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New Jersey-born ANGELO BADALAMENTI has composed the soundtrack to almost all of David Lynch’s films, including his latest, Mulholland Drive. He’s coming to Edinburgh to tell Film Festival audiences how he did it. Words: Miles Fielder
hat do you think of when I write these two words:
Twin Peaks? Logs? Cups of coffee? Laura Palmer
wrapped in plastic? How about the television shows eerie. ethereal soundtrack? That‘s the work of Angelo Badalamenti. David Lynch‘s composer of choice. And that haunting song sung by Julie Cruise. Badalamenti coached her. A Lynch film wouldn‘t be a Lynch film without Badalamenti.
Rewind to 1986. Lynch is filming Blue Velvet. a return to his patented brand of surreal middle- Americana after the poorly-received science-fiction blockbuster. Dune. Lynch needs someone to work with Isabella Rossellini. because he's having trouble getting her to sing a couple of songs for the film. His producer calls on a 49-year- old veteran of the music business he knows. This is Badalamenti. classically trained. a former jingle-writer. pianist in the 50s and arranger-songwriter for. among other lung-driven luminaries. Shirley Bassey. ‘Hey. Angelo. this guy’s making a movie in North Carolina and he needs a voice coach to work with his lead. Isabella Rossellini.’ ‘Suref says Angelo.
‘I worked with her for a few hours.‘ says Badalamenti. down the phone line from his New Jersey home. ‘I recorded her doing the song. ‘Blue Velvet’. We went to the set. where David was shooting the last scene. He put the cassette on and was totally taken with it. He said he could take exactly what we did. just the piano and her. and put it in the movie.’
This. as the saying goes. was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Though there was another immediate problem: Lynch wanted his favourite ever song. This Mortal Coil‘s ‘Song To The Siren‘. on the soundtrack. Executive producer Dino De Laurentiis refused to pay 50 Gs for it. so Badalamenti was asked to write ‘something like it‘. But not being a lyric writer. he got Lynch (not a lyric writer either) to compose something. Lynch was sceptical: ‘Angelo‘s gonna write something. and they‘re gonna get a singer and record it and it's gonna be as good as my favourite record of all time? It‘s preposterous.‘
10 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 2—9 Aug 2001
‘Lynch’ll sit next to me at a keyboard and describe a scene, then I’ll start playing.’
It gets worse. recalls Badalamenti: ‘What happened is. me and Isabella were recording ‘Blue Velvet' with a small band. and she came in with a little piece of yellow paper and on it it said. ‘Mysteries Of Love'. Lynch’s lyric. ‘lt wasn‘t a lyric. This was the worse piece ol'junk I ever saw in my lil'e.‘ laughs Badalamenti. ‘So I called David tip and did what any street- smart kid would do and told him. “This is a great lyric". What music do you have in mind?‘ He said. "Oh. let it go through time like the oceans and the tide and the wind. Let it float out there through eternity." ()h. I said. I got it.‘
But Badalamenti did get it. From these inauspicious beginnings. he has collaborated with Lynch on every lilm he‘s made since. plus two television shows. On Air and Hnlt'/ Room. and the television musical. Industrial .S'ytn/ihmtv .’\'u I: The Dream Of The Broken Hearted (which represents arottnd a tnere sixth of Badalamenti‘s total lilm scores). Over the years they’ve developed a working shorthand.
‘lt’s a very unusual relationship between a director and a composer.’ says Badalamenti. ‘We‘re on the same page 98‘; of the time. He‘ll sit next to me at a keyboard and describe a scene before he even shot it: “It's night-time. you‘re in the woods“. I‘ll start playing. improvising. “'l‘hat mood is beautiful. Angelo. Now. there‘s Laura Palmer coming out from behind the tree trunk. Can you make that mood change? She‘s coming closer. can you let that mood build? Now she‘s really close. can you reach some kind ol'climax'.” I‘d do that and turn around and see he‘s got tears in his eyes and the hair on his arms is standing up. y‘know?‘ says Badalamenti.
As with ‘Blue Velvet‘. Lynch wouldn‘t want Badalamenti to work any further on the piece. not touch a single note. That‘s their working method: Lynch describes scenes. Badalamenti translates it into music. ‘lt’s a beautiful marriage.~ he says. ‘What we don‘t do is lock into Mickey Mouse stuff.’ Badalamenti‘s talking about composing music to precise timings like one minute. seven-and-a-third seconds. Instead. he‘d improvise. perhaps a twenty-minute cue for a single scene. He‘s got hours of this stuff. The Lost Lynch Tapes.
‘On Mulholland Drive.‘ says Badalamenti about Lynch‘s latest film. ‘what he did was take what I recorded and in post— production . . . David loves to experiment with editing and do sound design and deal with processing. The main title theme has a Russian flavour: it‘s dark but melodic. and there are various themes for the characters. I also recorded lots of dark. weaving stuff. There‘s a lot of music and sound design that works well together.‘
Lynch’s latest has been a long time coming. having started life as a television show pilot which ABC cancelled fearing it too disturbing (what did they expect from David Lynch. for crying out loud?). Lynch has since re-acquired the rights. junked half the original material and shot a new hour for the