Escape from New York (soundtrack)

Last updated
Escape from New York: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
John Carpenter - 1981 - Escape from New York.jpg
Film score by
Released1981 (1981)
StudioPi West Studios, Glendale, California
Genre
Length37:22
Label Varèse Sarabande
Producer John Carpenter, Alan Howarth
John Carpenter chronology
Dark Star
(1980)
Escape from New York: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(1981)
Halloween II
(1981)
Alternative cover
John Carpenter - 1981 - Escape from New York (reissue).jpg
2000 remastered edition
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]

Escape from New York: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a soundtrack album composed and performed by John Carpenter, featuring the score to the 1981 film Escape from New York . [1]

Contents

Recording

Sound designer Alan Howarth was introduced to John Carpenter by the picture editor of the film, Todd Ramsay, who had worked with Howarth on Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Howarth used equipment including ARP and Prophet-5 synthesizers and a Linn LM-1 drum machine, as well as an acoustic piano and Fender guitars, to create the palette of sounds used in the score, while Carpenter composed the melodies on the synthesizer keyboards. As the MIDI standard had yet to be invented, Howarth manually synchronized the equipment to picture while listening to a copy of the film's dialogue. Initial inspirational directions which Carpenter shared with Howarth included albums by Tangerine Dream and The Police. [2]

Release

The original release included a contractual obligation to provide a written musical score, which Howarth manually transcribed after recording was completed. The soundtrack was released in 1981 through Varèse Sarabande (originally on vinyl, then CD in 1982); a remastered and remixed edition was reissued in 2000 through Silva Screen Records, containing an extra fifteen tracks not included on the original version (eight of them being short extracts of dialogue from the film), as well as expanded liner notes.

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Carpenter, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Main Title"3:51
2."Up the Wall/Airforce #1"2:27
3."Orientation #2"1:47
4."Engulfed Cathedral" (Claude Debussy)3:32
5."Back to the Pod/The Crazies Come Out"3:01
6."Arrival at the Library"1:05
7."Everyone's Coming to New York" (Nick Castle)2:52
8."The Duke Arrives/The Barricade"3:35
9."Police State/Romero and the President"3:21
10."The President at the Train"2:53
11."The President Is Gone"2:30
12."Chase Across the 69th Street Bridge"2:46
13."Over the Wall"3:42
Total length:37:22

2000 remastered edition

No.TitleLength
1."Main Title"3:53
2."The Bank Robbery"3:30
3.""Prison Introduction"" (dialogue)0:20
4."Over the Wall/Airforce One"2:23
5."He's Still Alive/Romero"2:12
6.""'Snake' Plissken"" (dialogue)1:41
7."Orientation"1:47
8.""Tell Him"" (dialogue)1:46
9."Engulfed Cathedral" (writer: Claude Debussy)3:33
10."Across the Roof"1:17
11."Descent into New York"3:37
12."Back to the Pod – Version #1"1:34
13."Everyone's Coming to New York" (writer: Nick Castle)2:24
14.""Don't Go Down There!"" (dialogue)0:19
15."Back To The Pod – Version #2/The Crazies Come Out"2:09
16.""I Heard You Were Dead!"" (dialogue)0:08
17."Arrival at the Library"1:06
18.""You Are the Duke of New York"" (dialogue)0:16
19."The Duke Arrives/Barricade"3:35
20."President at the Train"2:28
21.""Who Are You?"" (dialogue)0:27
22."Police Action"2:27
23."Romero and the President"1:43
24."The President Is Gone"1:53
25."69th Street Bridge"2:44
26."Over the Wall"3:42
27.""The Name Is Plissken"" (dialogue)0:25
28."Snake Shake"3:58
Total length:57:17

Personnel

Related Research Articles

Soundtrack Recorded music accompanying a production such as a film

A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film, video, or television presentation; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronised recorded sound.

Jan Hammer Czech-American musician

Jan Hammer is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the 1980s television program Miami Vice. He has continued to work as both a musical performer and producer.

<i>Blade Runner</i> (soundtrack) Soundtrack album by Vangelis

Blade Runner: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for Ridley Scott's 1982 science-fiction noir film Blade Runner, composed by Greek electronic musician Vangelis. It has received acclaim as an influential work in the history of electronic music and one of Vangelis's best works. It was nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe for best original score. The score evokes the film's bleak futurism with an emotive synthesizer-based sound, drawing on the jazz scores of classic film noir as well as neo-classical elements and Middle Eastern texture. It features vocals from Demis Roussos and saxophone by Dick Morrissey on "Love Theme". The track "Memories of Green" from Vangelis' 1980 album See You Later was also used.

David Hentschel Musical artist

David Hentschel is an English recording engineer, film score composer, music producer and musician who engineered on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass and Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, as well as for such artists as Genesis, Tony Banks, Ringo Starr, Queen, Nazareth, Marti Webb, Andy Summers, Mike Oldfield, Renaissance, Peter Hammill and Ronnie Caryl.

<i>Suspiria</i> (1977 soundtrack) 1977 album by Goblin

The soundtrack to the film Suspiria was composed and performed by the Italian band Goblin. A single version of the title track, "Suspiria", was released with the B-side "Blind Concert".

<i>Thief</i> (soundtrack) 1981 soundtrack album by Tangerine Dream

Thief (1981) is the fifteenth major release and second soundtrack album by Tangerine Dream. It is the soundtrack for the 1981 American neo-noir crime film Thief, directed by Michael Mann. It reached No. 43 on the UK Albums Chart in a 3-week run.

<i>Jurassic Park</i> (film score) 1993 film score by John Williams

Jurassic Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score to the 1993 Steven Spielberg film of the same name, composed and conducted by John Williams. Alexander Courage and John Neufeld served as orchestrators.

<i>Halloween</i> (soundtrack) 1979 film score by John Carpenter

Halloween is a soundtrack album composed and performed by John Carpenter, featuring the score to the 1978 film Halloween. It was released in Japan in 1979 through Columbia Records and in the US in 1983 through Varèse Sarabande. An expanded 20th Anniversary Edition was released in 1998 through Varèse Sarabande. In 2018, an LP was released by Mondo Records featuring mono tracks taken from the original 35mm stem of the film and for the first time features the music as originally heard in theaters and on the earliest VHS releases of the film.

<i>Big Trouble in Little China</i> (soundtrack)

Big Trouble in Little China is a soundtrack produced by John Carpenter for the film of the same name.

Alan Howarth, born 1948, is an American composer and sound designer who has worked on soundtracks for Hollywood films including the Star Trek and Halloween series, and is known for his collaborations with film director and composer John Carpenter.

<i>The Fog</i> (soundtrack)

The Fog is a soundtrack album composed and performed by John Carpenter, featuring the score to the 1980 film The Fog. It was released in 1984 through Varèse Sarabande. An expanded edition was released in 2000 through Silva Screen Records, containing an extra six tracks not included on the original release. In 2012, another expanded edition was released through Silva Screen Records, containing all of the tracks from the 2000 release and all of the original score cues.

<i>Assault on Precinct 13</i> (soundtrack) 2003 film score by John Carpenter

Assault on Precinct 13 is a soundtrack by John Carpenter for the 1976 film of the same name, first released in 2003 through the French label Record Makers and reissued in 2013 by Death Waltz.

<i>Halloween II</i> (soundtrack) 1981 soundtrack album by John Carpenter

Halloween II is a soundtrack by John Carpenter for the 1981 film of the same name. It was released in 1981 through Varèse Sarabande. An expanded 30th Anniversary Edition was released in 2009 through Alan Howarth Incorporated.

<i>Halloween III: Season of the Witch</i> (soundtrack) 1982 film score by John Carpenter & Alan Howarth

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a soundtrack by John Carpenter & Alan Howarth for the film of the same name. It was released in 1982 on vinyl through MCA Records and on CD through Varèse Sarabande. An expanded 25th Anniversary Edition was released in 2007 through Alan Howarth Incorporated.

<i>They Live</i> (soundtrack) 1988 film score by John Carpenter & Alan Howarth

They Live is a soundtrack by John Carpenter & Alan Howarth for the film of the same name. It was released in 1988 through Enigma Records. An expanded 20th Anniversary Edition was released in 2008 through Alan Howarth Incorporated.

<i>Village of the Damned</i> (soundtrack) 1995 film score by John Carpenter & Dave Davies

Village of the Damned is a soundtrack by John Carpenter and Dave Davies for the 1995 film of the same name. It was released in 1995 through Varèse Sarabande.

<i>Prince of Darkness</i> (soundtrack)

Prince of Darkness is a soundtrack by John Carpenter for the film of the same name. It was released in 1987 through Varèse Sarabande. An expanded edition was released in 2008 through Alan Howarth Incorporated.

<i>Christine</i> (soundtrack) 1989 film score by John Carpenter & Alan Howarth

Christine is the score by John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth to the 1983 film of the same name. It was released in 1989 through Varèse Sarabande.

The 1969 animated film A Boy Named Charlie Brown, based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts, had two different soundtrack albums. These albums were released individually in 1970 and 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 Ruhlmann, William. "Escape from New York [Original Film Soundtrack] - John Carpenter, Alan Howarth". AllMusic . All Media Network. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  2. Ball, Alex. "How the Escape From New York music was made (feat. Alan Howarth)". YouTube. Retrieved 13 May 2019.