Whenever anybody hears \Stuck in the Middle with You"" by Stealers Wheel, they think of ""Reservoir Dogs"" and a cop getting his ear cut off. What about hearing Survivor's ""Eye of the Tiger"" and automatically thinking about the ""Rocky"" movies? Why is this? Because music makes these moments memorable. Without the right music, movie scenes would be lackluster and often times forgettable.
Hence Cardinal Arts decided to pit music columnist Nathaniel ""Knowledge Enormous"" Grotte and movie columnist Amos ""In Theaters Now"" Posner against one another to decipher what makes a good movie soundtrack. Here are the results.
(Rhino)
Some who've been on this campus for a few years may remember that ""Superfly"" was once shown in Memorial Union's Rathskeller, in the corner over by the bar, which was the first time I'd ever seen it. But years and years before, I'd discovered Curtis Mayfield's amazing original soundtrack, on the recommendation of a squirrely American History teacher. I was somewhat disappointed to find that the movie wasn't really all that great, but it couldn't take away from what's probably the most ambitious and ultimately successful blaxploitation soundtrack out of a great many.
""Freddie's Dead"" may be the song that's most immediately familiar, but the whole disc measures up to and even surpasses that level of quality. My personal favorite is ""No Thing On Me,"" a supremely upbeat groove with a positive, anti-cocaine message'""My life's a natural high""'that's in almost complete contrast to the viewpoint of the movie. Whatever. It's up there with ""What's Going On"" in the pantheon of '70s soul albums.
(Disney)
Don't be ashamed. You saw it, you cried and now you can't help but sing along to the songs. And for good reason. Elton John's intermittent collaboration with legendary lyricist Tim Rice has had its ups and downs, but the Lion King soundtrack is one great big up. Even the songs that are crucial to silly storylines and are sung by cartoon voices are good listening on their own. This is because Rice and John wrote some catchy, witty and generally pleasant songs, most of which the Soundtrack features performed by John himself and the cast of the movie. And you want singing cartoons? Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Jeremy Irons and a then-fabulous prepubescent soprano, Jason Weaver, are as good as it gets. Save your John Goodmans. ""Hakuna Matata"" may be the worst message song since ""One in a Million,"" but just try not to smile when you hear it. And admit it already. It's okay to sing along to ""Can You Feel the Love Tonight.""
(A&M)
The absolute best of all the John Hughes movies happens to have the best soundtrack as well'not only is it the mix of excellent-but-obscure '80s rock that Cameron Crowe can only wish he had a hand in, but it's a textbook example of how well music can work in a film. There's not much that can match the pithy look on the face of a heartbroken Molly Ringwald, but even if you haven't seen the film, just IMAGINE how much more soul-burrowing it is over strains of The Psychedelic Furs.
Ringwald's poor-side-of-town character is hopelessly attracted to preppy Andrew McCarthy, and when he starts to take an interest in her, she has to fend off accusations of betrayal from her friends, especially Duckie (Jon Cryer! Whoda thunk it?), who's not so secretly in love with her. Not a film for the cynics, but those who can suspend disbelief for 90 minutes, I feel, are better for it. In addition to the namesake Furs song, it's the best place to hear O.M.D.'s ""If You Leave"" and Echo and the Bunnymen's ""Bring On the Dancing Horses."" It's just one of those discs put together so well that it can't help but have an effect on you if you've ever, ever felt halfway lonely.
(London Records)
Grosse Point Blank is quite possibly the best black comedy of the last decade, and with the movie centering in part on a longing for the eighties, John Cusack required a great collection of '80s hits. What resulted was one of the greatest ever collections of unoriginal material for a movie soundtrack. The mixture of artists, styles and sounds is phenomenal: from the Violent Femmes' ""Blister in the Sun"" to Guns 'n' Roses' version of ""Live and Let Die,"" from Faith No More to The Specials. There's a reason that the number of Madison bar jukeboxes that feature the soundtrack is so disproportionate to the number of people who have seen the movie. And if you've been making out to anything other than the E. Cola mix of Pete Townsend's ""Let My Love Open the Door,"" you've been missing out.
