Akira Ifukube composed over half the music for the Godzilla films including Godzilla: King of the Monsters, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah: The 3-Headed Monster, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Terror of MechaGodzilla, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II, Godzilla vs. Destroyah
Akira Ifukube was born on May 31, 1914. He first became interested in music because he was raised with the folk songs of both Japanese and the Ainu (Japan's equivalent of the American Indian). He began his music career as a performer in the student orchestra at his school. Then, when he was in college, he became a concert master and performed many European classical pieces. This is what made him decide to become a composer. After graduating college, he was recruited by the Imperial government during World War II. After the war, he taught music at Tokyo Art University and soon after began writing scores for Toho movies.
When Mr. Ifukube went to work on Godzilla: King of the Monsters, he had to score the movie without even seeing any footage from the film! Plus, he had to do it in about 4 days, but overall he still considers it his best work. Mr. Ifukube also created the roar and the footfalls of Godzilla. He created the footfalls by using a box that had several coils connected to an amplifier and a speaker in it. When you struck it, the coils would vibrate, and a loud, shocking sound would be created. He accidentally stepped on the device while he was conducting the score for a movie that was produced shortly before Godzilla: King of the Monsters was made and when he was asked to create Godzilla's footfalls, he decided to use the device. For the roar of Godzilla, he took out the lowest string of a contrabass and then ran a glove that had resin on it across the string. The different kinds of roars were created by playing the recording of the sound that he'd made at different speeds.
In the later "Heisei" Godzilla films, Mr. Ifukube updated many of his old themes for the kaiju, or made whole new ones of them (King Ghidorah, Mothra, and MechaGodzilla for example). Also, some scores like the scene in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah that features a number of tanks approaching the spaceship from the future is very similar to the score in Destroy All Monsters that features a number of tanks approaching the Kilaak base. In addition, the score in the scene that features a number of F-15s attacking Ghidrah is similar to the one in Rodan (1956) that features a number of F-86s attacking Rodan.
Mr. Ifukube has said that Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla was his most painful score to finish. It was not completed on schedule, so he had less time than he usually did to compose the score. They then spent two days recording the music, two days mixing it, and another two days dubbing the film. However, most fans consider it one of his best scores ever.
Mr. Ifukube decided to compose the music for Godzilla vs. Destroyah after reading the screenplay and discovered that it was directly related to the first Godzilla movie. He felt that since he'd been involved in Godzilla's birth, it was fitting for him to be involved in his death. I also was interested because Momoko Kochi (Emiko Yamane) was going to return. Mr. Ifukube spent four days composing and orchestrating the music for Godzilla vs. Destroyah, two days recording, two days mixing, and two days dubbing the film. He decided to use one of the themes from King Kong vs. Godzilla during the closing credits because he said that the (the closing credits) feature footage from Godzilla movies spanning more than forty years. It's easy to show clips from a number of the films in two and a half minutes, but it's impossible to perform themes from many of them in such a short amount of time. So he decided to use the Faro Island theme. Mr. Ifukube retired soon after this film and lived comfortably in Japan ever since. He was even awarded a "Person of Cultural Merit," one of Japan's highest honors, in 2003.
Sadly, Akira Ifukube passed on on February 8, 2006 at a hospital in Tokyo, Japan. The great composer died of multiple organ failure and was 91 years old. He will be missed by Godzilla fans all over the world.
Filmography
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1954)
Rodan (1956)
The Mysterians (1957)
Varan (1958)
Mothra (1961)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975)
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II (1993)
Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995)
PLUS MANY MORE!!!
