"One More Kiss, Dear" - Vangelis

“One More Kiss, Dear” (PDF) from the film Blade Runner. 

In a scene from the 1984 film Blade Runner, as the protagonist Rick Deckard orders a drink from a street vendor after retiring a replicant android, the music heard in the background is the instrumental bridge of the vocal ballad “One More Kiss, Dear” by the Greek composer Vangelis, featuring a trombone imitating the song’s melody underneath the British vocalist Don Percival reciting the song’s lyrics. It is unclear for the audience as to where the music is emanating (a radio broadcast, perhaps, or even an implanted memory?), but the song stands out in stark contrast with the rest of the film’s synthesized music score. The early recording echoes as a reflection of Deckard’s longing nostalgia as he faces the challenges ahead, to sleuth out the artificial intelligence that walks among the bustling city sidewalks of a derelict society (Los Angeles, 2019).

In a bootlegged version of the film’s soundtrack, it was revealed that the 1939 recording of “If I Didn’t Care” by The Ink Spots was originally used as a placeholder for the scene’s music. When compared side-by-side with “One More Kiss, Dear,” it is obvious that Vangelis simply replicated the Harlem vocal group’s early hit song, including its signature top & bottom performance with Orville Jones’ hat-in-hand, matter-of-fact bass voice recitation during the instrumental bridge to contrast Bill Kenny’s emotive tenor lead. The top & bottom song form was such an effective technique for The Ink Spots that it practically defined the era of early rock music, as documented in the podcast A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs.

Recommended listening: “Episode 6: The Ink Spots - ‘That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.’” A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs by Andrew Hickey.