attempts to rebound by taking a club-goer hostage, threatening to transform her using a small test tube also containing some of the mutagen. The Turtles use the instruments from Vanilla Ice’s band (???) to create a sound loud enough that it blows a nearby speaker, the resulting explosion sending the villain flying through a wall. On their way out, the team note that Tokka and Rahzar have reverted to their original forms.

In a dockside area outside the nightclub the Turtles peer into the water, seeing no sign of their old foe. Rejoicing and cowabunga-ing follows but this turns out to be highly premature: Oroku Saki’s hand bursts through the structure of the pier ahead of a final encounter. Having consumed the contents of the test tube, he’s grown into what Donatello dubs a “Super Shredder”. Soon the Turtles find themselves beneath the pier, watching as the oversized villain wrecks everything in sight. Leonardo is briefly manhandled by the mutated foe, but instructs his team to remember the importance for ninjas of working within the confines of their environment; they are, after all, turtles, and so as the remnants of the pier crush Super Shredder, they dive out into the water nearby, safely re-emerging moments later. The group watch as, for the third time in this movie, Shredder’s hand shoots out of the ground, suggesting there’s still more fight in him, but he can’t cling on any longer, and finally passes away, for really reals this time.

April is seen reading a thank-you note to the Turtles from Professor Perry on the news as the Turtles return to their subway home. Presumably some time has passed since the battle with Shredder as Splinter quizzes the team about their actions, wondering if they were seen during the battle; when they insist they kept a low profile, he produces a copy of the Daily News with a full-page photograph of them on the front page, accompanied by the headline “NINJA RAP IS BORN!”; a second, smaller headline reads “DOCK DEMOLISHED OVERNIGHT”. 

The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was highly regarded even at the time, and its reputation has only grown in the three decades that have followed; it was and is a truly great comic book adaptation, one that’s aged remarkably well given that it was produced on a small budget. None of this can be said of The Secret of the Ooze, which is by no means a bad movie – at least in my estimation – but which never rises above being merely enjoyable. To go from great to kinda sorta okay still represents a decline, and it’s not hard to see why. TMNT II is burdened by the sheer size of the Turtles machine as it was in the second half of 1990, the demands from different parties insistent on shaping the future direction of this property too great, the need to have a second movie out in the wild while there was still money to be made taking precedence over crafting a coherent movie experience. Along the way the losses accumulated from the first film continued to build, some out of anyone’s control but others self-inflicted: Steve Barron, Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas and Corey Feldman are all gone and their respective replacements can only do so much. Perhaps the biggest loss of all, however, is the first movie’s ability to strike a balance in tone between the earnestness of the Mirage comics and the tomfoolery of the Fred Wolf cartoon. Now, only the tomfoolery remains. TMNT II revels in the worst impulses of the 1987 cartoon, and I say that as someone who’s plainly a huge fan of the MWS Turtles. A decision was made to alienate the older audience who embraced the first movie, the wishes of licensees and parental groups clearly taking precedence. It’s regrettable.

Speaking of regrettable decisions, I’m sure that in late 1990 shoehorning Vanilla Ice into the climax of this movie made a lot of sense. The first film benefitted from having MC Hammer’s “This Is What We Do” on its soundtrack months before “U Can’t Touch This” blew up in the summer, and no doubt his newfound name recognition helped shift additional copies of the tie-in album well into the autumn. Here, again, we see the machinations of TMNT Incorporated at work: given the enormous success of “Ice Ice Baby” in the closing months of the year, why not take things a step further and insert Hammer’s new rival into the sequel? We can laugh about it now – in 2023 the corniness of “Ninja Rap” and the visual of the Turtles cavorting with the rapper feels like a joke we’re all in on – but all of this was assuredly a misfire. By the time the movie landed in US cinemas in the spring of 1991 it was clear that Ice’s appeal was limited to his initial hit; by the summer, when TMNT II received its UK release, he was a walking punchline. And so, Ice’s prominence in the marketing materials for this movie comes across as a major blunder: an association that, with their own popularity entering the beginnings of its downswing, the Turtles didn’t need.

For the faithful, however – the legions of kids who had followed the green team on TV for years at this point – this movie’s failings would have extended far beyond the presence of one Robert Van Winkle. The first film was notable in the elements it chose to adapt from the 1987 series, but also in what it elected to omit: the Technodrome, Krang, and the Channel 6 crew were all curiously absent, and it seemed inevitable that at least some of these would be held over for the follow-up. More than any of these, however, there were two obvious players for the Turtles to encounter in a hypothetical sequel: Rocksteady and Bebop.

It’s timely that we should discuss the thorny issue of Shredder’s mutant henchmen here, a week after covering their final TV appearance in the cartoon’s eighth season; while reflecting on their role within the show I wrote about how critical they were in establishing the 1987 show’s comedic credentials, even more than the Turtles themselves. In this respect, they represent everything that differentiates the Fred Wolf TMNT from the other incarnations of the property.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Over the years, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s position regarding Rocksteady and Bebop seems to have hovered somewhere between low-key resentment and unreserved loathing. While these characters were created early on as part of the development of TMNT into an action figure property, it’s clear that the versions of the duo which eventually made it to air were in line with the vision of David Wise and the Murakami-Wolf-Swenson studio. When that vision turned out to be incredibly profitable – not just Rocksteady and Bebop, but the pizza gags, the catchphrases, April as a reporter and everything else that had been introduced as part of the transition of the Turtles to TV and as a toy line – a situation arose where the various parties involved each felt they were responsible for the elements that had made it all possible.

This all came to a head in 1990, as the worldwide popularity of the Turtles reached its apex. The Turtlethon entries for that year’s episodes tell the story of the ill-feeling brewing between two primary camps: Mirage Studios, whose artists by that point felt that the supporting characters they had created such as Leatherhead had been mishandled in the transition to animation, and MWS, whose zanier Turtles had been what introduced the vast majority of kids to the property. Eastman & Laird had put their foot down before – nixing outlandish ideas such as an early proposal for the post-season one Turtles to have them move into the Technodrome, where they would have resided with a no-longer-villainous Baxter Stockman – but it was in season four where we really saw the fallout of these creative differences, with “Ray” and Mona Lisa the end result, the latter far more successful than the former.

It’s understandable, then, that Eastman & Laird were keen to keep MWS out of the loop as far as the live-action films went, preventing Fred Wolf and his studio from taking any potential credit (and profits) from their success. And so, for movie-goers, there would be no Dimension X, no Burne, no Irma, no Vernon, no (robotic) Foot Soldiers, and certainly no Rocksteady or Bebop. Evidently there was some push to include the mutant duo in the movie – possibly from Pressman himself and/or the studio – and so a compromise was reached. Yes, Shredder could have two creatures to do battle with the Turtles on his behalf, but they would need to be new creations, free of any association with the cartoon.

Taken in isolation, Tokka and Rahzar could be seen as merely a disappointment, a poor substitute: they are, in the worst possible way, Bebop and Rocksteady at Home, TMNT’s own fake Razor and Diesel (an ironic comparison, given that the real Diesel played Super Shredder in this very movie). Like Vanilla Ice and all the casting changes, they represent another weight around this film’s neck. But they infuriate me in a way far greater than any of TMNT II’s other failings after examining how the film was marketed. Promotional materials such as commercials from the time of The Secret of the Ooze’s release go out of their way to not show Tokka and Rahzar; to hint at the idea that the Turtles will fight two new beastly enemies, leaving viewers to connect the dots themselves. Even within the movie itself, the visual of a grey, beastly hand and a brown, furry one prior to the full reveal of the mutants plays upon our expectations that Rocksteady and Bebop are waiting behind the scrap heap veil. When that turns out to not be the case it’s a giant middle finger to the audience, whose money has already been taken.

While I can understand Eastman & Laird’s desire to have the live-action movies remain an undiluted vision of what they intended the Turtles to be, the contempt displayed for the audience here – for children – is risible in my eyes. I’m giving Kevin and Peter the benefit of the doubt and assuming these were executive decisions made within the studio, given that the final product ended up hewing far closer to the cartoon anyway, something that by all accounts was the total opposite of what they themselves wanted; I don’t believe their disdain for Rocksteady and Bebop was so great that they orchestrated this deception to trick kids, but somebody involved with this film was clearly okay with it. To be clear, the secrecy surrounding these characters only went so far - they’re showcased in detail in the half-hour special on the making of the movie - but in the greater scheme of things there was definitely some sleight of hand at work here; if you should happen to think Rocksteady and Bebop will be in TMNT II, little in the pre-release marketing would convince you otherwise.

The greatest irony of all this is that Tokka and Rahzar would continue to hover around the periphery of the TMNT universe in the years that followed, but it was a surprise inclusion in season seven of the MWS cartoon that made something of them. “Dirk Savage – Mutant Hunter” was a terrific episode made better by appearances of the two mutants, re-interpreted as a duo whose friendship is so strong that when Tokka is captured, Rahzar can’t bear to be separated from him. And who was responsible for redeeming them? None other than David Wise, the same writer who helped craft Rocksteady and Bebop into the hapless henchmen whose buffoonery Eastman & Laird refused to sanction.

Today, many of the concepts created in The Secret of the Ooze remain a part of the fabric of TMNT: Tokka, Rahzar and Super Shredder all pop up on occasion in video games or as action figures. The film itself is fun fluff, the kind of thing you watch if it shows up on TV on some idle Saturday afternoon, and a representation of the exact moment where the bubble of Turtlemania burst, even if we didn’t realise it at the time. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, the most derided film of the trilogy, would follow two years later. We’ll come back to that in a few weeks, but next time on Turtlethon we jump forward again in time to 1995, where the drastic reinvention of the green teens that took place the year prior somehow still hasn’t been enough: it’s out with Shredder and in with Lord Dregg as we learn the uncover the secrets of “The Unknown Ninja”.

[bryan-damage]

We're watching the movie Bachelor Party (1984) with Tom Hanks and in one little tiny shot I could hear a song that I knew I recognized. Then I rewound the movie and watched it again and sure enough, it was this:

"Wind Out", by R.E.M. It was released on the compilation Dead Letter Office back in 1987 I think. I always assumed it was another early B-side song like most of the rest of the album, but it turns out it was part of the Bachelor Party Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. And I had no idea until just now.

[brassmusiccafe]

La Bamba: Original Soundtrack 1987 CD-New $39.99

  La Bamba is the original motion picture soundtrack album to the 1987 American biographical film of the same name and was released on June 30, 1987. The album contained 12 tracks.[1] In 1988, a second soundtrack album was released, titled “La Bamba Volume 2 – More Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”. The first six songs of the first La Bamba soundtrack consist of Los Lobos covers…

[mikeladano]

REVIEW: Dudes - The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1987)

[duranduratulsa]

On the turntable today...

Christopher Cross (1979)

Hard To Hold Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Rick Springfield (1984)

Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) by C+C Music Factory (12" Single) (1990)

Footloose Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1984)

Frehley's Comet by Ace Frehley (1987)

#christophercross #hardtohold #hardtohold40 #rickspringfield #candcmusicfactory #gonnamakeyousweat #everybodydancenow #gonnamakeyousweateverybodydancenow #footloose #footloose40 #acefrehley #frehleyscomet #70s #80s #90s #records #album #LP #12inch #12inchvinyl #vinylrecords #vinyl

[brookston]

Holidays 11.25

Holidays

Blasé Day

Carers Rights Day (UK)

Catterntide

CNSO Day (India)

Day Against Domestic Violence (EU)

Don’t Utter a Word Day

Evacuation Day (NYC)

Family Day (Palau)

Global Family Business Day

Hari Guru (a.k.a. Teacher's Day; Indonesia)

Homeland Security Day

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (UN)

International Hat Day

Mangé Yam (Yam Festival; Haiti)

Meh Day

Monkey Buffet Festival (Thailand)

Moquegua City Foundation Day (Peru)

Mousetrap Day

National Day (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

National Don't Utter a Word Day

National Lap Dance Day

National Natural Fibers Day

National Play with Dad

National Rugby Day

National Shopping Reminder Day

Pig Day (French Republic)

SAK Meatless Day

Shopping Reminder Day [1 Month 'till Xmas]

Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence begins [ends 12.10]

Vajiravudh Memorial Day (Thailand)

White Ribbon Day (Australia, UK)

Women's Merrymaking Day

World Safari Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Egg Fried Rice Day (China)

National “Eat with a Friend” Day

National Parfait Day

4th & Last Saturday in November

Canadian Craft Beer Day [Last Saturday]

ClauWau begins (a.k.a. Santa Claus World Championships; Switzerland) [Last Saturday]

Holodomor Remembrance Day (Ukraine) [4th Saturday]

International Aura Awareness Day [4th Saturday]

Minnesota Pint Day (a.k.a. MN Pint Day; Minnesota) [Saturday after Black Friday]

Saturday after Thanksgiving (US) [4th Saturday] (a.k.a. ... 

Buy Nothing Day (UK)

Small Business Saturday

Swine Time Festival (Climax, Georgia)

Turkey Leftovers Day

World Day of Giving ‘Last Saturday]

Independence Days

Duaktoserija (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Ongal (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Statehood Day (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Suriname (a.k.a. Srefidensi; from the Netherlands, 1975)

Feast Days

Bitterness Day (Church of the SubGenius)

Catherine Labouré (Christian; Saint)

Catherine of Alexandria (Christian; Saint)

Elizabeth of Reute (Christian; Saint)

Erasmus (a.k.a. Elme; Christian; Saint)

Gazpacho Soup Day (Pastafarian)

Isaac Watts (Lutheran Church and Church of England)

James Otis Sargent Huntington (Episcopal Church)

Lucy the Australopithecine Discovery Day (Pastafarian)

Maurice Denis (Artology)

Media Autumnus IV (Pagan)

Persephone (a.k.a. Kore; celebration for the Goddess of Vegetation; Ancient Greece)

Richelieu (Positivist; Saint)

Tom Turkey (Muppetism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Premieres

Aladdin (Animated Disney Film; 1992)

Anticipation, by Carly Simon (Song; 1971)

The Artist (Film; 2011)

The Beatles: Get Back (Documentary Series; 2021)

The Bodyguard (Film; 1992)

Brooklyn (Film; 2015)

A Bug’s Life (Animated Pixar Film; 1998)

Caveman Inki (WB LT Cartoon; 1950)

Creed (Film; 2015)

The Croods: A New Age (Animated Film; 2020)

Ferdinand the Bull (Disney Cartoon; 1938)

Frozen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Album; 2013)

Gentlemen Jim (Film; 1942)

Geri’s Game (Pixar Cartoon; 1998)

Giantland (Disney Cartoon; 1933)

The Good Dinosaur (Animated Film; 2015)

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (TV Special; 2022)

Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne (Novel; 1864)

The Last Waltz (Concert Film; 1976)

Lego Scooby-Doo! Knight Time Terror (WB Animated Film; 2015)

Let It Go, by Idina Menzel (Song; 2013)

New Wave Hookers (Adult Film; 1985)

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (Film; 1987)

The Princess and the Frog (Animated Disney Film; 2009)

The Saint Steps In, by Leslie Charteris (Novel; 1943) [Saint #25]

Sevens, by Garth Brooks (Album; 1997)

Slide, Donald, Slide (Disney Cartoon; 1949)

Spotlight (Film; 2015)

Three Men and a Baby (Film; 1987)

Tintin in Tibet, by Hergé (Graphic Novel; 1960) [Tintin #20]

Walter Woolfe, or the Doom of the Drinker, by Thomas Dunn English (Novel; 1842)

You Always Hurt the One You Love, by The Mills Brothers (Song; 1944)

Today’s Name Days

Katharina, Kathrin, Katja (Austria)

Kliment, Klimentina (Bulgaria)

Erazmo, Katarina (Croatia)

Kateřina (Czech Republic)

Catharina (Denmark)

Kaarin, Kadi, Kadri, Kadrin, Karin, Katariina, Kati, Katre, Katri, Katrin, Triin, Triina, Triinu (Estonia)

Kaarina, Kaija, Kaisa, Kaisu, Katariina, Kati, Katja, Katri, Katriina, Riina (Finland)

Catherine (France)

Katharina, Kathrin, Katja, Jasmin (Germany)

Aikaterine, Aikaterini, Katerina, Merkourios (Greece)

Katalin (Hungary)

Caterina (Italy)

Kate, Katrīna, Trīne (Latvia)

Germilė, Kotryna, Santautas (Lithuania)

Kari, Katarina, Katrine (Norway)

Erazm, Jozafat, Katarzyna, Tęgomir (Poland)

Ecaterina (Romania)

Katarína (Slovakia)

Catalina (Spain)

Katarina, Katja (Sweden)

Caitlin, Caitlyn, Carina, Caryn, Catherine, Cathleen, Cathy Kaitlin, Kaitlynn, Kara, Karen, Kari, Karina, Kate, Katelyn, Katelynn, Katharine, Katherine, Kathleen, Kathryn, Kathy, Katie, Katrina, Treena, Trina, Trinity (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 329 of 2024; 36 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 47 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 26 of 28]

Chinese: Month 10 (Gui-Hai), Day 13 (Ding-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 12 Kislev 5784

Islamic: 12 Jumada I 1445

J Cal: 29 Mir; Eightday [29 of 30]

Julian: 12 November 2023

Moon: 97%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 21 Frederic (12th Month) [Richelieu]

Runic Half Month: Nyd (Necessity) [Day 15 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 63 of 89)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 4 of 30)