Notes in the Dark

This was an impulse buy, as I’m sure it was for many other folks when it was announced last week. And here I have to admit that while I’m a fan of Shire’s elegant music for this film, this really reveals my one collectors’ weakness. I’m no soundtrack collector — just a listener — but I looked at my CDs the other day and realized that I really do have an inordinate number of discs with aviation-related artwork on them. Seriously, I think this is what sets off my latent collector instinct. It’s no doubt why I went “Must…have…Hindenburg…” last week which is very unlike me to do.

I absolutely love the newsreel material that bookends the disc. (Although I’m not sure people realize this, but Herb Morrison’s famous commentary was recorded at the wrong speed; on NPR once they played it at the correct speed and he actually sounded like a normal guy - but try telling that to generations of actors and comedians trying to do “1930s radio announcer.”) And “There’s a Lot to Be Said for the Fuehrer” is basically a twisted version of Ivor Novello, although I think much of the irony is lost when it is played away from the film.

The booklet and notes by Jeff Bond bring back a nostalgia for this movie that I didn’t even realize I had, too. Of course, this release is doubly exciting knowing that David Shire is going to have a new score (for Zodiac) released very soon. If by some chance it should not live up to the intense expectations, The Hindenburg should be more than enough to keep Shire aficionados very pleased.