Bear Mann's video: TunePlay - WALL STREET 1987 Stewart Copeland

THE GUARDIAN newspaper describes filmmaker Oliver Stone as "one of the few committed men of the left working in mainstream American cinema"; and it is this sense of personal "yin / yang" irony which often finds itself at the core of his narratives. After a lauded career as screenwriter (CONAN THE BARBARIAN, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, SCARFACE), Stone's first two features as director, SALVADOR and PLATOON, would both feature central characters who, in the midst of war would - against better judgement - find themselves grappling with matters of conscience; in some respects a near literal "angel on one shoulder / devil on the other" tugging at the reigns for control of their very souls. His third feature, WALL STREET, would follow the same paradigm, only with that war zone cleverly transplanted to NYC's financial district of the mid 1980s. In the still popular and influential film, an up-and-coming Charlie Sheen stars as neophyte stock broker Bud Fox, who, seeking the mentorship of corporate raider icon Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas in an Oscar winning role), becomes torn between the unscrupulous (and highly illegal) machinations of the era's "obtain wealth and power at any costs" dictum and the hard-working blue collar ethic of his father Carl, portrayed by Charlie's real life father Martin Sheen. WALL STREET would endure a famously troubled shoot. 20th Century Fox wanted Warren Beatty as Gekko, and Stone originally wanted Richard Gere - both of whom turned the project down. Then when the director decided on Michael Douglas he was warned against it, as Douglas "couldn't act"! On set trouble brewed between co-stars Daryl Hannah and Sean Young. And the film's original composer - the legendary Jerry Goldsmith (CHINATOWN, THE OMEN) was replaced by the apparently far afield selection of rock drummer / co-founder of THE POLICE, Stewart Copeland; this in the days before Danny Elfman, Trent Reznor and Hans Zimmer made the switch from rocker to composer musical de rigueur. Born in 1952 (the son of CIA officer Miles Copeland, Jr.), Stewart took up the drums at 12, and was raised internationally in Cairo, Beirut, the U.S. and England. Throughout the 1970s he'd alternately work as road manager and backup drummer for various groups until founding in 1977, along with Sting and Henry Padovani (later replaced by Andy Summers), the progressive rock band THE POLICE - who would dominate the charts on both sides of the Atlantic throughout the first half of the 1980s. Copeland's first assignment in film was Francis Ford Coppola's RUMBLE FISH (1983). Then after THE POLICE went on "extended hiatus" in '86, the drummer with a composer's sensibilities dove headlong into scoring; one of his most notable works as the musical voice for two years on CBS's popular action series THE EQUALIZER. THE EQUALIZER (our TunePlay suite available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn-nM4CxXkQ&list=UUMjTNnJi2UHbTwddq_hGsyA ) familiarized audiences with Copeland's stunningly unique sound - a combo of "percussion carrying the melody", slicing synthesized strings and world rhythms - often Lebanese and reggae influenced - merged with the emerging break-beat sampling / early hip-hop technology of the day. The result: a coldly ethereal yet densely powerful urban tone symbiotically linked to the modern cityscape, as if the sounds heard are organically occurring "aural bits and pieces" reverberating in musical form off of uptown's polished structures of glass and steel. While an unconventional choice, Copeland's "urban percussion dance ballet" for WALL STREET would fit hand in Versace glove, ... and continue to influence the modern film score for the next 25 years. Note in particular how the "urban percussion motif" is bent in lush manner for the opening of "The Tall Weeds". And enjoy Copeland's sly commentary on the era's "dog eat dog" mentality via the sampling of "dog barks" into the tracks "Break-up" and "Anacott Steal". Great stuff! Our WALL STREET TunePlay suite is taken from an analog source. CEJ 1) Bud's Scam (0:00 of 13:21) 2) The Tall Weeds (2:51 of 13:21) 3) Trading Begins (5:56 of 13:21) 4) Break-up / Darien (8:21 of 13:21) 5) Anacott Steal (10:24 of 13:21) For more "TunePlay" mini movie music suites go to http://www.gullcottageonline.com/TunePlay-ClarkeApril_12.html "Bear Mann" is a YouTube channel of The GullCottage/Sandlot, a film blog and growing reference library "Celebrating The Art of Cinema, ... And Cinema As Art". Visit us at: http://www.gullcottageonline.com And on FACEBOOK at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-GullCottageSandlot/129683480458380 All rights held by copyright owner. Presented here for educational and criticism purposes only.