When I Heard the sad news that Michael Jones had passed away, I was devastated, it was like losing a family member. Michael was a pioneer in soundtracks he was responsible for introducing many fans to the delights of Italian film music. It was mainly the music of the spaghetti westerns that he is credited for bringing into the UK. He started out at Soundtrack which was situated in the foyer of the famous Arts Theatre club in Gt Newport Street in London’s west end, deep in the heart of theatre land. The place was an Aladdin’s cave for collectors on my first trip I must admit to being a little dizzy, as a 15-year-old that knew very little about Italian scores and composers and to see this marvellous stock of all kinds of soundtracks was a bit breathtaking. However, thanks to Michael my ill-informed brain soon became full of facts and names. He was a wealth of knowledge and not just about Italian soundtracks but about everything from Max Steiner to Jerry Goldsmith and more. He always had time to talk and would always say “You must have this, or if you like that you will love this”.
And he was always right. At one time he even put me in touch with Epic records about a single that no one could get, it was Italian pop music and at the time in the British clubs it was big, Adriano Celentano – Prisencolinensinainciusol, Michael could not see the attraction, and said here’s the phone number call them. I did and got hold of around fifty copies, which I sold.
Michael would produce a catalogue with so many titles all of which he had in stock. The catalogue was fifteen pence, and I think the highest priced LP was £3.50. and 15p postage. He operated an efficient Mail order service, which too was something new for Britain, and you could guarantee your selected title would be with you in either one or two days. He was the 1970s equivalent of Amazon Prime.
After a few visits I got to know Mike quite well even going to lunch with him. I remember one time he asked for a glass of water which the waitress brought to him but charged him fifty pence which he could not believe. I think he was still talking about that two years later. When I first met him, he was twenty-one, but had the knowledge and business mind of someone much older.
I think I spent all my wages at Soundtrack which considering I got less than ten pounds a week wasn’t bad as I got maybe two or three Lps a week. I remember Mike meeting his future wife Carol they met at the G.P.O. (now British telecom) where they both worked.
Mike moved from Soundtrack to 58 Dean Street under the name of Soundtracks Unlimited, another iconic soundtrack shop with Derek Breager. Mike was there behind the counter and in front of it talking to people, playing them records and making sure that the stock was outstanding. His enthusiasm never depleted in fact I think it grew. It was at Dean Street that he started to venture into releasing soundtracks on LP one that stands out is Taras Bulba by Franz Waxman. The LP came in a white cover with a stick on illustration of the poster.
It was also at Dean Street that the Japanese Import first became available, collectors loved these imports because the artwork was so eye catching, he would take the first Japanese imports to the Japanese Steak house in Wardour Street to have the credits and track titles translated.
These would have been Sabata, The Seven Samurai, Catlow, Get Carter, and the double LP The Best of the Bloody Westerns, which were on Toho or King records. In later years scores such as Orca Killer Whale and Around the World with the lovers of Peynet were released.
He also introduced many to the single 45rpm record with picture covers, Companeros, The Hunting Party, Four Fly’s of Grey Velvet, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Queimada, The Nicest Wife, they were all there. He told me about so many composers and was I think like a mentor he taught me so much, and not just me everyone that met Mike came away richer in knowledge, and he even inspired people to go on and do what he was doing, Lionel Woodman for example.
After Dean Street he went to Thats Entertainment for a short time then from there he headed south across the Thames to Brockley and Soundtrack and General was born with the help of Jeff Proctor who was a big Morricone fan. The shop was in Kilgour Road.
Mike also would promote others as in the book Opera of Violence by Laurence Staig and Tony Williams who called him (Michael I Have Run out of 2ps Jones) And other record dealers as in the likes of Bongiovanni in Bologna Italy and Consorti in Rome, where I started to import from to sell to department stores in Brighton my hometown. He was someone who was instantly likeable he went on to become a successful record producer releasing compilations of tv themes such as the A Team and Hill Street Blues on the Indiana label.
I met Mike a couple of times at his home in London and spoke on the phone about things he was doing. At one time he was even putting together his own music tracks using samples. (and they were good). Soundtrack shops changed a lot and became fewer and fewer and finally the Internet took over. It’s a very different world now but if it had not been for Michael the soundtrack specialist would probably look very different or maybe not existed at all.
He was a pioneer, a friend, a mentor, and a man that was passionate about everything he did. Rest in peace Michael take time now to sit back and listen to all that music you introduced to us. For that and more I thank you with all my heart. You shaped my life and sent me on a wonderful musical journey as well as influencing my music tastes you also directed me towards the Italian films, because I had heard the music I wanted to see the movies they were from. so much. If it was not for Michael, I would never have met the likes of Lionel Woodman, Jeff Proctor and Laurence Staig. Or met James Fitzpatrick, Derek Breager, George Ginn, David Stoner, Luc Van de Ven, Geoff at Backtrack and so many others. Then there were the composers such as Alessandro Alessandroni, Franco Micalizzi, Stelvio Cipriani, Nico Fidenco, Carlo Rustichelli, Nora Orlandi, Gianni Ferrio, De Angelis, Franco De Gemini, Francesco De Masi, and so many others, because Mike acquainted me with their music, and I wanted to find out more, I ended up interviewing them. Mr. Jones you will be missed so much, but never forgotten.
Let’s leave the last words to Micheal.
This was an interview he did a few years ago.
“I started a soundtrack shop in 1970, specialising in film soundtracks and shows initially. This was Soundtrack at The Arts and Theatre club. It was not long – six months or so – before I was swayed by customer requests and became a specialist within a specialised area and concentrated on importing Ennio Morricone records and Italian soundtrack LPs by other composers. It was Laurence Staig mostly, because he nagged me about which records he wanted. He showed me the RCA catalogue, so I began importing Morricone albums first, then Italian westerns by other composers, and then eventually all the other Italian thrillers and suchlike. It was what the customers were asking for.
I suppose I was a pioneer in those days, introducing Italian film music to soundtrack collectors. But it was not just in England. What we started in London spread to other parts of Europe and the world. I had customers everywhere. When the first shop opened, I was lucky enough to have a free reign and have the market pretty much to myself for a few years. Funnily enough, several of my biggest customers were guys who eventually started soundtrack businesses of their own, such as Lionel Woodman (Soundtrack deletions and later Hillside CD Productions) and Derek at 58 Dean Street and Johnny Yap (That’s Entertainment) and a few others.
The original United Artists soundtrack album for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was available everywhere and once I decided to go into importing Morricone, Queimada was one of the first soundtracks to arrive, and then The Five Man Army.
My shop changed premises a few times. I was Soundtracks Unlimited in Dean Street, and eventually finished up as Soundtrack and General in Brockley, South London. I did a one-sheet soundtrack newsletter for many years on coloured paper which went out to all my customers, detailing new releases.
We built up a substantial mail-order business as well as customers visiting the shop. My wife remembers all the names of my customers from back then because she was the one who religiously wrote out by hand all the names and addresses on the envelopes every few weeks. By 1975 I think I was selling about 150 different Morricone albums”…
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 