MR

I think I finally have an answer to the mystery version of Happy to Give heard on the North Shore soundtrack.

This subject has been brought up over the years across many different forums. For years, fans have wondered if there was a different version of Happy to Give used in the soundtrack for the movie. A version which was heavier, laced with guitar.

I'm here to debunk this myth. A myth until recently, I believed myself.

It is my opinion (yes, opinion, I don't know 100% for certain) that in fact there is no mystery guitar laced version of Happy to Give recorded by Journey for this soundtrack.

After watching the movie recently (TiVo'ed so I could rewind it back and forth), I came to discover that the musical melody from Happy to Give was BORROWED, AUGMENTED AND RECREATED by studio musicians as part of the score to the film (as a romantic theme whenever the lead actors were having their romantic moments). I can hear huge differences in the recordings of the instruments. Different guitars and keyboards were used to ape the melody of the original. Same melody, different instruments and different players.

Whoever scored the film blended the borrowed melody studio creation into sections of the original recording, bridging strategic moments for Perry's voice to pop in just as the actors stopped talking to heighten the emotion impact of the scene (such as it was).

Well, there you have it. For those who were wondering about this, I honestly believe that is the answer to the mystery. I mean really, can you picture Steve Perry, at the height of his control over the music, allowing Neal to float guitar over a song which had no guitar to begin with? I think not.

-ST

i HAVE been wondering about this, and i do thank you for rectifying the subject..

larryfromnextdoor wrote:i HAVE been wondering about this, and i do thank you for rectifying the subject..

Man, it's been bugging me for YEARS. I remember seeing this flik and hearing that mystery version of the song back in the early 90's. For years I searched high and low for this mystery version of the song. SO many people discussed it, but no one ever had a copy or confirmation that it even existed.

Over the past two years, I've made my living as a feature film editor (indi stuff) so my ear has become accustomed to seeing and hearing post production workings in movies (ie. ADR <audio looping, when the original dialogue from on set recordings are replaced with cleaner versions in a studio environment>).

I never got up the gumption to purchase the VHS of the flik and was never able to record the movie off cable until recently (thank you TiVo). I was shocked (and a little let down) at what my own ears were revealing to me. I really wish there was a version with guitar in it. Don't get me wrong, the original song is great, but the guitar added something.

Back in 1989 I was watching a movie on cable that had a lot of scenes that were taking place in the hallways of a high school. The scenes were loaded with kids wearing Journey t-shirts and posters hanging in the lockers. Everywhere you looked there was a Journey shirt or poster. Does anyone know the name of that movie

I forgot to mention that Survivor's song "The Moment Of Truth" is slightly different in the Karate Kid movie than it is on the soundtrack and Survivor greatest hits albums.