Melt Wizard Fantasy-Emo Band & Obscure Tolkien References in Boston Rock History

Plus RIP Simon House

Vinyl aficionados who are fans of the Lord of the Rings movies might be interested in a six-LP limited edition soundtrack box set from Rhino. Here are some details from a Polygon article:

Howard Shore won multiple Oscars, Grammys, and Golden Globe awards for his score for the Lord of the Rings series. Performed originally by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with choral contributions from the London Voices and London Oratory School Schola, the score has become a favorite for film screenings with live accompaniment. Now you can get a vinyl version of the soundtrack to set the stage for your next Dungeons & Dragons game — or the epic task of cleaning your apartment.

Available exclusively on Rhino.com, the $149.98 box set includes six LPs on 180-gram black vinyl, two for each of Peter Jackson’s films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy. Along with the iconic instrumental music, the tracklist includes Enya’s “May It Be” and “Aníron (Theme For Aragorn And Arwen)” and Annie Lennox’s Academy Award-winning song “Into the West,” which closes out The Return of the King. The box features sepia-toned art, with a great image of Treebeard carrying Merry and Pippin, plus a booklet filled with stills from the film.

UPDATE: This repressing of a 2018 release is limited to 2,000 copies, and as I was testing links before publishing this newsletter, I discovered that the Rhino website has recently removed the order page for the box set. Perhaps it has sold out already. There appear to be copies popping up on ebay for extreme prices. If you are interested in the box set, it might be worth rechecking the Rhino website to see if they restore the page for order taking at the original list price.

Speaking of J.R.R. Tolkien, I’m reading the book The Sound of Our Town: a History of Boston Rock & Roll by Brett Milano as part of my research for a project I hope to announce later this year.

I was tickled to see two Tolkien references in the book for obscure endeavors in Boston music history. The first is in the name of a group that included future Boston (the band) members Brad Delp and Fran Sheehan. The group was called Middle Earth. Delp and Sheehan would later join forces with Mother’s Milk featuring Tom Scholz, Barry Goudreau, and Jim Masdea to form the core of the outfit that would become Boston.

The second reference is in a description of the song “Ay-Aye-Poe-Day” by Saint Steven as being “Tolkien-esque.” This 1969 song featured Steve Cataldo on guitar and vocals, who later formed the legendary band The Nervous Eaters, a group “who helped define the Boston underground garage/punk rock scene of the late 70’s.” You can listen to the song and judge its Tolkien qualities for yourself at the following:

Melt Wizard

Big shoutout to ktrey who shared the following video for the song “Weis & Hickman” by the emo band Melt Wizard:

The song is about falling in love on the way to DragonCon. Here is an excerpt of the lyrics:

You started out writing books about computer graphics
On our way to DragonCon once we got stuck in traffic
I told you I had sold some modules to TSR
You said you wrote for them and then you asked me what they are

Caramon, Raistlin -- Check out the spells he's castin'
Tanis, Laurana -- She just wants to jump right on 'em
Goldmood, Riverwind -- They brought the true Gods back to Krynn
Weis and Hickman, yeah!

CHORUS
I wonder how you never knew
You're the Margaret Weis to my Tracy Hickman
All the worlds we've made
All we've been through
You're the Margaret Weis to my Tracy Hickman

Here is some info about the band I found on the Internet Archive:

“Melt Wizard is the world's first ever fantasy-emo band. Formed long ago in a magical world far away, we have come to this Terran Sphere to bring you "rock." Comprised of a Level 15 Neutral-Good Mage/Computer Programmer, a Level 12 Chaotic-Good Bard/Telephone Survey Worker, a Level 16 Chaotic-Evil Priestess/Student Supply Store Worker, a Level 10 Lawful-Neutral Archer/Principal's Son, and a Level 17 Neutral-Good Paladin/Plasma Donor, Melt Wizard has all it needs to succeed in even the doomed-est dungeon.”

I’m guessing the band got their name from the computer game in the movie Big, as shown in the following screenshot and movie clips:

RIP Simon House

I’m sad to hear that Simon House has passed away. Simon was an innovative keyboardist and violinist who played with Critical Hit Parader favorites Hawkwind, Michael Moorcock, and David Bowie. This Goldmine article provides a good overview of his career. Consider playing this cool collaboration with fellow ex-Hawkwind member Nik Turner in honor of both late musicians: