I saw Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2 a few weeks ago, and it got me thinking about how long it had been since a movie soundtrack caught my ear enough to make me want to buy it. Then last week, I was scrolling through Twitter and I saw a Pitchfork article about soundtracks in need of a vinyl reissue. I’m in a holding pattern on my record project as I await responses from a few people, so I’ll drop my two cents in.
As I was growing up, there always seemed to soundtracks that were extremely popular — Saturday Night Fever, Fame, Purple Rain, Flashdance, Footloose, Top Gun to name a few. The John Hughes movies always seemed to bring a good mix or artists together as well. Like a well thought out mixtape, a good movie soundtrack should be able to provide the sonic heartbeat for specific moments in the movie. They should make you equate that particular song with a specific scene for a very long time. Thirty years later, “Twist & Shout” isn’t an Isley Brothers Song, or a Beatles Song — It’s Ferris Bueller’s song.
Some of my favorite records are soundtracks and some of my introductions to artists and genres are due to their existence.
Pump Up The Volume introduced me to Leonard Cohen and the power of Johnette Napolitano’s voice.
10 Things I Hate About You introduced me to Letters To Cleo and Madness songs that weren’t “Our House”.
The Crow soundtrack played on a loop as I wore all black for an extended perios of time.
Leap Of Faith, Steve Martin’s movie where he plays a scam-artist faith healer, has a gospel-tinged soundtrack that can bring me to tears.
Quentin Tarantino practically made the Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Vol.1 soundtracks co-stars of the movies. (Seriously, when you hear Dick Dale play Miserlou, how can you not immediately think of the intro credits?)
I would pay more than I should for vinyl copies of all of the soundtracks listed above. In the last 10 years, I can name a handful of songs that appeared in movies, but the soundtracks never seem to stick out anymore. (Guardians of the Galaxy is an exception, but the music is an actual plot point in both movies.) I hope Hollywood soon rediscovers the powerful marketing tool a soundtrack can be, crafts memorable ones, and releases them on vinyl.
