Friday, April 22, 2011

SuperSoundtrack #1: Ozymandias and Page of Quire

Everybody knows that a good film needs a good soundtrack. Star Wars and Indiana Jones wouldn't be the same without John Williams' great symphonic scores. Nor would 80s classics like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off be the same without the Flowerpot Men’s “Beat City” or the now iconic “Oh Yeah” by Yello, capturing the mood of the story so perfectly.

Indeed, when you watch the Director’s Commentary of FBDO you learn about what care John Hughes put into sound-tracking the movie, and why he deliberately chose music that hadn't yet made the mainstream. WGTB suspects this is why whenever you hear “Oh Yeah!" today, your first memory is probably of Ferris and the 1961 Ferrari GT California OR a subsequent reference to greed or excess that came from that scene.

So, in tribute to all the great, unexplored music out there, WGTB is introducing a new feature called SuperSoundtracks.

What we’re doing is pairing up good but non-mainstream songs with comic book heroes or villains who don’t yet have associated music. Of course, these are only suggestions, and hopefully our readers will add to the mix and suggest some songs and characters of their own -- our only request is that you keep the music interesting and obcure. No Madonna or Michael Jackson please!

SuperSoundtrack #1

Our first comic book character is Watchmen’s Ozymandias, a key figure in the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons masterpeice. Billed as the "smartest man in the world" and blessed with exoribant wealth and physical fitness, Ozymandias, is a key force in helping drive this timeless mini-series forward.

His chosen song is “Reason Man”, an early Depeche Mode track, performed by an obscure German synth group called Page of Quire. The futuristic keyboards and the driving beat capture the mysterious and aloof qualities of Ozymandias brilliantly, while the lyrics match him to a tee. If you know Watchmen then you know why Ozymandias is the "Reason Man".

Have a listen.

Do you have any suggestions that match Ozymandias even better? If so, please post them below. And again, if you have any other character/song suggestions please post with a link. This won't be any fun without a little interaction!

2 comments:

  1. This is an amazing idea. I've been wracking my brain since you mentioned it.

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  2. It's not exactly obscure, but I'm thinking "Carry On My Wayward Son" for Cable.

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