 Original Soundtrack Ah, the unheralded genius of Paul Williams. I have never understood the unspoken scorn he has received from the outset of his career. Perhaps it was the Phantom of the Paradise film, or one too many self-deprecating short jokes. Maybe people just don't trust a jingle-writer. But as I will always appreciate a good jingle, I shall ever be a sucker for a well-executed faux-ragtime song. From "Winchester Cathedral" by the New Vaudeville Band to "Back in Business" by Madonna, bring 'em on and I shall cast myself backward in time and imagine myself, say, during the 1950s, impossibly nostalgic for a bygone time. I suppose I could simply be nostalgic for that forgotten time now, or cast myself backward directly to that time … I really don't make very efficient use of my imagination now that you mention it. Well, anyway, of all the pop songwriters to tackle the pseudo-'20s idiom, none can beat Paul Williams. This is his natural style, and "Bugsy Malone" is a masterpiece of the (admittedly unregarded) genre. For anyone unfamiliar with the film, I would strongly recommend rushing out to rent it: starring Scott Baio and Jodie Foster, it is a musical about gangsters in which the central joke is that the cast is entirely made up of children. Ten songs, written in six weeks, each packing a Dillinger of a punch. And while I'd have to admit a preference for the rollicking tough guy themes ("Bad Guys," "So You Wanna Be a Boxer," "Bugsy Malone"), the calculatedly girly cabaret ballads are not terrible ("My Name is Tallulah" is even quite memorable). The album even closes with a bona-fide anthem, "You Give a Little Love," which, if I recall correctly, accompanies a giant pie fight in the film. Did I mention that one of the film's other jokes is that the gangsters' guns shoot pies? I swear, today's so-called gangstas could gain some real cred carrying around something as bizarre as that. "I ain't messin' with him, that mutherfucker's crazy! He got a pie gun!" I hope this one gets reissued on CD … it's got enough pinched nasal vocals and barroom pianos to keep me amused for hours at a time. Mr. Williams, you WILL get your due!
Review by B-Bo Browne |