Remember movie songs that would drive soundtrack sales and trigger fond memories of favorite flicks? The Mutants do, which is why we asked everyone to share some of their go-to movie songs!
Josh: I had to give myself some criteria before I started otherwise this would have gotten way out of control. Music is actually my number one love, movies following closely behind. There isn’t a day that goes by without it. The following is my attempt to just give you a few of my favorite movie songs. Presenting…
NOW! That’s What I Call Josh’s Favorite Movie Songs: The 80’s Vol. 1
- “One Foot in Front of the Other” by Bone Symphony (Revenge of the Nerds 1984)
- “Hearts on Fire” by John Cafferty (Rocky IV 1985)
- “Pump it Up – Let’s Get Funky” by The Fat Boys (Krush Groove 1985)
- “Meet Me Halfway” by Kenny Loggins (Over the Top 1987)
- “Back to Paradise” by .38 Special (Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise 1987)
- “Streets of Siam” by Stan Bush (Kickboxer 1989)
- “We Don’t Need Another Hero” by Tina Turner (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome 1985)
- “Winner Takes it All” by Sammy Hagar (Over the Top 1987)
- “Hero Story” by Jackie Chan (Police Story 1985)
- “Breakin’…There’s No Stopping Us” by Ollie & Jerry (Breakin’ 1984)
- “I Still Believe” by Tim Cappello (The Lost Boys 1987)
- “Far From Over” by Frank Stallone (Staying Alive 1983)
- “Rooms for the Memory” by Michael Hutchence (Dogs in Space 1986)
All of these songs have had a residency within my cassette, CD, MP3, and streaming collections over the years — and I may even burn this CD after I finish writing this. I’m sure I missed some, and I recognize I didn’t even touch any John Hughes movies. I strongly recommend taking this album on a nice walk on a sunny day.
Justin: Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been recording songs off movies — and not always the popular ones but also the dorky, weird, out-of-nowhere snippets. Originally, I used a tape recorder shoved against the TV speaker — I remember doing that to get the theme to Spaceballs — but now I have slightly more advanced methods to procure these tunes.
But my love for dorky movie music endures even today, and you will lose a great deal of respect for me by the end of this paragraph. What about the toe-tapping main theme to Return of the Killer Tomatoes? Sing it with me, kids! Or the “we’re totally not ripping off Ferris Bueller” main theme to State Park? We can jam out to “Rock Until You Drop” from Monster Squad, roll our eyes to the extreme nerdiness of Waxwork II’s “Lost in Time” rap, fall in love with EG Daily as she sings “Mind Over Matter” from Summer School, get pumped up for a day at PCU with “Rilly Groovy,” or get into late ’90s techno with Apollo 440’s take on the Lost in Space theme song.
Oh no! It’s a new paragraph, and you’re going to lose even more respect for me now! Well, there’s always the version of “Axel F” from Beverly Hills Cop 3 that I listened to a million times because I had the cassette soundtrack. Or some TMNT love with Vanilla Ice’s “Ninja Rap” and the much less-known but still excellent “Cowabunga.” I can’t wait to go on another adventure with Bill and Ted when I hear Big Pig’s “Breakaway.” And what soundtrack collection is complete until it has Josie and the Pussycats?
Sitting Duck: This was an easy one for me to answer, and I’m sure most of you can figure out what it’ll be. Obviously I’m talking about the Mutant Award-winning* “The Song of the Defy” from The Legend of Hillbilly John. Most of my thoughts regarding it can be seen in my award presentation.
However, just leaving it at that would be lazy. So let’s consider the movie’s inane music supervision. They could have used genuine Appalachian folk songs. Not only would it have given the production greater authenticity, but they wouldn’t have to pay rights since they’re in the public domain. But no, we get these vapid hippy folk sawngs written by the movie’s lead instead, with “ABC” being the worst of the lot. I hate that one with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Yet this serves a purpose of sorts. It can be argued that to truly appreciate beauty you must be exposed to ugliness to provide a contrast. And the disparity couldn’t be more pronounced, especially if you have the Axton performance side-by-side with the Capers rendition.
Drake: There’s a tendency in some movies to simply blare out a song, quite often some ‘80s nostalgia-bait, in an effort to get the audience involved in the action on the screen. Which usually indicates the action is otherwise so uninspiring that AC/DC or Mötley Crüe have to tag in to make the save.
Needless to say, these are generally pretty bad movies.
On the other hand, a wise production team knows how to seamlessly integrate the music with the on-screen events to enhance a given scene, rather than just slather it in screeching lyrics and wailing guitars.
Take Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado, for instance, which has an outstanding soundtrack. It’s filled with A-list material by names like Link Wray, Los Lobos, Carlos Santana and Tito & Tarantula, and the songs blend into the narrative but never override it. Tito & Tarantula’s “Strange Face of Love” has a great bass intro that feeds into the guitars, and then the vocals kick in at a leisurely pace that gets more & more frenetic as the song goes on, mixing perfectly with Antonio Banderas staggering down the street with Salma Hayek in front of him and Tito Larriva in deadly pursuit.
“White Train,” again by Tito & Tarantula, is an instrumental that slowly builds up to Banderas’ “Let’s play,” line, and then kicks into high gear for the big showdown. Guns blaze, rockets fly and cars explode, and the music keeps pace with it all. There may not be a better blend of music and movie in all of action cinema, and Desperado makes it look effortless.
ZombieDog: My favorite soundtrack to a movie is, without a doubt, 1981’s Heavy Metal. I was but a tiny boy back then — although I knew what I liked!
I guess it was one of the first experiences that I had when I was exposed to music that was produced exterior to a film. It’s still one of my favorite soundtracks. The whole movie screams unique experience. It probably didn’t hurt that the movie is filled with plenty of sex, but I don’t think that was really the selling point for me. It opened me up to the possibility of movies not just being visual but having auditory component as well.
My next favorite soundtrack would’ve been from The Blues Brothers. I didn’t get to see this film until after I had seen Heavy Metal, if you can believe that, yet it was nonetheless world expanding in my musical appreciation. Add to that being from Chicago (Chicago suburb), knowing all the places that they filmed, and to top it off having it being awesome movie.
Today, I have conflicting views. I still love music and movies, but sometimes I think it’s a bit of a cheat. A song can instantly tell you how to feel when the visual medium that you’re watching should be the primary source of communicating emotions. A lot of movies are just shy of becoming music video. In the end though, I can still be moved and I’m good account that is a good thing.
Mutant Reviewers 