An Interview With Randy Thornton
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LP: My wife brought up an interesting point that there aren�t very many liner notes in the official album. Is that by design? Or is that dictated by merchandising?
Randy Thorton: That�s dictated by merchandising. We don�t really have
anything to do with the covers and stuff like that. We did originally. The first
solo Disneyland album in 2001 was done here, but they have to fit it in with all
their other programs and stuff that they�re doing. I�m not really a fan of how
flashy some of the stuff is, which is why � but I�m not a marketing person
either, thank god.
But when I did the Disneyland boxed set, they wanted to have something more
along the lines of the Shag White overview poster, and as much as I love Shag�s
work, I just didn�t think it was right for this, and you don�t want to put the
Disneyland boxed set in a white box. This isn�t something that is going to be a
fad for a couple of years. This is going to be sitting on a shelf for the rest
of their lives, practically. It has to be durable, it has to be simple, and it
has to be elegant.
And that�s what I did � I wrestled away the ability to do all the art direction
so we could do it here in house, and that�s the direction that I gave the art
guys, and I think they just did a brilliant job. I just absolutely love that
thing. And the merchandisers� mind changed too when they saw people walking out
after standing in line for hours to get the boxed set, all these people walking
around with big plastic bags with a great big red box in it really said
something to them. You could see it coming a mile away. But they have a
particular thing that they need to follow through on, and I focus on the music,
and I focus on the content. They could wrap it in a paper bag for all I care.
LP: Do you have a personal favorite track either to listen to or just one that you remember fondly working on?
Randy Thorton: You know, Pirates and Haunted Mansion both. I�ve actually
done Haunted Mansion twice, once with the 75 years with the elements, but when I
started working on the boxed set, we had just discovered the original stereo
recordings because they had just refurbished the mansion as well, and they found
them. So I rebuilt everything with the original stereo recordings again. And I
actually knew Buddy Baker, so after I did the first mix, I presented it
to him, and he was happy. And the only thing that would be better than that
would be Walt to come back and say, �Hey, you did a good job.� But to have the
composer say it turned out really, really great and that he just loves the way
it was put together, it�s nothing.
It�s hard to pick because I�m such a big Disneyland fan. I know what these guys
do with their recordings and all that stuff, and it�s almost quest to get
certain things, and once you�ve got it, I�m sure you listen to it over and over
and over again. I do too. It�s just that I get paid for it, so it�s a lot
better.
I�ve also done Small World five times, and I haven�t been on the news or up in
the post office being wanted by the FBI or anything. Yeah, people can sit there
and say how catchy the tune is and how you can�t get it out of your head. Try
spending an entire week building the attraction and hearing nothing but that all
day long and see if you don�t go a little postal. And again, Bob and Dick
Sherman [Ed Note: Small World�s composers] are really close friends of
mine, and they said the same thing. They can�t take it for too long either. �I�m
either loved or hated for that song,� is what Richard would say.
LP: And that�s what makes it great.
Randy Thorton: Absolutely.
LP: Any other projects, recent or upcoming, you wanted to mention?
Randy Thorton: Well, there�s some things that I�m working on right now. I
can�t really go into too much detail. Not because it�s all secret hush, hush and
things. It�s just that I�ve gone out and told about things in the future, and
they don�t happen all the time. Things change for unknown reasons. But there�s a
project that I�m working on right now that I think people have been waiting for
for awhile, more of the hardcore fan base than anything else. And a lot of
people probably have a lot of the material already, but it�s going to be
presented right and all cleaned up and restored.
And we�re gonna continue the iTunes stuff too. More and more of that�s coming
out. And it�s gonna be in more places than iTunes. And hopefully we�ll be able
to get into lossless and and DRM-free stuff where people all over the world can
get it. You don�t have to be on iTunes or any of those things to get the things.
That�s the hope right now.
The thing is I think what iTunes has done for us is just absolutely incredible.
Several fans have written in, going, �You know, it�s great that you�re able to
get this stuff out there, but it�s a shame that it�s so compressed and blah,
blah, blah.� And I go, �You know, to be honest with you, if the only way I can
get stuff out would be on an old Edison wax cylinder, I would,� because I have a
word for music that�s not being heard. It�s called silence. And it�s great for
me to have the masters sitting in a vault that I can go and listen to any time,
but it�s not gonna do anybody any good.
So any way I can get this stuff out there � remember the old records on the back
of cereal boxes? I�m not above that, not at all.
Discuss It
Related Links
-- Interview by Doobie Moseley
-- Posted September 12, 2008