Music to a Movie Geek's Ears

If you're a movie geek and you don't have 1) a paid XM satellite radio subscription 2) a paid AOL.com account, or 3) DirecTV, you're missing greatest thing since sliced pineapple: XM Radio Channel 822, also known as Cinemagic- the only music station that plays nothing but soundtracks, scenes and interviews from movies.

My discovery happened one Sunday morning late fall of 2005. I was lounging on my couch, sipping on some Twinnings Earl Grey with Splenda, perusing the Arts and Leisure section of the Times. I flipped on my TV, selected my favorite Music Choice channel (80's), and noticed it was no longer there. After being initially very pissed, I realized a few moments later that what took its place and the rest of those channels was XM satellite radio, which composed of essentially the same mix of genre stations, with one exception- Cinemagic. My load almost hit the TV set right then and there.

I'm probably one of a small percentage of movie fans out there who listen to movie scores and soundtracks, so this post may have little interest to many of you out there. However, something occurred to me earlier this week that compelled me to write about it.

I was at work, listening to this station on my computer (via AOL), when all of a sudden while typing a hostile email to a co-worker, the micro hairs on my neck stood on end. Shivers ran down my spine. It took me a second to register the movie, but once I did, I couldn't believe my ears. Playing was the soundtrack to Day of the Dead, the George Romero zombie flick from the mid 80's (from the guy that made Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead (the original). I couldn't believe they were actually playing music from such an obscure movie, with an even more arcane score that so few people would recognize, me being one of them. The movie performed terribly at the box office, was gory as shit, and kept me up nights for the next several years after I saw it (at age 10- thanks Dad). Listening to the music brought me back to that age, and moments from that film that to this day I can't erase from my mind.
Damn zombies.

Experiencing the film again struck an emotional nerve, so much so, I was compelled to send an email to XM, acknowledging them for their fine work. While I was at it, I also provided a few suggestions of soundtracks I'd like to hear, including Predator, Crimson Tide, and music by John Williams. A few days later, I received an email from XM Radio- a response! Someone actually wrote me back thanking me for the feedback. A real human being, none of that "Thank you for your feedback SUBSCRIBER NAME HERE" crap- this email came from programming director himself and it wasn't a form email. Not only that, he informed me that my request has been submitted and to tune in Monday at around 8:02pm ET to hear them.

In a world of automated phone tellers....
In a world of heavily accented outsourced customer care centers...
In a world of shady cable and phone operators (F.O. Cablevision!)....
This is what I call customer friggin' service.