In the 1970s, London had a second swinging decade. While most everyone is familiar with the music-fueled pop fashion scene of the first Swinging London of the 1960s, those outside of the U.K. are probably scratching their heads when I refer to Swinging London Part 2. Instead of a music takeover, this one was by the British film industry. Buoyed by the success of James Bond, the film industry in Britain went into overdrive turning out dozens of movies about suave special forces officers, dapper hit men and womanizing double-agents. [Photo above of Roy Budd]
For example, in the U.S., we know actor Michael Caine largely from his 1960s work in The Ipcress File, Alfie, Gambit and Funeral in Berlin. But in the 1970s, he sort of dropped off the radar here whereas in the U.K. he was as ubiquitous and dashing in films as Roger Moore was in the States. And with movies like Get Carter, Black Windmill, Kidnapped and The Marseille Contract, Caine often played a man of cunning and action.
The scores to a good number of these action films were assigned to a gentleman named Roy Budd. Born in London, Budd was a keyboard prodigy. At age 6, he was determined by experts to have perfect pitch. Then he made his public concert debut at the London Coliseum and, at age 8, he could play the Wurlitzer organ and made it his life mission to write a score for the silent movie The Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney, a film that had scared him silly. Four years later, he was on TV live from the London Palladium. Jazz combos followed.
In 1971, in his early 20s, Budd wrote the score for the film Get Carter, which became a huge hit and today is considered a soundtrack masterpiece. To create a score with the small budget allotted, Budd contracted just three musicians while he played electric piano and harpsichord at the same time. Budd went on to orchestrate more than 30 films between 1970 and 1987. Then he returned to his first love, leading a jazz trio and composing his Phantom score. Just before he was to conduct it at the London Coliseum, Roy Budd died of a brain hemorrhage in August 1993, at age 46.
What's wonderful about Budd's sweeping film scores are their Bondian sense of suspense and Brit cool. While many of his film works have a Michel Legrand jazz edge, his instrumental texture was influenced by John Barry and Jerry Goldsmith. His scores creep up on you and work their thematic charms until you're hooked on them. Believe me, I collect them.
Here are a bunch of my favorites:
Here's Roy Budd himself playing his Get Carter theme on BBC-TV in 1971...
Here's the entire Get Carter soundtrack...
Here's Budd's entire Fear Is the Key (1972) soundtrack...
Here's the full soundtrack to The Stone Killer (1973)...
Here's the complete Internecine Project (1974)...
Here's the soundtrack to The Marseille Contract (1974)...
Here's a suite of music from Budd's soundtrack for The Black Windmill (1974)...
Here's a suite of music from Budd's soundtrack for Diamonds (1975)...
And here's Who Dares Win (or Commando, in Italy)...
A special thanks to Oliver Dowling in Dublin, for the reminder.
