The March 3, 1979 issue of ‘Record Mirror’
Last summer, I posted clips from MrDeMilleFM, the new internet radio venture of former Stranglers singer and guitarist Hugh Cornwell. It’s devoted entirely to movies and their music, and it’s fun. Hugh’s got specials on William Wellman, John Frankenheimer, Lana Turner, Gloria Grahame and Steve McQueen; he’s got interviews with Ken Loach, John Sayles, John Altman, Peter Webber and David Puttnam. Behold his mighty hand!
Since that time, two episodes of Cornwell’s old internet radio show, Sound Trax FM, have surfaced in the MrDeMilleFM archive. These will interest DM readers, because Hugh’s guests are Brian Eno and Debbie Harry, playing and talking about their favorite movie music.
Among the records Eno spins during his 80-minute visit with Cornwell are Samira Tewfik’s “Hobbak Morr,” the source for “A Secret Life” on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and “I’m Deranged,” the immortal track from Bowie and Eno’s Outside that David Lynch took as the theme for Lost Highway. Speaking about which, Eno praises the still unreleased album-length improvisation he and Bowie recorded at the beginning of the Outside sessions:
In a room together, we played for 72 minutes a kind of suite, really, which he improvised the singing over, and it turned into this amazingly complex and interesting story which finally became something called “Leon,” which sort of became the backbone of the album Outside. But the original improvisation, which I listened to not very long ago, is absolutely incredible! You think: How could anyone do this without having a plan in advance?
Debbie Harry’s episode is too short at 47 minutes, but she brings along the best song on the Performance soundtrack and talks about working with David Cronenberg on Videodrome and John Waters on Hairspray.
Nino Rota, theme from Juliet of the Spirits
The Chieftains, “Women of Ireland” from Barry Lyndon
Miles Davis, theme from Elevator to the Gallows
Abafana Baseqhudeni, “Ubu Gowele” from Rhythm of Resistance
Gordon MacRae and Gene Nelson, “The Farmer and the Cowboy” from Oklahoma!
Audrey Hepburn, “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Brian Eno, “Final Sunset” from Sebastiane
Samira Tewfik, “Hobbak Morr” from Desert Romance
Brian Eno, “Deep Blue Day” from Trainspotting
Elvis Presley, “Didja’ Ever” from G.I. Blues
David Bowie, “I’m Deranged” from Lost Highway
Joni Mitchell, “Both Sides Now” from Love Actually
Leonard Cohen, “Waiting for the Miracle” from Natural Born Killers
Nino Rota, “La Saraghina” from 8½
Dust Brothers, “What Is Fight Club?” from Fight Club
Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim, “O Nosso Amor” from Black Orpheus
Anton Karas, theme from The Third Man
Bernard Herrmann, theme from Taxi Driver
Merry Clayton and Jack Nitzsche, “Performance” from Performance
Jevetta Steele, “Calling You” from Bagdad Café
Brian Eno on recording ‘Leon’ with David Bowie (full show here):
Debbie Harry on ‘Taxi Driver’ (full show here):
Free bonus! The Stranglers play ‘Tramp’ on the episode of ‘Friday Night, Saturday Morning’ hosted by Germaine Greer: