Soundtrack Saturday

I first saw Apocalypse Now! in the late night BBC2 slot at some point in the 80s. It came out in 1979 and in a few years became a record collection soundtrack staple- the blood red cover with the Vietnamese sun fading into an orange/ red haze, the scrawl of the film's title and then the disc inside, The Doors, The Ride Of The Valkyries....

It's still an astonishing film, Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece maybe- even the story of its making is an epic filled with disaster. Martin Sheen's opening scene and narration, 'Saigon... shit, I'm still in Saigon', the ever present whir of fans and helicopter blades, and the increasing madness of the trip upriver to find Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a US officer who has gone rogue. The scene with the Playmates choppered in to entertain US troops, dancing to Suzie Q by Flash Cadillac, Cynthia Wood packing pistols- everything, all the time, on the brink of chaos. 

The soundtrack is absolutely key to the film, as much part of the movie as Martin Sheen, Robert Duval, Dennis Hopper, the surfing, the napalm and the horror. Coppola's use of The End by The Doors is inspired. The Doors 80s revival started via Apocalypse Now! and Danny Sugarman's book No One Here Gets Out Alive (publsuhed a year after the film, 1980), and their albums and influence grew through the decade all the way to Oliver Stone's misguided biopic ten years later. The End is Doors max, their closing song in concert and on their debut album, a song that began lyrically when Jim Morrison broke up with his girlfriend Mary Werbelow but became something much darker, more Oedipal. It suited Coppola's vision of the film perfectly, explosions and the sky on fire, the end.... The version from the soundtrack opens with slow motion helicopter blades and then Robbie Krieger's eastern sounding guitar...

The End (Apocalype Now! Edit)

Most of the score for the film was recorded by Carmine Coppola with Francis along with a host of percussionists, synth/ keys players and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, twelve short pieces of music, thirty minutes long when sequenced together, that play a huge part in the film.

Apocalypse Now! OST

The Clash were paying attention, In 1980 they released their own epic, the six sides of vinyl of Sandinista! (an opinion splitting album- I love it, it's the very essence of the band for me). Mick's keyboard slashes and the slowed down helicopter blades that lead the song in are total Apocalypse Now! and the vocal refrain and song title is taken from Colonel Kilgore's famous line about the VC. 

Charlie Don't Surf

Half An Hour Of Disco Poco Loco Pub

Out in Mallorca, straddling the Palma Nova/ Magaluf border, sits Disco Poco Loco Pub. Sadly, it wasn't open when we were there two weeks ago but every time we passed it I enjoyed the sign and the thought of Disco Poco Loco Pub. For this week's half hour mix I'm putting together thirty four minutes of music that the DJ at Poco Loco might have played. I'm guessing that the tracks I've stitched together below aren't what will be coming out of the speakers and filling the floor once the season is well under way in Magaluf so the mix below is more of a Poco Loco mix of the mind or of my imagination, some piano house and Balearic remixes, spanning the mid 80s to this year. 

Disco Poco Loco Pub Mix

• Voice Of Africa: Hoomba Hoomba
• Piano Fantasia: Song For Denise
• Coyote: As The Crow Flies
• Saint Etienne: Speedwell (Flying Mix)
• The Aloof: Never Get Out Of The Boat (Gosh Mix)
• Audio Trip: Dreamatic

If the mix is a bit clunky in places, that's all part of the appeal. The DJ at Poco Loco isn't too fussed about mixing, it's all about the vibe and the song selection. Plus it's difficult to see with those sunglasses on indoors. While smoking. It was even more random when he/I was trying to shoehorn Penguin Cafe Orchestra and the theme from Hill Street Blues into it. Maybe we'll have to return to Disco Poco Loco Pub another time. 

Underneath Disco Poco Loco Pub  there is a shop selling tat for tourists. Being both a tourist and someone who is partial to a bit of tat, I had a look inside. All three of us agreed that Isaac would have loved the mug you can see below. He would have laughed long and hard at being offered his juice in it. So we bought one for him. It now sits on the bookshelf near by records and stereo, in between a replica Lewis chessman and a knitted Andrew Weatherall doll. I did think about putting it on his grave but we felt that was a step too far. 

Never Get Out Of The Boat

It feels like spring is finally here- the evenings are lighter, the clocks go forward tonight, the trees have the first signs of blossom, I've got two weeks off work for Easter, the temperature has hit double figures occasionally (I'll ignore the fact that I drove to work through snow on Thursday morning). Springtime brings promise and sunshine and... Balearic records.



The Aloof's first 12" single was this Apocalypse Now! sampling classic Never Get Out Of The Boat. Good advice under the circumstances. You don't need me to describe it for you- just listen to it.

You have probably noticed I've run out of bandwidth for downloads. I could set up a second Boxnet account with a different email address I suppose but haven't got around to it so far. There's more to life than downloads.