I’ve just fallen prey to it. Heard of the band, but never heard their stuff. Watched the film again the other day after many years and fell in love with the snippet of Dry The Rain played in the scene. Also shuffled around like a bad extra to the lolloping groove. The Three E.P’s duly ordered, landed yesterday, other stuff en route.
Anyone else been unexpectedly whammied into loving a band by a brief blast of a song in a film adaptation of a Nick Hornby novel starring John Cusack and Jack Black?
Anybody? No??
They were a great band, sadly missed. Here’s another, vaguely similar, tune from the 3 E.Ps that you may also enjoy.
Be sure also to check out Steve Mason’s solo work if you’ve not done so already. Some great stuff in there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQZjCPQ04rI
Another shout for Steve Mason,
from 2013s Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time – Oh My Lord
Also worth a check-out – The Aliens (effectively The Beta Band without Steve Mason and Richard Greentree)
I Am The Unknown
Garden State
The scene where Natalie Portman plays The Shins’ New Slang on her Walkman headphones for Zach Braff to listen to
https://youtube.com/watch?v=WxQYgH5WF_g
In fairness. If Natalie Portman chose to play me Agadoo from her carefully curated Black Lace playlist, I too would be entirely on board.
If you like The Beta Band, then check out their label proteges, Brothers In Sound’s album, Family Is For Sharing album
Enid Coleslaw’s ‘going out’ music. I went on a real Bollywood OST binge after seeing this.
Not a film -but during the final scene of the last episode of Spaced (where Tim races down to the train station on his Robot Wars robot to catch Daisy before she leaves) they are playing The Staunton Lick on the soundtrack. Took me ages to find out the name of the tune but when I did I bought the album. Was on hard rotation on the CD player for months.
A magic moment. My first venture into Napster was desperation to find the Staunton Lick, very slippery slope since then….
When I saw the scene in Morvern Caller where Samantha Morton goes to her work in the supermarket, and the soundtrack song was “Some Velvet Morning.” I hadn’t heard it before but I loved it immediately. I still think this is an almost perfect match of music and image.
I love Hot Shots II. For me it’s their best record. Nobody else seems to like it.
It’s got Squares on it – what’s nae to like?
Hot Shots is their best! Loved it when it came out.
I’ve always had a slight problem with ‘Squares’ (2001) because (from their own admission) they half inched the sample idea from I’Monster’s Daydream In Blue. (1998)
Unfortunately, by coincidence, I’Monster re-released said track about a month or so before The Beta Band released Squares and the Scots swiftly pulled the single and promoted ‘Broke’ instead.
Not a bad result. Broke is the beta track. Sorry, the better track.
We’ve mentioned “Coast to Coast” before, maybe on the Facebook page. Anyway, here’s the one that stayed with me for years until I finally tracked down a copy of “Drift Away”. Listening to this makes me realize how much better Dobie Gray’s version is. John Shea appears to be channelling Dylan in the verses:
Coast to Coast had probably the best soundtrack-made-of-old-records since American Graffiti. It was my intro to Motown.
Yes indeed, still remember Coast to Coast, would love to see it again.
Just remembered two films, both Peter Weir ones – Gallipoli which introduced me to Albinoni’s Adagio and the Sam Cooke/What a wonderful Scene in Witness. I didn’t really know much about Sam Cooke’s music before – shamefully – but I did afterwards.
I think it’s on YouTube.
The scene where the Lenny Henry character inspects John Shea’s singles collection is probably the Afterword equivalent of Mr Darcy climbing out of the lake.
Mmmm, 45s.
Can’t think of any films, but happens all the time in record stores, bought an Italian funk collection on the basis of hearing a bit of a song, asked the guy at the till about it and actually we joked about this very scene in High Fidelity. The album is largely dreadful. Mind you I have to thank Fopp for playing the magnificent Brothers and Sisters gospel album of Dylan tunes. I bought that on the strength of one brief snatch of music.
Happens quite a lot that I’ll dig something off a film or TV and go digging further.
The best discovery was Marlena Shaw’s “California Soul” as featured on the soundtrack for the 2003 Italian Job film.
I was in Hmv Oxford street and heard side one of the second Go Team album. Sold!