It’s my mom’s birthday. Everyone say Happy Birthday!

See, I am nice to some people.

Band Of The Hand
Okay, this is a cavalcade of weird so hang on tightly. And I also have a surprisingly large amount of stuff to say about this movie. But at least this time the music is actually pretty good.

Band Of The Hand came out in 1986 and was produced by Michael Mann. As you may know Michael Mann is an Academy-Award nominated Director who brought us such classics as Heat, The Last Of The Mohicans, The Insider and Ali. In 1986 however, Michael Mann had only directed two movies; Thief, a criminally-underseen surrealist crime epic starring James Caan and James Belushi, and The Keep – a shitacular WWII supernatural thriller. He was, however, the producer of Miami Vice, a television show that forever changed the look of TV. In 1986 it looked like he began using the influence that undoubtedly came with such a popular TV show and started other projects. There was Crime Story, another TV crime series that my dad still swears by as the best TV show in the history of all things, and there was the awesomely intense Manhunter, the first ever film to feature Hannibal Lector (as portrayed by Brian Cox).

He also produced Band Of The Hand, a strange little movie that has faded into obscurity about five minutes after it came out. According to the IMDB it was originally the pilot to a TV series that was only released theatrically after it failed to get picked up. I don’t know if I can believe that, but it wouldn’t completely surprise me. However, even if that is true it’s not the weirdest thing about this movie.

Firstly there’s the director. Band Of The Hand was directed by Paul Michael Glaser, AKA Starsky of Starsky And Hutch. It was his first theatrical movie, but it wasn’t his last, as he went on to direct The Running Man (!!!), The Air Up There and the Shaqulle O’Neal epic Kazaam (or as I like to call it, “Hey audience, FUCK YOU.”)

It gets better. The cast includes early appearances by Lauren Holly, Laurence Fishbourne and most surprisingly, John Cameron Mitchell, who would later go on to big gay fame with Hedwig And The Angry Inch.

The movie itself is some kids-stuck-in-wilderness story with a hint of Miami Vice-esque crime thrown in for good measure and is supposedly pretty forgettable. I’ve never seen it so I’ll withhold judgment. In doing research for this I learned that some people think Kevin Smith made fun of the movie in Chasing Amy when Jay tells Holden to dump his girlfriend and rely on “the band of the hand.” Well, some people are idiots because that masturbation joke has nothing to do with this movie.

Now, onto what you all really care about; the soundtrack

Bob Dylan & The Heartbreakers – Band Of the Hand
Bob really popped up in some weird places in the 80s. This time he’s signing the title song with the help of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. Petty himself is nowhere to be found on the song, but he did produce it. Not a bad song, and it’s probably one of the better songs that he recorded that year. It’s never been released on any other album, putting it up there with the Hearts Of Fire tracks in terms of obscurity.

Shriekback – Faded Flowers
Made up by former members of Gang Of Four and XTC, Shriekback was nowhere near as popular as those bands, but Michael Mann sure loved them, because their songs are featured in both Band Of The Hand and Manhunter. You can get this song on one of their albums, but since you’re not likely to find that CD anywhere I’m leaving it on here.

The Reds
Turn It On
Hold On
Mission
The Boar Chase
Waiting For You
Great name for a Cold War-era band, The Reds were an Aussie New Wave band, and their 1979 self-titled record is fucking amazing if you can find it. They also contributed songs to Manhunter. Half of these tracks are instrumental score pieces, while the other half are more traditional rock tunes. Kind of spotty but overall very good. They got a great creepy vibe.

Andy Summers – Carry Me Back Home
Bob Dylan was obviously slumming it with “Band Of The Hand” but The Police’s Andy Summers was kicking ass and taking names with this amazing and menacing track which is hands-down the highlight of the record. Great creepy synths and sparse drums are used to superbly on this one, which oddly features little guitar from the well-known guitar player. According to the IMDB Summers was Glaser’s roommate once, which explains how he got on here. This song has never been released on any other album, which is a damn shame since…if you haven’t gotten the hint yet… it’s freakin’ great. Download it now and make love to its sweetness.

Tiger Tiger – All Comes Together Again
Native American rockers. Apparently they are still at it.

Michael Rubini – Theme From Joe’s Death
Apparently someone named Joe dies in the movie. Rubini is another alum from Manhunter. This is ambient film score stuff, not bad but not at all memorable.

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