THAT ’ 70S SOUND懷舊1970年代

Movie and TV creators remember the decade (very differently) through music.影視製作人藉不同的音樂緬懷一個精采的年代。撰文： Mark Jones

IN RETROSPECT, WE should have seen it coming. ELO’s 1977 double album Out of the Blue had a sci-fi cover with a spacecraft docking on a mothership in the shape of the band’s logo. Inside, Jeff Lynne’s music was at turns grandiose and bubblegummy, ironic and symphonic. Maybe it was inevitable that four decades on, its signature hit, Mr Blue Sky, should be at the core of Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

‘If the Guardians had a house band, it would be ELO,’ says director James Gunn.

The ‘Awesome Mix’ tapes (above), made by hero Peter Quill’s mother, are at the heart of both GOTG movies. The series takes place in the present, but Quill’s music taste is stuck in arrested development after he is abducted from Earth as a child – an excuse for Gunn’s musical nostalgia trip. For people like me who get easily bored with endless scenes of weirdly coloured humanoids saving planets, listening to GOTG Vol. 2 is a lot more fun than watching it.

You get to re-revere moments of musical genius (Cat Stevens’ Father and Son, Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain), flush with teenage embarrassment at lost glam classics (Sweet’s Fox on the Run – not used in the movie) and plague friends and colleagues with slushy softcore stuff from forgotten bearded Americans (Looking Glass’ Brandy).

Meanwhile, the soundtrack from the short-lived Martin Scorsese/Mick Jagger television show Vinyl is a bad trip through a very different 1970s. A sprinkling of classic Atlantic Records R&B (Otis Redding, Ruth Brown, The Meters) aside, this is the aural distillation of a New York where glam, disco and hard rock were the glitter sprinkled over one very seedy and degenerate place.

The New York Dolls’ David Johansen is the signature artist here, with two tracks, reminding the world that punk rock was not a British invention. Enjoy the album. But you might need a good rub with a complimentary hot towel afterwards.

現在回想起來，我們都曾經滄海。ELO 樂隊於1977年推出的雙碟專輯《Out of the Blue》有個科幻味道十足的封面：一艘太空穿梭機正與巨型的母船對接，母船上有樂隊的標誌。而專輯內 Jeff Lynne 的音樂則時而氣魄恢宏，時而有如吹波糖般甜軟；洋溢嘲諷之餘，又有如交響樂般結構複雜。40 年後，專輯中的熱門代表作〈Mr Blue Sky〉成為漫威影業的《銀河守護隊2》最受注目的插曲，也許是件順理成章的事。該片導演 James Gunn說：「如果銀河守護隊內有常駐樂隊的話，一定就是ELO。」

在兩集《銀河守護隊》裡，主角 Peter Quill 的母親錄製的「Awesome Mix」雜錦歌曲錄音帶（上圖）都有重要的作用。兩部電影的時代背景都是現在，但是 Quill的音樂品味卻嚴重滯後，因為他仍是小孩時被人從地球擄走，這個劇情為 Gunn 的懷舊音樂之旅提供了一個很好的藉口。對於像我這樣的觀眾來說，看著一堆顏色古怪的人形外星人一場接一場地拯救不同的 星球，實在令人納悶，遠不及聆聽《銀河守護隊2》的原聲大碟來得有趣。

聽眾大可重溫昔日天才樂手的精采之作（ Cat Stevens 的〈Father and Son〉與Fleetwood Mac 的〈The Chain〉），或是因久違的華麗搖滾經典中表達的青春窘態而臉紅耳熱（ Sweet 的〈Fox on the Run〉，不過片中沒有用上），不然就用一群無人記得的大鬍子美國人唱的軟綿綿情歌（ Looking Glass 的〈Brandy〉）來疲勞轟炸你的朋友和同事。

至於 Martin Scorsese 與 Mick Jagger合作的短命電視劇集《Vinyl》同樣回到 1970 年代，然而不但旅程崎嶇，那個1970年代亦與前者截然不同。除了不時出現 Atlantic 唱片公司的節奏藍調（ Otis Redding、Ruth Brown、The Meters）樂曲之外，還有華麗搖滾、的士高與硬搖滾等，不時飄揚於龍蛇混雜的紐約中。

New York Dolls 樂隊的成員 David Johansen是這張原聲大碟的焦點歌手，收錄了兩首歌曲，提醒樂迷崩樂並非英國人的發明。好好欣賞這張專輯吧，不過聽完之後，有如在當年一個髒亂下流與頹敗的紐約兜了一圈，你可能需要用熱毛巾擦個臉，再來個熱水澡，從頭到腳洗滌一番。