Composed by PINO DONAGGIO
Just a year after composer Pino Donaggio paired with Brian DePalma on the Hitchcock-inspired Dressed to Kill (soundtrack also available on Intrada), the team tackled another genre-mashup thriller — Blow Out. Donaggio’s music is a meld of his infectious synthesizer-led rhythmic voice from lower-budget horror scores of the era (to accompany the film’s false opening), to richly melodic, dynamically vivid orchestral score worthy of the best A-list pictures. The score is anchored around an exquisitely sad and regretful love theme, introduced on piano and strings when we first meet the character of Sally. To characterize his male protagonist and antagonist, Donaggio took an opposing approach. In a number of cues he applies a funk-guitar vibe to Jack, establishing him as proactive and upbeat.
After Pino Donaggio recorded his 55-minute score for Blow Out on 2″ 24-track tape at A & R Recording Studios in New York City, he mixed and edited approximately 48 minutes of it down to ¼″ 15 ips two-track stereo for inclusion on a possible soundtrack album. The album never materialized and those two rolls of stereo tape are all that has survived of the score. They are the source of this current CD, made available courtesy of MGM and housed in perfect condition in their vaults.
In the film, a presidential candidate dies while riding in a limousine with an apparent prostitute named Sally (Nancy Allen). The sound editor, Jack (John Travolta), rescues her from the sinking car— making both of them key witnesses to the accident. In fact, the “accident” was the handiwork of a rogue political assassin named Burke, who seeks to discredit Jack as a witness.
Powerful original soundtrack from superb Brian De Palma thriller with John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz. For this release, Intrada went back to Donaggio’s 1/4″ two-track stereo mixes, made from the original 2″ 24-track masters recorded in New York. Donaggio prepared his own 48-minute album mock-up of nearly the entire score for potential release back in 1981 but record never materialized back then. (Premiere release did finally happen on Prometheus label in 2002 but has long been out-of-print.) While mock-up album master remains vaulted in pristine condition at MGM, sadly no other master elements have ever surfaced. Fortunately, Donaggio mixed all but just a very few short bits. Intrada CD now brings music back for a new generation, corrects certain track titles and sequencing plus, for purists, identifies cue slate details for the few unavailable cues Donaggio deleted. As with previous release, CD opens with reprise of “Theme From Blow Out” but now follows with all-important “low budget horror movie” faux-score for “Coed Frenzy” that opens picture, establishes harmonic vernacular of composer in decidedly sleaze-disco setting and allows introduction of striking symphonic “Jack Rescues Sally” music to play in startling contrast. Donaggio returns to both styles of music throughout. Main theme is incredibly wistful, romantic idea in minor key that features piano, flute, strings. Overall architecture of score is interesting: themes play, new ideas are introduced, moments for reflection, even cafe jazz all take place… then composer (and picture) take off in serious, weighted direction with dramatic slow-motion shots and rousing musical flourishes to match. When climax finally happens, Donaggio returns to wistful melody, wraps entire score in genuinely haunting fashion. Cool orchestrational idea: French horns in unison launch opening rescue music, then play smaller role in score for lengthy spell. As stirring action climax nears, horns come back front and center.
A dynamic masterpiece! Natale Massara conducts.
Tech Talk From Producer Douglass Fake
After Pino Donaggio recorded his 55-minute score for Blow Out on 2″ 24-track tape at A & R Recording Studios in New York City, he mixed and edited approximately 48 minutes of it down to ¼″ 15 ips two-track stereo for inclusion on a possible soundtrack album. The album never materialized and those two rolls of stereo tape are all that has survived of the score. They are the source of this current CD, made available courtesy of MGM and housed in perfect condition in their vaults. Fortunately, what the composer chose to prepare for his potential record represented the majority of what he had recorded, covering every one of the key sequences of the picture and score.
Donaggio’s music is a meld of his infectious synthesizer-led rhythmic voice from lower-budget horror scores of the era and a richly melodic, dynamically vivid orchestral score worthy of the best A-list pictures. In fact, as the movie opens with the editing of a low-budget horror movie-within-amovie titled Coed Frenzy, the composer gets to provide his own score-withina- score, infusing the pseudo-sleaze music with a rhythmic and harmonic language essential to the architecture of the actual Blow Out score itself. This balance between popular vernacular and symphonic colors throughout provides the score with a distinct and very rewarding flavor.
There were several changes made during postproduction in the use of music and the scenes for which the cues were composed, resulting in many sequences playing in a different order from what was originally intended. For this CD, the sequencing of the music follows the film in its final form. The closing “End Credits” music has also been included at the beginning of the CD simply to “bookend” the score.
For those interested, the following cues comprise the roughly seven minutes of music not included on the surviving master tapes: “Shower Scene” (M4), played over the closing portion of “Coed Frenzy Disco,” “Sally’s Theme” (M7), “Replay Of Sounds” (M9), “Burke Changes Tire” (M10), “Manny’s TV” (M19), “Watch Wire” (M31), “Karp’s Hotel” (M44) and a very brief cue simply titled “Photos Of Sally,” heard right after Jack arrives at Karp’s residence.
The presence of EQ and reverb on the tapes indicated the composer had already prepared a sound that met with his satisfaction. Although we mastered the 1981 audio using 2014 technology, we have avoided any artificial “pumping up” of the original, composer-approved sonics. We also kept noise reduction and other sonic alterations to the music down to a minimum. What you hear is pretty much what the composer intended.
INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 287
TRACKLIST
01. Theme From Blow Out (3:45)
02. Coed Frenzy Disco (2:53)
03. Jack Rescues Sally (2:22)
04. Hospital To Motel (2:05)
05. Jack Leaves Cutting Room* (0:46)
06. Jack Cuts Out Pictures (1:48)
07. Jack & Sally In Café 1 (3:46)
08. Freddie And Mobsters – Parts 1 & 2 (2:39)
09. Jack & Sally In Café 2 (0:46)
10. Burke Kills Redhead (3:16)
11. Jack Discovers Gunshot (1:07)
12. Burke In Phone Booth (1:04)
13. Burke & Manners/Jack’s Tapes Erased* (1:54)
14. Jack Retreives Tapes* (0:39)
15. Sally Slugs Karp (1:11)
16. Jack Copies Tapes* (0:44)
17. Burke Calls Sally (1:02)
18. Burke Kills Hooker (3:00)
19. Sally Into Station (1:10)
20. Jack Runs After Sally (3:15)
21. Car Through Glass Window (1:18)
22. Burke Kills Sally (3:37)
23. Jack Kills Burke (2:43)
24. Theme From Blow Out (End Credits) (3:45)
