The Independent on Sunday’s latest top ten.
Soundtracks that outlived their films.
send your answers to top10@independent.co.uk
Mine Probably the Sound of Music as I feel that there is a requirement in law for it to be located in every vinyl box in a charity shop
I don’t know about ‘outliving’, but “The Big Easy” soundtrack stands in its own right as a good listen.
I love the movie. The music is very good, but it is also used very well within the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqT7UxxAVgM
I nominate Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle One From The Heart. Does anyone remember the movie? The album is wonderful and is Tom’s last one before he discovered the musicality of the junkyard. He also met his soul-mate and wife on Coppola’s set.
Any chance of a link to the Independent’s list, Hubert.
I vividly remember the movie. Flawed magic realism but great in my book.
I remember enjoying the garish colours but don’t ask me what it was *about*.
Damn it. That was my next question.
Purple Rain
Oh, good one. You’re on a roll today Granule Man.
A lot of the films Ennio Morricone has scored are not that memorable.
Does anyone watch The Mission anymore?
Gotta be The Hot Spot. Unwatchable dross of a Dennis Hopper film starring thingy out of Miami Vice. Amazing soundtrack with John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis and Taj Mahal.
Amen. Great album, last thing Miles put out.
The film has its moments. Mainly an early appearance by the very decorative Jennifer Connelly.
Koyaanisqatsi.
Love the record but have not had access to the correct drugs to fully enjoy the movie, which remains unwatched in a drawer.
I’d add Mishima, which is actually a pretty good film, but the soundtrack is maybe my favourite Philip Glass album.
That’s quite surprising. I’d be the opposite – I can’t listen to it without thinking of the relevant parts in the film.
Don’t get me wron: I love the film but you’ll agree you have to be in the “right state of mind” to appreciate it fully.
OHMSS. It’s not a bad Bond film but the soundtrack is the superior product.
Pink Floyd’s ‘More’ is a nice, underrated album, as recently discussed on these boards, but the original Barbet Schroeder film isn’t very good.
Miles Davis – Ascenseur pour l’échafaud
Sorry, tig. That’s a classic movie, still much revered in France and Wallonia.
Maybe. But the album is better known worldwide. Is it not?
Space Jam. It has “I Believe I Can Fly” on it anyway which appears to have entered the collective unconsciousness quite spectacularly.
Morvern Caller has a brilliant soundtrack. The film’s been somewhat forgotten but I think it will be rediscovered.
Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai. Haunting stuff from RZA in that one.
Any Tarantino after Pulp Fiction.
A mate of mine pointed out to me that at the end of “I believe I can Fly”, the gospel choir accompanying R Kelly do a collective “Hummmmmmmmm” with great emphasis on the ‘H’. I can’t listen to the song now without hearing it.
Curtis Mayfield – Superfly
Björk – Dancer In The Dark
Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid
Marie Antoinette
Saturday Night Fever. By humongous distances.
Staying Alive, If I Can’t Have You, You Should Be Dancing (Yeah!).
Less of a soundtrack, more the entry point for mass consumption Disco.
Also – vote in for the Rocky IV soundtrack. Not one, but TWO Survivor tracks, Living in America (the Count of Monte Fisto’s ring entrance pre-dating Eubank by a decade) and some ‘Yo Adrian’ moments forever captured in time.
Pulp Fiction too? More closely tied to the film but lives in its own environment easily.
Are we talking soundtracks that are incidental music composed for the fillum, or soundtracks that are just collections of old hits?
I’m afraid that’s all the paper has to say. ” Soundtracks that outlived their films” Read into it as you wish I think.
Michael Jackson’s ballad, ‘Ben’ is about a super intelligent pet killer rat called Ben from the horror film, Ben (1972), which was a sequel to Willard (1971)
As used in the final credits
SPOILER
And thanks to pop’s version of Chinese whispers, people soon thought that the song was about Michael Jackson’s pet rat.
That Summer was a great soundtrack pop comp to a Ray Winstone movie from 1979 that you’d always see in OST sections at record fairs/shops. I don’t know anyone who’s ever seen the film and it’s never been commercially available on VHS or DVD
I’ve seen the film (a really ropey video copy back in the late 80s/early 90s).
Can’t find another copy (you’d have thought the internet may have the answer – no demand I suppose).
From what I remeber, it was OK – not exactly earth-shattering, and a bit slow (probalby due to having recently watched Scum about 10 times).
Soundtrack though far outstrips its celluloid parent
May never actually see the light of day on DVD – I’ve just read that
“… when Columbia closed its UK office, the film’s negative was junked and only 3 prints survive (one of which belongs to the director and which has been partially color-restored)”
http://knifeinthehead.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/follow-up-that-summer.html
I remember going to see that at Gants Hill Odeon when it came out. Apart from a dim memory of it being a coming of age sort of thing, I can’t say I recall very much about it.
How about Party Party? Not really a *great* soundtrack, but certainly an interesting one, with an obscure Elvis Costello title song and Bananarama covering the Sex Pistols.
Or Blue Collar? A decent but gloomy Paul Schrader movie with a cracking (and otherwise unavailable) Captain Beefheart song on the soundtrack.
Hold on here’s a clip
That was a superb soundtrack album – had a copy on yellow vinyl!
Im very fond of an obscure soundtrack to the mid 70s film Welcome to L.A. starring Keith Carradine but barely recall the film.
Also Trouble in Mind (also starring Keith Carradine) which I don’t think Ive seen but somewhere in the distant past got hold of the soundtrack. Music by Mark Isham with a great version of The Hawk by Marianne Faithful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcqbosdKtyo
The soundtrack album which accompanies Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World always strikes me as one which has outlasted the film it was assembled for.
http://eil.com/images/main/U2-Until-The-End-Of-418269.jpg
Somewhat against the grain, I love the film as much as I love the album.
The content is sufficiently diverse such that it’s not really possible to post something ‘typical,’ but this is one of the songs on it:
But I’ll tell you what, add Robbie Robertson’s ‘Breaking The Rules’ and Peter Gabriel’s ‘Blood of Eden’ to it. Both feature in important scenes in the film, but aren’t on the soundtrack.
Michael Nyman’s soundtrack to Peter Greenaway’s “Drowning by Numbers” is a beautiful piece of work that I still listen to regularly.
Can’t remember much about the film, though.
Well, it does contain the timeless question, “Do all fat men have little penises?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe86D3DEKX4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpdHMaccjw4
Sitting Target(1972) soundtrack by the great Stanley Myers was much sought after by trip hop DJs but few have probably seen the London gangster film.
OST available from Finders Keepers
so close and yet so far…
give it 56 seconds
Um. I don’t think that’s even possible.
I love the Valley Girl cds
I’d be surprised if anyone has seen the film in decades, It stars Nicholas Cage for God’s sake!
This is Girls Like Me by Bonnie Hayes
That Thing You Do!
A reasonable film packed with great sixties pastiche, like this
Of course, the Rutles got it down pat.
Mention of the Rutles reminded me of this band,( they could have been the new Rutles).
Let it Be, I think it was shown once on C4 but never had an official release.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CvUYJGsAbfQ