Shrewd move, this. Big Finish Productions’ line of well-received radio-dramas-minus-the-radio spun off from the BBC’s much-lamented Doctor Who series has featured some above-average music. Big Finish has wisely decided to release some of the music on its own – and why not? They own the recordings, so they’re able to capitalize on them.

The proceedings kick off with the harpsichord-heavy menace of the period drama Phantasmagoria (the second Audio Adventure to hit the stores). The Fearmonger features some of the best music on the disc. Several suspenseful cues evoke memories of the best all-synth music of early 80s Doctor Who, while the more evocative “Butterflies” and “I Am Afraid” tracks remind me of Mark Ayres’ better music toward the end of the life span of the TV series. More vintage sounds are heard as The Marian Conspiracy relies heavily on recorders and pipes (or, at the very least, samples thereof). The Spectre Of Lanyon Moor, comprising the final eight tracks, has some very effective choral samples mixed in with instrumentation that evokes the tremendously effective Dudley Simpson scores of Tom Baker’s early adventures. It’s all very dark and menacing, but in an intimate way – which, in some cases, makes it all the scarier.

Alistair Lock has obviously done his homework – which consisted largely of growing up with the good Doctor’s adventures and absorbing a good deal of the series’ musical stylings. While bringing the sound into the modern day, Lock’s music stays faithful to the atmosphere of Doctor Who underscores past, and plays a big part in bringing the new adventures to life. Not to downplay the alternating musical contributions of Nicholas Briggs and Russell Stone, but Lock’s music gets it right on the money most of the time – even to the point that, having listened to all of the Audio Adventures thus far, I was hoping that Big Finish had a music CD in the wings before they even announced it.

One minor gripe: valuable time is taken by introducing each story’s music with yet another copy of its minute-or-so-long teaser (which many listeners will recognize from the “coming attractions” track at the end of most of the Audio Adventures’ second discs). In a way, I suppose this CD serves as a marketing tool, but I really have to question whether anyone would buy the music CD without first having heard the audio dramas whence the music came? The result is nearly five minutes of the CD that could’ve contained music, rather than a promo most everyone will have heard already.

1. Phantasmagoria trailer (1:17)
2. Cards and Papers (1:40)
3. Valentine’s Calling Card (4:37)
4. Town Crier (1:53)
5. Card Chase (5:18)
6. House Hunting (1:53)
7. Interlude (0:35)
8. The Fearmonger trailer (1:07)
9. First Shooting (2:42)
10. Nightmare Rally (2:36)
11. Bomb Threat (1:12)
12. Kitchen Attack (1:11)
13. Butterflies (3:21)
14. I Am Afraid (2:20)
15. A Word From Mike (0:07)
16. The Marian Conspiracy trailer (1:10)
17. Historic Argument (1:53)
18. The Court Of Queen Mary (2:57)
19. Religious Fervour (4:09)
20. Tea With The Locals (2:37)
21. Out Of Time (2:09)
22. Marriage For The Doctor (1:10)
23. Escape From The Tower (2:20)
24. Rescued By An Angel (2:25)
25. The Spectre Of Lanyon Moor trailer (1:15)
26. Stranded (1:14)
27. Ghosts Of The War (0:58)
28. Imps On The Cliff (0:59)
29. Recalling The Attack (1:35)
30. Dead Soldiers (0:49)
31. The Lab (4:07)
32. Sancreda (4:17)
33. Saving The World (3:11)

Released by: Big Finish Productions
Release date: 2000
Total running time: 72:41

1985. The video game industry had fallen, the last Star Wars movie had unspooled, leaving no sign of a sequel outside from some unpromising Ewok TV movies that somehow lacked the epic sweep of a Jedi duel between good and evil, and new wave music had given way to slickly-produced pop that attempted to mass-produce the synth-based sound that had been so boldly experimental just six years before when Gary Numan gave us Cars. And Weird Al Yankovic? Thank God at least Al was still around, and he had a fresh target: Madonna was on the rise.

This brings us to “Like A Surgeon”, Al’s cuttingly funny take-off of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin”, and the lead single (and first track) on Dare To Be Stupid. Considering that In 3-D had made him a superstar, the follow-up required some serious work to top it. And that it did, complete with some of Al’s best original compositions ever.

Dare To Be Stupid itself is a brilliant rip of the Devo sound, and in some ways even exceeds its inspiration. (Years later in a VH-1 special about Weird Al’s career, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo confessed that he loved the synth sounds Al used in the song – and hated him from that day forward for “wasting” them on a parody. Get over yourself, Mark. We’ll reserve a room for you in the Shatner suite.) “One More Minute” sets some truly bizarre lyrics to Inkspots-style doo-wop music, while the brilliant “This Is The Life” takes on the big band style that wouldn’t be coming back into vogue for nearly a decade and a half. “Cable TV” is hilarious as well, and in some ways lays the foundation for Al’s movie, UHF.

In the area of parodying specific songs, Weird Al rarely hit the ball over the fence this often in the space of a single album. “I Want A New Duck” is a bizarre spoof which flips the bird to Huey Lewis’ “I Want A New Drug” (and I’ll best Yankovic spent a lot less time apologizing for his song after the fact); food is once again the topic of the Cyndi Lauper-inspired “Girls Just Want To Have Lunch”, and most brilliantly of all, Weird Al does an almost straightforward retelling of The Empire Strikes Back to the tune of the Kinks’ “Lola” in “Yoda” – proof, if any be needed, that Al needs to go back, record some new material, add “Yoda” and “The Saga Begins” to the mix, and tell the entire Star Wars saga through music.

The album is triumphantly capped off with “Hooked On Polkas”, another of Weird Al’s signature polka medleys of songs that were making it big at the time. Among his victims this time around are ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man”, Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose”, and Nena’s “99 Luftballoons”, to name just three richly-deserving candidates. It’s hard to really put a finger on why Dare To Be Stupid always rocked my world back then; the only song that doesn’t do a thing for me is “Slime Creatures From Outer Space”, which sounds like a weak attempt to mimic Thomas Dolby’s style circa 1984, but that’s one bad egg out of nearly a dozen – and truth be told, Al foisted worse turkeys on us with Even Worse. Dare To Be Stupid dared to take on an era when rock and pop music was getting less and less interesting, and at least made them funny.

1. Like A Surgeon (3:32)
2. Dare To Be Stupid (3:26)
3. I Want A New Duck (3:04)
4. One More Minute (4:05)
5. Yoda (3:58)
6. George Of The Jungle (1:05)
7. Slime Creatures From Outer Space (4:23)
8. Girls Just Want To Have Lunch (2:49)
9. This Is The Life (3:07)
10. Cable TV (3:38)
11. Hooked On Polkas (3:52)

Released by: Scotti Bros.
Release date: 1985
Total running time: 36:59

My first-ever exposure to Weird Al – actually the same goes for quite a few close, personal friends of Al – was sparked by my interest in “Eat It”, the spot-on parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. But time, while it hasn’t mellowed me one darn bit, has shown me that there are far, far finer spoofs of pop greatness to be found on Yankovic’s In 3-D.

The great thing about Weird Al’s earliest work was that he had the entire pantheon of rock ‘n’ roll to pick and choose from. Nothing was off-limits – nothing too new or too old. Polkas On 45 is a good example. I’m a sucker for Al’s polka-fied medleys of richly-deserving songs-of-the-moment, but to me, Polkas On 45 is the standard by which all other Weird Al polka medleys must be judged. (I know that’s a rather rarified genre, but stick with me here.) What makes Polkas On 45 all the funnier is that it plucks gems from many years before Al’s rise to the top – everything is fair game: Foreigner (“Hot Blooded”), Talking Heads (“Burning Down The House”), the Beatles Hey Jude, the Doors (“L.A. Woman”), Iron Butterfly (“In A Gadda Da Vida”), and even Deep Purple (“Smoke On The Water”). Some of these songs are well-loved anthems of rock ‘n’ roll, not disposible Spice Girls singles. To put it bluntly, it took some balls to line up some of the greats only to hurl musical meringue pies at them. This one track is worth the price of the whole album.

But aside from wacko Jacko’s finest, Yankovic also helped himself to full-length parodies of Survivor (turning “Eye Of The Tiger” into “The Theme From Rocky XIII” with a chorus of “It’s the rye or the kaiser…”), the Police (“King Of Pain” into “King Of Suede”), and “style parodies” spoofing an artist’s sound but no one specific song: the reggae satire “Gonna Buy Me A Condo” has always made me laugh, especially now that I am old enough to dream of paying rent on a better rental property. Long-time fans will also find the Greg Kihn Band spoof “I Lost On Jeopardy” here, as well as a non-artist-specific new wave howler, “Mr. Popeil”. Man, to think that there was a time when I wondered who that song was about, back before late-night infomercials. I miss my youth.

But thanks to Weird Al Yankovic’s In 3-D, I can at least temporarily reclaim it.

1. Eat It (3:19)
2. Midnight Star (4:33)
3. The Brady Bunch (2:39)
4. Buy Me A Condo (3:52)
5. I Lost On Jeopardy (3:26)
6. Polkas On 45 (4:19)
7. Mr. Popeil (4:41)
8. King Of Suede (4:12)
9. That Boy Could Dance (3:28)
10. Theme From Rocky XIII (3:37)
11. Nature Trail To Hell (5:49)

Released by: Scotti Bros.
Release date: 1984
Total running time: 43:50

Hailing from the landmark cartoon of the same name, Animaniacs bestows upon the show’s fans 16 songs from the early episodes of the show. There are some surprising omissions (namely the theme songs for the “sub-shows” that existed within the Animaniacs umbrella before being spun off themselves), and in many cases it becomes evident that the show’s best musical content hadn’t arrived yet.

The best stuff on here is the series of spoofy educational songs (i.e. “Wakko’s America”, which name-checks every state and its capitol), though there are some decidedly non-educational games as well (“Video Revue” and “I Am The Very Model Of A Cartoon Individual”). A few things on here grate on my nerves very easily (“Schnitzelbank”, anyone?), but thankfully they’re in the minority.

Given that it weighs in at barely half an hour, Animaniacs gets a cautious recommendation from me; Animaniacs Variety Pack is a better buy – not much more content, but at least it’s more interesting.

1. Animaniacs (1:09)
2. Yakko’s Universe (1:58)
3. Schnitzelbank (2:48)
4. What Are We? (1:46)
5. Yes, Brothers Warner We (1:06)
6. Yakko’s World (1:48)
7. Wakko’s America (1:54)
8. Video Revue (1:45)
9. I Am The Very Model Of A Cartoon Individual (1:11)
10. I’m Mad (4:01)
11. The Planets (0:43)
12. The Etiquette Song (0:55)
13. I’m Cute (2:00)
14. The Senses (1:48)
15. Be Careful What You Eat (1:23)
16. Let The Anvils Ring (1:36)
17. Animaniacs Closing Credits (2:01)

Released by: Kid Rhino
Release date: 1993
Total running time: 29:52

Neil Finn’s first foray into film scoring is an interesting mix of new songs and moody instrumental pieces. The songs and score tracks alternate for much of the CD, dividing things up nicely and creating quite a tapestry of different moods. “You Don’t Know” kicks things off with a dark, slinky feel and some outstanding vocal harmonies (not unlike the underrated Finn Brothers album), which brings me neatly to one other point – a lot of the vocal numbers on this soundtrack are almost “mini-songs,” very short in duration and sparse on lyrics (check out “Boat Joyride”, barely a minute long). “Summer Intro” quotes an infectious melody that later forms the basis of the song “Drive Home”, followed by “Summer Of Love”, a Finn/Edmund McWilliams collaboration on a song written by McWilliams. Again, vocal harmonies are to the fore. Elsewhere on the album, standouts include Lisa Germano’s “Cry Wolf” and her violin-driven instrumental “Phantom Love”, the eastern-influenced Finn instrumental “Red Room”, and another Finn/McWilliams collaboration, “Drive Home”, which is an instrumental for the first half of the song before the vocals ever kick in. Rounding things off is Neil’s son Liam Finn (of Betchadupa as well as his dad’s touring act) with “Lucid Dream”, an instrumental version of a song from the new Betchadupa album Alphabetchadupa. Perhaps the most out-of-place item here is a 1970 number from Human Instinct, a very, very Move-like late 60s/early 70s New Zealand rock group. In a way, it’s out of place for being the oldest song on the CD, but with the lo-fi production utilized on much of the soundtrack, it also fits in quite nicely, ironically enough.

It’s important to point out that, unlike film or stage music by, oh, say, Peter Gabriel, the soundtrack from Rain is not a wasteland of previously-released material minus the vocals. Liam’s singular contribution aside, Neil Finn’s material is all-original here. The only thing it references is other tracks on this album – and last time I checked, that’s called a theme, something which comes in mighty handy when you’re doing music for a movie or a TV show.

Overall, it’s quite an effective freshman film music outing, one that makes me hope Neil Finn might try this again sometime – just so long as he keeps turning out his own music as well instead of, oh, say, spacing solo albums ten years apart from each other.

1. You Don’t Know – Neil Finn (song) (2:55)
2. Summer Intro – Neil Finn (score) (1:39)
3. Summer Of Love – Neil Finn & Edmund McWilliams (song) (2:52)
4. Mum In Bed – Neil Finn (score) (0:57)
5. Orange And Blue – Neil Finn (song) (2:29)
6. Red Room – Neil Finn (score) (3:05)
7. Cry Wolf – Lisa Germano (song) (4:57)
8. The Affair – Neil Finn (score) (3:41)
9. Black Sally – Human Instinct (song) (6:35)
10. Boat Dawn – Neil Finn (score) (1:17)
11. Boat Joyride – Neil Finn (song) (1:01)
12. Kids Floating – Neil Finn (score) (1:09)
13. Batman – Neil Finn (score) (1:59)
14. Shower – Neil Finn (score) (1:35)
15. Phantom Love – Lisa Germano (score) (3:22)
16. Drive Home – Neil Finn & Edmund McWilliams (song) (5:39)
17. Lucid Dream – Liam Finn (song) (4:17)

Released by: EMI New Zealand
Release date: 2002
Total running time: 49:29