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Jimmy's first inolvement in the world of film and television came about through his association with songwriter- producer David Mook. Mook a songwriters who had a number of songs published by January music often hung around the office to pitch tunes to Aaron Schroeder or on occasion find songs for projects he might be acting as music supervisor on. Such was the case with the 1965 Republic Pictures The Fool Killer, an Anthony Perkins vehicle that was the follow up to his Psycho classic.
The Fool Killer tells the story of mistreated and misunderstood George, a 12 year old orphan who runs away from his foster home. Hopping frieght trains, George follows the opne roads to misadventure and the companionship of "Dirty Jim". A Crusty, old kindred spirit, Jim mesmerizes young George with a fantastic tale of "The Fool Killer," a mythical murderer who stands eight feel tall. Seperated from Jim by sickness and fate, George finds another friend in Milo, a tall anticlerical Civil War veteran with amnesia. Though the pair share the carefree fellowship of the highway vagabonds, George pursuades Milo to attend a revival conducted by Reverand Spotts, after which the evangelist is found hacked to death. George slowly suspects that Milo is in fact the real-life axe-wielding murderer of "Dirty Jim's" horrific Tale. During the scene at the revivalist tent meeting the congregation are to be singing an old traditional hymn. David thought that Jimmy's Glory To The Lamb song would be perfect and it was subsequently used in the film.Universal Pictures 1966 film A Man Could Get Killed starring James Garner, Melina Mercouri, Sandra Dee and Tony Franciosa was a comedy involving smuggled jewels, secret agents and mistaken identities shot on location in and around Rome and Lisbon. The score for the film composed and conducted by Bert Kaempfert, of Red Roses For A Blue Lady and Danke Schoen classic hits, who had also written some themes for the film that need lyrics. Bert's music publisher at the time Champion and Roosevlt Music had arranged for Frank Sinatra to cover the songs once the lyrics had been completed. So the execs. at Champion sent the melodies to noted lyricist Sammy Cahn, Milt Gabler and others but no one could come up with anything that was just right. It was just a few weeks before final editing on the film would be completed and still no lyrics for Sinatra to cut a record. One afternoon while in the Roosevelt Music offices pitching songs Jimmy and writing partner Buddy Scott are asked if they could come up with some lyrics. They were given three demo's to choose from and are asked to come back the next day with the lyrics. At home they listen to the three melodies and choose the one that sounded the most like Melina Mercouris' Never On A Sunday hit as she was in the movie and turned the other two songs down. They titled thier song But Not Today handed in the lyrics and anxiously awaited the Sinatra Record. As fate would have it, though thier's was considered the main theme, Frank would cover one of the songs they turned down... the classic Strangers In The Night.
Carmen, Baby
<~~Buy ItJimmy's next involvement with a motion picture would come about through January Music's promotion of the Joey Brooks song It Feels Like Lovin'. Film director Radley Metzger and screen-writer-producer Jess Vogel famous for their work on sixties sexploitation films had completed their 1967 Carmen Baby a re-telling of the classic Merrimee/Bizet storyline. During a scene in which the films Carmen and fiticious Pop Star Baby Lucas are making love, Jimmy's reading of the Brooks song would be his first vocal appearance in a feature film, very similar to My Ship Is Coming In in style and features Al Kooper on organ, is used as mood music. This film is a classic of the genre and time period
The Banana Splits Adventure Hour once again was a David Mook supervised endeavor and he pulled out all the musical stops on this Sid And Marty Kroft production. Pulling songs from January and Sea Lark Musics most prolific writers to come up with enough Rock & Soul tracks to rival what was being played on mainstream radio in the world of 1968. Songs from Barry White, Al Kooper - Irwin Levine, Aaron Schroeder - Gene Pitney and Jimmy Radcliffe - Buddy Scott would have the teeny-boppers a boppin when they tuned in weekly. Jimmy collaborated with other writers on the songs Adam Had'em, The Show Must Go On, and Soul and with Buddy Scott on I'm Gonna Find A Cave and Don't Go Away Go Go Girl. Click Here To Hear The Songs!
The Banana Splits themselves were life-sized muppets that hosted a weekly variety show and showcase the action adventure series Danger Island starring a young Jan Michael Vincent and The Arabian Nights Cartoon series. During intermissions The Banana Splits would perform songs in front of psycodelic backgrounds and ride around on their Banana Buggy's these six wheel ATV's. Music Supervision: David MookUnited Artist's 1970 What Do You Say To A Naked Lady was the first full-length Candid Camera feature film from director Allen Funt. Based on the popular Television show Funt could get much more outrageous in the feature film format, pulling gags not viewable in the primetime slot he had on the Networks. Steve Karmen a friend of Funts was hired to compose the music for the film and in turn he hired Jimmy to sing The Follow Song. This would be Radcliffe's second vocal appearance in a motion picture.
Music Producer: Steve KarmenGerry Potterton's, later of animated cult film classic Heavey Metal, 1971 film Tiki Tiki, an offbeat and thoroughly enjoyable mixture of live action and animation comprise this childrens feature that"s just as much fun for adults as well. Footage from a Soviet children's feature, DR. ABOLIT, comprises the live-action sequences. It tells the story of a doctor who blasts off with a duo of monkeys. They're on the run from some space pirates and trying to rescue a colony of monkey children as well. Intergrated with this are some delightfully loopy animated sequences involving a Hollywood producer. He's everything a hip, smarmy moviemaker should be, with the added advantage of being a monkey trying to produce "the first all-people picture" in the biz. It's a wonderful spoof of the Hollywood life full of throw-away lines and inside movie gags (the studio head, fondly referred to as "K. K.", is none other than King Kong. The soundtrack is a mixture of campy themes and soul music featuring two Radcliffe recordings: When The Storm Comes On and the gospel track Feeling Called Freedom both featuring the backing vocals of The Sweet Inspirations. There is also a beautiful ballad, Where Are All The Lovely Things, performed by Cissy Houston. This was Jimm'y last vocal appearance in a feature motion picture until the post-humous 1997 realease of "Eve's Bayou (see below).
Music Producers: Jerry Blatt & Lonnie Burstein
Jimmy's next involvement with television music would come through The Harlem Globetrotters animated series. On September 5, 1970, a new television cartoon series debuts on the CBS Network, "The Harlem Globetrotters Show." The series was an instant hit, earning the highest ratings in the history of Saturday morning television. It ran on the network for three years and was syndicated to more than 30 countries around the world, marking the first time any sports team had its own network television series. Wally Gold was producing tracks for friend Don Kirshner who was supervising the music for the series, so Wally recruited Jimmy to create songs as well as act as sometimes lead vocalist of The Globetrotters recording group. Jimmy supplied his Everybody Needs Love, Follow The Bouncing Ball, Half Time With My Baby and Good Morning Morning songs as well as his vocals on Globetrotter releases The Duke Of Earl, Everybody's Got Hot Pants and Everybody Needs Love.
Music Supervision: Don KirshnerSeven
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The next major motion picture to feature a Jimmy Radcliffe song was the 1995 New Line Cinema International Box Office Blockbuster Seven starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. Seven concerns it's self with two homicide detectives, veteran Willaim Somerset (Freeman) and rookie David Mills (Pitt) tracking a serial killer basing his murders on the seven deadly sins. The films dark and disturbing subject matter didn't stop it from holding the # 1 spot at the boxoffice for four weeks tying with Apollo 13 for that year taking in over 100 Million dollars in the american market and over 300 Million worldwide. Music Supervision: Dana Sano
The soundtrack featured an eclectic mixture of songs as disjointed as the psychotic killer in the film. Music from The Statler Brothers, Gravity Kills, Marvin Gaye, Haircut 100, Thelonious Monk and Gloria Lynne's reading of the Radcliffe-Scott Speaking Of Happiness set the mood for this dark spine tingling nerve jangling thriller.
Speaking Of Happiness appearance in this popular film would lead to it's use in the International Ford Mondeo Advert out of the United Kindom. This television commercial achieved it's own notoriety in Britain and the song was subsequently re-issued as a CD single on Island Records backed up with two other of Ms. Lynnes recordings of Radcliffe-Scott compositions: Livin' The Life Of Love and the classic Love Child.
U Turn <~~Buy It Director Oliver Stone dug on Speaking Of Happiness so much that he used it in his film noir picture U Turn, starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Joaquin Pheonix, Nick Nolte, Clair Danes and Billy Bob Thornton. The story of a low-life drifter who's car breaks down in a small arizona town and his day goes from bad to unimaginable hell. Music Supervision: Bud Carr
The soundtrack featured an unusual mix of country and western songs with cool Gloria Lynne Jazzy Blues stylings and a score by Ennio Marricone (the man behind the music of all the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns). Unfortunately the picture and the soundtrack failed to make any money. Released by Pheonix Pictures - TriStar Pictures in 1997.
"Speaking Of Happiness" would also resurface this year as the soundtrack to a live-action/animated television commercial for carrot juice in Greece.1997 would also mark the return of Jimmy Radcliffe's vocals in a motion picure!
Trimark Pictures 1997 release Eve's Bayou starring Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan, Branford Marsalis, Jurnee Smollet as Eve and Dinhann Carrol was the largest grossing Independent film of 1997 and featured two previously unreleased Radcliffe recordings "I Pretend I'm Loving You" and "Sit Down Sunshine".
Music Supervision: Julie Glaze.The Eve's Bayou Soundtrack release featured classic recordings from such luminaries as: Ray Charles, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Johnny Ace, Sugar Boy Crawford, Geno Delafose, Etta James, Louis Armstrong With Velma Middleton and Jimmy's "I Pretend I'm Loving". Also featured was a new track from Erykah Badu written and produced by Curtis Mayfield and a score by Terance Blanchard.
Eve's Bayou <~~ Get Your Copy
