A brace of swinging sixties screwball comedy scores.
Both soundtracks feature a title pop song; 'Don't Make Waves' performed by
The Byrds is a barely average sixties tune (composed by Jim McGuinn &
Chris Hillman) and 'Penelope', as performed by The Pennypipers, has the advantage
of coming from the pen of the estimable John Williams and rates rather better.
And this division in quality is carried right through both scores, with Mizzy's
work entirely generic while at least Williams infuses a little zest into
his music. For example, where Mizzy's 'Daybreak at Malibu' is very typical
sixties pop background music, Williams' 'Poolside' sounds much fresher and
at times has an early James Bond feel to the orchestration which is quite
engaging. Other Mizzy pieces, 'Confidence Man' for instance, are merely froth
and his 'Love Theme from "Don't Make Waves"' is quite simply dull. At every
turn Williams has the edge; "Penny's Arcade' is catchy pop and 'Penelope
(Love Theme)' is a clever romantic interpretation of the title song, dominated
by lilting violin. Even so, despite the superiority of the Penelope
score, I still have some reservations over its ultimate value. Is it
just me (very probably) but does this kind of light fluff, verging on the
vacuous sixties pop score really appeal to anyone? Purely in terms of a listening
experience? Really? From a nostalgic point of view I can understand fans
of the era getting something out of it, but the truth is, once you've heard
one of these late 60s romantic comedy scores, you've pretty much heard them
all.
Mark Hockley
OST 
