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It all started in 1996, Michael Matessino and Nick Redman were finishing up on the COMPLETE STAR WARS SOUNDTRACKS which were to tie in with the 20th anniversary release of the trilogy. Whilst adding the final touches to STAR WARS, they started talking about restoring Superman as their next big project. Mike and Nick have collaborated on the complete POLTERGIEST soundtrack, SOUND OF MUSIC and others. With nearly all the big Williams' titles (77-83) done, Superman was the next obvious choice. MAIN TITLES Mike Matessino A THE ROAD TO THE SUPERMAN THE MOVIE COMPLETE SOUNDTRACK THE LONG ROAD Nick Redman made a few enquiries during 1997, but met many dead ends, it was a case of waiting for the right oppurtunity. It seemed that Warner Bros. were not interested in restoring any of their soundtracks for commerical release, Superman was no exception. I was thinking about a restored Superman once I got my hands on all the STAR WARS CDs in the middle of 1997. I began doing some research into the music and... ...In December 97, me and Hiphats worked on the first article, you can read that HERE. There were a few errors and some material was based on speculation. I think this was the first ever article which really looked into the music in any real depth. This is when we began to realise how much music was really missing from the original Warner Bros. CD. I really felt that there was a possibilty that a campaign could generate interest to get Warner to release the entire score. I asked a few people, and the general consensus was that it would be very difficult to persuade Warner Bros. So many wheels need turning, it seemed an impossible task. So, in late February/early March 98, Bill Williams wrote a campaign letter for everyone to send to Warner Bros. Scott Hanson who runs the John Williams pages joined in our cause, Superman is one of his all time favourites, too. For Scott, his involvement meant that he would meet John Williams. John Williams was in Boston recording his score to Saving Private Ryan around late February/early March. Scott waited outside, hoping to tell John about Superman and giving him his campaign letter. While waiting, a car pulls up, out pops Steve Spielberg, Scott quickly passes the letter to him with the specific instruction - "Can you pass this to John Williams" Steven said he would. A little later, John and Steven come out, Scott passes another copy of his letter, this time to John Williams. Although it was really out of John's hands, I'm glad Scott got to meet him. We never heard from John Williams personally. So, we continued to send in letters to Warners. In early May, someone suggested that we should write to Julie D' Angelo at Rhino Records. Time Warner now owned MGM and it's subsiduries, which include Rhino Records. Now that Rhino had access to Warner's library, they stated that they will be re-releasing some of Warner's old titles, there was HOPE! From there on, we sent letters to Rhino and Warner Bros. Around mid July, a reader called Claire Stemp recieved a reply from Rhino, this was the first reply that I was aware of : Re: Superman Dear Claire: Thank you for your detailed comments and support
regarding the restoration of the Superman soundtrack. As you are apparently
aware, we have been considering this project; however, I cannot currently
give you an answer as to whether or not Rhino Movie Music will ultimately
release such a restoration. Best regards, Julie D'Angelo Label General Manager Turner Classic Movies Music/Rhino Movie Music Finally, Rhino confirm that they are thinking about Superman. Also, around that time, Varese Sarabande confirmed reports that they were going to re-record Superman with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. At this stage, no one really knew what was going to be recorded. On Thursday, 13th July 98, Bill wrote a new letter, this time, we sent them to Rhino Records only. In August, Varese issued a press release :- SUPERMAN FLYS! It's a bird ... it's a plane ... it's Superman! You'll believe a man can fly! In early September, Scott Hanson got word that Warner Bros were not interested in restoring Superman. A bitter blow at that time. It was around this time that Geoff Johns, Richard Donner's assistant contacted me about the film restoration campaign. The campaign ended on 5th October 1998 after we heard that
something was in the works. We were told to stop all campaigns with immediate
effect. So, for the time being, the Varese release kept people happy. Around this time, unknown to me, Mike Matessino of Sharpline Arts was preparing something quite special. After a worldwide search for a future Superman release (most likely initiated by Richard Donner productions), a few reels were found at Pinewood Studios, and included was a mixed down six track master of the film score. Mike went down to England and the sound department at Pinewood played the reels. They played okay, but at that point Mike was more concerned if the entire score was all there. The quality at this point was not as important. Unfortunatley, the actual raw scoring sessions could not be found, they were either destroyed or sent somewhere where no one can find them. By the end of December, Mike was plugged into a small room, working on the music. I didn't know this was happening, I still thought that nothing was going to transpire. On Janaury 15th, this press release came in : DAILY PLANET EXTRA - YOU WILL BELIEVE
A SOUNDTRACK CAN FLY! Finally, people who have waited long as 20 years, well their patience paid off. So it was a case of waiting, I probably put it to the back of my mind, since it was still at an early stage. Then, out of the blue comes the 2nd press release : DAILY PLANET EXTRA March 31, 1999 Mike Matessino, reporting The music restoration for Rhino's 2-CD presentation of John Williams' score for SUPERMAN has been completed. All the music has been digitally re-mastered, and is representative of the original mix by Eric Tomlinson. The background score will be presented in its entirety, with bonus tracks bringing the overall length to almost 2 1/2 hours. Everything is on track for release in August. I'd like to thank everyone for their letters, e-mails, and postings voicing their questions and concerns. All were taken into consideration. Track listings will not be published until we get closer to the release, but I have, with Rhino's approval, compiled a short list which gives yes or no answers to the most frequently-discussed topics about the contents. I hope it generates sighs of relief. 1) Film version Prelude and full intro to Main
Title YES While we move forward with preparing the release, I'd like to request the continued assistance of those who campaigned to make this project happen. Your assignment is this: If you encounter casual or impulse buyers of the new STAR WARS soundtrack, convince them that SUPERMAN is well worth the investment too. The more we increase the appreciation for these kinds of releases, the more of them we'll see. By the time of the next update, STAR WARS will be out, and we'll be in need of generating interest in SUPERMAN. Once again, on behalf of Julie D'Angelo, Nick Redman, and others involved in the project, I'd like to thank everyone for their interest and support. Best wishes to all for a refreshing Easter, Passover, or Spring Break. And if you don't partake in any of these, do something nice for yourself! You could hear the fans breathing sighs of relief around the world. With Star Wars dominating everything, I was looking forward to John Williams' first Prequel score. Unfortuanley, I was not prepared for this on 16th May : SUPERMAN HITS A SLIGHT HEAD-WIND
On 5th July, me, Hiphats and Scott interview both Mike and Nick. This interview was going to posted nearer the original date but we all agreed that to keep fans happy, we should publish it on this date. The interview didn't give too much away, a very interesting one nevertheless. You can read the interview HERE. In August, Mike issued another press release : DAILY PLANET EXTRA More waiting, we didn't hear nothing for a few months. Late October, the Rhino website had Superman scheduled for release on 5th February, so, another e-mail to Mike to find out the latest. While Mike was waiting for the official news from Rhino, a surprise was in store for us. Ford A Thaxton who runs Soundtrack Cinema on the internet, it is a radio show which plays film scores for one hour every week. On 4th November, Ford dedicated 20 minutes of his show to SUPERMAN, he played the following 5 tracks in order : 1)Prologue/Main Title
(Alternate) WOW, out of the blue. We all thought that the music came from the Rhino CD Set, a quick mail to Mike thanking him for allowing these cues to be showcased on Ford's show. On the same day, Mike issued the following statement : DAILY PLANET EXTRA "SUPERMAN APPEARS ON THE HORIZON" Reported by Michael Matessino Rhino Records has confirmed a new release date for the complete John Williams score for SUPERMAN, and that date is Tuesday, FEBRUARY 15th. Although previously postponed until next April, SUPERMAN has now been moved forward in Rhino's revised schedule for 2000, making it their major soundtrack release for the first part of the year. The 2-CD will contain the complete re-mastered score from the film, plus concert arrangements and alternate cues. Details will be forthcoming as the release date approaches. On the 5th November, Mike told us that the music featured on Ford's show did NOT come from the Rhino CD, this is what I wrote : The 5 unreleased cues on Soundtrack Cinema are NOT from the forthcoming Rhino 2 CD Set. The producers wish to point out that they used the best source available, the 6 track master. What you heard on Soundtrack Cinema was a different source, hence the quality. The Rhino set will sound a lot better. I am sure you have noticed the differences in Planet Krypton and Helicopter Rescue, they are not exactly the film versions. Planet Krypton is an alternate cue. I don't know how Ford aquired the music for the show, but it is NOT the Rhino CDs. Hmmm. On 16th December, Rhino's official site posted the following news on the Superman soundtrack : IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S JOHN WILLIAMS' COMPLETE SUPERMAN SCORE! Fear not, film fans! After years of waiting, wondering, and worrying, Warner Archives/Rhino Movie Music comes to the rescue of John Williams fans and Superman fans alike with the February 15 release of the complete original movie soundtrack to SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE. This two-CD set marks the first time John Williams' classic score is available in full and includes over 40 minutes of previously unavailable music. Considered by many film and soundtrack aficionados to be one of the top 10 scores of all time, this award-winning soundtrack finally gets the treatment it deserves, with deluxe packaging that includes a 36-page, full-color booklet with extensive liner notes about the history of the Man of Steel and a track-by-track annotation of the score by film historian Michael Matessino. And fans of the score will be thrilled to discover that this release includes seven bonus tracks, comprised of alternate takes and an instrumental version of the love theme "Can You Read My Mind." The Christmas break was upon us, no Superman CINEMA updates till 4th January, but the holiday season had a surprise.The TRACK LISTING was released on Monday, 27th December. There was me thinking that the listings wouldn't be available till mid-Janury 2000. I published the listing on my site on the 4th Janaury. On January 12th, Mike Matessino presented the first of three articles on the music. The first one deals with the 'Superman March' you can read that HERE. On the 13th, the soundtrack front cover was unveiled on Superman CINEMA, most people liked it, I certainly did. Sharpline Arts began their promotion on their website, a production journal was presented, contests to win the soundtrack and a chance to hear a previously unreleased cue - 'Lois and Clark' A few DVD sites were also promoting the soundtrack! On the 19th January, the next article was released, this one was about the different versions of 'Can you read my Mind' you can read that HERE And the final article - Dealing with the final bits and pieces was presented on 19th January, you can read it HERE By the end of January 2000, www.amazon.com received over 4000 pre-orders for the soundtrack, Sharpline Arts were bombarded with e-mails and everyone was extremely excited. So the last 15 days were upon us. Not much to say, it was a quiet couple of weeks, nothing needed to be said, the music wll do all the talking. The 2nd interview with Mike Matessino was posted on the 14th February, it went very well. And, so, 15th Febraury is upon us, after 13 months of waiting, the soundtrack is finally here. Some peope have waited 21 years, some 15 years, me? just a few years. Has it been worth the wait? ABSOLUTELY!!!! - Cue the 'End Title March'
END CREDITS Mike Matessino COMING SOON - THE DVD
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