[Jon Aanensen]

I remember going to the Narvesen kiosk asking for Soundtrack Magazine in the early 90s, lol. Of course they didn’t have it. Then I found their address in a film book at the library, sent cash to Luc in Belgium, and my subscribtion was on. My last issue was the December 1995 one, I had got fed up of those old men on the cover. FSM was the new thing then.

[Malte Müller]

That is why I didn’t like the way John Williams sometimes plugged tracks together from very different parts of the movie.

Interestingly this never really bothered me.

Anyway, it never crossed my mind to listen to TV themes because you could hear it every week when your favourite shows aired.

Only if they were actually shown on the few programmes we had. We were always years behind and often years past before the next season was shown, if at all.

[Malte Müller]

So I have a complete set of FSM magazines, from 1990 to 2005 (the first part of my own Danny Elfman Buyer’s Guide was in the very last issue, as it happens, the second part in the inaugural online issue).

I have ALL of them still, filling up a cupboard!

Yeah, the early days I bought Soundtrack! via the Soundtrack Club mailorder because of that. Some years later I actually subscribed to it and I also bought some older issues. So great to see the favorite composers at all. It’s by no means a complete collection and I still have them. We should never part with these as the info or even photos within is not really available otherwise!

While I have only two printed FSMs I do have the digital archive as Kendall provided that as a free download at some time.

[Thor Joachim Haga]

I remember going to the Narvesen kiosk asking for Soundtrack Magazine in the early 90s, lol. Of course they didn’t have it. Then I found their address in a film book at the library, sent cash to Luc in Belgium, and my subscribtion was on. My last issue was the December 1995 one, I had got fed up of those old men on the cover. FSM was the new thing then.

And this reminds me of something yet again.

In the early 90s, I thought I was the only person in the world interested in film music, at least in Norway (well, not really, I had an inkling there were others out there — but it’s what you think and feel when there is no one to share your interest with). The discovery of FSM, the magazine, helped a little, and then the messageboard even more. But they were still all ‘foreigners’, were there any Norwegians out there?

So I asked Lukas to see a list of subcribers from Norway, and lo and behold — there were some names! There was yours, Jon, and Nils. A couple of others too, but their names escape me at the moment (was Hans Offerdal one?). You both even had letters in the magazine. Today, of course, I know about several fellow film music ‘geeks’ in Norway, but different time back then. Norwegian film music fans were more rare than gold.

(I mean, I guess they weren’t THAT rare, but none of us knew about each other’s presence in the pre-information age period).

[Graham Watt]

Just a little nugget taken in isolation from the long view… although it might actually be more significant than it sounds. I’m one of the many “older gits” whose childhood and adolescence was shaped by “taping direct from the telly onto cassette”. In some ways it might be geekism at its saddest (my friends had started going to school discos and stuff), but it certainly attuned my ear to composers’ styles.

This was before Halliwell’s Film Guide, which gave a composer credit for the major studio films at least. And so I taped the Main Titles from almost all films shown in Blighty from between about 1973 and 1979. In most cases, certainly in the early days, I would have absolutely no idea who the composer was, but I quickly latched onto the style(s) of Rózsa and Herrmann (unmistakeable), but also people like Herschel Burke Gilbert (after hearing RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11, I just knew that it had to be him within the opening bars of WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS). And so on with a multitude of composers.

That’s just part of my own “Film Music Origin Story”.

[Jon Aanensen]

So I asked Lukas to see a list of subcribers from Norway, and lo and behold — there were some names! There was yours, Jon, and Nils. A couple of others too, but their names escape me at the moment (was Hans Offerdal one?). You both even had letters in the magazine. Today, offr se, I know about several fellow film music ‘geeks’ in Norway, but different time back then. Norwegian film music fans were more rare than gold.

I did exactly the same!

I remember Rune Karolius from Finnsnes. He was a big Kamen fan. I see you are FB friends with him.

Actually, I had three friends in the 90s and beyond (Alexander Nupen, Sindre Seberg and Lars Christian Jacobsen) who were also interested in film music. Not as much as me, but they were quite a bit into it. So I was lucky in that regard.

[Nick Zwar]

were there any Norwegians out there?

So I asked Lukas to see a list of subcribers from Norway, and lo and behold — there were some names

LOL…. those were the days, long before GDPR. 🙂

[Nick Zwar]

I’m one of the many “older gits” whose childhood and adolescence was shaped by “taping direct from the telly onto cassette”.

I did so too. Fortunately, I had a least a way to hookup my radio cassette recorder to the TV, so that I would record the TV sound only, and not via microphone picking up should anyone in the family talk. (Ironically, had I now some voices of my family from back then, these tapes would be invaluable to me.)

Some of the movies I had taped off the TV were WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE BIG COUNTRY, TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING, CAPRICORN ONE, BANDOLERO!, LAWMAN, HIGH NOON, GODZILLA, SCORPIO, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL… all of which belong to my “initial deck” of “introductory film scores”. (The first film scores I ever got to listen to “without movie” were STAR WARS and STAR TREK – THE MOTION PICTURE.)

[Thor Joachim Haga]

Weirdly, I never did that ‘record-from-TV’ thing, even though I’m the right age to have done so (the “cassette age”).

I remember Rune Karolius from Finnsnes. He was a big Kamen fan. I see you are FB friends with him.

Ah, yes, that’s right — he was on the list too! Yes, I’ve met him a couple of times, while attending TIFF (Tromsø International Film Festival). I believe he worked in the cinema there when I last saw him a few years ago. Don’t know what he does these days.

[Malte Müller]

Weirdly, I never did that ‘record-from-TV’ thing, even though I’m the right age to have done so (the “cassette age”).

You are exposed as no real fan then 😉

I did so too. Fortunately, I had a least a way to hookup my radio cassette recorder to the TV, so that I would record the TV sound only, and not via microphone picking up should anyone in the family talk.

Originally I started indeed with a microphone but a thten later better TV had a connection gladly. I however did this primarily for TV themes but rarely for films or even complete ones as for as I remember. I later did that later in the 90s with some silent movie scores of VHS I rented from the library (some Carl Davis scores specially).

[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

So I asked Lukas to see a list of subcribers from Norway, and lo and behold — there were some names! There was yours, Jon, and Nils. A couple of others too, but their names escape me at the moment (was Hans Offerdal one?). You both even had letters in the magazine. Today, of course, I know about several fellow film music ‘geeks’ in Norway, but different time back then. Norwegian film music fans were more rare than gold.

Thor, I think we first got in touch after I had a reader’s letter in “Filmmagasinet” (a Norwegian movie magazine that was distributed for free at cinemas) sometime in the late 90s, complaining about their abysmal film music coverage. That was back in the day when it was OK to leave your e-mail address in a “public place” like a magazine. You saw that and contacted me, right? (as did Jon).

As for my complaints, they had no effect whatsoever on the magazine. They kept reviewing mostly song compilations, and a few issues later, we could read in the column that people who listen to and collect film music are mostly guys who live in their parents’ basement. Charming.

My film music “origin story” is pretty similar to others’ of my generation – it all started with STAR WARS. Although it got off to a slightly false start when I went to the record shop to get the music, a few days after seeing the movie, and what the clerk got me was the disco version by Meco! But I have to admit I kind of liked that, too… And as it was my first ever LP, I have warm, nostalgic feelings about it to this day. But I quickly got the real thing, too, of course!

[Jon Aanensen]

Do you remember the lists I sent you in tbe late 90s, Nils? I rated all the scores to films I had seen at the cinema each year. 😅

Weird with that “in the parents basement”-thing. Why is film music considered more “nerdy” than many other music genres?

[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

Do you remember the lists I sent you in tbe late 90s, Nils? I rated all the scores to films I had seen at the cinema each year. 😅

I do, yes! We exchanged some “snail mail” letters. I think I still have them somewhere. 🙂

[Malte Müller]

and what the clerk got me was the disco version by Meco! But I have to admit I kind of liked that, too… And as it was my first ever LP, I have warm, nostalgic feelings about it to this day. But I quickly got the real thing, too, of course!

I think there is nothing to be ashamed of liking that. I actually find those covers a lot of fun, too 😉

[Thor Joachim Haga]

Thor, I think we first got in touch after I had a reader’s letter in “Filmmagasinet” (a Norwegian movie magazine that was distributed for free at cinemas) sometime in the late 90s, complaining about their abysmal film music coverage. That was back in the day when it was OK to leave your e-mail address in a “public place” like a magazine. You saw that and contacted me, right? (as did Jon).

That’s correct. I wish I remembered the year. I know it was the late 90s. Alas, my Yahoo Mail doesn’t go back further than 2014, although I’ve used it since the mid 90s (I think the older e-mails have all been deleted from cyberspace). Do you still have the magazine with your letter?

Wasn’t it some guy called Arne Svingen who had that “soundtrack column” (if you could even call it that) in the magazine? I think he later became an author. I do, however, remember kinda hating him a bit for his dismissive and ignorant remarks the few times he DID actually review a score album. I especially remember a review of ANYWHERE BUT HERE, where he wrote mostly about the songs, and then briefly mentioned Elfman’s score suite – kinda ad hoc – as “nissen på lasset” (a Norwegian expression that somewhat translates to “a thorn in someone’s side”). Even though Elfman actually co-wrote some of the songs as well.

(ooops, I just googled him and realized he wrote the children’s book DE TØFFESTE GUTTA [THE TOUGH GUYS], which was turned into a film with a score by our very own Eirik Myhr, who in turn is a big Elfman fan….so great comeuppance!).

But all of this is a perfect example of how it was like back then, and how poorly instrumental film music fared as a pop cultural phenomenon. This was long before the ‘nerd revolution’ of the mid 2000s, so the only acceptable alternative crowds were the grungers, indie-poppers and hip hoppers. Things like instrumental film music was definitely considered ‘anorak’ and super un-cool. I was actually doubly un-cool, because I wasn’t only into film music — my interest in pop music veered towards earlier prog rock and art rock like Supertramp, The Alan Parsons Project, Pink Floyd, 10CC etc. Or electronic music like Jean Michel Jarre. So absolutely ANTI everything that my own peerage was into. But I didn’t care. I liked what I liked.

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