The Boys

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The Boys

Postby Monty » Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:31 am

Good to see The Boys on Talking Pictures channel yesterday

I have missed it a few times before but finally watched it all the way through, and enjoyed those familiar Shadows tunes playing on the radio, in the cafe etc....

The instrumentals I know SO well...the film I had never seen in full before !

after there was an interesting 'Then and Now' five minute locations feature, with 'Theme From The Boys' - no strings version - playing and a credit for The Shadows at the end too !

fascinating to see how London has changed between 1962 and 2017....
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Re: The Boys

Postby iefje » Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:50 am

I recorded the film on VHS tape from the BBC when it was broadcasted back in 2001 or 2002. There is an alternative take of "Theme From 'The Boys'" in the film, with Hank playing the lead guitar part somewhat different. From memory, I don't know if this version features the Norrie Paramor Strings or not. In any case, it's not the undubbed or basic version, which has been issued on the 1997 "The Shadows At Abbey Road" CD.
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Re: The Boys

Postby JimN » Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:04 pm

iefje wrote:I recorded the film on VHS tape from the BBC when it was broadcasted back in 2001 or 2002. There is an alternative take of "Theme From 'The Boys'" in the film, with Hank playing the lead guitar part somewhat different. From memory, I don't know if this version features the Norrie Paramor Strings or not. In any case, it's not the undubbed or basic version, which has been issued on the 1997 "The Shadows At Abbey Road" CD.


In fact, the Shadows don't play on the soundtrack at all. The same approach had been taken the year before with "The Frightened City".

Early TV playouts of "The Boys" (I first saw it on ITV in 1967) tended to edit the movie for length.

"The Boys" is just over two hours long (123 minutes) as it is, and commercial TV broadcasters not only have to make space for advert breaks but are wary of showing very long movies because they tend to lose audience who tune in late and decide it isn't worth watching a film from part-way though. The first few times I saw it, some of the music venue scenes were omitted and the part where a record player can be heard through the open window of a nearby flat (playing The Girls) was also absent.

As far as I am aware, it was only when the film was played on BBC4 (in relatively recent times) that it was broadcast uncut. The BBC takes some pride in never cutting movies except for reasons of taste and/or legality. Since then, it has been shown uncut several times on the (commercial) Talking Pictures channel here in the UK.
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Re: The Boys

Postby iefje » Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:46 pm

That's strange. Do you mean the soundtrack album of the film, if there is one or the actual film soundtrack? The broadcast of the film I have on videotape definitely features the segments where The Shadows can be heard.
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Re: The Boys

Postby Monty » Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:19 pm

it was The Shadows playing in the film version shown on Talking Pictures channel yesterday

on the radio in Jess Conrad's home and in the cafe where the lads meet up, also playing The Girls when the lads are looking up at the young ladies flat

and in the 'Then and Now' piece after the film where they are credited at the end
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Re: The Boys

Postby JimN » Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:35 am

iefje wrote:That's strange. Do you mean the soundtrack album of the film, if there is one or the actual film soundtrack? The broadcast of the film I have on videotape definitely features the segments where The Shadows can be heard.


On listening again to the sequence at the home of Jess Conrad's character, I think you're right about it being The Shadows playing, which is something you would never expect in that period because it was unusual for commercial recordings to be featured in films of the time. As far as I am aware, there is no soundtrack album from the film, whether of all the actual music heard on-screen or of any studio re-recordings. The nearest thing would be The Shadows' EP, which is sleeve-credited as "Theme music from the Galaworldfilm production The Boys". That, though, is inaccurate on any footing, since the film's theme music (over the front and end credits) is something quite different. The Bill McGuffie and Welch-Marvin-(Bennett) compositions could only be properly described as incidental music from the film, with Sweet Dreams (properly: Sweet September) rendered in several different arrangements at various points throughout.

The earliest Shadows (Drifters) film connection was Serious Charge, though it was literally only a connection - the group were not seen or heard. The related EP release bore the same title as the film but made no claims on the sleeve or labels to be from the film. The EP simply had the title "Serious Charge". It was nevertheless usual for film links to be mentioned on Shadows' releases without it meaning that the music was what you heard as a member of the audience. The connection is made on the labels of the singles Man Of Mystery and The Frightened City but The Shadows are not heard either in that latter 1961 film or in the B-movie Edgar Wallace series. Even so, on-screen credits for each mention The Shadows' recordings (by way of promotion). The 1963 single Foot Tapper label mentions that the composition is "from ... Summer Holiday", though the recording certainly isn't. The same applies to Theme For Young Lovers, released the following year and credited as from Wonderful Life. There are similar examples from Shadows' releases over the next few years. However, the first time that the claim was accurate wasn't until the release of the Rhythm And Greens single and EP, which contained the recordings heard in the cinema.
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Re: The Boys

Postby Monty » Sun Jul 22, 2018 2:54 pm

the LP version of Foot Tapper is heard playing on the radio on the bus in Summer Holiday where as the hit single was of course a different version, while The Shads performed both Les Girls and Round and Round in the club scene in SH as back in The Young Ones they had performed The Savage

The Shadows unaccompanied version of 'Theme From The Boys' is heard in the film 'The Boys' tho' as stated above Hank's lead is slightly different in places, 'The Girls' also features as incidental music

was the Cliff/Shads film version of 'When The Girl in Your Arms...' sung by the 'mystery singer' ever released anywhere ? - it's not on The Young Ones LP which has the Cliff with orchestra hit single version instead

interesting too how the title track on The Young Ones LP is only Cliff/Shads while Norrie added strings for the hit single version

in 'Serious Charge' film wasn't Chinchilla heard on a juke box or radio in one scene ?
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Re: The Boys

Postby cockroach » Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:13 pm

Somewhat off topic..but..

We played FBI at our gig today, and instead of finishing the tune, I continued playing...The Boys! :D

It's a good segue...virtually the same tempo and beat and the main melody of each tune is based on A/Amin...it works well, and kept everybody on the dance floor too!
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Re: The Boys

Postby Iain Purdon » Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:08 pm

And it should work! When the Shadows were commissioned to write The Boys the brief was that it should be “like FBI
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Re: The Boys

Postby Iain Purdon » Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:30 pm

Monty wrote:the LP version of Foot Tapper is heard playing on the radio on the bus in Summer Holiday

That is certainly the assumption one would make but the version used in the film is actually not the same as on the LP. It has not been released on record either. It’s just another version and was, I guess, recorded directly for ABPC (but I don’t have evidence for that)
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