I think the worst song replacement was done in On The Town. They lost You Got Me and replaced it with some entirely forgettable song. (Actually, I have forgotten the name.) Several other good songs were replaced with mediocre ones, too. I remember hearing that the producers of the movie thought that the originals were too "complex."
Hello? Gay now!
Willow ,'Showtime'
Spike's Bitches 43: Who am I kidding? I love to brag.
[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.
Hil R. - Jan 23, 2009 8:48:30 pm PST #8888 of 10000
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
SailAweigh - Jan 23, 2009 8:51:24 pm PST #8889 of 10000
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
Did Babes in Arms and Pal Joey have the same songwriters? Otherwise, it sounds like it would be a pain to figure out royalties and that kind of stuff.
Hil, what was too complex? Did they think the movie actors couldn't carry a more complicated tune or were the lyrics so contextual, they thought most viewers wouldn't get them?
Hil R. - Jan 23, 2009 8:53:04 pm PST #8890 of 10000
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
They're both Rodgers and Hart.
I think that they thought the viewers wouldn't like the songs.
NoiseDesign - Jan 23, 2009 8:53:30 pm PST #8891 of 10000
Our wings are not tired
Babes in Arms was also not produced on stage for a long long time due to a number of objectionable songs in the score. Chief among them is "All Dark People are Light on their Feet."
Hil R. - Jan 23, 2009 8:54:57 pm PST #8892 of 10000
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
Ah, just got to the part of Pal Joey where we find out that Joey really does have a "heart of gold" because he doesn't rape Linda while she's passed out.
brenda m - Jan 23, 2009 8:55:25 pm PST #8893 of 10000
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
Hil, it's a song sung from a New York perspective. That line is kind of taking a swipe a California. No, California isn't cold and damp (well... San Francisco is....), but that's supposed to be the sort of snotty thing a NY socialite might say to be witty.
Huh. I always took it as one more example of contrariness - how out of touch she supposedly is with the popular crowd
SailAweigh - Jan 23, 2009 8:55:45 pm PST #8894 of 10000
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
I may have to dig up a copy of the original songs. I've only ever seen the movie, so I didn't realize there was that much of a difference. Now I'm curious to hear what got cut.
Sean K - Jan 23, 2009 8:55:51 pm PST #8895 of 10000
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
The show I'm working on right now is about Lena Horne, and has her version of Lady is a Tramp in it. It also deals with her interactions with L. B. Mayer (the Mayer in Metro Goldwin Mayer). For those who complain about the ludicrousness of how crappy movies get made with big budgets, it was worse under the old studio system.
We can argue about the quality of films between then and now, but the production process was much worse back then, in terms of how the moguls ran their ships.
NoiseDesign - Jan 23, 2009 8:57:37 pm PST #8896 of 10000
Our wings are not tired
I designed one of the first revivals of Babes in Arms back in 1998.
NoiseDesign - Jan 23, 2009 9:05:59 pm PST #8897 of 10000
Our wings are not tired
I think Lady is a Tramp and Where or When may be the only two songs that made it from the stage to the screen.