Pop Culture from an Alternate Dimension

       On a forum some years ago, I asked if anyone would have wanted period appropriate music for the movie The Sting  instead of Ragtime music. Someone responded that since the music won an Academy Award for best score, it was ridiculous to consider anything else. I presume they were someone that had agreed with all of the Academy's choices but that's not me. I love the soundtrack to The Sting  but, you know me, I can't leave well enough alone.       Since the movie takes place in the 1930s, I tried to find a musician/composer who could fill the appropriate moods needed for the scenes. For the opening credits, instead of Joplin's "The Entertainer" I chose Django's "Are You in the Mood?", I substituted "Tears" for the track "Luther" where Hooker finds his partner had been murdered and the original end credits had the jaunty "Ragtime Dance" over which I replaced with Django's equally jaunty rendition of "Ava...

      The first actor to play James Bond was an American named Barry Nelson in 1954 for an episode of the tv series Climax! . Britain's most famous secret agent was almost played by an American again for Octopussy . James Brolin was set to play J.B. after Roger Moore. He screen tested a fight scene, a love scene and a dialog scene. When it was found that another Bond film, Never Say Never Again , would be competing with their release and it would star Sean Connery, the producers decided to ask Roger Moore to return.      If Connery had not been talked into returning to his famous role we might have seen Brolin's interpretation of the spy. Also, if Never Say Never Again was not made, Barbara Carrera would have been available to play Octopussy. She might have looked more appropriate for someone in India than Swedish-born actress Maud Adams who had already been in the Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun as a different character. James Brolin Screen Test F...

  ELO has had a lot of compilation albums. Ole ELO was a collection of songs from their first five albums. Assorted greatest hits collections were put out after that. Jeff Lynne even put out a "best of" album where he re-recorded all the songs. This collection is what if they put out a selection of songs where the first letter of each song spelled out the name of the band. I went through a lot of iterations trying to get it under 80 minutes to fit on a CD. Then I realised  I had no songs from On the Third Day  and re-did it all.  Give it a listen here:  E.L.E.C.T.R.I.C.L.I.G.H.T.O.R.C.H.E.S.T.R.A. - YouTube

  In honor of the Kashyyyk holiday of Life Day I present an alternate Star Wars. Not only did I use alternate casting of people who screen tested for the roles but also used the original title logo and Ralph McQuarrie's original designs for the characters. Since I am going back to the 1970s I also based the design on the movie's original VHS box. Watch William Katt's audition for Luke with Kurt Russell's audition as Han Solo here: William Katt's Star Wars Audition with Kurt Russell

      This is a look at songs that disagree with each other. For "Slow Down" I used The Beatles version instead the original Larry Williams version so I could have former Beatle George Harrison decide to go "Faster". I tried to use a variety of groups but I used The Beatles twice so they could sing about being a loser only to have Ringo Starr decide he's the greatest. Point/Counterpoint - YouTube

           Robert Totten spent a year directing Death of a Gunfighter  for Universal but had frequent clashes with the star, Richard Widmark and was replaced by Don Siegel. When it was to be released Siegel didn't think he should have his name on it since Totten had shot most of it. The Director's Guild of America decided it would be credited to a fictional Alan Smithee. Since then, it was a Hollywood secret that if a director felt their work was compromised they could contest to have their name removed and Smithee could be used instead. By the time An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn  (the less said about that, the better) was released the "secret" was known by much of the public and the name lost its usefulness.       I made this collection based on the idea of "what if Smithee actually was a man that directed these movies" and gave this "great" director a box set like Hitchcock, Wilder, etc. have gotten.