You know what I miss? (movie music related)

[pittsoccer33]

Well I don't really miss them, but I've noticed that movie soundtracks aren't really an important part of the big budget film experience anymore.

I think it started in the 70s when movies like the Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno shoehorned popular singers into the movie to perform during scenes. Maybe it started with the Bond theme songs.

At any rate, every hit movie with any kind of romantic subplot from approx 1980 to 2000 had a major hit song usually recorded specifically for that film. A few I was thinking about:

-1982: An Officer and a Gentlemen - Up Where we Belong
-1983: Flashdance - What a Feeling/Maniac
-1984: Footloose - Footloose/Almost Paradise/Hear it for the Boy
-1986: Top Gun - Take my Breathe Away; An American Tail - Somewhere Out There
-1988: Beaches - Wind Beneath my Wings
-1989: Little Mermaid - Part of Your World
-1990: Pretty Woman - King of Wishful Thinking
-1991: Prince of Thieves - Everything I Do; Beauty and the Beast - Beauty and the Beast
-1992: The Bodyguard - I Will Always Love You; Aladdin - A Whole New World; Boomerang - End of the Road
-1993: Sleepless in Seattle - When I Fall in Love
-1994: The Lion King - The Whole Album;
-1995: Batman Forever - Kiss from a Rose; Pocahontas - Colors of the Wind; Dangerous Minds - Gangstas Paradise
-1996: Space Jam - I Believe I Can Fly
-1997: Titanic - My Heart Will Go On; Con Air - How Do I Live; Men in Black - Men in Black
-1998: Armageddon - Don't Want to Miss a Thing; City of Angels - Iris
-1999: Wild Wild West - Wild Wild West
-2001: Pearl Harbor - There You'll Be

[Letang Is The Truth]

Need more Disney-related movies?

[KennyTheKangaroo]

you typed up all those songs and ommitted rocky I through Rocky IV. get the eff out of here with that weak list.

[shafnutz05]

Part of your World wasn't even the best song in its movie

[KennyTheKangaroo]

land of a million drums by outkast.

[legame]

2000: O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Man of Constant Sorrow
2001: Moulin Rouge - Lady Marmalade
2002: Austin Powers in Goldmember - Beyonce, Work it Out and Britney Spears/Pharrell, Boys; Spider-Man - Chad Kroeger, Hero; 8 Mile: Lose Yourself
2003: School of Rock - School of Rock (A reach, I know...); Lose Yourself also charted in 2003 as well.
2004: Spider-Man 2 - Dashboard Confessional, Vindicated
2005: Ray - Gold Digger (Featuring Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles? I'll allow it.) Dukes of Hazzard - These Boots Are Made For Walkin'
2006: Snakes on a Plane - S/T (Bring It)

[meow]

Joe Esposito is offended by this list.

[mac5155]

thank you for inspiring me to listen to "What a Feeling"

[MRandall25]

Metallica did "I Disappear" for MI:II

[viva la ben]

1983 Scarface, Push it to the Limit

[pittsoccer33]

Lady Marmalade was huge that summer. And I forgot about that awful Saliva/Nickleback collaboration

[canaan]

I think there are still some relatively important songs that correlate with the films in which they are produced. These arent necessarily original works, but are important to the tone/direction of the films (credit: imdb)

1. Come What May (Moulin Rouge!-2001) although the song was originally written for Romeo+Juliet, but never used
2. Lose Yourself (8 Mile-2002) won an Oscar and a Grammy
3. Tiny Dancer (Almost Famous-2000) reinvigorated the song's importance and became an anthem for a new audience
4. Llorando (Mulholland Drive-2001) transcended its foreign language to set a crescendo in the film's plot
5. Whole soundtrack (O Brother Where Art Thou-2000) a combination of mostly (save Big Rock Candy Mountain) new recordings that push the folksy/bluegrass-inspired narrative.
6. Whole soundtrack (Walk the Line-2005) did for Johnny Cash for what Tiny Dancer did for Almost Famous, but on a bigger scale
7. Against all Odds (Wicker Park-2004) Was a reimagining of the classic Phil Collins tune by The Postal Service. one of my personal favorites.
8. Somewhere over the rainbow (50 First Dates-2004) was a reoccurring tune throughout the film

Not to mention movies like Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite, Juno, Vanilla Sky that heavily influence the film through its use of music. I think the crux of the conversation boils down to the level in which the studio pushes the song in the music scene, which is an entirely different animal altogether from 1980-2000.

[canaan]

2000: O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Man of Constant Sorrow
2001: Moulin Rouge - Lady Marmalade
2002: Austin Powers in Goldmember - Beyonce, Work it Out and Britney Spears/Pharrell, Boys; Spider-Man - Chad Kroeger, Hero; 8 Mile: Lose Yourself
2003: School of Rock - School of Rock (A reach, I know...); Lose Yourself also charted in 2003 as well.
2004: Spider-Man 2 - Dashboard Confessional, Vindicated
2005: Ray - Gold Digger (Featuring Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles? I'll allow it.)

add also: Spider-Man (2002) - Hero (Kroeger/Scott)

[canaan]

also from that same soundtrack: Bother (Stone Sour)

[mac5155]

Toy Story - You've got a friend in me

amidoinitrite?

[legame]

I think the issue is that most major movies now simply spend the money on previously released tracks rather than paying artists to create songs specifically for the movie itself. More and more older artists are finally agreeing to license their back catalog, and as such you're seeing soundtracks with Led Zeppelin and Stones songs rather than something new. The same applies for licensing by smaller indie bands. For example, take a look at the Wedding Crashers soundtrack. That film grossed almost $300 million and has a soundtrack filled with Death Cab, Guster, Spoon, The Flaming Lips, Rilo Kiley, etc.

[canaan]

i agree with that, legame. combine that with the fact that indy artists are willing to cheaply give their music to studios so you have an influx of "never heard ofs" on soundtracks that do a similar service.

[pittsoccer33]

i wonder if it has more to do with the music business or movie business.

titanic and armageddon were massive hits. buying the soundtrack and listening to those songs was like a way to continue enjoying the movie.

does the fact that most of the top performing movies every year are franchise films have something to do with it? there was no love ballad associated with Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Ghost Protocol, or Transformers Dark of the Moon. They kind of tried throwing a Goo Goo Dolls song into the first Transformers but I don't remember ever hearing it on the radio. Iron Man is full of AC DC songs.

or is it more because of the music business. those slow songs aren't really chart toppers anymore.

[blackjack68]

Les Miz soundtrack

Adele's Skyfall

#doingitwrong

[eddysnake]

1986: Transformers: the movie - The Touch
1987: Dirty Dancing -She's like the Wind
2012: Lincoln - Whole lotta Lincoln

[pittsoccer33]

1986: Transformers: the movie - The Touch

Buying this soundtrack at MusicBlvd.com was my first order of business when I got a debit card sometime around 1997. Spectre General baby.

[Digitalgypsy66]

Didn't the Hunger Games have a new Taylor Swift/Civil Wars song?

One of my favorite soundtracks is from Notting Hill, also one of my favorite movies.

[canaan]

i wonder if it has more to do with the music business or movie business.

titanic and armageddon were massive hits. buying the soundtrack and listening to those songs was like a way to continue enjoying the movie.

does the fact that most of the top performing movies every year are franchise films have something to do with it? there was no love ballad associated with Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Ghost Protocol, or Transformers Dark of the Moon. They kind of tried throwing a Goo Goo Dolls song into the first Transformers but I don't remember ever hearing it on the radio. Iron Man is full of AC DC songs.

or is it more because of the music business. those slow songs aren't really chart toppers anymore.

its about using the music to promote the film. when you have guaranteed blockbusters in iron man, dark knight, ghost protocol, you dont need to grab the female audience because theyve already been captivated. armageddon is a prime example. in its trailers, its built to be a non-stop dude's action flick. you add aerosmith's ballad and it becomes a product for both genders. city of angels had nic cage, but they, the studio, wanted to drive home the concept that this is a chick flick. meg ryan's popularity was declining and this was an added boost for the female audience to be sucked in. the super hero genre of movies are damn near guaranteed hits. there is no need to dump money in music-intertwined advertisement.

[Shyster]

1999: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut – Shut Your ****ing Face Uncle ****a.

[MRandall25]

Blame Canada