Independence Day Weekend is one of the biggest for the Hollywood Box Office. In that spirit, we’ve decided to dedicate this week’s list to songs written for movies. Sure, we could have done a list of patriotic songs, but we’re pop-culture obsessives. Bear in mind, there are many great songs strongly identified with certain films, but they only qualified for this list if they written specifically for the movie they appear in. No “Head Over Heals” in Donnie Darko, for example.
Transformers The Movie
The Touch – Stan Bush
Well before Michael Bay’s live-action celluloid nightmares, the robots in disguise made their first cinematic foray in support of the original animated tv series. Released in 1986, Transformers: The Movie became a sort of minor classic. Whereas the show had been relatively low-stakes, the film heightened the drama by killing off major characters, portraying genocide and, in certain editions, featuring swear words. This may have been enough to make the film endure, but Stan Bush’s “The Touch” ensured members of a certain generation would never forget . Wailing guitars, churchy synths and a Loggins-esque vocal delivery characterize this anthem. What is “the touch”? It’s an indelible quality that creates greatness. Featured twice in the film, it was resurrected in 1997′s Boogie Nights as one of Dirk Diggler’s ill-fated would-be singles.
Flash Gordon
Flash’s Theme – Queen
It’s common for movies these days to feature scores by rock bands and popular musicians. In 1980, it was something of a novelty. Queen’s score for Flash Gordon is a great example of how the marriage can work. Who better to provide musical accompaniment to the bombastic, over-the-top theatricality of Flash Gordon than rock’s most bombastic, over-the-top and theatrical act? Look no further than Flash’s Theme, one of the few tracks on the album to feature vocals. It is both the perfect piece to set the ironic tone of the film as well as a classic Queen track. The film was unsuccessful, retaining a small cult following, but the song lives on in Queen collections and as a ubiquitous pop-culture reference.
The Triplets of Belleville
Belleville Rendez-vouz – Beatrice Bonifassi
The Triplets of Bellville feels like a timeless classic the moment you first see it. It is a singular and striking piece of animation. It has the surreal quality of a dream. Its dialogue free-narrative gives the story a universal quality. Its elderly protagonist predates the elderly protogaonist of Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle by a year Pixar’s Up by six. Most of all, the music is absolutely, balls-to-the-wall amazing. An amalgamation of popular styles from the 1920′s, Benoit Charest’s music for this film evokes more than any amount of dialogue ever could. The film’s theme, Belleville Rendez-vous is uplifting, infectious and inspiring. I could levy a complaint or two against the film, but the music is perfect.
The Jungle Book
I Wanna be Like You (The Monkey Song) – Louis Prima
These days Disney offers vacuous, over-focus-tested entertainment designed to strike your emotional palette the same way a MacDonald’s Big Mac is intended to strike your oral palate. Once upon a time, they were the premier innovators of animation and family entertainment. They did things on old technology that would be difficult to accomplish today, post-digital revolution. They also hired some of the best song-writers of their time. For our list, we had to go with “I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song)” from The Jungle Book as the penultimate Disney song. Sung by the incomparable Louis Prima, the song has a backbeat that won’t quit, tasty harmonies and a superlative melody. When Baloo tries to rescue Mowgli during this musical number, his plan derails as the song overtakes him and he helplessly joins in the performance. You know what? I buy it.
Top Gun
Danger Zone – Kenny Loggins
Top Gun is a very silly movie. One could imagine it began with a studio excec or producer muttering, “fighter jets”, scrawling it on a cocktail napkin and coming up with the plot on-the-fly at a pitch meeting. It is one of many 80′s cinematic curios, seemingly made in all sincerity with much in the way of hilariously unintended subtext and overtones. The soundtrack for the film spawned several successful singles. “Danger Zone” somehow rises above the rest, with its literal lyrics (You’ll never know what you can do/until you get it up as high as you can go), Giorgio Moroder production and Kenny Loggins’ classic vocal performance. If you can say you didn’t love it at the time, you are either a liar, or one of the members of Berlin.
Shaft
Theme from Shaft – Isaac Haye
I just had a great idea for a themed movie night. Who’s up for Shaft in Africa (Shaft 3) followed by Ernest Goes to Africa (Ernest 9)?
All kidding aside, the first Shaft is one a few redeeming examples of Blaxploitation cinema. It’s a pretty decent detective/action hybrid with some memorable moments and a great turn by Richard Roundtree as the titular character. Of course, Isaac Hayes’ Oscar-winning theme song trumps everything else that has anything to do with it. More than any other song on this list, The Theme from Shaft has eclipsed the film that spawned it. Don’t believe me? Walk up to someone and ask them for a one sentence summary of the movie’s plot. Then interrupt their silence by saying, “He’s one bad mutha-”.
Wizard of Oz
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
What is there to say about one of the all-time most successful songs from one of the all-time most successful movies that hasn’t been said before? Nothing.
Back to the Future
Power of Love – Huey Lewis
In the 80′s, meatheads wanted to be Tom Cruise from Top Gun (or Rocky) and slackers wanted to be Back to the Future’s Marty McFly. McFly could be associated with all 80′s cool iconography; skateboards, guitars, videogames and, most importantly, Huey Lewis. “The Power of Love” is perhaps a little shallow, but then isn’t that what the 80′s were all about? In compiling this list, the theme from Ghostbusters came up several times. Tsk tsk tsk… Ray Parker Jr’s Ghostbusters’ Theme is merely a rip-off of Lewis’s style. There was even a lawsuit, after which the two settled out of court.
The Graduate
Mrs. Robinson – Simon & Garfunkel
The Graduate, released in 1967, was a coming-of-age story for a time when society was coming-of-age. A directionless and unmotivated college graduate gets entangled in a love triangle with a woman a generation above him an her daughter. At the time, it was a major success and celebrated as a masterpiece. While it still enjoys “classic” status today, some would argue the film doesn’t quite hold up. On the other hand, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” sounds as fresh as ever. Lilting and playful, the song is a go-to for any film-maker trying to score a protagonist comically and frantically rushing from point a to point b.
The Muppet Movie
Moving Right Along – The Muppets
Ah, The Muppet Movie. Another truly great piece of cinema. The Muppets are some of the most well-realized characters in filmdom, endearing, funny and supremely relatable (despite their neon skin and those dead, unmoving eyes). The initial Muppet trilogy is excellent, but there’ something special about this one. If you’ve made it this far in the list, it will come as no surprise to you that we think the music in The Muppet Movie warrants special attention. Take “Moving Right Along“, a road song that captures the vibrancy, wit and whimsy of The Muppets in a few short minutes. “Rainbow Connection” might be the most identifiable song from this movie, but “Moving Right Along” is the most listenable.
Rocky III
Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
You know the story. In Rocky, Rocky preps for a big fight and loses. It’s a decent flick that resonated with a generation and represented the only moment in Sylvester Stallone’s career where he was regarded as the artist he’s always aspired to be. In Rocky II, he gave the people what they wanted, allowing Rocky to reconfront Apollo Creed and win. Crowd-pleasing but trivial. Rocky III is more of the same, except this time his rival is Mr. T. People love this stuff, and that’s fine, but come on. Rocky is the AC/DC of film franchises, churning out the same thing over and over again. What makes Rocky III unique is Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, the all-time greatest motivational anthem. If you had played it for Napolean before Waterloo, he’d have won. If you had played it for Goliath, he’d have kicked David’s ass. At some point in our lives, we’ve all used this song to “get psyched”.
