LOST TREASURES – Neal Hefti

Posted on 12 September 2016

Lost Treasures

NEAL HEFTI/The Wild Ones

“Lord Love a Duck”

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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By Peter Marston

If pop fans are familiar with Neal Hefti, it is almost always because he is the composer of the iconic theme from the Batman television show (recorded first by Nelson Riddle with The Ron Hickland Singers and then covered by The Marketts, Jan and Dean, The Who and The Jam, among others). Some will also know that he composed the equally iconic theme for The Odd Couple. But only the true Hefti fan will be familiar with the theme song from Lord Love a Duck and the accompanying soundtrack album.

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Though not generally well-known, Lord Love a Duck (directed by George Axelrod) is one of the most subversive and well-realized teen movies of the 1960s—after all, the subtitle for the movie is “An Act of Pure Aggression.” The movie stars Roddy McDowell as an offbeat intellectual high school senior who seeks to secure the affections of a new student at school, played by Tuesday Weld, by cushioning her from the various shocks and humiliations of high school life. His efforts, however, lead to their own humiliations and the entire thing predictably spins out of control by the third reel. In my view, it succeeds at being offbeat and highly entertaining, while the similarly pitched The Knack and How to Get It (directed by Richard Lester) is merely unsettling.

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The soundtrack album includes both Hefti’s incidental music and the title theme, music by Hefti with lyrics by Ernie Sheldon and vocals by The Wild Ones. Hefti’s professional career began with a position as a trumpet player with Woody Herman’s First Herd jazz band. He then went on to become a very successful arranger, most notably for Buddy Rich and Count Basie. In the 1960s, he began to write music for films and television shows and was quite successful, scoring over eleven films between 1964 and 1968. The soundtrack album for Lord Love a Duck came right in the middle of this period, released in 1966.

 

The Wild Ones were among the countless American bands formed in 1964 in the wake of Beatlemania. Later that same year, they became one of the house bands at The Peppermint Lounge. In 1965 they moved to a rival New York club, Arthur, and became the house band there, even releasing a live album recorded at the club called The Arthur Sound on United Artists (a fairly standard set of nightclub covers). In November of 1965, they released the first recording of Chip Taylor’s “Wild Thing” as a single, also on United Artists. The song would, of course, later become a huge hit for The Troggs. Being under contract with United Artists led to their work on the title theme for Lord Love a Duck as both the movie and the soundtrack were distributed by United Artists in 1966.

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As it is with most soundtracks, the musical material on Lord Love a Duck is fairly slight. Like McCartney’s soundtrack to The Family Way, there are only a few themes here presented and reprised in various different arrangements. The title theme is the prize here—a frantic mix of surf, garage and ’60s pop that jumps out of grooves. It is, to my ears, the very best theme of its kind, with tons of energy, great hooks, smart changes, silly lyrics and sound effects. I never tire of hearing it. It also appears in two instrumental versions and a vocal reprise that closes the album. The rest of the incidental music is great, too, if inconsequential. “The Wedding” “Bob’s March” and “The Year of Duck” are all different settings of the same theme, a simple but swinging pop tune that could have been the incidental music for a Laugh-In montage. “Balboa Blast” is a very cool cross between the classic Memphis sound of the Mar-Keys and the surf guitars of the Ventures. First rate stuff. “All Night Long (Parts 1 & 2)” is similar but less inventive, a basic 12-bar potboiler. “Arsenic in the Face” is the outlier here, a minimalist—maybe even avant garde—composition that emulates the sound of an ambulance siren for nearly three minutes. Very Philip Glass.

 

The title theme was released as single, credited to The Wild Ones, but failed to chart. The Wild Ones went on to record two more singles, “Come On Back” (which was released by Sears Roebuck in conjunction with their sponsorship of The Wild Ones 1966 tour) and “For Your Love (I Would Do Anything),” but these, too, failed to chart. In the summer of 1967, the band split up. Hefti, of course, went on to write the theme for The Odd Couple (as well as incidental music for the television series based on the film) and occasionally fielded big bands for live appearances and recordings. Sadly, he passed away in 2008 from throat cancer.

 

Surprisingly—at least to me―Lord Love a Duck was reissued on CD in 2009 by Kritzerland as part of a two-fer with Hefti’s soundtrack for How to Murder Your Wife. The original vinyl is easier to find, however, and usually less expensive (going for $15-20). As those of you familiar with collecting soundtracks may know, there are numerous—though unauthorized—websites where one can download virtually any classic movie soundtrack, including Lord Love a Duck. If you dig the Batman theme and can appreciate a little kitsch on your turntable, give this one a spin!

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Pop Pioneer and “Lost Treasures” writer, Peter Marston is the leader of long-running power pop band, Shplang, whose most recent album, “My Big Three Wheeler” has been described as “the Beatles meet Zappa in pop-psych Sumo match.”  Peter has a new project in 2015 under the name MARSTON.   Marston have a track on the latest “Power Pop Planet – Volume 5” compilation just out now and available at:  www.PopGeekHeavenStore.com.

CHECK OUT SHPLANG out at this link:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shplang

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LINKS:

All Music Guide:  http://www.allmusic.com/album/lord-love-a-duck-mw0000962014

Discogs:  https://www.discogs.com/Neal-Hefti-Lord-Love-A-Duck-Original-Motion-Picture-Sound-Track/release/1570827

Blog Post:  http://www.kritzerland.com/duck.htm

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Love_a_Duck

 

Opening Movie Scene: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/274620/Lord-Love-A-Duck-Movie-Clip-Opening-Alan.html

VIDEO:

 

“LORD LOVE A DUCK”

Opening 10 Minutes

Click HERE

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