Dinner Music 72: The weekly lineup (special vday edition)
special edition: erotic film soundtracks from the seventies
This week the sound explores the golden age of pornography, a 15-year period (1969–1984) of widespread and mainstream acceptance of erotic films. Many of these films included story plots, commentary about political issues (for instance, Blue Movie by Andy Warhol included dialogue about the Vietnam War) and openly gay and queer scenes (like the film Boys in the Sand, the soundtrack is discussed here). While these films were very much a part of the cultural zeitgeist, the makers and theater managers who showed the films were highly prosecuted, especially in the United States. Plus, the making of some of these films might not have been as liberating for the people involved as we would like to think. Despite that, the music from these films persists in the psyche — moving, sultry, nostalgic. Unsurprisingly, many erotic films (with insanely good soundtracks) came out of Italy during this time. An interest in Italian music, especially in the seventies, is what led me to this very particular, and unbelievably fascinating, genre.
We begin with La Ragazza Dalla Pelle Di Luna, an Italian film released in 1972, which roughly translates to “Sex of Their Bodies, Moon Skin and The Sinner.” The sound is erotic, amorously adventurous with sweeping strings and a harmonizations with the allure and danger of a siren. This is just an incredible album, period. Start here, no matter what you do.
Next, we move to a highly sought after and rare album (the only LP is going for $700 on discogs) from Polish filmmaker Zygmunt Sulistrowski, who pioneered shooting low-budget soft porn in exotic locations. Xavana, Uma Ilha Do Amor was soundtracked by Brazilian Hareton Salvanini, who melded psychdelia, jazz and bossa nova atop delicate orchestral sounds. The film’s plot is simple — a French girl inherits an almost uninhabited island off the coast of Brazil and she travels there with friends for “fun in the sun.”
We stay in the realm of the almost uninhabited with La Bestia Nello Spazio (“The Beast in Space”), another Italian film composed by Marcello Giombini, who is mostly known for his Spaghetti Western scores. The music is celestial — heavy, round synth over pulsating percussion ladden with beep-boop computer sound. Long story short, a crew travels to a space for a rare element and finds themselves under the control of a powerful computer that incites everyone to make love. Oh mio!
With Van de Velde: Die vollkommene Ehe (“An Ideal Marriage”), we move into the analytical. This German film is classified as an “educational film” — intended to help Germans overcome the modern marriage crisis by using techniques and scenarios crafted by Zurich sex educator Bernard Harnik (really — i’m not summarizing the plot!). The episodes are named clinically, almost humorously, things like correct choice of partner, psychological forms of behavior, progeniture question. The sound juxtaposes the seemingly cold nature with his warm affect — Spanish guitar, upbeat funk, tinkling xylophone clinking out an effervescent melody. Perhaps there is something Freudian there, creeping below the surface.
We end with The Minx, a film soundtracked by an American pop trio The Cyrkle that opened for the Beatles on their final US tour (you’d probably recognize their single Red Rubber Ball, which was written by Paul Simon). It features that British-influenced sound, happy-go-lucky electric guitar and soft, sweet vocals that climaxes in heavy, rollicking psychedelia. If you’re a fan of 1960s pop, like the Beatles or Van Morrison, start here.
Enjoy.
Paid subscribers have access to the full Dinner Music archive, an after hours playlist, a “New York Grooves” playlist and more — hundreds of hours of groove, soul, samba, disco, electro, post-punk, funk and more, thoughtfully curated.
The playlist
Spotify: