I 9 771351 019041

9 771351I 019041 en wewasB New York's Brill Building gave birth to many of pop history's my car. I t in nowhere in the San Fern favourite songs. A totally lost, just crying and to this song over and over again and going, I can't believe this new film celebrates is for my movie!" the alumni of that Persuading other writers to revisit their old styles wasn't so traightforward. Joni Mitchell famous address - and wouldn't or couldn't recreate the feel of her Blue period ("I don't ever want to go back there, boasts an intriguing, I don't ever want to be that vulnerable again," all-new soundtrack. she told Anders) until one of her cats went miss ing. The beautiful resulting song, Man From Jim Irvin reports. Mars, sounds like the best of her work prior to ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• For The Roses . Meanwhile, commissioned to write the kind of masochistic love song he cre HADDYAKNOW, YOU WAIT ated for girl groups in the early '60s, Gerry ages for a decent rock movie and then Goffin's first inclination was something in a W two come along at once. But while more sophis-ticated vein. the first, That Thing You Dol - Tom Hanks's "He wanted to do Cole Porter," says Klein. frothy fiction of a one-hit band riding the 1964 "I had to guide him back by saying that we really beat boom - was doing reasonable business needed to recapture the feeling of songs like He Stateside last year, the second, a much subtler Hit Me And It Felt Like A Kiss. 'Oh,' he said, evocation of the period, was being shamefully 'you want me to write one of those dumb overlooked. songs?' Then he had no trouble." Grace Of My Heart, written and directed by Like many of Alison Anders (previous work includes Gas Food us, Anders doesn't Lodging), is the story of a young woman, Denise consider those Waverley (played by Illeana Douglas) scoring a songs dumb in the job as a songwriter in the Brill Building, creating least. "The great a string of hits with her husband, divorcing, pop songs seem marrying a troubled genius surf-musician and simple but have entering the '70s as a successful solo singer. In I this dark, ironic other words, it's a biopic amalgam of Carole undercurrent, King, Lesley Gore, Cynthia Wei! and Ellie [ sometimes they're Greenwich with affectionate nods to many of the far more heart key players in the American music scene of the wrenching than '60s, among them Brian Wilson and Phil Spector. r even the most "I was very moved by stories of women in the angsty rock songs. music business in the '60s," says Anders. "People Think of Crying like Lesley Gore, who had almost as many hits as I In The Rain, Madonna had in the '80s, yet had no power at all. that's kinda The music that came out of the Brill Building, devastating." particularly the girl group .§ soundtrack where they had a whole decade of the Give Me Strength, superbly When Goffin stuff, had a strong impact CD most amazing work in music and J'ust used the sung on the soundtrack by was shown a and influence on the way I "'5~ cheapest hits with no imagination. And it was the velvet-voiced Kristen rough cut of the film he was see things." o chronologically out of synch, too. I hate that. Vygard. struck by the authenticity of the Intriguingly, the film's E- "A good soundtrack should spark an intere t. "I gave them the set lives of its fictional characters. soundtrack inhabits a paral r i By doing new stuff we could use the songs to up," says Anders. "!thad to "He said, 'How did you know lel universe, achieving a ~ move the narrative, point people towards the be a ballad of the kind that that I was messing around on credible sense of the times J: things actually recorded in that era and give some Burt would have written for Carole with the receptionist at the despite not including a ~ music back." All without the emotional baggage- Dusty Springfield, but it Brill Building?'" laughs Anders. "I single actual hit of the o not to mention expense - that comes with the had to reflect this loss that said, 'I didn't, I made that up, but period. I 1 real hits. Soundtrack producer Larry Klein and Denise had just had, a thanks for telling me!'" "I thought if I ~ music supervisor Karyn Rachtman set about com disastrous love affair." Reflecting on the years she has put in songs that f ~- missioning surviving songwriters of the period - "My vision of what devoted to this film, Anders are recognisable, ~ Burt Bacharach, Gerry Goffm and Joni Mitchell they'd do," adds Klein, doubts that modern songs and people would ci: among them - to contribute new material. "was Burt's old style with an edgier Hal David, their creators would be quite so inspirational and immediately be ~ "What we tried to do," says Klein, "was group and they came up with exactly that, but in spade . motivating. "It would be tough to do a movie like distracted, " ~ writers and musicians who actually played on the I went over to Burt's and he played me the first this around today's music. I'd like to think some explains Anders. ~ Brill Building songs with contemporary writers demo - Elvis singing the song onto hi answer thing will happen again, something quite as rich "I was so turned I ~ who were influenced by those records." phone - and my jaw just dropped. They'd as in the '60s, but I doubt it. Modern songs are so off by the ~ Bacharach was paired with Elvis Costello for the written a classic." internal and intellectual; they're not cathartic in Forrest Gump ~ film's keystone song, the soul-wringing God Alison was also stunned by the song. "I the same way." MOJO 19 .

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