MovieChat Forums > Northern Exposure (1990) Discussion > the Original music for this episode (ILL...

the Original music for this episode (ILL WIND)

posted 10 years ago by jstplnnutz
4 replies | jump to latest

I have noticed that the music for a few of these episodes have changed from the original airing of the show that was on TV. I bought the entire six seasons of NE ... and the first musical change I noticed was at the end of "ILL WIND".... The original show at the end of this episode (where Joel and Maggie are walking off in the snow)... had a tune by Vinx (Sting's percussionist) called "There I Go Again".... and the dvd's I bought from Amazon does NOT have this tune in this episode... Also, in the episode where Shelley is teaching Ruth Anne to speak & read Italian.... at the end of THAT episode, where you see an aerial view of the Italian hills... An aria of Gianni Schicchi opera by Puccini was being played... and on the dvd (I bought from Amazon)... THAT tune was NOT played either

Does anybody have any comments on this particular topic ?.... Part of the charm of Northern Exposure is the excellent music (of ALL genres)... played in the original airing of each episode... and WHY... the substitutions were made... I do not understand...
If anybody has the answer to this predicament... I would LOVE to know it.... thanks !

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

Does anybody have any comments on this particular topic ?. - jstplnnutz

I have many, many comments on this topic, none of them good. The short answer, though, is that the cost to license the music from the original broadcast episodes for the DVDs would make the list price prohibitive. The first release of Season One, which is just eight episodes, originally retailed for $60 US. Imagine what the cost for a full season would be.

I do have all six seasons on the commercially released DVDs, and I also have a set of DVDs struck from the old VHS tapes on which I recorded the series when the A&E Network ran the series in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Those "homemade" DVDs have the commercials, they are of an inferior resolution because the source is VHS (and recorded in extended-play mode to boot), and A&E did edit many of the episodes (particularly for the first two seasons)--but at least they have the original music. That matters enormously.

Where I've really noticed the substitution is in the Season Five and Six episodes, many of which were weaker than those from previous seasons, and the original music helped to paper over the deficiencies.

Biggest fail for me: "Heroes" (4.4). In the commercial DVDs, at the end of the episode, during Toolie's fling, there is no "A Whiter Shade of Pale" on the soundtrack. That is one of the most moving moments in the series, thanks largely to that Procol Harum song. Silence would have been preferable to the generic pap that replaced it.

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"Music begins where words leave off." - Village wisdom

[–] TrekBeatTK 10 years ago

Completely agree. The alteration to "Heroes" was the most egregious. The changes to the episode before it were also pretty bad.

I would have paid more money if I knew that the higher price was for music licenses (I dropped $150 for Freaks and Geeks).

-TK

"I've always admired atheists; I think it takes a lot of faith" -Dr. Joel Fleischman

[–] TracesOfLove 10 years ago

Everyone already explained but it really stinks. It ruins the memories and nostalgia that these shows induce. Felicity is on Netflix and it's unwatchable because that the whole vibe of the time and place is gone.

Anyway thanks for reminding me of that song! It's the perfect mood to listen to right now!

It's not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind.

[–] roximunro 10 years ago

At the time of the original show, they only had broadcast rights for the music for tv broadcast and VHS tape - no one ever thought to get the rights to any future recording formats (DVD or online). BUT I am hoping for a series box set reissue now that WKRP has been resissued with just about all the original music intact. I'm hoping the DVD makers will realize the importance of the music in the show. And I'm willing to purchase another set if it has ALL the original music.

My most annoying redub for music is the german clock episode (weird to see the guy from Lost as a young German punk but I digress) where the original ending was the Danny Kaye recording of Inchworm with a kids chorus. I would have been less perturbed if they had pulled the entire recording. Starting with the kids chorus and then going into that cover music just rattles me.

I managed to find the 2nd NX soundtrack on US amazon. It has 'there I go again'. It also has the 'turkey in the straw' style song, and the song Elaine whistles at the end of the dream-swap episode, as well as a few others I can't place off the top of my head.

A LONG while back I found the episode guide book for the first three seasons. From that, and from the music that did survive on the DVDs, I've compiled a song playlist using iTunes. 'Common Threads' by Bobby McFerrin is my favourite. If I ever have kids, I want that to be their lullaby.