[Graham Watt]

I think that in many ways Morricone was a true genius, but I’m by no means a fan of all his work.

Perhaps other Brits of a certain vintage will remember that the BBC screened the DOLLARS movies around the mid-1970s (but not THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY – that one was too long for the regular time slot), and they were a kind of “rite of passage” for young teen boys. Some of my friends and I had the LP (on the cheap Pickwick label I think – it cost about 1 pound 50) of highlights from the first two films. That was a gateway release for many.

I’m fairly selective when it comes to buying his soundtracks. In general they’re all too long, with a lot of repetition of perhaps two or three themes which go through various subtle changes in instrumentaion. Main Theme 1, Love Theme 1, Dissonant Hell Theme 1, Main Theme 2, Love Theme 2, Dissonant Hell Theme 2, Main Theme 3…. but I have a (how did Thor put it?) high pain threshold with much of that stuff.

Perhaps my favourite Morricones are not even full scores. Those compilations (“Psychedelic Morricone” and so on) are mostly a joy, although there’s ALWAYS at least one very silly track on then, just to annoy Onyabirri I’m sure.