Music Webmaster Len Mullenger
	FILM MUSIC RECORDINGS REVIEWS September 1999 Supplement

	John BARRY High Road To China   Southern Cross SCCD 1030 [29:59]
		Crotchet Yalplay

		For Selleck's first big screen outing, it's almost the Indiana Jones role he was up for. His scrapes and escapades as the alcoholic pilot Patrick could have inspired a rollicking action motif and score in the Williams style. Mr Barry knows how to draw something else out of a picture however. His "Main Title" is instead a hint of the tragedy of Bess Armstrong's lost father, Patrick's boozing, being lost in general (as they frequently are), and also suggests the free-spiritedness of flying. Much of the score foreshadows the expansive outdoors feeling of Dances With Wolves, with the drums in "Airborne" loudly recalling "Dawn Attack". There is more 'bite' to the score than many of his post-eighties romantic pieces. With a small break for the "Charleston", there's also a spirit of humour in the music. It's all very sad, but being a movie, neither we nor Barry should take it seriously - of course everything will be fine in the end! Reviewer Paul Tonks	Reviewer Paul Tonks
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