Record #1978 - The "Moment by Moment" Soundtrack

Oh boy. Here we go again.

So, there's this movie that came out in 1978. It stars John Travolta and Lily Tomlin. The film is called Moment By Moment, and it is by far, the most disgustingly terrible film I have ever seen.

And this is the soundtrack...

So in this movie, Lily Tomlin plays Trisha, a drug addicted rich lady who is insanely bored with her life. The film starts out with Trisha having a chance meeting with a drug dealer named Strip (no, I'm not kidding... that's really the character's name) at Schwab's Pharmacy, where she finds out that she's run out of her sleeping pill prescription. Strip follows her home and they start a really creepy relationship in exchange for drugs. Of course, to make things worse for everyone involved, they have lots of sex, and make out in a hot tub.

Ugh.

Why does this movie exist?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

"Ohhhhhhh, Strip!"

*GAG*

Seriously, guys. It's the worst.

In fact, Moment By Moment is so freaking bad, it's never been released on DVD or VHS or Beta or Laserdisc or even CED!!

Well, you know, except in Germany... because we all know how much Germans love repulsive love stories.

Aaaaaanyways, even with all the star power of Lily Tomlin and John Travolta, this movie just didn't do great. Apparently, people just don't want to see a love story about two super famous people who are obviously not attracted to each other... and also look like brother and sister.

No, seriously... Lily Tomlin looks exactly like Ellen Travolta!

See?!?

Creeeeeeepy.

Also, weirdly enough, this film was written and directed by Jane Wagner, who is the longtime romantic partner of Lily Tomlin. Oddness.

Also, this movie was apparently going to be featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, but at the last second, they weren't able to get the rights to do it. Damn it, that would've been awesome.

SUBJECT CHANGE!!

The music in this film is kind of ridiculous, and adds to the insanity of it all.

And of course, it being the late 70s, and it being a crappy love story, the Moment By Moment soundtrack includes one of the worst "love" songs ever — "Sometimes When We Touch" by Dan Hill.

Basically, it's all the kind of music you'd find on Los Angeles radio smooooooth jazz... 94.7... The Waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy-haaaaaaayyyyyyyvvvve!

Yuck.

Also, I have a theory about playing non-stop smooth jazz in prison... but that's a whole different (and perhaps more political) post altogether.

You can download the soundtrack to Moment By Moment HERE!!

GAH! Kill me.

Also... ENJOY!

The Girl in Gold Boots Memorabilia (Part 6 of 3)

Oh, just accept it. There will never be an end to the Girl in Gold Boots memorabilia.

The record is by harmonica guy Danny Welton, who also did the theme song from Looking for Mr. Goodbar! 

This record includes two instrumental/incidental songs from the "soundtract"... ALL OF THE SINGLES SPELL "SOUNDTRACK" WRONG!!

The track "Julie" is the full length version of the "A New Companion" track from the earlier soundtrack, so this replaces that one on the "soundtract".

I can't figure out where the song "Stroblights" is in the film, but then again, it might not be in the finished film so I just tacked it on at the end.

Also, THEY SPELLED "STROBE LIGHTS" WRONG!!

Seriously, what is up with this misspelling conspiracy?!

You can download the updated version of the Girl in Gold Boots Soundtrack HERE.

The Girl in Gold Boots Memorabilia (Part 5 of 3)

Yeah, I know. I keep saying "That's the end of it all. That's the end of the Girl in Gold Boots stuff." Well, I'm sorry. I'M SORRY, OKAY?! THIS IS REALLY THE LAST ONE... maybe.

Today's article of Girl in Gold Boots-related stuff is the one and only full-length album Sinner or Saint by Joe Valino -- the guy who sang the fantastically memorable "Gold" song on the soundtrack of the film!

This is a pretty great album, actually.

I don't know really any way to recommend this album more than to say "LISTEN TO THIS." This really is a lost classic of lounge music. 

The album isn't much like his hit "Garden of Eden" single, which may be the reason why he didn't make any more records. Sad face.

This is going to sound really stupid, but I'm totally blanking on things to say about this that aren't just "LISTEN AND LIKE THIS, DANG IT" because it's just a really enjoyable album. So, listen to it and like it... dang it!

So, grab a Mai Tai and put this on. You won't be disappointed!

You can download Joe Valino's Sinner or Saint album HERE.

The Girl in Gold Boots Memorabilia (Part 4 of 3)

So you thought the last post was the end, eh? No more of that stuff that movie about go-go dancers and drugs? You thought it was the end of my Girl in Gold Boots stuff, didn't you? Didn't you?!

Well, so did I. But then these things appeared on the electronic bay interweb site, and obviously I had to purchase them. 

So here we go, four more of the promotional photos from Ted V. Mikels' Girl in Gold Boots!

The Girl in Gold Boots Memorabilia (Part 3 of 3)

And here we are, at the final installment of the Girl in Gold Boots memorabilia! (Also, it's my 60th post! Woo, I guess.)

Today, we've got the as-complete-as-musically-possible Girl in Gold Boots Soundtrack Album!

Being the ginormous Girl in Gold Boots fan that I am, there's nothing I've wanted more than the soundtrack to this film. The film has some great 60s rock/pop by Larry Cartell and Chris Howard, and an awesome incidental score by Nicholas Carras that has moments very reminiscent (at least to me) of a low-budget film noir soundtrack.

Most of the rock songs in the movie were written by Chris Howard (the lead singer on screen at the Haunted House AKA that guy that looks like John Tesh) but a most of them, including the title song, were actually sung by Larry Cartell - that "Cowboy Santa" guy.

A Happy Go Lucky Sound!

As you can see, that "Cowboy Santa" song went to #1 on the charts. I wonder why it never became a holiday staple, like "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". I mean, I never heard of it until this movie. Weird.

From what I can gather, most, if not all of the songs in the movie were recorded by artists on the Glenolden label. All except one of the 7"s that I've collected were released on the Glenolden label. I assume the other label (Colossal) was a label that absorbed Glenolden whenever it closed.

Three of the songs in the movie were written by Jody Daniels (aka Critter). In the early 60s, he was on the Dot record label, which released many famous artists including Louis Armstrong, The Surfaris, Liberace, The Andrews Sisters, The Chantays, and everybody's favorite... Leonard Nimoy.

As far as I can tell (and find), Jody only released one single with Dot Records, and I assume he never released a full album. If he did, I'd love to find and hear it. 

There is another 7" single I've found on a label called N-Joy Records under the name of "Jody Daniel" with the songs "At The Go Go" and "Quando Calentia Del Sol"... but I'm not going to pay $103.06 for a record, especially for only 2 songs.

The song "Gold" is by a great loungey-type singer named Joe Valino. He released a bunch of singles, including his most popular, and still pretty well known song "Garden of Eden". Joe was also the first person to record the song "Learnin' The Blues" which was later made famous by Frank Sinatra. He released one really great album, called Sinner or Saint, which we'll come back to in another post. Also, I think he kind of looks like Al Lewis aka Grampa Munster.

One song in the film is by Jerry Wallace, who was a country/pop musician who recorded for many labels, and is probably most well known for his song "If You Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry" which was featured on an episode of the classic Rod Serling show Night Gallery.

There is only one song in the film that has completely evaded me, and that is the song that is played during the infamous diner scene where Buz appears out of nowhere. Just so you know, this only happens in the TV/VHS version... not on the DVD. So get your laughs out now!

So, if you know what song that is, and I'm assuming it's called "The Hurting Game", let me know! I'd love to find it. It's a pretty good country song!

Anyways...

There is another fan-made version of the soundtrack floating online, where all the music is taken directly from the DVD. I have used the DVD tracks for the Nicholas Carras score, as well as the songs that weren't put on any official record ("Do You Want to Laugh or Cry", "I Just Want to Rest", "Lonesome Man", "You Gotta Come Down", and "Bongo Madness").

But all of the other tracks come directly from promotional 7"s released on Glenolden Records, and are the full and complete tracks, with no dialogue/sound effects overlapping the songs, unlike on that other soundtrack that's around the interwebs. I've also included an alternate version of Larry Cartell's "Jimmy's Girl" that I like more than the one used in the film. So there.

UPDATE (11/02/12) – added two Danny Welton instrumental harmonica tracks ("Julie" and "Stroblights") from a Girl in Gold Boots promotional soundtrack 7". "Julie" replaces "A New Companion", since it's the full length version of that song. "Stroblights" is added on at the end of the album, because I'm pretty sure it's not in the finished film... also, they spelled "strobe lights" wrong.

And so here we are at the end of the Girl in Gold Boots memorabilia. Except for one more thing... a promotional photo. It's the only one I've got, but it's a good one! If I get anymore, you'll be the first to know... whoever you are.

You can download the unofficially official soundtrack to Girl in Gold Boots HERE!!

Enjoy, yak boys and girls in your gold boots movin'!

The Girl in Gold Boots Memorabilia (Part 2 of 3)

Today's grooviness is PART TWO of the three part collection of my Girl in Gold Boots memorabilia. The piece we're going to be looking at today is the original pressbook from the 1968 Ted V. Mikels cult classic!

As you can plainly see,  the film was promoted as a BOX-OFFICE BONANZA OF GOLD! Oh, how I love the word "bonanza". I don't know how much money it actually made, but I highly doubt it was a "bonanza". Perhaps it being featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 brought it more fans, DVD sales, and money! At least, I hope it did.

As with all pressbooks, the whole thing is basically just a tiny newspaper that's sole purpose is to explain to you how awesome the movie is, and show you that if you put this film in your theater,  you will be rolling around in buckets of gold and rainbows from the mystical land of Figgleforth.

The pressbook also contains what I love the most about B-Movie/Exploitation films -- promotional materials. Possibly my favorite thing about these kind of films are the catchphrases and the taglines they come up with for the posters and advertisements.

"Vibrant... 

Unpredictable... 

She hungered for fame... 

The men in her life offered her 

love, danger, excitement!"

Pure genius. If you can resist that, then you are a much stronger person than I.

The pressbook also includes a few biographical articles on each of the main actors in the film -- Leslie McRae, Tom Pace, Jody Daniels, and Mark Herron. As far as I know, the main three characters are all still alive... but, I could be wrong. All I know is that I'd love to meet Jody Daniels, Leslie McRae, or Tom Pace... HINT HINT...

Leslie McRae did a lot of work in the 60s and 70s, with bit parts on lots of TV shows, such as Here's Lucy, Love, American Style, and Green Acres. She also had small parts in The Long Goodbye, the classically campy film Valley of the Dolls, and as Don Rickles' girlfriend in The Money Jungle. She had starring and supporting roles in some other films, like Ted V. Mikels' Blood Orgy of the She-Devils, Bummer, Wonder Women, Coffy, and probably the most popular, Paul Bartel's cult classic Death Race 2000. Her most recent role took place after a 30 YEAR absence from film and TV, in the 2005 docu-drama Day of Miracles -- which she also produced. From what we can tell from her IMDb page, she has been mostly producing projects since 1997, including the 2007 Academy Awards! WOAH. Mind = Blown.

Tom Pace mostly performed in TV, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mission: Impossible, and  11 episodes of Combat!. Ted V. Mikels seemed to like him, since he cast him in two of his other films -- Blood Orgy of the She-Devils and Astro-Zombies. He also had a bit part in the classic disaster film Airport, where he plays one of the passengers on the plane who makes concerned faces in the background.

Jody Daniels, being a musician-turned-actor, started out recording for Dot Records, putting out only one 7" single, and unfortunately, no full length LP. The only other movie that he had a starring role is in an extremely rare biker film entitled Hells Chosen Few, which was also released in 1968. He also had bit parts in the films Policewomen, High Yellow, and the TV movie The Eye Creatures.

According to this pressbook, Jody performed a song on an episode of the classic anthology show, Route 66. As a normal crazy person should, I decided to look this up on IMDb to find out and pick up the DVD. Unfortunately for me, IMDb does not list any episodes featuring our pal Jody Daniels. But, that didn't stop me. Since I work part-time at the world's greatest video store, CineFile Video, I decided to rent out a season of Route 66, on the extremely unlikely chance that I would find it.

As soon as I brought it home, I searched online to find the episodes on the DVD that were filmed in Texas, since the show usually cast people from the towns they were filming in. Well, as luck would have it, the first episode I picked was the one! I got about 2/3 of the way through, when a party scene arose. I heard guitar, the camera cut around the party, and there he was -- tight gray suit, clean shaven, slicked back hair, and playing the same exact guitar he plays in Girl in Gold Boots! Kablam!

Check him out in the scene from the Route 66 second season episode "A Long Piece of Mischief" in the video below! He's rockin' out in the background throughout the whole scene, but at about 0:45, there's a good look at him and that awesome guitar.

Of the four main stars, the one with the most intriguing life story has to be Mark Herron, who played the greasy nightclub owner, Leo McCabe. One thing that the pressbook only briefly mentions is that he had a role in Frederico Fellini's 8 1/2, which is now considered one of the greatest films of all time.

But by far the most interesting thing about Mark Herron is the fact that at the of the making of Girl in Gold Boots, he was married to super duper movie/music star Judy Garland! He was her fourth husband, and their marriage lasted from November 1965 to January 1969. They broke off the marriage when she discovered that he was gay, and apparently having an affair with her daughter Liza Minnelli's boyfriend and later husband.

Oh boy.

Mark and Judy -- professional smilers.

Another page of this pressbook promotes something that was never officially released -- the Girl in Gold Boots Soundtrack. Chris Howard wrote the main theme and other songs for the film, but many of the songs (including the theme) were sung by Larry Cartell. Other tracks were performed by Joe Valino and Jerry Wallace. Jody Daniels even wrote a song for the film! 

Now, for gigantic nerdy fans of this film, being able to find all the surprisingly super songs from the movie is like finding the holy grail of B-Movie music. Since the album was never released, it seems almost impossible, unless you're magical like me...

But that's a different post altogether.

Well, I hope you and your gold and blue fur bikini enjoy the pluperfect pressbook from Girl in Gold Boots. Now, keep your gold boots movin', uh huh! Yeahhhh you're lookin' just fine, yeah girl!

Sorry, I got carried away there for a moment.

Download the pressbook PDF HERE!!

And stay tuned for the super duper and unimaginably intense PART THREE of the Girl in Gold Boots memorabilia!!

The Girl in Gold Boots Memorabilia (Part 1 of 3)

Ted V. Mikels' 1968 film, Girl in Gold Boots, is one of my favorite movies. I wish I could explain why I love it so much, but I can't exactly do that. It's got everything you could ask for - action, music, guitars, motorcycles, girls, gold boots, gold bikinis, lips like sweet wine, a dune buggy, a Lonely Cowboy Santa, a draft-dodger named Critter, drugs, prison, a nightclub called The Haunted House, and a pretty miiiiiind!

Now, since I gauge the greatness of a movie by the amount of go-go dancing in it, this one is by far, the greatest film ever made. Take that, Orson Welles!

If you don't believe me, check out the trailer below and see for yourself!

As you can see, this movie rules. I was initially introduced to it by the awesome TV show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and I am forever indebted to them for introducing this magnificent cinema masterpiece to me.

Since seeing it that first time, I've grown almost completely obsessed with the movie, and have purchased a bunch of memorabilia that this movie produced, and this (obviously) is the first installment of my ever-growing collection.

The item we have today is an original promotional flyer for the movie. Now, this isn't just your standard-issue rectangular, Kinko's produced flyer - this one is shaped like a freakin' GOLD BOOT. Oh, man. I am in Heaven.

CLICK on the photo to enable the ENLARGE-O-MATIC PHOTO EMBIGGENER®!!

Stay tuned for the rest of the collection, yak boy!!