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Johnnie Walker's Long Players: Series 9

Johnnie Walker's Long Players: Series 9: Episode 1: Soundtracks Special

Music: Classic Pop & Rock

Episode 1

Episode 1: Soundtracks Special

Series 9

Soundtracks Special

BBC Radio 2 - Johnnie Walker's Long Players, Series 9, Soundtracks Special

Johnnie and David focus on the power of music in the darkness of your local cinema.

Johnnie and David focus on the power of music in the darkness of your local cinema with archive from Hal David, Harry Nilsson, Paul Simon, Quentin Tarantino and Marvin Gaye.

To start the new series of Long Players Johnnie Walker and David Hepworth open the show with one of the most famous fanfares in the world, composed by Randy's Uncle Alfred Newman (also father of modern soundtrack composer Thomas Newman) in 1933 and somewhat neglected, until a young director called George Lucas asked 20th Century Fox to put it on the front of his new science fiction film Star Wars.

In this Soundtracks special focusing on the power of sound and music in the darkness of your local cinema, they also showcase Strauss and Also Sprach Zarathustra - from Stanley Kubrick's 2001 - for many their first exposure to classical music. 

Other memorable artists and films featured, often with BBC archive interview clips, include Burt Bacharach's compositions for Butch Cassidy and Hal David talking about their first collaboration on the original spoof Bond caper Casino Royale (with Dusty Springfield), Isaac Hayes remembers recording the drum and guitar sound on Shaft, Bruce Springsteen on Philadelphia being the first film he ever wrote and sang a song himself for, Marvin Gaye announces that Trouble Man is one of his finest works, Harry Nilsson describes how his songs were rejected and so he covered Fred Neil's song Everybody's Talkin' for Midnight Cowboy, Quentin Tarantino, Gerry Rafferty and film music supervisor Karyn Rachtman talk about K-Billy's Super Sounds Of The Seventies and the use of Stealers Wheel in Reservoir Dogs, journalist Nik Cohn, critic Mark Kermode and the Bee Gees on the chartbusting success of the Saturday Night Fever film and soundtrack and Paul Simon explains how The Graduate was made to fit with his songs.

Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

Radio 2: Amazing music. Played by an amazing line-up. The home of great music, entertainment and documentaries

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Johnnie Walker's Long Players

Series 9

Episode 1: Soundtracks Special

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