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“The Breakfast Club” soundtrack

sfilzen — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 18:25:45 +0000

“The Breakfast Club” soundtrack, released on this date, February 19th, 1985. The Breakfast Club (released on Feb. 15th, 1985) was one of the most acclaimed – and successful – movies of the 80′s. A John Hughes film, it’s considered one of the greatest films of all time and in 2016 was selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the US National Film Registry. It certainly was one of the most important movies to me in the 80′s. I’ve probably seen it close to 50 times, 40 of those in ‘85 and ‘86 alone. In ‘85 I was finishing my last months of the hellscape that was 8th grade and the pain, bullying, clique-ish social structure that rots teenage life was depicted with glorious accuracy in the movie. While I didn’t specifically identify with any of the archetypes depicted in the film (princess, outcast, geek, jock, delinquent), I definitely empathized strongly with each one by degrees – parental and peer pressure exerted on all of them and the desire to flip-off that authority.

The soundtrack, though…not that great. John Hughes’ film Pretty in Pink from 1986 had an amazing soundtrack – one of the best, actually – but with the exception of the hit single by Simple Minds “Don’t You Forget About Me” (released on Feb. 20th, 1985) and, to a much lesser degree, Wang Chung’s “Fire In the Twilight,” the rest of the album is totally forgettable. (I do kinda like Karla DeVito’s “We Are Not Alone” mainly because of the sequence that it plays over during the film). “Don’t You Forget About Me” plays during one of the most iconic moments in 80′s film history at the end of the film (Bender fist-pumping the air) and almost 35 years later the track still gives me all the feels. The song was offered by writers Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff (Nina Hagen band) to many other bands after Simple Minds initially declined to record it. Finally, after pressure from Jim Kerr’s wife Chrissie Hynde, Simple Minds agreed and it ended up being their biggest hit ever going to #1 in the US and #7 in the UK.

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Soundtrack from “Sixteen Candles”

sfilzen — Fri, 04 May 2018 18:45:30 +0000

Soundtrack from “Sixteen Candles” the movie released on this date, May 4th, 1984. Like most who were teens in the 80′s, Sixteen Candles was one of my favorite movies and may or may not be partially responsible for the name of my kid (Jake Ryan = swoon). While the 5-song mini album is nowhere near the level of John Hughes’ epic Pretty In Pink music selections, there are a couple of strong tracks including punk godmother Patti Smith’s “Gloria” and The Thompson Twins’ “If You Were Here.” The other tracks are basically filler: “16 Candles” by the Stray Cats (not their best song), “Hang Up the Phone” by Annie Golden and “Geek Boogie” by Ira Newborn and the Geeks (though this last one makes me smile a bit because it reminds me that Sixteen Candles was my first introduction to John Cusack and I love John Cusack). John Hughes was totally dialed in to teenage popular culture as evidenced by all of the music that appeared in Sixteen Candles that didn’t make it to the soundtrack including “Happy Birthday” by Altered Images (my favorite birthday song ever), “True” by Spandau Ballet, “Little Bitch” by The Specials, “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors, “Young Guns” by Wham!, “Rebel Yell” by Bily Idol, “Young Americans” by David Bowie and “Tenderness” by General Public.

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“Pretty in Pink” soundtrack

sfilzen — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 16:09:41 +0000

“Pretty in Pink” soundtrack, the film released on this date, February 28th, 1986. One of the best soundtracks from the 80′s (and on many best-of-all-time lists): The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, OMD, INXS, New Order and of course the title track “Pretty in Pink” by The Psychedelic Furs who re-recorded it for the movie, jazzing it up from the original (the song provided John Hughes with a bit of inspiration for the movie). The Smiths’ “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” is one of my favorites, and one of their most aching, which is no small feat for The Smiths. I also love Echo’s “Bring on the Dancing Horses” which they recorded specifically for Pretty in Pink; it appeared a few months earlier in November ‘85 on their Songs to Learn & Sing comp. INXS’ “Do Wot You Do” is classic mid-80′s Listen Like Thieves era INXS: big, stomping beats, saxophone and Michael Hutchence’s sultry voice. I think “Left of Center” was the first time I heard Suzanne Vega; she’d manage to irritate the hell out of me later with the inescapable “Luka” in ‘87. While I generally like New Order, “Shell Shock” is not one of my favorites on the soundtrack – I think it’s the vocals that grate on me – nor do I particularly care for “Wouldn’t It Be Good” by Danny Hutton Hitters or Belouis Some’s “Round, Round.”

But it’s Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s “If You Leave” that holds the most nostalgia. I was in 9th grade, the last year at my junior high, when Pretty in Pink came out. Though I was new to the school that year, I had somehow managed to get myself elected onto the student council (it wasn’t that hard – I think like 40 students from each grade were voted in) and one of our tasks was to organize the Farewell Dance that happened in late spring. I suggested Farewell’s theme song be “If You Leave” and the council agreed. Heavily influenced by the movie, I found my aunt’s flouncy blue prom dress from the late 50′s or early 60′s in our attic and decided to wear it to the dance (though unlike Molly Ringwald, I didn’t do any fancy reconstruction) and pair it with my spiky hair, ripped tights and black boots. The look would complement the blue hair of the beautiful punk rock boy I had asked to be my date for the dance. I never got to wear it – beautiful punk rock boy canceled the night before so I stayed home “sick” the next day to avoid the humiliation of being ditched at the dance. (In hindsight I guess I am grateful he had the grace to call and not just leave me hanging.)

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