The soundtrack to the vampire romance, "Twilight" recently debuted at number one on the Billboard chart. Having barely heard of any of the artists that have contributed to this impressive accomplishment, I can openly admit that I know even less about the movie itself. The irony however, that it rests at the top of the musical heap with a bullet is not lost on me. It is after all, well known that a silver bullet can kill a vampire...or is that a werewolf?I don't follow the billboard charts much anymore, but often recall the old saying, "it's number one with a bullet." Movie soundtracks these days don't seem to carry the weight or the importance that they once had, which leaves me to ponder the question, will any of the artists on Twilight reach the iconic status of so many that had come before them? Who can forget the Bee Gee's meteoric rise to super stardom with the release of Saturday Night Fever?
What about Olivia Newton John's return to the top with Grease? 1988's Cocktail brought the Beach Boys out of record chart obscurity landing them in the coveted top spot for the first time in over two decades with Kokomo. Growing up during my favorite musical decade, I remember movie soundtracks suddenly becoming the hot thing. Shortly following the slasher/horror movie craze, it was the coming of age teen genre that seemed to rule the box office. Does anyone remember the classics, 
A Night In Heaven, Party Party, The Last American Virgin, The Wild Life? Individual cult followings notwithstanding, it's a good bet that most of these movies will remain long forgotten. Certain to commit box office suicide, someone had the foresight to sell the idea anothe
r way. Let the music drive the movie. Madonna, Journey, Huey Lewis, Don Henley, Bob Seger, Bryan Adams, Cheap Trick, The Pointer Sisters, The Go-Go's, the list is endless. Far from Box Office Gold, many of the artists that contributed to so many lackluster films, did hit music gold. Survivor was making records long before Rocky III's "Eye of the Tiger" made them 1980's superstars. While 
already doing just fine, Journey scored a big hit with "Ask the Lonely" as did Madonna with "Crazy For You" from 1985's Vision Quest. Cheap Trick did well enough on their own during the decade of decadence and would most likely rather forget some of their soundtrack offerings, as most of the general public already has. As you've probably already figured out, this time around I will bring back into the spotlight some of these tunes that have long faded into the obscure realms of one of my favorite places in the universe, the Unknown 80's. Now hit the play button below and take a trip with me back to the days of the four dollar movie. Spending any more than that while admitting to seeing Up the Creek during it's first and only run might prove embarrassing. As always I IMPLORE YOU to leave a comment, or some clue as to your visit here. In the meantime, Happy Holidays. Thanks again for stopping by. See y'all in '09!Morty!
3 comments:
Morty...
I can't help thinking that these songs are probably indicative of what was likely wrong with the movie also. Totally un-memorable. It's like whoever was in charge of the music (and..in the long run, I think we have to blame the movie's producers here for cutting too many corners) just accepted the first thing sent to them as long as the band had name recognition.
The Cheap Trick song was an example of why they were never able to gain credibility traction with the critical side of the industry, in spite of some brilliant work. It just sounded like they would settle too easily sometimes. The second song I hear as an example of what was going wrong with rock in the late 80's...what we called "corporate rock" then and which eventually imploded in the 90's and ended up destroying the industry. The Beach Boys song is just an example of why they hadn't had a hit in over 20 years.
That being said...I love the format here...and I'll probably go back to earlier posts and annoy you with my perspective...so be prepared..^_^
I agree wholeheartedly with part one of your observation. 1980's soundtracks were primarily about who's who, quantity over quality.
I don't think "corporate rock" destroyed the industry as much as the internet did. Many 80's artists managed to hang on through the better part of the decade where many 90's artists were "flash in the pan, here today gone tomorrow." A bonafide Beach Boys fan at heart, surf music had died decades ago. It was Carl Wilson that primarily tried a number of different styles to see what might stick. This particular tune falls into an adult contemporary sound, but worked for me anyway.
Your input is COMPLETELY appreciated. Thanks for stopping in!
Well, we can have an interesting debate over who/what is responsible for the destruction of the music industry. I'll tell you right now that I come down on the greedy corporate interests of the major labels combined with the destruction of real radio by (once again) corporate entities like Clear Channel, and not the internet...which has only had the effect of making more music available to more people than ever before...and I certainly believe that the beginning of the end was the arena rock hair bands of the 80's...^_^.
May I suggest you take a look here: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ or..better yet..subscribe to his email list: If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
This guy is read by almost everyone in the industry..who then proceed to ignore him...but they do read him..^_^.
And I also liked the Beach Boys..at various times. When I was young I was not fond of them. As an east coast kid the whole surf subculture was more foreign to me than working class Liverpool, so I was older before I appreciated that period. I very much liked what they did from around Pet Sounds time up until there was effectively no sign of Brian anymore..then lost interest.
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