2026 March 16 • Monday

Wow here we are at the 900th Soundtrack of the Week! I think maybe I've got a hundred more of these in me and then I quit at a thousand.

In the meantime, this week I'm listening to Roy Budd's beautiful and melancholy score for Man at the Top.

The "Opening" starts with harp and strings and then cymbalom comes in with a suggestion of the main theme. Fans of John Barry's score for The Ipcress File will probably like this.

The cymbalom handles the "Main Titles" solo, a slow 3/4 piece with ascending and descending four-note phrases that could be heard as the four words in the title.

This CD presentation places the "End Credits" music next, which is pensive and mysterious, long string tones, harp and eventually a restatement of the main theme.

The music gets more energetic, percussive and driving for "The Journey Continues" as sharp piano pulses and fastly struck high-hat or some other metallic percussion instrument pushes urgently. The main theme appears on cymbalom at the end.

The piece that's actually called "Man at the Top" is more dramatic and suspenseful, bringing in snare drum and low, ominous, long bass tones contrasted with sharp, high, plucked strings. A variation of the main theme is played over a tense but cool groove.

More unsettling sounds from the strings start off "Night Is Falling" but then there's a lot of space and vibes, cymbalom, flute and piano all take turns filling it before combining with other instruments.

"Bedtime" is a sweet and lovely feature for acoustic guitar and electric piano, the main theme again, but it's such a nice piece I don't mind hearing it so much.

The flute starts out with the main theme duties on "In the Woods", soon to be joined by strings and vibes. Plucked bass then adds a bit of bounce and there's an ethereal feel that turns menacing and then intensely dramatic with very high-pitched string writing.

A very short (29 seconds) cue comes next. "Peeping Robin" is a brief interval for strings, almost like a bridge between "In the Woods" and "Change of Plan", which is more pensive string writing that also has vibes and electric piano adding to the atmosphere. Then the pounding and driving piano/percussion motif from "The Journey Continues" reappears.

Then it's lounge time with "Bossa Nova", which is for sure a very conventional bossa nova piano trio piece, very nice, you've heard others like it before.

A very short solo cymablom and harp take on the main theme is "In the Office" and then "Joe Is Being Followed" reiterates the piano/percussion mood from "The Journey Continues" but with the addition of guitar and cymbalom.

Another beautiful presentation of the main theme is presented by cymbalom and harp in "Swept Up in Memories", followed by a reprise of "In the Woods".

The piano trio returns in "Mingle with Me", but this time it's a relaxed, gently swinging piece that plays around with the main theme a bit.

The first of three bonus tracks is "Demo Jingle", a funky piece with wah-wah guitar. It's really cool, with a great synth sound.

"You Can Never Trust a Friend" is a laidback, acid rock soul whatever sort of piece that's also really nice.

Finally there's a bit of library music strings with square funk rhythm for "Pipe Tobacco".

2026 March 11 • Wednesday

Available now! The Elite Travelers self-titled vinyl EP, limited to 100 copies!

It's on special flamingo pink vinyl!

Of course it's also available on various digital/streaming platforms and the digital version includes a bonus track, a cover of Maurice Jarre's theme from the movie Jacob's Ladder.

Get the vinyl here at Bandcamp.

And here is a list of digital/streaming resources.

If you're within striking distance of Toronto, come see our record relase show at The Emmett Ray on April 19th!

2026 March 09 • Monday

The 899th Soundtrack of the Week is Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, which mixes some of the stand-up bits from the movie with a little of Herbie Hancock's score and a bunch of songs by various artists.

It starts with Chaka Khan's powerful "My Destiny", a tough electro-funk dance song and then goes from there into the classic "For the Love of Money" by The O'Jays. You almost certainly know this song.

Herbie Hancock's "Off the Cliff" is a short, funky instrumental followed by "Mannish Boy" by Muddy Waters. You know this song too.

You also know "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" but this recording is by Gladys Knight and The Pips and it has a different feel, borrowing some energy from gospel and really swinging.

Side A ends and Side B begins with more stand-up snippets and then we get Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", which is still as great as always.

"Michelle" is another Herbie Hancock piece, one which sways and swings at the same time and has feels like a love theme.

The Spinners take the next track, "Mighty Love", the first song on the record I wasn't familiar with. It's a really good sunshiney soul-pop number with strings.

After that it's gospel time with Mahalia Jackson and "In the Upper Room". I usually find gospel to be on the boring side but this one has a sultry swing feel to it, a relaxed tempo that seems unbearably exciting. And of course Jackson's voice has incomparable power and beauty.

Herbie Hancock brings out the synth for "Theme for Mother", a piece of dramatic underscore that suggests both menace and melancholy, followed by "Bass Behavior/Burn Ward", which mixes a funky rhythm track with dialogue from the film.

After one more stand-up clip, the record ends with the famous "Shotgun" by Jr. Walker and The All Stars. You know this song.

2026 March 02 • Monday

Jimmie Haskell scored the 1971 movie Zachariah but the film and its soundtrack album also feature music from James Gang, Elvin Jones and others. It's the 898th Soundtrack of the Week.

The first track is Haskell's main title theme, a lovely piece featuring flute and electric guitar that's a bit pastoral, a bit melancholy, airy and dreamy. The energy picks up when the rhythm section and strings come in.

Then we get James Gang's contribution, "Laguna Salada", an instrumental number that appears only on this record and subsequent compilations. It's the classic line-up with Joe Walsh on guitar and it's typically awesome. The drummer is the MVP here.

Country Joe and The Fish come next with "We're the Crackers", a great rock vocal number with piano and electric guitar contributing a lot to the sound and feel. There's some dialogue first that's probably from the movie. There's definitely characters talking from the film after the track.

Jimmie Haskell's arrangement of the "William Tell Overture" starts out straight but then drums come in and give it a backbeat.

After that comes a second song from Country Joe and The Fish. "All I Need" is a sunny and funny acoustic number about dreams of getting rich.

"Ballad of Job Cain" is thick with multiple violins and bluegrass singing about the title character. These layers of fiddles are really cool.

And then, hooray! James Gang are back with "Country Fever". There's a great drum intro, then the bass comes in with a heavy riff, soon joined by guitar, and this time we get to hear Joe sing too. It's awesome.

Flip the record now and you get three Haskell cues in a row.

"The Lonely Ride" begins as the main title did, with flute and electric guitar. Soon strings and rhythm section join them for mellow, swaying music.

"Camino/Used Horse Salesman" has a bit of dialogue from the movie before launching into a tough rock instrumental that uses horns effectively and has some great electric guitar playing too. At the end it unexpectedly swerves into a Dixieland jazz bit that's presumably source music since you hear characters from the movie talking during it.

"Camino Waltz" is a pretty waltz piece with piano and strings and something like glockenspiel in there too. It's nice.

Then we have a piece called "Gravedigger" by The New York Rock Ensemble. I guess it's kind of rock-classical fusion, rock rhythm section with oboe and piano. Eventually a singer joins in. It's pretty good and I bet it works great in the movie.

The last band to join the party is White Lightnin' with a song called "Shy Ann". This is a straight bluegrass number, just banjo and fiddle.

The last two tracks are Jimmie Haskell again, with "Matthew", which starts with characters screaming in the movie before getting into a very atmospheric, dreamy place with eerie strings and reverby/tremolo electric guitar as well as some other electric sounds and a trumpet feature, and then a reprise of "Zachariah".