Franco Micalizzi Soundtracks 11 Items

This is the masterful score that Italian composer Franco Micalizzi created for the 1979 Sci-fi horror film Stridulum (aka. The Visitor). The Giulio Paradisi film featured a star-studded cast including Mel Ferrer, John Huston, and Shelley Winters. Although it wasn’t as commercially successful as expected at the time, its unique subject matter and expressive style eventually attracted a cult following. While Micalizzi is better known for his ‘Poliziotteschi’ flic scores and collaborations with director Umberto Lenzi, his trademark sound is unmistakably present on Stridulum with its visually evocative, engaging, and spacey take on funk. The film’s commercial performance aside, all this is enough to make Stridulum one of Micalizzi’s most captivating, if eccentric, works. Packed with great tracks such as the film’s main theme, the multiple variations on the ‘Sadness Theme’, and the standout sci-fi disco-funk of ‘Jerzy Again’, the Stridulum score offers plenty in the way of listening enjoyment. The present re-issue features the original artwork from the 1979 first pressing, along with bonus tracks including 7 alternate tracks and outtakes.

A catalogue such as Beat Records’ one, with its roots in the 60s may have a difficult logistic. I still remember when passing through Viale Medaglie D’Oro with my mother Luciana who was used to point me a building’s apartment located in the corner with Via Elio Donato. A bit moved she was used to tell me that Beat was born in those four walls, a small house with a beautiful terrace full of vases. Since that time Beat Records changed many times head quarter up to moving to Via Filippo Nicolai 16 from the late 80s up to nowadays. Such a company catalogue, sensibly grown during 55 years of life, was always needing more space and so, recently, we decided to find a new place where to agglomerate various storages spread through Rome. What does all the above things have to do with They Call Him Trinity? A lot, since while we were archiving some tapes in order to prepare our forthcoming transfer, we found them. Six 24tracks master tapes belonging to the original recording session. Priceless material stored in crates in a corner, still there to be archived since a preceding moving. A brief e-mail exchange with our co-publishers of Carosello, a meeting in Milan with Adriana Branchini and Dario Giovannini, to get their support and we proceeded with this recovery project. And we are close to end of the year, as Cirano De Bergerac was used to say, at the end of the rhyme. The first release of this score is dated January 1971, this 2021 December the 50th year will expire, no better chance to sanctify the party! With all due precautions we transferred the tapes and organized a remastering session in Trafalgar studios, Enrico De Gemini experience, responsible of West catalogue, guided the recovery and restoration. Surprise weren’t late, the recording was perfect, the crisp sound could be remastered in a brilliant stereo. One of the most beloved Western soundtrack of all times is going to live a second youth with a great dynamic, not saturated, that lets us enjoy this delicious dessert, able to feel on our tongue the various ingredients and still tasting the mixed amazing resulting effect. And there is a lot of unreleased material, an amazing deguello version featuring a trumpet instead of the flugelhorn, a beautiful alternate version of Di Fronte Ai Killers, of Un Cowboy e Due Ragazze and a lot of unreleased takes of Trinity’s Valley in which Franco De Gemini harmonica is prominent. We have our 50th anniversary edition on a 180 grams colored vinyl, mastering by Enrico De Gemini, graphic Layout by Daniele De Gemini. We have also an official presentation which will be held at Music Day Roma (c/o Hotel Mercure Rome West – Via degli Eroi di Cefalonia 301 – Rome – Spinaceto) on Saturday 11 December with Maestro Franco Micalizzi presenting the CD and the LP with other guests related to the movie. About which movie are we talking about? Trinity, the left hand of the devil…

Musica Per Immagini is pleased to announce the first release on vinyl of Franco Micalizzi's soundtrack to the film “Delitto Sull'Autostrada”, directed by Bruno Corbucci and starring the Italian-Cuban-American actor Tomas Milian. Eclectic, innovator, full of life and energy, out of the ordinary, the composer is best known for his scores in poliziotteschi films such as “Roma A Mano Armata”, “Napoli Violenta” or “Italia A Mano Armata”, whose theme was used also in Quentin Tarantino's “Death Proof”. The music for the third chapter of the so- called 'delitti' series, centered on the character of Nico Giraldi, reflects the artist constant search for a 'circular' groove of great impact, common to scores composed for previous crime films: the unmistakable sound of the clavinet and the brass of his big band, a funky mood 'borrowed' from beatmakers all around the world, is here 'evolved' in an electronic key, thanks to a skinfull use of keyboards and synthesizers.

Franco Micalizzi composed and conducted one of his most iconic OSTs for the crime drama genre with this soundtrack. Within the soundtrack emerges a recurring main theme, using a Moog synthesizer, that is then developed by an energetic woodwind section. It is then reprised in slow and fast versions. There is plenty of instrumental dance music and a romantic ballad with vocals. The leitmotif is alternated with suspenseful phrases written for strings.

Franco Micalizzi wrote one of his best OSTs for the Poliziesco genre with this one (the main theme is one of Micalizzi’s favorites and he often performs it live in concert with his orchestra BIG Bubbling Band). The OST opens with the strong main score written for woodwinds and percussion, which is then reprised with different arrangements throughout the film. It is also alternated with moments of suspense. The violent urban jungle atmosphere is broken by "Sambamba", a sunny pop piece with a Latin sound written for choir and orchestra. For this LP, the master tapes of the recording session were used.