Plagiarism!
I was listening to my "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" soundtrack which I got in the mail yesterday. (I don't know why, but there seem to be more soundtrack albums for Hercules and Xena than for any other show ever made.)
Joe LoDuca, the composer, rips off other composers all the time. It's one of his trademarks. But usually he's using a slightly altered version of Wagner, or something similar, as a deliberate musical joke in the show. It's part of the whole schlock feel of the comic episodes - practically cartoon music using bits of classical pieces just like the old Looney Toons.
Then a track called "The Cure," from the telemovie "Hercules and the Circle of Fire" came on. And I realized I had heard this piece before. Because it is the exact same piece of music called "Red Route 1" on the "Hunt for Red October" soundtrack. "Hunt for Red October" came out in 1990, just a year or so before Hercules; the similarity has to be deliberate. It's the same ostenato in the harp, sixteenth notes in the strings - even the choral entrances and clicking electronic percussion are the same. I played the two back to back and it sounded like I'd just put winamp on repeat track.
The "Hunt for Red October" score is by Basil Poleduris. LoDuca has ripped off Poleduris before. One of Poleduris' earlier scores was "Conan the Barbarian," arguably one of the greatest high fantasy scores. It's bombastic and campy and the exact same style of music as in Hercules. Musical references occur all the time, especially between composers in the same genre of film or television. It's just surprising to me that one composer would rip off another so completely. And it's not just that track, either. Other pieces for the same telemovie use ideas and themes from the "Hunt for Red October" score. It's like LoDuca watched the movie just before sitting down at his keyboard.
Incidentally, if anybody has the Hercules soundtrack volumes 3 and 4, I'd love a copy. These are out of print and either overpriced or unavailable on-line. Yes, even though LoDuca is a blatant plagiarist, I still love him.
Joe LoDuca, the composer, rips off other composers all the time. It's one of his trademarks. But usually he's using a slightly altered version of Wagner, or something similar, as a deliberate musical joke in the show. It's part of the whole schlock feel of the comic episodes - practically cartoon music using bits of classical pieces just like the old Looney Toons.
Then a track called "The Cure," from the telemovie "Hercules and the Circle of Fire" came on. And I realized I had heard this piece before. Because it is the exact same piece of music called "Red Route 1" on the "Hunt for Red October" soundtrack. "Hunt for Red October" came out in 1990, just a year or so before Hercules; the similarity has to be deliberate. It's the same ostenato in the harp, sixteenth notes in the strings - even the choral entrances and clicking electronic percussion are the same. I played the two back to back and it sounded like I'd just put winamp on repeat track.
The "Hunt for Red October" score is by Basil Poleduris. LoDuca has ripped off Poleduris before. One of Poleduris' earlier scores was "Conan the Barbarian," arguably one of the greatest high fantasy scores. It's bombastic and campy and the exact same style of music as in Hercules. Musical references occur all the time, especially between composers in the same genre of film or television. It's just surprising to me that one composer would rip off another so completely. And it's not just that track, either. Other pieces for the same telemovie use ideas and themes from the "Hunt for Red October" score. It's like LoDuca watched the movie just before sitting down at his keyboard.
Incidentally, if anybody has the Hercules soundtrack volumes 3 and 4, I'd love a copy. These are out of print and either overpriced or unavailable on-line. Yes, even though LoDuca is a blatant plagiarist, I still love him.