FRIDAY THE 13TH in LA, Day One

The reason I went out to LA last week was because La-La Land Records was releasing the FRIDAY THE 13TH PARTS I-VI 6CD box set which I wrote the liner notes for. Back when I was writing the notes I heard they were going to be celebrating the release with a screening or two and a signing with members of the cast and crew. There was no way I was going to miss that! By writing the liner notes for this box set, I felt like I became connected with the FRIDAY THE 13TH universe even if it was in a miniscule way. I had to be there for the release!

Here is the finished FRIDAY THE 13TH PARTS I-VI 6CD box set.
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On the morning of Friday, January 13th, I was still in Las Vegas recovering from the IAWTV festivities the previous night. I rented a car and headed west to Los Angeles. I had never driven in that part of the country so I was really looking forward to taking the leisure four-hour drive through the desert. People warned me that there wasn't much in between Vegas and LA. They were pretty much right. The drive was nothing but mountains and sand as far as the eye could see for about three and a half hours. Along the way I even stopped at one of those rickety gas stations set all by itself in the middle of nowhere just like you see in the movies (scary movies?). It was pretty cool.

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When I got to LA, my first stop was the La-La Land Records office in Burbank. I had never been there before so I wanted to be sure to visit on this trip. I hung out there for a little while as orders for the box set were pouring in. I chatted with Michael and Matt (owners of LLL) for about an hour and then I got back in the car and went a few miles down the street to see my friend Ryan who also lived in Burbank. I wasn't initially planning on seeing him but when I called him and told him I was visiting the La-La Land Records office he informed me he lived just down the street from them. I was going to have dinner with Michael and Matt later that night so I thought I'd kill a couple hours hanging out with Ryan.

It was good to see him again. He and I were buds back at Berklee when we were fledgling film scoring students. It's been really cool to see him excel in his career over the years. Ryan was recently nominated for a Grammy award for his soundtrack for THE SHRINE (2011) so it meant a lot to me to be able to congratulate him in person. The last time I saw him he took me flying but there was no time for that on this trip. Just good old fashioned catching up.

After I left Ryan's house I headed over to the restaurant where I had dinner with Michael and Matt of LLL Records. Then we headed over to the Vista Theater in Los Angeles where a double feature of FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) and FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES (1986) was scheduled to start at 9:30pm. Harry Manfredini was there (the composer of the six films) along with Adrienne King (the "final girl" of the first film) along with a few other cast members from Part VI. It was great meeting Harry for the first time. He and I got chummy over the last couple months while I interviewed him for the liner notes. We talked several times over the phone and exchanged quite a few emails. He had already told me how much he LOVED my liner notes so it was mutually gratifying for both of us to finally meet each other.

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Seeing FRIDAY THE 13TH on the big screen for the first time was a real treat. I don't know how many times I've seen it but to see it on the big screen with an audience is always the best. After the first film the honored guests came up for a Q&A and Harry gave me a big shout out about my liner notes. It was awesome!

...but that was nothing. The next day would be so much more awesomer!