Production Notes:
Track One
Hatching The Plan
Track Two
Recruiting The Team
Track Three
Pulling Off The Heist
Track Four
Rythm and Melody
Life Could Be a Dream
A Brief History of Doo Wop
They used to sing for gold. Now they’re going to steal it.
TRACK FOUR: RYTHM AND MELODY
"We had hit songs when you weren't even allowed to cross the street.
And you wanna tell us how to sing?"
--Danny DePasquale
Everything about THE DUKES – from the story, to the performances to the design -- was inspired by rhythm and melody – from the smooth, sultry essence of Doo Wop itself to the wistful melancholy and romanticism of Italian popular songs.
The soundtrack includes many timeless classics from such 60s Doo Wop acts as The Edsels, The Emeralds, The Earls, The Chords and The Velvets. Says Robert Davi: “I’ve been listening to Doo Wop for a while and there was no trial and error to picking the songs for the film. When I heard these songs, I knew instantly they were right.”
In addition to the Doo Wop tunes, Davi laced the film with songs from Paolo Conte, the Italian singer, songwriter and pianist renown for his smoky, evocative voice and wry, emotional lyrics. A life-long fan of Conte’s music, Davi says he chose six of Conte’s songs for the film because “the humor and the pathos of his artistry reflects the everyday lives and struggles of The Dukes.” Also heard on the soundtrack are two artists who reveal the influence of the operatic and Neapolitan ballad traditions on a capella pop music: Sergio Bruni, a noted interpreter of traditional Neapolitan songs and Luciano Pavarotti performing Ottorino Respighi’s “Nebbie.”
Finally, Davi brought on board composer Nic. tenBroek, who has not only composed numerous scores for film and television and such groups as the Kronos Quartet, but also worked with many popular artists as a producer, musician and arranger. His broad range of musical experience allowed Nic. to pursue Davi’s unique request – to create a dynamic, whimsical score reminiscent of the circus-like themes that the great Nino Rota created for Fellini. His score drives the film’s comic high points – especially the anxious, accident-prone heist itself.
“From the start, Nic. and I were in total harmony,” says Davi. “He was particularly amazing at being able to deconstruct everything that was going on the heist sequence and give back to me the blood of it in a very creative way.”
Davi and tenBroek would later journey to Monterey, Mexico to record a 60-piece Orchestra performing the score. This commitment was typical of what Davi was willing to do, even on the tightest of budgets, to tell the story of The Dukes in the most evocatively true way.
He summarizes: “For me, the important thing was to tell this story in a way that would appeal to the Everyman in everyone. It seems to be a story that touches a universal chord. There’s a lot of stuff going on just under the current of the story about hard times, about change, about the need to pull together, about the American spirit, but the idea was always to get to all that in an unpretentious, light-hearted and human way.”