William Malone is a very active movie/TV director, and perhaps best known for his remake of the classic horror film House On Haunted Hill. Horror buffs might also recall his other films, including Scared To Death, Creature and Feardotcom. Has latest film, Parasomnia, should see release in 2009, and is of special note since it includes the music of The Plagues, The Bossmen, and The Sheffields. In addition to being a fan of these bands, and of ‘60’s garage rock in general, it’s understandable why Malone would feature music by little known Michigan bands of the ‘60’s in a major motion picture: He was a member of the very same Plagues (the incredibly great ‘I’ve Been Through It Before’ and ‘Through This World’) that are featured on the soundtrack. Thanks to Mr. Malone for sharing his thoughts on the music, and on what we can expect, at least musically, from Parasomnia.
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William Malone and Parasomnia
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I first want to say that I applaud your efforts to bring these bands some belated, but great attention. Many of them were very good and only got lost in the shuffle because there was such an explosion of music at that time.
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When writing the script for Parasomnia (Dreams of the Sleepwalker), I thought it would be cool to make our hero a young kid that collects old records. Specifically his passion is for '60's garage bands. In the story, we see him at work at a vintage record shop and he boasts that in his collection are The 5 Emprees, The Rationals, The Plagues, The Sheffields, and The Bossmen. In the body of the film, we hear tracks by these groups. The Plagues' ‘I've Been through It Before,' The Bossmens' 'Bad Girl' and 'You're the Girl for Me' and The Sheffields' 'My Lovin' Days Are Through.'
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At the end of the film is a dedication to many of these bands. Parasomnia is a dark fairy tale and modern thriller, but is also a love letter to all those unheralded groups that were part of the music scene of the 1960s. It's really been an amazing journey tracking these people down. As 'You're the Girl for Me' plays a crucial role in the story, I was able to track down Dick Wagner (lead player and songwriter of The Bossmen), and get him into a studio and re-record 'You're the Girl for Me' on new equipment. Wow…what a rush. It's a perfect recreation of the original record. At the end of the film, the original recording plays then segues into the new recording. It's absolutely seamless...and it just sounds like it gets big. It's very cool.
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| The closing credits to Parasomnia highlight the many bands that are credited... |
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