The Taking Of Pelham 123 Soundtrack CD
The Taking Of Pelham 123.
1974, MGM.
David Shire.
Retrograde CD, 1996, FSM-80123-2
Rating: 
David Shire’s score for Pelham, recorded three years before he went all disco with ‘Saturday Night Fever’, is a far darker effort than ‘Saturday’ but the funky urban riffs and pure scale evident in his earlier work are also on show here. ‘Main Title’ with its driving percussive rhythm thunders its way through much of the score in a variety of forms but remains robust and interesting enough to sustain itself, particularly well used in ‘Fifty Seconds/The Money Express’ and ‘End Title’. In ‘Mini-Manhunt’ a combination of the main theme is interspersed with flickering piano. Very much locked in the 1970s, Shire’s score reflects both the gritty, dangerous aspects of New York life (before Mayor Guilliani cleaned it up) and the unsettling nervous energy felt by the protagonists. An exciting, edgy score.
The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing:
1. Main Title
2. The Taking
3. Dolowitz Takes A Look/Dolowitz Gets Killed
4. Blue and Green Talk
5. Money Montage
6. Fifty Seconds/The Money Express
7. Conductor Killed/The Money Bag
8. The Pelham’s-Moving-Again Blues
9. I’m A Police Officer/Renewing Disguises/Goodbye Green, Hello Garber. Goodbye Hippie/Smoking More, Enjoying It Less
10. Mini-Manhunt
11. End Title
Related Posts
