Famous for their lifelong collaboration with Italian horror master Dario Argento, Goblin is one of the first bands to successfully prove that rockers have a lot to contribute to film scores. From the dark side of the moon, Goblin has transmitted to us bloody harpsichord riffs, throbbing rock drums and techno guitar for over 30 years, contributing to some of the best horror films in the genre. To name but a few, they are responsible for the sounds and mood behind the films “Suspiria”, “Deep Red”, “Contamination”, “Dawn of the Dead”, and more recently, “Shaun of the Dead”. Bottom line: if you can’t get Bruce Campbell or Jamie Lee Curtis for your film, the least you can do is get Goblin to score it for you.
In 1973, keyboardist Claudio Simonetti moved to England to work with Eddie Offord of the band “Yes”. Together with a english speaking singer, they formed a band named “Oliver” and worked on releasing an album. Unfortunately, Offord was constantly on tour with Yes, leading to a breakdown in productivity. Predictably, the band broke up and Simonetti moved back to Italy to form the band “Cherry Five” with Massimo Morante (guitar), Fabio Pignatelli (bass), Tony Tartarini (vocals) and Carlo Bordini. They released an album heavy with hammond organ, mellotron and grand piano, producing what is essentially a darker version of most “Yes” albums.
Following this self-titled release, the band were approached to produce some tunes for Dario Argento’s new horror film, “Deep Red” (1975). They changed their name, added a few members, and formed the first incarnation of “Goblin”. Their work on the film made them a sensation overnight, with the soundtrack selling over 1 million copies in Italy. Thus history was made – a rock band even more highly praised than the veteran score composer who had been assigned to help them on the project.
Not two years later, Goblin were invited back to the studio to produce the score for one of Argento’s most accessible movies, “Suspiria” (1997). This project marks a departure from their ’70s rock and roll roots, as they implemented sequencers for the very first time. The dark neo-gothic music that resulted was as mesmerizing and shocking as the film itself, cementing their status as the best horror band in the industry and shaping their future development.
It was at this point that Goblin decided to produce an album outside of the film studio. Although the results were well received, by the end of the project the band were sick of each other, and broke up. Over the following years, they each went their separate ways to create more film scores almost exclusively for the horror industry. It should be noted that although they were no longer a band, their individual work was sometimes still credited under the name “Goblin”.
In 1982, they finally reunited to score Argento’s film, “Tenebre” (1982), and began to re-identify themselves as “Goblin” by the time they produced the music for his next film, “Phenomena” (1985). At this point, their move from prog-rock to electronic was complete, and their place in movie history firmly cemented.
But what about the niche that Goblin has opened for us? Beyond Rob Zombie, who has managed to successfully cross the boundary between rock albums and film scores, the collaboration between rock bands and horror film makers seem to be more based on cameos, flashing tits, and selling existing albums – not on sitting down together and writing original scores using both the dark vision of the film maker and the experimental edge of the rock band. Alas, maybe these days, such magic is confined to a shorter, cheaper version: crappy-ass music videos.
To learn more about their work in the industry, check out the full listing of Goblin soundtracks: http://www.darkdreams.org/goblin_argento_soundtracks.html
