My fellow musical journeyman Rob G. has just posted the track list for his 80s Movie Music Mix tape. It's the soundtrack for his recent birthday party, comprised entirely of songs from 80s movie soundtracks. He writes, "Hearing all these songs together made me smile and laugh, but also inspired me! And so, I wanted to share this feeling. I mean, that's the point of mixes to begin with, right?"
It inspired me too. And given the nature of our rapport lately, I have to fllow up Rob's mix with one of my own. So, without further ado, here is Volume II.
1. "Who Made Who" - AC/DC (MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, 1986)
2. "Relax" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood (POLICE ACADEMY, 1984)
3. "I Will Follow" - U2 (THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN, 1982)
4. "A Million Miles Away" - The Plimsouls (VALLEY GIRL, 1983)
5. "How Do I Let You Know" - Phoebe Cates (PRIVATE SCHOOL, 1983)
6. "Moving in Stereo" - The Cars (FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, 1982)
7. "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" - Talking Heads (RISKY BUSINESS, 1983)
8. "In the Air Tonight" - Phil Collins (RISKY BUSINESS, 1983)
9. "Cruel Summer" - Bananarama (THE KARATE KID, 1984)
10. "Daddy's Girl" - Peter Cetera (THREE MEN AND A BABY, 1987)
11. "Let My Love Open the Door" - Pete Townshend (LOOK WHO'S TALKING, 1989)
12. "Within Your Reach" - The Replacements (SAY ANYTHING, 1987)
13. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" - Tears for Fears (REAL GENIUS, 1985)
14. "Silent Running" - Mike + the Mechanics (CHOKE CANYON, 1986)
15. "Cry Little Sister" - G Tom Mac (THE LOST BOYS, 1987)
16. "Strong As I Am" - The Prime Movers (MANHUNTER, 1986)
17. "No Easy Way Out" - Robert Tepper (ROCKY IV, 1988)
18. "Don't Dream It's Over" - Crowded House (THE STAND, 1994 / ADVENTURELAND, 2009)
A few stray thoughts and justifications...
Is there any better way to kick off an 80s mix than with AC/DC?
Have you ever seen the abortion sequence in THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN (cut to U2's first hit single)? It's batshit crazy, and the perfect way to start a section of tracks from early 80s sex comedies.
I love FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH.
I love Phoebe Cates. (If you haven't seen PRIVATE SCHOOL, get on it.)
Two songs from RISKY BUSINESS? Well, Rob used two songs from BACK TO SCHOOL, so I think I can get away with it... Besides. Love on a real train.
"Cruel Summer" is a painfully obvious choice for an 80s mix (not to mention a followup to a mix tape by the world's biggest KARATE KID fan), but I couldn't help it.
Now that I have a daughter, I have newfound appreciation for THREE MEN AND A BABY... which has a surprisingly great soundtrack. And if iTunes had "The Minute I Saw You" by John Parr, I would have used that instead of "Daddy's Girl." Then again, I think it's kind of interesting that both of these mixes have songs by Peter Cetera. (Rob, I don't suppose you have the THREE MEN AND A BABY soundtrack on vinyl?)
I watched LOOK WHO'S TALKING again recently and it does not hold up to my 12-year-old memory of it. But I still like the Pete Townshend song, and it seems like an appropriate way to follow up THREE MEN AND A BABY. I guess this is the baby-friendly section of my mix tape.
Rob used Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" from my favorite movie of the 80s, so I had to go for the second best song on that soundtrack.
Nobody except Lance Henriksen fans remembers CHOKE CANYON, but I dare you not to get "Silent Running" stuck in your head.
Speaking of Lance Henriksen... I feel sort of guilty featuring a song from THE LOST BOYS without acknowledging Tangerine Dream's excellent score for that other (better) 1987 vampire movie NEAR DARK. I could have made this entire mix using only songs from Tangerine Dream movie scores. But, following Rob's lead, I have tried to avoid instrumentals.
I know I sort of cheated on the last song. It wasn't technically featured in an 80s movie. But it was featured in a 90s movie based on a novel that was really popular in the 80s, and a 2000s movie set in the 80s. Yeah whatever. It's the last song on the mix. Seems like the right place to shake things up, and -- just as Rob had this crazy urge to end on two songs with the word "dance" in the title -- I had this crazy urge to conclude with the finale-friendly titles "No Easy Way Out" and "Don't Dream It's Over."
This is probably not the last of the 80s mix tapes. But for now I'll turn it back over to Rob.
This is a pretty solid track listing for sure. I dig that you went right for the ROCKY IV montage song. And opening with AC/DC is definitely a winning move. I'm surprised that for a few titles you didn't make the "obvious" choices and I guess that's because, well... they'd be obvious! (Like In A Gadda Divita from MANHUNTER or Old Time Of Rock N Roll from RISKY BUSINESS) But the goal at least on my end with mine was to make the listener immediately recognize the movie as soon as they heard the opening notes, regardless of if they remember the artist or title of the song. Still! I'm glad you make your own follow-up mix!
ReplyDeleteI'll get back to the 80's. But for now, my next post will tackle my side of the whole Nirvana Vs Pearl Jam debate!
... but "Ina Gadda Da Vida" is a late 60s tune and "Old Time Rock N Roll" is late 70s. I wanted to stick with songs from the 80s as well as (excepting the last track) movies from the 80s. I actually associate all of these songs with specific movies. I suppose it's just a matter of personal memory. Keep 'em coming!
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