The Weekend Needle Drop-52 Weeks 52 Albums
Shogun Assassin Original Soundtrack-Mark Lindsay/W. Michael Lewis(The Wonderland Philharmonic Orchestra)
This record is the stuff of legends, especially in the Hip Hop community. It was a very limited promotional only vinyl release back in 1980. It has since been released as a bootleg in the UK and most recently for Record Store Day. The soundtrack had it’s own cult following that matched that of the movie.
The soundtrack is credited to the Wonderland Philharmonic Orchestra, which was Mark Lindsay’s(front man for Paul Revere and the Raiders) studio at the time and with Lewis(of L.A.’s disco pioneers Rinder & Lewis). The score is dark and brooding and at times unsettling created for the most part on a Moog Modular Synth. Blending Eastern melodies chiming out of “futuristic” synths, electronic beats and and a disco bassline. It is neither Japanese or authentic but it suits the “Grindcore” film perfectly.
Fans of the Wu Tang will at once be familiar to what they hear, RZA sampled heavily from Shogun Assassin for GZA’s Liquid Swords.
When I picked this up at a used record store on Haight back in the late 80’s, I had no idea the rarity of it. I purchased it because I was a fan of the Lone Wolf and Cub saga and the film. Also because it was only a dollar. It is becoming harder to find “Vinyl Gold” but half the fun is “panning” for it.
