Seven Songs From Seven Eighties Movie Soundtracks

Friday again!  A happy one to all!

Today I have Herc again with an 80s film themed music post.  He is an 80s expert and as you know he knows a thing or two about music as well.  Let him educate you today!


7 Songs From Eighties Movie Soundtracks
[part of ongoing series 7 Song Playlists]

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
“Goodbye, Goodbye” - Oingo Boingo from Fast Times At Ridgemont High
A frantic, manic and rollicking number from Danny Elfman and his gang of merry men. Check out that speed rap breakdown a little over two minutes in. If you’ve never oingo’d nor boingo’d and only know Elfman from his prolific soundtrack work on the films of Tim Burton and others, Herc has provided you a few choice cuts on this article’s accompanying Spotify playlist.

“Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young” - Fire, Inc. from Streets Of Fire
It’s a Jim Steinman penned mini-opera, one of two that bookend the movie. That’s not Diane Lane singing, though. Steinman recorded it with his stable of session people but the boys in the band (“the Attackers”) on film are actually the group Face To Face who had a couple of small hits of their own later that same year: “10-9-8” and “Under The Gun”.

“Only You” - Yaz from Can’t Hardly Wait
Depeche Mode, Yazoo (“Yaz” to us Yanks) and Erasure - that’s Vince Clarke’s resume. The keyboardist/songwriter was a founding member of DM, left to form Yazoo and then recruited vocalist Alison Moyet sound-alike Andy Bell to form Erasure. This song is one of his greatest works, a simple, beautiful melody coupled with heartfelt vocals from Ms. Moyet. (The YouTube link is to Herc’s favorite performance - unfortunately, Vince Clarke is not playing.)

“Ring Me Up” - Divinyls from Sixteen Candles
Back before Al Gore invented the interwebtubes, it was possible not to know what the name of a song was for years after you heard it. You could spend hours at the library (anyone remember those?) but if you were really lucky, someone would call in and request it by name on your favorite radio station. This was one such song for Herc - it took six years before he dropped the needle on this record, the band’s 1983 debut and realized it was what he had been looking for. (If you don’t recognize it from the opening notes then get thee to a TV and break out that DVD copy of Sixteen Candles.) Eight years later, the band would achieve one-hit wonder status with “I Touch Myself”.

“Danger Zone” - Kenny Loggins from Top Gun
Loggins - Mr. 80s Soundtrack to you - was actually the third choice to record this song: first choice Bryan Adams refused to as a Canadian/conscientious objector and Toto were not allowed to for “legal reasons” which is usually code for record company greed. Quick! Name two other awesome 80s soundtrack songs by our boy Kenny who is also known as the patron saint of “yacht rock”. Tick-tock. If you answered “I’m Alright” from Caddyshack and “Footloose” from Footloose, you win. Yay you!

“Relax” - Frankie Goes To Hollywood from Body Double
No, the song is currently not available on Spotify in any of it’s over bazillion remixes and versions by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Yes, it caused quite a stir back in the day and was banned from the public airwaves in their homeland. Yes, it is a great dance song - another Trevor Horn production - although the band performed it on TV in a much different style before he signed them. Yes, Herc saw the band in concert way back when and still has his original “Frankie Say...” shirt. Guess what song was played in it’s entirety when the lights went out just before the band took the stage? “Planet Claire” by the B-52’s. No, that song is not yet on Spotify either. Must be “legal reasons”.

“Tender Years” - John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band from Eddie & the Cruisers
The movie bombed (only $4.7M) at the box office and was subsequently pulled after only three weeks. The soundtrack died quietly with it in September 1983. Then it showed up on HBO the next year and radio stations were flooded with requests for two songs: “Tender Years” and “On The Dark Side”. The record company re-released the soundtrack and watched it sell more than four million copies almost a year after it’s original release. The bigger hit, Number One actually, was “On the Dark Side” but Herc has a soft spot in his heart for this one despite the fact that John Cafferty openly mimics Bruce Springsteen musically and in the way he dressed.


SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

BONUS PLAYLIST!!! If you didn’t find it, look in the “Danger Zone”!