Your Favorite Movie Songs
Soundwaves started out being all about music, but because Dennis and I not only love music but love movies as well, we spent plenty of time talking Soundtracks. Let's take a few moments to talk about two great tastes that taste great together:
Music from the Movies
For starters, I'm listing my Top 10 Favs from the 80's. As with any good discussion, you're certainly welcome to veer off course, (I'd be adding "Simon & Garfunkle's "Sounds of Silence" from "The Graduate" and Dooley Wilson's "As Time Goes By" from "Casablanca" if we covered ALL movies, but we gotta start somewhere...)
In alphabetical order:
“Don't You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds - 'The Breakfast Club” (1985)
Watch Me
A wistful, poignant song that just screams 80’s to me. This is one I always stop for on the radio.
"Heart's On Fire" by John Cafferty – “Rocky IV” (1985)
Watch Me
While most would say Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” from “Rocky III”, I always really dug the cinematic and musical build to a climax that this song gives.
"If You Leave" by OMD – “Pretty In Pink” (1986)
Watch Me
Proto-Emo, but with heart.
“In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel – “Say Anything” (1989)
Watch Me
There’s a whole lotta lovin’ goin’ on in this song. Rythmic and passionate. And this was right in the middle of Peter Gabriel's Full Tilt Boogie era.
"Lunatic Fringe" by Red Rider – “Vision Quest” (1985)
Watch Me
Great 80’s guitar and haunting vocals.
"No More Lonely Nights" by Paul McCartney – “Give My Regards To Broad Street” (1984)
Watch Me
My appreciation for McCartney is well known, and I’ll be the first to admit that he has his share of shite, but this is a great song that’s frequently overlooked because it’s attached to this greatest-hits-self-indulgent movie (which I really like, BTW)
"The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis & The News – “Back To The Future” (1985)
Watch Me
This movie IS the 80’s, and Huey and the Boys capture the spirit of the movie AND the decade with this song.
“The Secret Of My Success” by Night Ranger - The Secret Of My Success” (1987)
Watch Me
While some would say this movie is “Wall Street-Lite”, it’s pure 80’s and this song reflects the fun and excess of the 80’s.
"Twist And Shout" by the Beatles – “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” (1986)
Watch Me
Sure, it was originally released in 1962 on The Beatles album “Please Please Me”, but this song combines the awesome power of the Beatles with the awesome power of Ferris Bueller to drive the whole city of Chicago as well as everyone in the theatre into a frenzy. One of John Hughes finest moments.
“What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong – “Good Morning Vietnam” (1987)
Watch Me
The whole movie is about the juxtaposition between the humor of Robin Williams and the horror of war, and I can’t watch this scene without thinking about what’s going on in Iraq right now. It’s brings tears to my eyes…dammit…but then again, it really sums up why this song, and all the others above made my list; Because they did their job and made me think, feel and remember.
What's on YOUR list?
\S/
Music from the Movies
For starters, I'm listing my Top 10 Favs from the 80's. As with any good discussion, you're certainly welcome to veer off course, (I'd be adding "Simon & Garfunkle's "Sounds of Silence" from "The Graduate" and Dooley Wilson's "As Time Goes By" from "Casablanca" if we covered ALL movies, but we gotta start somewhere...)
In alphabetical order:
“Don't You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds - 'The Breakfast Club” (1985)
Watch Me
A wistful, poignant song that just screams 80’s to me. This is one I always stop for on the radio.
"Heart's On Fire" by John Cafferty – “Rocky IV” (1985)
Watch Me
While most would say Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” from “Rocky III”, I always really dug the cinematic and musical build to a climax that this song gives.
"If You Leave" by OMD – “Pretty In Pink” (1986)
Watch Me
Proto-Emo, but with heart.
“In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel – “Say Anything” (1989)
Watch Me
There’s a whole lotta lovin’ goin’ on in this song. Rythmic and passionate. And this was right in the middle of Peter Gabriel's Full Tilt Boogie era.
"Lunatic Fringe" by Red Rider – “Vision Quest” (1985)
Watch Me
Great 80’s guitar and haunting vocals.
"No More Lonely Nights" by Paul McCartney – “Give My Regards To Broad Street” (1984)
Watch Me
My appreciation for McCartney is well known, and I’ll be the first to admit that he has his share of shite, but this is a great song that’s frequently overlooked because it’s attached to this greatest-hits-self-indulgent movie (which I really like, BTW)
"The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis & The News – “Back To The Future” (1985)
Watch Me
This movie IS the 80’s, and Huey and the Boys capture the spirit of the movie AND the decade with this song.
“The Secret Of My Success” by Night Ranger - The Secret Of My Success” (1987)
Watch Me
While some would say this movie is “Wall Street-Lite”, it’s pure 80’s and this song reflects the fun and excess of the 80’s.
"Twist And Shout" by the Beatles – “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” (1986)
Watch Me
Sure, it was originally released in 1962 on The Beatles album “Please Please Me”, but this song combines the awesome power of the Beatles with the awesome power of Ferris Bueller to drive the whole city of Chicago as well as everyone in the theatre into a frenzy. One of John Hughes finest moments.
“What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong – “Good Morning Vietnam” (1987)
Watch Me
The whole movie is about the juxtaposition between the humor of Robin Williams and the horror of war, and I can’t watch this scene without thinking about what’s going on in Iraq right now. It’s brings tears to my eyes…dammit…but then again, it really sums up why this song, and all the others above made my list; Because they did their job and made me think, feel and remember.
What's on YOUR list?
\S/
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dennis Willis on -
Bravo, Cap’n Kirk! You had me browsing my DVD collection and iTunes library! But you are indeed correct, sir, in that the best movie music is not only evocative, but personal.
Good calls on Simple Minds, Peter Gabriel and two classic tunes made more classic-er (ahem) by accenting iconic scenes – Twist and Shout and What a Wonderful World.
The one factor you forgot to mention was the difference between something being a favorite DURING the 80’s and STILL being a favorite. Sure, I had the soundtracks to Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop and every teen comedy imaginable. But many of those just sound so dated now. Yes, they represent the 80’s, but not in the good “man, that was cool” way – but the “flip quickly past the really bad wardrobe pics in the photo album and hope nobody realizes that was you” way.
Then again, many of the selection on this list could probably fit that description as well. But since you asked…
The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News, "Back To the Future" (1985)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nzzIuxy_0EQ
Still a great movie. Still a great band. Still a great song. Never underestimate the power of the Huey.
Let's Go Crazy and/or Purple Rain, Prince and the Revolution (1984)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BJ0aHl4cgd8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5P9wjj1CPPQ
You wanna talk about defining a generation? The first six minutes of this movie, with its aggressive blast of pop-soul-rock-guitar goodness brought MTV style to the movies and crunched musical genres together that had no reason being on the same dance floor. Sure, the rest of the movie was a glorified longform music video for the album and Prince is no actor. But there is something about that final eight minute version of Purple Rain – with hardly any cutaways – that is cinematic and cathartic.
Cool Rider by Michelle Pfieffer, "Grease 2" (1982)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SDaJi8OgPkk
I’m gonna catch a lot of crap for this one… Um, well…Grease 2 sucked. But HBO showed it constantly the summer we launched the show and somehow this song found its way onto the playlist. After watching the YouTube clip, Michelle looks as embarrassed performing this as I do including it on the list. But come on, 20-year old Michelle Pfeiffer in a skintight badgrrl catsuit straddling a ladder? Do I have to draw you a map?
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
If my high school experience had a soundtrack, it would have been to this movie. Not merely a collection of songs, almost every track seemed to tap into a sense of nostalgia, yearning, insecurity, spontaneity and the indisputable role that music plays in our lives – all by the greatest pop and rock stars of the time. It was the only album to feature all five solo members of the Eagles, Sammy Hagar, Jackson Browne and Oingo Boingo. In fact, Boingo’s Goodbye Goodbye was the closing theme to Soundwaves for nearly two years. I probably listened to this 4-sided epic collection more than any other album during my sophomore and junior years. The very fact that one of the definitive high school movies of all time also happens to contain the music from my own personal soundtrack is a win-win. Oh, and that Phoebe Cates scene certainly didn’t hurt!
Cleaning Up The Town by the Bus Boys, "Ghostbusters" (1984)
This juke joint barroom-boogie jam was one of the feel-good tracks of the entire decade. Makes me smile every time I see that montage.
Tonight Is What it Means To Be Young by Fire, Inc., "Streets of Fire" (1984)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KyOKnQNU6Q4
Writer-producer Jim Steinman has always created bombastic, primal epic tracks that played like James Dean’s movies should have sounded. Ironically, Stienman’s approach to cinematic rafter-shaking youthquakes (Girls! Drums! Sex! Cars!) have hardly ever every been used in films. But in Streets Of Fire, we get all of the above with a vampy Diane Lane doing the lip-syncing. Yeah, it’s all complete hooey – but I still throw the DVD in once a year.
Storybook Love by Mark Knoffler, "The Princess Bride" (1987)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hH26ag7FfL4
A note-perfect coda to a fairy tale. Knoffler captures the delicacy of true love, whether between a prince and his princess; or an old man and his grandson.
Oh Yeah by Yello, from "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off" (1986)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Q7FFjUpVLg
Sure, the Beatles were the inspired inclusion; but does any song suggest winking anarchy faster than those so-very-80’s bass lines and “Oh, yeaaaaah….” I think not.
Heavy Metal (Takin’ A Ride) by Don Felder, from "Heavy Metal" (1981)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sfwLELcjG84
I had completely forgotten about this one until the recent South park episode in which Kenny got high from cheesing – and if you don’t know what that is, I ain’t gonna tell you. But it made me instantly want to watch the animated movie and track down the soundtrack, both of which are hard to find, dammit.
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Permalink Reply by Oni Monk on -
You guys are good. Very good... Let me throw a quick 3 pick
1) This Is Not America> David Bowie> Falcon and The Snowman > 1985
2) Live To Tell> Madonna> At Close Range> 1986
3) Everybody Wants To Run The World> Tears For Fears> Real Genius> 1985
PS: Still love Oh Yeah!
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