Arranging the music of one song...

"The Leisure Suit Larry Theme Song"

Primary Game: Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (Sierra , 1987, APLII), music by Al Lowe

Posted 2008-01-26, evaluated by djpretzel


So, Larry and I are here at Genericon, awaiting zircon's arrival for our panel this afternoon, but earlier in the week I looked up AnSo to see if he, with his overnight quality ReMix delivery service, could put something together from Leisure Suit Larry extremely quickly. Why? Well, one of the guests at this convention is none other than Al Lowe, who not only programmed the original LSL, but also wrote the music for it. We rode from the airport to our hotel last night with him, and he regaled us with tales of game development in the early days of Sierra. His panel is today as well, and we're planning on catching it and presenting this mix to him there, which should be awesome. This piece does have a legitimate claim to being one of the classic, non-Japanese game themes, as it was rearranged throughout the LSL continuum by other composers, and is damn catchy stuff. It sort of has that 70's game show/sitcom thing going on, but in a good way, and captures the swagger and panache of the series' namesake hero. Mattias writes:

""When I was being asked by Dave to arrange the Theme Song from Al Lowe's brainchild Lesiure Suit Larry I couldn't say no. I mean come on, it's Lesiure Suit Larry! The game's are still extremely enjoyable and the theme song is really the most whistleable song ever made. I'm not kidding. Whistle it!

While the original is very jazzy, and that's all well and good, I wanted to take this somewhere else. Since Al's been a music teacher and studied music for a long time I wanted to show him a musical evolution of his original piece that he, and I quote "wrote one evening out of necessity". While it's not as technical as the original (you can tell he's talented) it is however rather groovy.

This remix includes, in no particular order, the following stuff: The mandatory Rhodes solo (and this one is one of my better, almost no quantize/edit!), sliced vintage funk drums, a game sample that actually fits, clavichord shredding, 2-5-1's, ReGroove, a proper ending and a synth lead that's pretty much a tribute to the whistling syndrome you get after listening to the song.

Also, the title also cracks me up because 1. I think of Larry Oji telling people to visit his "Funky House of Love" and 2. Bad pun!"

Sweet; nice contextualizing there. The original is definitely good stuff, but Mattias has done a great job funking it up one side and down the other, particularly with a mean clavinet line that I'll admit I'm a little envious of. But wait, there's more! Excellent EP soloing, which AnSo's getting progressively better at, and warm, modulated synth leads keep the melody going strong, and the overall arrangement does a good job of stating and restating the melody, with exposition in between. Al's a great, multi-talented guy with a legendary sense of humor; hopefully he'll dig this homage we were able to prepare in time, as it will be the first time we've released a ReMix synchronized with its presentation to the composer who penned the original. However today goes, AnSo's given us another great ReMix, in this case of a theme that really deserved some TLC, from a game composer who also happens to be an iconic game designer as well. History is made!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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timaeus222
on 2021-10-21 12:26:13

Can I just say I first read this to say Love instead of Lowe? :)

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timaeus222
on 2014-10-19 19:42:34

Aw yeah. Vinnie's right. This is totally catchy, and not just in the subjective sense either. There's just something inherent in the way the notes written that makes it so accessible. It's Beast. Or Legendary. Or something.

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Detrius
on 2009-12-11 19:43:01

Though I don`t think I`m qualified to post a musical review I would like to thank Anso, DJ Pretzel and Al Lowe and everone else who`s working on/supporting this site. These sounds give me a great time...

Do it Larry, one more time!

P.S.: After listening to the remix a few times, I think this piece could use some support from other instrument lines to combine the relatively new "Yeah baby" with the minimalistic style of the original track.

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Sir_Downunder
on 2009-03-10 23:15:01

This funkin' rocks! I don't know how the funk you pulled this funky track in just two days or so!

(8-O Definitely one to many funk puns in there......)

When I first heard this, I couldn't help but start giggling at how awesome it sound (And I'm not kidding, i was seriously giggling). A sexy groove and all around great track AnSo!

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Sole Signal
on 2008-03-12 21:51:59

Oh man, this is some great stuff. Loving the solos; fantastic work here Anso. 8)

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Martin Penwald
on 2008-02-18 14:50:39

Quirky, funky, Leisure Suit Larry. This is a remix which stays true to the spirit of the source material and the game itself, and I really like that. Add to that the wonderful lead synth and the hilarious voice sample, and you got yourself a winner.

Good work, AnSo.

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Blake
on 2008-01-31 18:49:38

You've really got a nice groove going. I had to post to say how much I like those flowing rhodes chords. Oh, the awesome solo is nice too.

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Scaredsim
on 2008-01-31 16:42:07
Funky track. Very funky. Maybe even too funky.

Yeahhh funk rocks. 8-)

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ifirit
on 2008-01-29 20:34:42

Well, DJP, don't keep us in suspence. How was it received? Did Mr. Lowe like it or did he simply smile and nod?

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Shadow Wolf
on 2008-01-28 16:18:30

Bring the funk. The "Yeah Baby's" are I think the best part of the whole mix. I 3 this mix. Great fun stuff. Especially for being put together in two days. Anso owns like a proper Viking should. Even though he's Swedish. I'll make him an honorary ulfsark for this mix.

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OA
on 2008-01-28 12:05:12

Excellent source tune combined with a great combination of instruments, and some excellent counterpoint on yo' clav makes this one a winner.

The lead synth is great, and production-wise everything gels together really well.

Catchy and fun.

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polar-
on 2008-01-28 11:08:59

Me lieks it! Nice pumpin' clav that drives the groove! Swedish quality over this one :P

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Amayirot Akago
on 2008-01-28 00:14:55

Awesome little remix, great use of the LSL7 "Yeah baby!" sample :D And proof that OCR needs more PC remixes.

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anosou
on 2008-01-27 11:09:19
Mattias, you are a legend. Never mind coming up with this in a week, but it's a really freaking catchy song. I love how you've really developed your own style, but you still use new techniques on every song. This one has a lot of great moments.

Thanks :) also, it was not a week it was worse! Dave e-mailed me wednesday evening and it had to be done friday :D

Thank you everyone for the kind words.

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Palpable
on 2008-01-27 10:40:09

Mattias, you are a legend. Never mind coming up with this in a week, but it's a really freaking catchy song. I love how you've really developed your own style, but you still use new techniques on every song. This one has a lot of great moments.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (Sierra , 1987, APLII)
Music by Al Lowe
Songs:
"The Leisure Suit Larry Theme Song"

Tags (3)


Genre:
Funk
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Leisure_Suit_Larry_in_the_Land_of_the_Lounge_Lizards_Larry's_Funky_House_of_Lowe_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,314,932 bytes
MD5:
58f9c73e1d0d9be6d5fd6e768e6dc6d8
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
2:56

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