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Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

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Re: Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

#51

Post by WalterBright »

bombcar wrote: post #49
WalterBright wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can’t make a great soundtrack for a mediocre movie. I'm having trouble coming up with an example, but my dad told me that "Warsaw Concerto" was composed for the movie "Dangerous Moonlight". The movie was bad, but was popular because people really liked "Warsaw Concerto".

I think an amazing song or piece could come from or certainly be used in a crappy movie, but I don’t think you can have a definitive entire soundtrack for a bad movie. I could probably be proved wrong( I don’t think it’s entirely causal but more “they won’t pay for good music if they won’t pay for a good script” kind of thing.

The "Warsaw Concerto" was composed for the movie. I haven't seen the movie myself, but movies often use themes from the main song throughout.

Re: Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

#52

Post by chipotle_coyote »

bombcar wrote: post #45
WalterBright wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most horrible example is the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Early commercial VHS tapes of it have the original music. Later tapes, and the DVDs, have all the music replaced with just awful generic music. That bad music just makes it unwatchable. Music is an enormous factor in movies, I wonder why nobody mentions it. For example, the Lord of the Rings soundtrack is spectacular and adds greatly to the pleasure in watch…

I don’t know if perfect soundtracks would save your examples; I’d argue that the malaise infects everything: you can’t make a great soundtrack for a mediocre movie.

Xanadu was a terrible movie, but the soundtrack was a critical and commercial success -- it went to number one in 11 countries, was certified double platinum in the US and had six charting singles, some of which still get radio airplay over four decades later. (And all the songs on the soundtrack were written for the movie; it wasn't a collection of already-existing pop songs.)

Re: Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

#53

Post by TurdF3rguson »

vibrio wrote: post #3

I can’t wait until Thanksgiving.

I was thinking of this episode the other day and wondering how it could have stuck with all of us independently after all these years given that there was no social media / meme sharing back then.

Re: Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

#54

Post by mcculley »

TurdF3rguson wrote: post #53
vibrio wrote: post #3

I can’t wait until Thanksgiving.

I was thinking of this episode the other day and wondering how it could have stuck with all of us independently after all these years given that there was no social media / meme sharing back then.

There were plenty of reruns. Not as much content back then as we have now.

Re: Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

#55

Post by toast0 »

chipotle_coyote wrote: post #52
bombcar wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know if perfect soundtracks would save your examples; I’d argue that the malaise infects everything: you can’t make a great soundtrack for a mediocre movie.

Xanadu was a terrible movie, but the soundtrack was a critical and commercial success -- it went to number one in 11 countries, was certified double platinum in the US and had six charting singles, some of which still get radio airplay over four decades later. (And all the songs on the soundtrack were written for the movie; it wasn't a collection of already-existing pop songs.)

Xanadu is not even really a terrible movie. Terrible movies are worth seeing, at least once, because of how awful they are. I've seen at least three disco movies on roller skates, (roller skates) released at that time. The Apple is certainly terrible; I think it was made to cash in on West Germany film subsidies (the same subsidies that paid for The Neverending Story), even the songs are charmingly terrible. Xanadu has a great soundtrack, but the movie is just boring. Skatetown, U.S.A. is probably terrible, but I'd need to watch it again and I don't want to. :P I haven't seen Roller Boogie.

That said, I would absolutely buy (and wear) a Xanadu jacket if I saw one for a reasonable price.

Re: Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

#56

Post by lordfrito »

wishfish wrote: post #32

Radio Retrofit took all the station breaks and song announcements from the show, combined them with the full length songs to create around 6 hours of WKRP radio. 3 hours of Johnny Fever and 3 hours of Venus Flytrap. MP3 downloads available. Really a brilliant idea. Johnny: https://www.awphooey.com/wkrp Venus: https://www.awphooey.com/venus

This is awesome! Thanks it made my day!

Re: Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

#58

Post by hunterpayne »

bombcar wrote: post #45
WalterBright wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most horrible example is the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Early commercial VHS tapes of it have the original music. Later tapes, and the DVDs, have all the music replaced with just awful generic music. That bad music just makes it unwatchable. Music is an enormous factor in movies, I wonder why nobody mentions it. For example, the Lord of the Rings soundtrack is spectacular and adds greatly to the pleasure in watch…

I don’t know if perfect soundtracks would save your examples; I’d argue that the malaise infects everything: you can’t make a great soundtrack for a mediocre movie.

"you can’t make a great soundtrack for a mediocre movie."

The Hackers soundtrack made more money than the actual movie. There was a sequel to the soundtrack but not the movie and unless you are involved in development, almost nobody knows the movie but you still hear songs from the soundtracks at nightclubs today.

Re: Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

#59

Post by wahern »

wishfish wrote: post #32

Radio Retrofit took all the station breaks and song announcements from the show, combined them with the full length songs to create around 6 hours of WKRP radio. 3 hours of Johnny Fever and 3 hours of Venus Flytrap. MP3 downloads available. Really a brilliant idea. Johnny: https://www.awphooey.com/wkrp Venus: https://www.awphooey.com/venus

There are more shows, too, including two 3 hour shows with Chris on KBHR Cicely (i.e. Northern Exposure):

https://www.awphooey.com/kbhr

https://www.awphooey.com/retrofit/autumn

Full list at https://www.awphooey.com/retrofit

(I only know this from your post, so thank you. Just mentioning in case KBHR piques someone's interest more than WKRP. I loved both TV shows.)

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