ALEX NORTH

I'm sure it will sell well. Varese is good about planning things out carefully

(when you're not a fan of the Williams SUPERMAN theme, that Blue Box was more like one never-ending score...)

When I think about it, the only thing that bothers me about the new set is that I don't see why a smaller cluster of it couldn't have been sold for those who didn't want to go the whole hog. Even as a digital release, packaging Discs 1-3, or Discs 1, 5 & 6 together would have been good. (Mind you, if they know their economics, they probably will do this, in a year, when the full set sells out.)

I've noticed that the DVD is "Region Free, NTSC". Does that not mean that there's still restrictions depending upon whether your DVD plays only PAL?

A NOTE FROM ROBERT TOWNSON
Dispelling Myths, Addressing Misinformationand Offering Insight on my new production of Alex North’s SPARTACUS

In response to some questions we’ve received regarding the enormity of SPARTACUS, I thought
it might be helpful to provide a little background. I also wanted to address some of the
misinformation that is spreading on certain message boards.

Regarding the notion that this set would have or could have or been a fraction of its current price
were it not for the two discs of Spartacus Love Theme variations … it’s just not true. This 2-CD
set within the boxed set was discounted to just $10.00, as part of the box. Take the love themes
away and we’re still looking at a $99.98 list. We cut all of the pricing as low as we possibly could.
We were very mindful of current economic times and didn’t want to price SPARTACUS out of reach
of too many music fans who really wanted it. Certainly even $20.00 can seem expensive to some
people, but the enormous costs of studio and label licensing, Union fees, restoration, mastering, and
packaging (which is itself so expensive), the music of SPARTACUS meant that even the restored
score by itself would have been expensive. The elements needed a lot of work! After all, it’s taken
50 years for this to happen!! People who wanted a $10 or $20 Spartacus have had one of those for
five decades! But when even a new pair of jeans or a nice shirt can pretty easily set you back $100
or more, I was very comfortable with where our pricing ended up on this.

As to the love themes themselves, I explain my thought process behind this part of the project in
their own set of liner notes. What I will say here is that I designed each of the two CDs as a standalone
listening experience. I would recommend listening to each disc on a separate day. That said,
I think many will be struck by the wide range of styles and, in particular, be surprised by how
distant the notion that you are listening to the same piece of music over and over again becomes.
Within the variety of interpretations I find more inherent musical variety than I find in the
majority of regular albums where each new track is an altogether different piece. Overcoming the
feeling of repetition was the challenge this concept faced from the very beginning. That was the
hurdle we had of overcome. There is a reason why nothing like this has been tried before. But the
reason the set of love theme variations ended up as not just one but two discs is very simple. When
that first disc was full I was astounded by what it offered. It exceeded my hopes in every way. Each
of the musicians I invited to be part of it gave the project everything they had. And there was still
more to come! I can’t imagine this SPARTACUS set without some of the final few recordings that
came in. Alexandre Desplat’s performance on 12 flutes! Dave Grusin at the piano! Joel McNeely’s
variation for flute and piano … I am so excited for people to explore these magical performances
and hear the Spartacus Love Theme so ingeniously interpreted by such an exemplary group of
musicians. I consider these discs an absolutely priceless bonus that was only possible due to the
generosity of the composers themselves, and an integral part of presenting Alex North’s
SPARTACUS. There is a remarkable history to this melody and it has been being explored by
legendary musicians for the entire duration of its 50 years. I just couldn’t ignore this extremely
unique part of the SPARTACUS story.


As to the documentary, again it grew beyond what I planned simply because of what everyone had
to say! My idea was to produce a 10- or 20-minute featurette along the lines of the score features
that appear on some film DVDs. It seemed odd that no similar piece had ever been produced to
accompany a soundtrack release. That was the plan — and it went out the window on the very first
day of filming. The documentary includes 25 minutes of John Williams alone discussing his friendship with Alex North and a detailed discussion of the SPARTACUS score. How utterly fascinating to hear such a musical legend discuss enthusiastically and in depth his own appreciation for the father of modern film music. And everyone had unique stories to tell and insights to offer. We just couldn’t have left this on the cutting room floor. I even had to turn away other composers who had agreed to be part of the project just to keep this film from becoming a 2-DVD set! For that matter, I could still be recording love themes! And we absorbed all of the extra costs of expanding the documentary without raising the list price at all.

I can’t wait for the people who have ordered this set to receive it and discover everything it offers
and all of the things that are simply impossible to convey in any announcement.

So, yes, it’s big. But it’s big because of the score. It couldn’t have been anything else.

It’s SPARTACUS!

I hope everything goes well with the move, James.

Now if only he'd address the widely false and bloated score descriptions used for upcoming regular releases. ;-)

But when even a new pair of jeans or a nice shirt can pretty easily set you back $100
or more, I was very comfortable with where our pricing ended up on this.
I can't resist in not commenting about this one. A nice pair of jeans and a good quality t-shirt from costco is $16.00. Both items of clothing last for years.

As I've said before I hope he does well with it. Hmm this gives me an idea. I've got a 70 minute tape of nothing but different interpretations of the song Laura which includes ost, raskin re-recorded, sinatra, andre previn, bobby hackett,.... Maybe there is some money in this one.
Thomas

But the difference obviously lies in the market segment one is targeting: you can also get very nice CDs or downloads with cover versions of favourite movie themes for as little as 50 cents in any 7-11.

I guess though that's not what the intended audience of this release is looking for (as little as the chance of someone looking for Boss pants would be peeping into a Costco's).

The 100 Euro mark is pretty well the established very bottom line here.
Which I think is roughly 150 Australian dollars?

I can buy a regular plain T-shirt at Wal-Mart for about $8 with taxes. Don't wear jeans, but can probably fetch a cheap pair for ten bucks at Goodwill, which often sells new & un-used clothing.

Anyone spending a hundred dollars on two articles of clothing, needs to re-examine their spending habits.

I think Townson used a poor example. Now if he wanted to say it could cost up to a $100.00 to replace your ink cartridges, one of my pet peeves I wouldn't argue.

I can still go to Walmart buy a replacement printer, a Canon, open it up and take out the ink, throw away the rest of it and be ahead by $10.00 if I bought the ink. Amt of ink is the same. The only reason I don't is that its bad for the ecology.
Thomas

'cause if you're complaint is you can't afford to buy something because you spent your money poorly, then why even bring it up? $100 is not a lot for what the set offers, but it's a hell of a lot for two pieces of clothing.

This release of Spartacus seems to me to be the most luxurious release of any soundtrack, ever. Sure, you can spend $10 on getting the old MCA album, just like you can spend $10 on getting a cheap pair of jeans. But I could walk into a department store and buy myself a pair of Paul Smith jeans and easily spend $200 on them. If you want the more luxurious option, you pay more. I don't really see what's so odd about that.