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Dragon's Domain Records presents THE LOSERS, featuring music composed by Stu Phillips (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, KNIGHT RIDER) for the 1970 action film directed by Jack Starrett, written by Alan Caillou, starring William Smith, Bernie Hamilton, Adam Roarke, Houston Savage, Eugene Cornelius, Paul Koslo, John Garwood, Anakorita, Lillian Margarejo, Paul Nuckles, Ronald C. Ross, Armando Lucero, Fran Dinh Hy, Vic Diaz and Alan Caillou as Albanian.
Released in 1970, THE LOSERS combines two popular genres of the late 1960s/early 1970s — the outlaw biker picture and the men-on-a-suicide-mission adventure — into one deliriously entertaining drive-in spectacle. At the height of the Vietnam War, a presidential advisor is captured and held inside Cambodia. Since the United States is not officially operating there, the Army turns to an unconventional group of soldiers for an equally unconventional rescue mission: five dishonorably discharged veterans who have since become members of a motorcycle gang known as "The Devil's Advocates".
The gang is led by Vietnam veteran Lincoln "Link" Thomas (Smith), who recruits the Duke (Roarke), Dirty Denny (Savage), Limpy (Koslo) and Speed (Cornelius), a collection of hardened veterans and societal outsiders placed under the command of Captain Jackson (Hamilton). Working from a garage operated by Diem-Nuc (Diaz), the gang transforms their motorcycles into heavily armed assault vehicles. Over the years, THE LOSERS has developed a loyal cult following. Quentin Tarantino memorably placed the film on a motel-room television during a scene between Bruce Willis and Maria de Medeiros in PULP FICTION (1994), a fitting tribute to a picture that embodies the wild, uninhibited spirit of American grind-house filmmaking.
The original score for THE LOSERS was composed and conducted by Stu Phillips during the early years of his distinguished career in film and television music. Phillips had previously worked with both director Jack Starrett and producer Joe Solomon and he immediately recognized that the film demanded something larger and more ambitious than their previous collaborations. Phillips proceeded to compose a score whose musical scale transcends the limitations of the film's modest production budget. The music combines a full orchestral sound with regional colors, percussion and ethnic elements reflecting the Southeast Asian setting. Phillips also wrote two songs for the picture. "The Losers," performed by Clover Ann Courtney, serves as the film's defining vocal statement, while "Sweet Little Lady," written with Bob Stone, adds another dimension to the score's colorful musical landscape.
Composer and producer Stu Phillips has enjoyed one of the longest and most far-ranging careers of the rock & roll era, working not just in popular music but also in film and television on his way to amassing a body of work as eclectic as any of his contemporaries. Born September 9, 1929, Phillips studied at New York City's High School of Music and Art, followed by a stint at the Eastman School of Music, where he also moonlighted as an arranger for the Rochester Civic Orchestra. He entered show business proper as a copyist for television's legendary Milton Berle Texaco Hour before landing with Capitol Records and assisting composer Harry Revel and theremin virtuoso Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman on the space age pop landmark MUSIC FROM OUTER SPACE. In 1974 Phillips landed at Universal Studios, where in the years to follow he composed the music for television hits including THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, QUINCY, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and KNIGHT RIDER. He published his autobiography, 'Stu Who?' in 2003.
Dragon's Domain Records presents the premiere release of THE LOSERS, featuring music composed and conducted by Stu Phillips, mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland, featuring liner notes written by G.B. Kemner and Scott Davis.
- BSX
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