Horror, Sci-Fi & some...Soundtrack: John Harrison ~ Day of the Dead (1985)

John Harrison ~ Day of the Dead (1985)

Forget it, Billy boy. It's a dead place.

Like all the others, you know.

Listen. You can hear it over the engine.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph!

John Harrison

George A. Romero's Day Of The Dead™ (1985)
(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Three men in hell on the earth:
Sarah, John & McDermott

...Zombies rule the USA, except for a small group of scientists and military personnel who reside in an underground bunker in Florida. The scientists are using the undead in gruesome experiments; much to the chagrin of the military. Finally the military finds that their men have been used in the scientists' experiments, and banish the scientists to the caves that house the Living Dead. Unfortunately, the zombies from above ground have made their way into the bunker...

"The World Inside Your Eyes"

George A. Romero's Day of the Dead (1985) ~ The Dead Walk!

~The Dead Walk!~

It wants me! It wants food!

But it has no stomach, can take no nourishment from what it ingests.

It's acting on INSTINCT!

George A. Romero's Day of the Dead (1985) ~ Sarah & Dr. Logan

Original music by John Harrison, Jim Blazer, Sputzy Sparacino

Day Of The Dead (1985) (Score)
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The soundtrack was released on LP and cassette in the same year as the film (1985) by Saturn Records; it contained 6 tracks, all of which was composed and performed by John Harrison. The vocals came from Sputzy Sparacino who is the lead singer of Modern Man and Delilah on the tracks "If Tomorrow Comes" and "The World Inside Your Eyes". The album was re-issued in 2002 by Numenorean Records as a limited edition CD. The new edition was limited to 3000 copies and contained the original album plus five additional tracks from the music and effects reel (the only surviving recording of the film score). It also included a 12 page booklet with information from Harrison and Romero regarding the score.

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Day of The Dead™
Music Composed and Performed by John Harrison
Edited and Mastered by Michael Stern
Score Produced by John Harrison and John Sutton
Album Produced by John Harrison and Ford A. Thaxton

Day of the Dead is an album composed and written by John Harrison with the help of Sputzy Sparacino (The Lead Singer and Guitarist of Pittsburgh R&B/Dance Cover bands Gigolo, Modern Man, Sputzy & The Soul Providers, and Sputzy & Jeremy) and Jim Blazer (Former Keyboardist of Modern Man and Present Keyboardist of The Spencer Davis Group) the soundtrack to the film of the same name.

Artist: John Harrison
Album: Day Of The Dead™
Country: US
Released: 1985, February, 2002
Format: Vinyl, LP, CD, Album, Limited Edition, Stereo
Catalog#: SR LP 1701, NMCD 001
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Soundtrack
Style: Stage & Screen, Theme, Ambient, Synth-pop
Label: Saturn|Numenorean Music
© Saturn Records Ltd. | © Numenorean Music

John Harrison

John Harrison (John Sutherland Harrison Jr.)

John Harrison began his career directing rock videos and working as 1st Asst. Director for famed horror director, George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead (1968)/Creepshow (1982)). Harrison wrote and directed multiple episodes of Romero's classic TV series, "Tales from the Darkside" (1983)m], before helming Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), for Paramount Pictures, which won Harrison the Grand Prix du Festival at Avoriaz, France.

Plays the Bass Guitar.
He also plays Bass Keyboard, DX7 Chroma Keyboard, Korg T-3 Keyboard, Kurzweil Keyboard, and Prophet Keyboard. Which are also the kinds of keyboards you could hear him play through out George A. Romero's Day of the Dead (1985) movie soundtrack.
Brother of Drummer and Percussionist Doug Harrison.

John Harrison as Zombie from Dawn of the Dead (1978)

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Tracklist:

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1 "The Dead Suite" |19:41
Composed & Performed by John Harrison
Produced by John Harrison and John Sutton

2 "Break Down" |3:52
Composed by Jim Blazer, John Harrison and Sputzy Sparacino
Performed by Modern Man

3 "Escape Invasion" |3:58
Composed by Jim Blazer, John Harrison and Sputzy Sparacino
Performed by Modern Man

4 "The Dead Walk" |4:53
Composed by Jim Blazer, John Harrison and Sputzy Sparacino
Performed by Modern Man
Produced by Tom Cossie

5 "If Tomorrow Comes" |3:39
Composed by Jim Blazer, John Harrison and Sputzy Sparacino
Performed by Modern Man
Vocals Performed by Sputzy Sparacino and Delilah
Keyboard, Strings & Drum Programming Arrangements by Jim Blazer
Produced by Tom Cossie

6 "The World Inside Your Eyes" |3:31
Composed by Jim Blazer, John Harrison, Sputzy Sparacino, and Talmadge Pearsall
Performed by Modern Man
Vocals Performed by Sputzy Sparacino and Delilah
Keyboard Accompaniment by John Harrison and Talmadge Pearsall
Produced by Tom Cossie

Bonus Music and Effects Tracks:

7 "Deadly Beginnings" |7:27
Composed & Performed by John Harrison

8 "Diner Of The Living Dead" |1:41
Composed & Performed by John Harrison

9 "Dead Calm" |1:55
Composed & Performed by John Harrison

10 "Bub's 9th" |0:36
   Composed by John Harrison
   Performed by Sherman Howard

11 "Dead End" |21:38
   Composed & Performed by John Harrison

12 "Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125" |10:22
   (uncredited)
   Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
   Performed by Berliner Philharmoniker, Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien
   with Gundula Janowitz, Waldemar Kmentt, Walter Berry, Hilde Rossel Majdan
   Conducted by Herbert von Karajan
   © PHILIPS

Total Length: 1:23:14

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Credits:
Bass: Don Garvin, Joey Argiro, John Harrison
Drums & Percussion: Tom Tornow
Dx7 Chroma: Jim Blazer, John Harrison
Emulator: Carl Wurtz
Fairlight: Frank Falotica, Ray Falotica
Guitar: Grant Geissman, Mark Matteo, Sputzy Sparacino
Keyboards: Gary Carolla, Talmadge Pearsall
Korg T-3 Keyboard: John Harrison
Kurzweil Keyboard: John Harrison
Percussion: Michael Fisher
Prophet Keyboard: John Harrison
Simmons Percussion: Gary Wallo, Ricky Granati
Vocals: Delilah (tracks: 5, 6), Sputzy Sparacino (tracks: 5, 6)

Notes:
Limited 3000 Copies, this is the first time this soundtrack has ever been put on to CD. It has been remastered and includes 5 extra tracks.

George A. Romero's "Dead Trilogy" has amassed a legion of fans over the past three decades. Like zombies munching the flesh and organs of the unfortunate characters in the films, the fans have voraciously consumed various home video versions of Night of The Living Dead, Dawn of The Dead and Day of The Dead. Loaded with buckets of gore, Day of The Dead picks up after the events of Dawn of The Dead but with a set of new characters (scientists and soldiers) who are bunking in an underground government facility studying zombies. Ironically, the blood drenched picture mixes exploitation with a script with actual themes -- scientific tampering, and religion, being the two major ones. Day of The Dead's composer, John Harrison, was also it's assistant director. Harrison also collaborated with Romero on Creepshow (a very good score), and later directed and scored the Tales From The Darkside film. This is the first time Harrison's score for Day of The Dead has been released on CD, and the new label Numenorean Music has fleshed out the album with additional cues stuffed with sound effects from the film.

The score for Day of The Dead is comprised mostly of 1980's period synths and a small unit of musicians (guitar, percussion, keyboards, etc. -- think John Carpenter). Instead of commenting on the horror elements of the film, Harrison's music plays against the onscreen tension, mixing in light Caribbean vibes (one of the film's characters is Jamaican) with a light rock feel. Ominous and heavy-handed synth drones create the album's only tension; which is perhaps the problem with the score -- there's nothing here that really sets a mood of terror beyond the repetition of a few simple rythmic ideas played out on synths.

A lengthy suite opens the album and includes all the major cues from the film. This would have been a sufficient representation of the score, but the producers have also included two cringe-worthy songs ("If Tomorrow Comes/The World Inside Your Eyes") and five music/sound effects tracks that aren't engineered for pleasant listening. You might be able to crank these tracks out of your front door on Halloween night, but you won't be sliding this disc into your car's CD player on long road trips. Numenorean's presentation is actually very nice, and the label is obviously aware of the core demographic that this release is aimed at.

At almost seventy-three minutes, there's not a whole lot here for serious enthusiasts of film music but a whole lot of anonymous, flash-back inducing, underscore. True some of Day of The Dead is effective in the film, but away from the gooey visuals, it reminds me just how negative an influence 1980's pop and light-rock were on film music. As a pure listening experience, Day of The Dead rates at a fairly generous 1 and 1/2 notes. This album really is aimed square at fans of the film and series. Others should hear the groaning of zombies and be smart enough to grab an automatic machine gun, a bag of food and supplies and run in the opposite direction.

Review by Ryan Keaveney
Review Date: May 15, 2002

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Here: 4Shared!

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Day of the Dead (1985)
Written & Directed by George A. Romero
Original Music by John Harrison
Special makeup effects by Tom Savini
Release Date: 19 July 1985 (USA)
Filming Locations: Florida, USA
Production Co: United Film Distribution Company (UFDC), Laurel Entertainment Inc., Dead Films Inc.

Official Trailer!

Day of the Dead is a 1985 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero and the third film in Romero's Dead Series, being preceded by Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978).
Romero describes the film as a "tragedy about how a lack of human communication causes chaos and collapse even in this small little pie slice of society". This film features Sherman Howard in an early appearance as Bub, and make-up artist Gregory Nicotero playing Pvt. Johnson and doing the make-up effects.

Cast:
Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah Bowman
Joseph Pilato as Captain Rhodes
Terry Alexander as John
Jarlath Conroy as William "Bill" McDermott
Anthony Dileo Jr. as Pvt. Miguel Salazar
Richard Liberty as Dr. Matthew "Frankenstein" Logan
Sherman Howard as Bub the Zombie
Gary Howard Klar as Pvt. Steele
Ralph Marrero as Pvt. Rickles
John Amplas as Dr. Ted Fisher
Phillip G. Kellams as Pvt. Miller
Taso N. Stavrakis as Pvt. Torrez
Gregory Nicotero as Pvt. Johnson

What the fuck is wrong with you people?

They're dead! They're fuckin' dead!

Go on run, run you fucking lunatics!

Plot:

Some time after the events of Dawn of the Dead, zombies have overrun the world. The remaining fragments of the U.S. government and military hide out in fortified enclaves, attempting to find both survivors and a solution to the zombie phenomenon. Survivors Sarah, John, McDermott, and Miguel arrive in Fort Myers, Florida, encounter a zombie horde, and escape to an underground Army base in the Everglades, where a small group of scientists search for a way to stop or reverse the zombie process, assisted by a skeleton crew of Army soldiers. Dr. Logan, the lead scientist, believes that zombies can be trained to become docile, and accordingly has amassed a collection of zombie test subjects, over the objection of base-commander Capt. Rhodes. The tension between the soldiers and the scientists is worsened by dwindling supplies, loss of communication with other survivors, and a lack of progress in research. During a zombie wrangling mission, two soldiers are killed after a zombie escapes its harnesses; whereupon Miguel attempts to kill the creature, but is bitten on the arm, which Sarah amputates to stop the spreading infection. Rhodes then calls off the experiment and demands all specimens to be destroyed.

Dr. Logan, meanwhile, continues his research, being especially proud of Bub, a docile zombie who remembers parts of his past life. Sarah is mortified when she learns Logan has been using the bodies of the dead soldiers in his research, and devises a plan to escape the complex with John and Miguel. Their plans are thwarted by Capt. Rhodes, who kills Logan; locks Sarah and McDermott inside the zombie corral; murders Dr. Fisher, a fellow scientist; and attempts to force John, their helicopter pilot, to fly them away from the complex, which John refuses.

Bub finds the corpse of Dr. Logan, and in a display of human emotion, breaks into tears, while Miguel, in attempting suicide, allows the zombies to enter the complex and is devoured in the process. While two soldiers investigate, John overcomes Rhodes and another soldier, steals their weapons, and goes to find Sarah and McDermott, while the zombies kill the remaining soldiers. Rhodes attempts to escape, but is shot by Bub and killed by a nearby zombie horde. John reunites with Sarah and McDermott and they escape to the surface. Sarah boards the helicopter, only to be attacked by a zombie inside; but wakes to find that the final zombie attack was a dream and that they are now living on a tropical island.

George A. Romero's Day Of The Dead (1985)