17
Jan
07

Potential soundtrack for The Wire.

I found this letter on Blake Leyh’s website. Blake is the music supervisor on the show, and he wrote this letter to address the many requests that he receives about the availability of the song, “The Fall” that plays over the end titles.

I’m not sure if I agree with his theory that releasing an mp3 of “The Fall” would hurt the possibility of a soundtrack, but I’ll definitely be the first in line to buy a copy if and when this comes to fruition.

Hello -

I have recently been swamped with requests for the end title music from The Wire,
the piece called “The Fall” which I wrote and performed and has been used on the show since season one. I am really happy to get all of this positive feedback and appreciation for the music, but unfortunately the volume of email regarding this has necessitated a mass reply, which you are reading now. Many, many people have sent me heartfelt, enthusiastic requests for a copy of the track, and I just can’t possibly respond to each person individually. I hope you understand!

Here’s what’s going on with the music, and the status of The Wire soundtrack:

We tried very hard to get a soundtrack deal in place to release a CD in September 2006, timed to be available with the start of Season Four. But it just didn’t happen. As you probably know, we fans of The Wire are a very enthusiastic group, but we are also relatively few compared to the fan-base for other films and TV shows. At this time, no major label has seen fit to take a gamble on releasing The Wire soundtrack. Those of us involved with creating the musical component of the show have very high standards and we insist that any soundtrack reflect the broad scope and diversity of the music on the show. Some labels have shown interest in an “inspired by” soundtrack release, which would really be a way of using The Wire brand to promote something else. We aren’t interested in doing that.

We found out recently that HBO has approved a final fifth season of The Wire. It is a high priority for me and others to try again to make a soundtrack record which would be released along with Season Five. We can only hope and work hard to make it happen.

As far as “The Fall” goes, it has never been made available commercially anywhere. I own the rights to the track, and I am not releasing it at this time in any form, so that we can increase the value of a potential soundtrack release. If I made available an mp3 of that track, I feel that I would be hurting the chances of a soundtrack, and so I am holding on to the music for now.

If it ever becomes clear that there will be no soundtrack release for The Wire, I will definitely make “The Fall” available to everyone at that time.

Thanks for your continued support!

Best,

Blake Leyh
Music Supervisor, The Wire
October 2nd, 2006


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