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Ghostbusters
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Composed, Conducted, and Produced by:
Orchestrated by:
Peter Bernstein David Spear
Performed by:
The Hollywood Studio Symphony
2006 Varèse Album Produced by:
Robert Townson
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LABELS & RELEASE DATES
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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The song compilations are regular U.S. releases, with several various
re-pressings of the original Arista album containing the same music with slightly
different cover art. The 'Lincoln' bootleg was widely traded on the secondary market,
but holds no value after the 2006 release of the complete score by Varèse Sarabande
in their Club series. 3,000 copies of the $20 Club CD were manufactured, and are
available only through soundtrack specialty outlets.
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AWARDS
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The song "Ghostbusters" won a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award
and a Golden Globe. The score was nominated for a Grammy Award
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... on the Varèse Sarabande Club CD only if you're an
Elmer Bernstein collector, a devoted fan of the film, or a worshipper of
Gozer the Gozerian.
Avoid it... on the score-only albums if you're among most
mainstream listeners who want only the songs (in which case the 2006
Arista re-release is for you).
BUY IT
 | Bernstein |
Ghostbusters: (Elmer Bernstein) Among the triumphs
of director Ivan Reitman is the undeniably funny Ghostbusters,
arguably the best that Harold Ramis and SNL alums Dan Aykroyd and Bill
Murray ever put to screen. From its unforgettable logo to its title song
by Ray Parker Jr., Ghostbusters would outrun Indiana Jones and
the Temple of Doom at the box office in 1984, reaching earnings of
over $200 million after initial studio panic over its bloated $32 million
budget. For fans of paranormal comedies, Ghostbusters can't go
wrong, with a plotline of 1980's New York serving as a focal point for
the return of supernatural demons from another dimension. The city
relies on a group of nerdy pseudo-scientists to save them from their
chosen destruction at the hands of Zuul, Gozer the Gozerian, and, of
course, the giant Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man (though the suggestion of J.
Edgar Hoover as the form of the destructor must have been awfully
tempting, too). Everyone wanted a piece of the Ghostbusters pie,
and aside from the sequel a few years later (still successful, but not
astronomically so), the rights, the logo, and the title song were all
embroiled in legal wrangling for a decade after the initial film's
release. One aspect of the film that slipped by quietly without much
notice was its underscore, and Reitman didn't have to call to a parallel
dimension to find a composer. The comedy master of the early 1980's,
Elmer Bernstein had already collaborated with Reitman half a dozen
times, and he was assigned to Ghostbusters before any of the
actors had been signed. Given his effectiveness in similar projects of
the era and genre, the choice was never questioned, but as was an
emerging case with many films of the 1980's, portions of the score were
dumped in favor of pop songs. Ghostbusters went from being a
score-only affair in Bernstein's original assignment to a film famous
for its chart-topping songs and subsequent song album. With an Academy
Award nomination for the title song and gold status for the pop album,
Bernstein's score faded away into obscurity.
Typically, such treatment of effective music from a
veteran composer is reason for mutiny from film score collectors. But
with Ghostbusters, despite the status of Bernstein, a rare
situation occurred where the film was, in the end, better served with
the songs in various places than it would have been with strictly the
score. Bernstein disagreed, of course, conceding only that the title
song by Parker was warranted. And indeed, there were a few questionable
song usages in the film, especially in the latter half. The use of Mick
Smiley's lethargic "Magic" in the scene during which the ghosts escape
the protection grid and fly over New York to Gozer's arrival seems out
of place to this day, completely sucking the sequence dry of its power
and sense of impending doom. Interestingly, in cues when we hear solid
usage of songs, such as "Cleanin' Up the Town" at the outset and "Savin'
the Day" during the heroes' triumphs, Bernstein's score called for a
rock version of his quirky piano-based title theme. In fact, this
disco-rock version was recorded for several scenes, but often became the
casualty of song placements in the film. While Bernstein was
understandably frustrated with this loss, his disco-inspired music
really, in all honesty, wasn't as cool as the songs. The most thankful
lifting of his music was during the opening title (after the first nasty
little incident in the library), during which a rather tepid,
instrumentally sparse performance of Bernstein's title theme was
replaced with a preview of Parker's song. In almost every case, his
score doesn't succeed when he attempted to play it cool, instead playing
best in the film when either extending the comedy through his title
theme or providing straight horror crescendos later in the story. The
structure of the title theme, though absolutely perfect for the nerdy
element of the story, doesn't translate well into large-scale
performances. After all was said and done, Bernstein would declare
himself done with the comedy genre by the time the sequel was proposed,
and opted out of the franchise.
As usual with Bernstein, the primary theme is
piano-based, and it relies on the dexterity of its light, bouncing
rhythm to set a fluffy mood; the theme is well adapted throughout the
score, including the impatient rendition in "Stairwell." Only once does
Bernstein start to let the brass section and an electric guitar rip with
this theme (in the rejected "We Got One!" cue, the first call to action
scene), and seeing that it was rejected early in the process, it's no
surprise that Bernstein had little direction in the "coolness" category
for Ghostbusters. In the end, his title theme is quite memorable,
but in a strictly small-scale fashion of lovability. The same could be
said of Bernstein's theme for the Sigourney Weaver character, playing to
swaying romance from yesteryear and providing some elegance to separate
her even further in character from Bill Murray. Bernstein does let the
orchestra rip with his music for Zuul and Gozer. The build-up to the
coming of the destructor has some outstanding cues, including "The
Gatekeeper," in which Bernstein hails the arrival of Gozer with a full
blown organ-backed fanfare of religious variety. Despite all these
strengths, the aspect of the Ghostbusters that will bring a smile
to your face often involves the smaller aspects of the score that
twinkle in the background. It's an intelligent work, with Bernstein
making use of both the cello and piano to match their roles in the film.
Weaver's character is a cellist, so the presentations of her theme in
the first half of the film are often announced by a cello performance.
Likewise, Murray says, upon investigating Weaver's apartment, that
ghosts hate the alternating of adjacent keys on a piano's highest ranges
(and "torments" the ghosts by doing it on screen), and Bernstein toys
with quick spurts of high piano notes in moments of relative calm or
suspense throughout the score thereafter. Also, the ondes martenot, the
French keyboard variation of the theremin and very early synthesizer
technology, is used in Ghostbusters with great effect. While
performed less here than in its more glorious The Black Cauldron
by Bernstein at roughly the same time, there's no doubt that the eerie
sounds of the ondes martenot are a perfect fit for the light-hearted
world of ghosts.
On album, as mentioned before, Bernstein's score has
been largely neglected. After stuffing the film with its own artists'
songs, Arista released an LP in 1984 that featured nearly all the songs
in the film, as well as two Bernstein cues and an instrumental version
of the title song. Bernstein had originally recorded four cues
specifically for the commercial album, through two of them really didn't
have much in common with the score and were appropriately dropped. The
remaining two feature performances that don't really capture the spirit
of the score either, and it's no wonder these two pieces didn't inspire
calls for a score-only release by the public. A CD version of the LP
(still 37 minutes in length with 6:30 of score) was released by Arista
in 1990. Film score fans, though, wouldn't let this situation hold
forever. In 1998, they produced a badly titled bootleg of somewhat
inferior sound, including only cues that made it into the film. In 2006,
however, both the songs and score would get due treatment. Arista (with
Sony) re-released the song album with remastered sound and two
additional tracks: one song from the film that was missing from the
previous edition and a somewhat gutless remix of the Parker title song.
A full score release would highlight Varèse Sarabande's initial
2006 Club CD releases, with an outstanding treatment of all of
Bernstein's material for the film, whether it appeared in the movie or
not. This Club CD (readily available in a 3,000-copy pressing) tops off
Varèse Sarabande's strong offerings of Bernstein music from the
era, and includes the cues that were replaced by songs in the film, as
well as the two rejected suites of music for the commercial album. The
snazzier alternate for "We Got One!" is a fantastic bonus. Even in its
best presentation, though, Bernstein fans are well aware that his music
from this era is often dull or muffled compared to its contemporaries,
and Ghostbusters is rather flat in sound quality even in its best
form. Still, the Varèse Sarabande is the best offering of
Ghostbusters that we could reasonably expect, completely negating
the bootleg. One unfortunate result of the fact that the songs worked so
well in the film is a possible desire to have a couple of the songs from
the Arista album (including the Parker title, of course) appended to the
score. It wasn't feasible for Varèse Sarabande, but that
shouldn't stop ultimate fans of the film (or Gozer worshippers) from
combining an hour of score with a few of the songs on their own
playlists. @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Heard in the Film: *****
- 1990 Arista Song Compilation: **
- 1998 Score Bootleg: **
- 2006 Arista/Legacy Song Compilation: ***
- 2006 Varèse Sarabande Club CD: ****
- Overall: ****
Bias Check: |
For Elmer Bernstein reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.25
(in 18 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.16
(in 10,284 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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At last! Expand >> Michael Björk - April 3, 2006, at 4:32 a.m. |
3 comments (3808 views) Newest: June 18, 2006, at 6:46 p.m. by J |
1990 Arista Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 37:38 |
1. Ghostbusters - performed by Ray Parker Jr. (4:03)
2. Cleanin' Up the Town - performed by The Bus Boys (2:58)
3. Savin' the Day - performed by Alessi Brothers (3:21)
4. In the Name of Love - performed by The Thompson Twins (3:18)
5. I Can Wait Forever - performed by Air Supply (5:07)
6. Hot Night - performed by Laura Branigan (3:18)
7. Magic - performed by Mick Smiley (4:18)
8. Main Title Theme from "Ghostbusters"* (2:58)
9. Dana's Theme* (3:30)
10. Ghostbusters (Instrumental Version) - performed by Ray Parker Jr. (4:47)
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* score track by Elmer Bernstein |
1998 'Lincoln' Bootleg Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 59:46 |
1. At the Beginning/The Library (2:23)
2. Testing the Girl (1:49)
3. We Found One (2:49)
4. Up to the Hotel (2:20)
5. We'll Take It - Dana Barrett (1:11)
6. In Business (1:30)
7. First Customer/Checking the Apartment (4:58)
8. Hard Work (6:25)
9. Welcome on Board (1:35)
10. The Statue Moves (1:09)
11. Dana Disappears (1:35)
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12. Chased by a Bear!/Somebody Let Me In (3:42)
13. Peter Arrives/I am Zuul/Myth (9:26)
14. E.P.A. Man/Keymaster Meets Gatekeeper (2:17)
15. The Ground Moves (1:47)
16. The Stairs (1:22)
17. "Gozer" (4:01)
18. The Big Marshmallow (2:02)
19. In Reverse (1:33)
20. Dana is Back (2:15)
21. This is the Sign (1:09)
22. End Title (2:28)
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2006 Arista/Legacy Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 55:04 |
1. Ghostbusters - performed by Ray Parker Jr. (4:03)
2. Cleanin' Up the Town - performed by The Bus Boys (2:58)
3. Savin' the Day - performed by Alessi Brothers (3:21)
4. In the Name of Love - performed by The Thompson Twins (3:18)
5. I Can Wait Forever - performed by Air Supply (5:07)
6. Hot Night - performed by Laura Branigan (3:18)
7. Magic - performed by Mick Smiley (4:18)
8. Main Title Theme (Ghostbusters)* (2:58)
9. Dana's Theme* (3:30)
10. Ghostbusters (Instrumental Version) - performed by Ray Parker Jr. (4:47)
11. Disco Inferno - performed by The Tramps (10:57)
12. Ghostbusters (12" Single Remix) - performed by Ray Parker Jr. (6:04)
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* score track by Elmer Bernstein |
2006 Varèse Sarabande Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 68:55 |
1. Ghostbusters Theme** (3:00)
2. Library and Title* (3:02)
3. Venkman (0:31)
4. Walk (0:30)
5. Hello (1:36)
6. Get Her! (2:01)
7. Plan (1:25)
8. Taken (1:08)
9. Fridge (1:01)
10. Sign (0:54)
11. Client (0:35)
12. The Apartment (2:45)
13. Dana's Theme** (3:31)
14. We Got One! (2:02)
15. Halls (2:01)
16. Trap (1:56)
17. Meeting (0:38)
18. I Respect You (0:54)
19. Cross Rip (1:07)
20. Attack (1:30)
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21. Dogs (0:57)
22. Date (0:45)
23. Zool (4:12)
24. Dana's Room (1:40)
25. Judgment Day (1:19)
26. The Protection Grid (0:42)
27. Ghosts!* (2:15)
28. The Gatekeeper (1:12)
29. Earthquake (0:33)
30. Ghostbusters!* (1:13)
31. Stairwell (1:14)
32. Gozer (2:48)
33. Marshmallow Terror (1:25)
34. Final Battle (1:30)
35. Finish (2:13)
36. End Credits* (5:04)
Bonus Tracks:
37. Magic** (1:37)
38. Zool** (3:12)
39. We Got One! (Alternate)* (2:04)
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* not used in the film
** recorded for original album release only |
The 2006 albums both include expanded information. The Arista/Legacy song compilation
album features poor packaging, with the liner notes arranged backwards on adjacent pages and
containing several uncharacteristic errors (maybe they were typos) by veteran soundtrack
writer Didier C. Deutsch. No information about the score exists in those notes, either. The
Varèse Sarabande album contains the usual high-quality level of information about both the
film and score, including excerpts from interviews with Bernstein himself.
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