By MICHAEL GINGOLD
It’s the only film score in the composer’s canon to go unreleased—until now.
Rusted Wave and 1984 Publishing have announced the release of Danny Elfman’s music from the 1987 comedy SUMMER SCHOOL on vinyl and CD, coming next month. The Carl Reiner-directed film, in which Mark Harmon plays a teacher tasked with instructing a group of underachieving high-schoolers, has won a following among fright fans thanks to the horror-loving characters of “Chainsaw” (Dean Cameron) and Dave (Gary Riley), who screen THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in class and turn their fellow students into makeup-bloodied “victims.” The gatefold edition 12-inch vinyl EP includes Elfman’s complete score cut at 45 RPM (newly remastered from the original audio tapes) and two recently unearthed Elfman compositions that were not used in the film, along with rare film stills. The EPs, priced at $25, are available in three variant colors:
“Chainsaw and Dave”: clear w/red swirl (pictured below; 350 copies)
“Oceanfront High School”: seafoam green mix (350 copies)
“Beach Brew”: transparent beer yellow (300 copies)
The exclusive CD, limited to 500 copies, is priced at $12. Pre-orders will be open next Tuesday, April 25 at 1 p.m. EST at the 1984 Publishing and Rusted Wave websites. The two companies are also issuing Alan Silvestri’s score for the Reiner-directed, John Candy-starring SUMMER RENTAL, on vinyl and CD.
“Both SUMMER RENTAL and SUMMER SCHOOL were go-to VHS favorites of mine growing up,” says 1984’s Matthew Chojnacki. “Every summer vacation needs a Scully and a Yorku…and if you are stuck in remedial English for the summer, a Chainsaw and a Mr. Shoop.”
“We are super-excited to kick off summer with these releases from two of our favorite summer flicks!” says Rusted Wave’s Jake Lamme. “If there was a Mt. Rushmore for Hollywood film composers, Elfman and Silvestri would be on it, so being able to release these scores back to back is a real treat!”
