V/A, The King Of Comedy [OST] (1983)

This was a nice find, picked this up recently. Bought it because I love the movie The King Of Comedy – I think it’s one of the very best pieces that the DeNiro/Scorsese pairing gave us. It would be churlish to call it the best but I do think it’s the most underrated. I’ve never noticed the music very much when I’ve watched it – it’s hard to given three very powerful virtuoso performances from three very different actors, all of them burning in to the screen. But I just decided I had to have this – and actually it’s a great compilation. Loads of great tracks that will, if nothing else, be useful for my next Other Eighties DJ night. And because it was produced by Robbie Robertson (he and Marty still thick as thieves and enjoying the fruits of so many coke lines) we get to hear Robbie’s first post-Band song. It sounds a lot like The Band if they hadn’t broken up and had carried on with Robbie in to the 1980s; it also signposts his return to music-making outside of soundtrack-producing. And there’s a B.B. King classic and some Van Morrison and The Pretenders. All good things. But I bought this because I love the film. It’s one of my favourites and eerily prescient when we think that reality TV has now been a staple for over a decade; that search to seek (momentary) fame for the sake of fame (momentarily). Also I bought it because it’s got another great piece by Bob James. And that’s always a good reason to shell out for some wax. (I doubt you’d find this soundtrack album in too many places these days).

Sample Track: King Of Comedy Theme (Bob James)