Having worked in the b-movie industry as a music supervisor and singer for such cheeze classics as the original Fantastic Four and the epic Die-Hard-in-lingerie laugher Hard to Die, Odette Springer became a whistle-blower on the standards and practices of unapologetic producers such as Fred Olen Ray, Jim Wynorski, Andy Sidaris, and her frequent boss, Roger Corman. Her documentary Some Nudity Required exposed some of the more unsavory characteristics of the multi-million dollar cult movie business, but really… we’re more interested in her musical ability.

While it’s all fine and dandy to bullhorn the obvious truths about the men behind T&A flicks, what really needs to be examined is Odette’s track record as a singer, and her 1991 track “Secret Sanctuary,” presents Odette the singer as a woman who can’t carry a note in a bag. Sad too, because the production seems nicely representative of the early 90's schmaltz peddled by the likes of Tara Kemp and Belinda Carlisle. In other words, it would be listenable if better sung.

While Odette’s vocals on “Secret Sanctuary” are suspect, famous example of nepotism Talia Shire may not agree. Better known as Adrienne from the Rocky movies, Nicholas Cage’s aunt, Francis Ford Coppola’s sister, and Jason Schwartzman’s mom, Ms. Shire is the one-time director of the Roger Corman-produced One Night Stand a movie that sounds a lot more fun than it is. Starring the mid-90’s version Ally Sheedy, One Night Stand tells the tale of a woman who gets wild with a stranger one night, only to later discover that the stranger’s wife died under mysterious circumstances.

Whether it was Corman’s penny-pinching ways or Shire’s love for the tone deaf, “Secret Sanctuary” and another Springer-penned tune, “Oblivion” made their way onto the soundtrack for One Night Stand. Personally I prefer both songs’ appearance on Final Embrace, another Corman picture from 1992, as the cheeze value on that picture is so much more shocking. Alas most of those details are better left as backstory to “Oblivion,” which you can get here.

There is one story, however, that’s worthy of sharing about “Secret Sanctuary” specifically. In Final Embrace, Baywatch vet Nancy Valen plays a celebrity pop singer murdered in the prime of her career. One of the suspects is a not-so-talented blonde stand-by singer played by Linda Dona, who relishes the chance for her moment in the spotlight. Only thing is, she’s not really viewed as very good. While Nancy Valen did her own vocal work in the movie, singing mostly songs written by Odette Springer, Linda Dona didn’t sing note one during the music video sequence she stars in. That song would, of course, be “Secret Sanctuary” and the singer, of course, one Odette Springer.

Could it be that Ms. Springer’s “Secret Sanctuary” vocals were used to paint Linda Dona’s character as a sub-par fill-in for the deceased Nancy Valen? If so, this may be, in part, why Springer took aim at the hands that fed her when she made her b-movie-producer-skewering documentary.

Or it could just be that I have way too much time on my hands.