John Williams -- Jaws

 

Abram: He once killed three men in a bar with a (expletive) pencil! Who can (expletive) do that?!

Well, some guy named John W. I know another amazing fellow named John W.

Yeah, he once terrified millions of people with two notes! Who could do that?! 

It also didn't hurt that these two notes were the musical representation of a hungry Great White shark. I was just a few months shy of becoming ten years old when Steven Spielberg's iconic "Jaws" came out on June 20th 1975...indeed tomorrow will be the 50th anniversary of its release. I remember seeing the TV version of the above trailer as a commercial, and that was enough to have me burrow into the sofa. The following months wouldn't get any easier as "Jaws" thrilled and scared audiences and its fame would lead to more scenes getting shown on the telly. I finally saw the entire movie on VHS years later and yep, there would be plenty of jump scares including the one with poor Ben Gardner. Probably by the end of 1975, people refused to get into the water...even if the water belonged to Lake Ontario (well, mind you, back then people refused to get into the water there for different reasons).

Anyways, back to that John W. Of course, I'm referring to soundtrack maestro John Williams. A couple of years before he would make another iconic soundtrack via "Star Wars", he had really made his mark with those two notes for "Jaws", something that initially had Spielberg laughingly reacting to it as if Williams had wanted to make a joke. Instead, this ostinato (only learned about the musical term recently) has become one of cinema's most recognized and deadly riffs, and folks who listen to it from other people will automatically get that image of a shark in their heads. Seeing the various reaction videos (like the one above) for certain scenes from the movie, a number of the reactors reacted viscerally whenever the two notes began playing again. It's back!🦈

I finally listened to the full version of the "Jaws" theme when I bought "John Williams ~ Greatest Hits: 1969-1999". I had no idea that there had been more to the basic two notes, and yeah, it's dramatic and thrilling, although I was a little surprised by that middle part where it sounds like some kids happily hitting the water at the beach or a buffet at their favourite restaurant...not knowing in the former case that they could become the buffet.

Well, I heard that "Jaws" will be getting that big 5-0 celebration later in the summer with special big-screen releases among other events. Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water...

Incidentally, Japan wouldn't get its first look at "Jaws" until several months later in December 1975. Also, when I was first introduced to the term ostinato, my faulty memory had initially remembered a song by KEDGE that I had thought used the word for its title. However, the song is actually "Sostenuto"（ソステヌート）, named for a musical term which has a different meaning.

What was at the top of the charts on June 23rd 1975 in Japan? I give you Nos. 1 and 2.

1. Downtown Boogie-Woogie Band -- Minato no Yoko, Yokohama Yokosuka （港のヨーコ・ヨコハマ・ヨコスカ）

2. Akira Fuse -- Cyclamen no Kaori （シクラメンのかほり）