Buyer’s Guide
Eighties soundtracks
It was the decade of brat packers, teen movies and films about fast cars and even faster fighter pilots. Many with killer scores. But which of them were the Top Guns?
It was the decade of brat packers, teen movies and films about fast cars and even faster fighter pilots. Many with killer scores.
Sure, there were movie soundtracks before the dawn of the 1980s – who can forget the enduring image of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper roaring along on Harley choppers to the sound of Steppenwolf’s Born To Be Wild in Easy Rider, or young Benjamin Braddock about to be seduced by the wily Mrs Robinson to the dulcet tones of Messrs Simon & Garfunkel in The Graduate? But more often than not, the soundtrack to a film often seemed like something of an afterthought.
In the 80s, however, everything changed. The movies got bigger, brasher and more bombastic. And so did their scores. It was a time for specially commissioned and written songs that fulfilled the remit of encapsulating the film in a three- or four-minute blast. Kenny Loggins seemed to develop a real knack for this and found a renewed sense of purpose during the 80s, writing the main rock themes for both Top Gun and Footloose.
Sometimes a director knew he’d have a hit film on his hands if only he could find the right piece of music to accompany it. After all, would Survivor’s Eye Of The Tiger have been such a massive worldwide hit were it not for the fact that every time we heard it we subconsciously saw Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa pounding the streets in pursuit of his dream? I think not. Similarly, think of all the monster ballads that have become mega smashes thanks to the film they were associated with. Would Berlin have been anything other than an obscure, struggling rock band had they not been offered the chance to record Take My Breath Away, the love theme to Top Gun?
Film soundtracks also afforded bands and artists the opportunity to record a song that might not fit into their regular album profile. For example, many 80s soundtracks featured bands putting their own distinctive spin onto a cover version. It was also a fantastic way to hear artists you might never have had the chance to before. Think of the soundtrack album as a way of discovering new artists, as a mixtape compiled by your favourite director, as a way of getting into the heart and mind of your favourite movie characters.
Oh, and don’t forget that in the 80s the songs that were featured in the accompanying album were actually to be found somewhere in the movie – unlike today’s current vogue for songs ‘influenced and inspired by the major motion picture’ marketing cash-in.
What’s even better is that in the 80s the overwhelming majority of soundtracks really rocked, as the following selection proves.