Playlist: Soundtracks

It used to be that soundtracks were the place for specially commissioned musical scores, the classical sounding epics of John Williams, or the spaghetti sounds of Sergio Morricone. But then, somewhere in the late 1960s, film producers cottoned on to the use of regular mainstream tunes, to complement the themes, era and tone of their movies. Starting with classics like The Graduate and Easy Rider, it has now become the norm.

So, here is a playlist with representatives of ten great film soundtracks from the last 40 years or so (but including tunes going back much further). A good range of artists and styles for you... but shhh, don't tell anyone - I haven't even seen all of the films these tunes are from.

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1. Pretty In Pink (1986)

Echo & The Bunnymen: Bring On The Dancing Horses

The epitome of new wave music soundtracks, and one of the best movies of my teenage years (look for a full John Hughes / Bratpack edition at some point in the future). The film was named after the Psychedelic Furs song, a favourite band of star Molly Ringwald. The band were persuaded to re-record the 1981 original, giving it a bit more polish and punch. But the original is better, so lets see what else is on here. There's OMD's lush If You Leave for the prom dance at the end, written especially for the movie. New Order had Shellshock for the soundtrack, but also allowed an instrumental version of Thieves Like Us to be used within the film. We get contributions from Nik Kershaw, The Smiths and INXS. There is also the classic scene of Duckie (Jon Cryer) lip synching to Otis Redding's Try A Little Tenderness. But we are going with Echo & The Bunnymen and the song they wrote for the movie - Bring On The Dancing Horses, a big, opulent and suitably cinematic number.

(official music video)

2. Romeo & Juliet (1996)

The Wannadies: You & Me Song

Now, I'm not one for that Shakespeare chap and any of the films of his work, but to be fair, producer Baz Luhrmann put a half decent soundtrack together for his 1996 interpretation. He pulled together a veritable who's-who of mid-90s cool music acts - Radiohead, Garbage, The Cardigans, Des'ree, not to mention, Kym Mazelle's version of Candi Staton's disco classic, Young Hearts Run Free. But for now, we are looking at the other Swedish band on the soundtrack - You & Me Song gave The Wannadies their biggest hit when it was re-released alongside the movie.

(official music video)

3. 24 Hour Party People (2002)

Buzzcocks: Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't Have)

This classic Frank Cottrell-Boyce penned film takes us from the Manchester of punk to the Manchester of clubs and indie disco, through the eyes of legendary entertainment guru Tony Wilson and his Factory Records / Hacienda club brands. It starts, of course, with Anarchy In The UK - it was the Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall that kick started the late 70s music scene there. We go through that full northwestern resume of 80s underground, with The Durutti Column, 808 State and A Guy Called Gerald. There is, obviously, the heads of state of Manchester music at the time - New Order. We also get the earlier days covered by Joy Division and one of the best songs of the whole punk era, by one of the best bands - Buzzcocks, with the classic Ever Fallen In Love.

(Live at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, 1978)

4. O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000)

The Soggy Bottom Boys: I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow

The Coen Brothers tackled Great Depression era MIssissippi in this 2000 classic with George Clooney and John Goodman. T-Bone Burnett was entrusted with the soundtrack and lumped in loads of country, bluegrass, blues and gospel, to give it a nice contemporary, 1930s earthy flavour. He also mixed the dark and dirge-y Appalachian music (Lonesome Valley, O Death), with the more upbeat and cheery folk (Keep On The Sunnyside, In The Highways). The musicians were authentic and real southerners - Harry McClintock, Emmylou Harris, The Cox Family, James Carter and Alison Krauss. The pick out track was by the Soggy Bottom Boys, a band created for the movie, and including Dan Tyminski (of Krauss's backing band, Union Station) - taking the lead on I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (where his voice was dubbed over Clooney's in the film).

(film clip leading to Clooney and co miming over the real version)

5. Barbershop (2002)

The Staples Singers: I'll Take You There

This is a film I always enjoyed and have revisited from time to time, and it is about... a barber's shop. But this one is run by rap legend Ice Cube, with fellow rapper Eve also starring in it (and with a fun turn by Cedric the Entertainer). There is plenty of classic hip hop and R&B artists on show here too; Cube (of course) is on it, as is P. Diddy, Ghostface and Marvin Gaye. But we will go with the classic gospel-soul sound of The Staples Singers and one of their many timeless classics.

(live in 1972 - Mavis Staples is one of the most undervalued singers of all time - I'll brook no argument)

6. Top Gun (1986)

Berlin: Take My Breath Away

The first (and one of the few) soundtrack albums I ever bought, from what must have been one of the biggest 80s movies. It's not an award-winning quality film, and nor is the music necessarily anything special - but they go together so well and sound epic on the big screen. Who can forget Goose singing along to You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'. The afterburner power rock of Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone and Playing With The Boys. Harold Faltermeyer (also famous for his Beverley Hills Cop stuff) has his mitts all over this, with tunes written for Loggins, Cheap Trick, Teena Marie and one for himself - and also the central power ballad, Take My Breath Away, performed by L.A. new wave band Berlin.

(official music video - complete with clips of all that Tom Cruise / Kelly McGillis smouldering - oh, and lots of jet planes!)

7. The Crow (1994)

The Cure: Burn

The Crow, a dark, gothic superhero film from 1994, would be Brandon Lee's last role before his tragic, untimely death (he died in an accident with a prop gun near the end of filming). And with the film being about a resurrected rock star, it has a rock laden soundtrack to match. There are contributions by Nine Inch Nails (covering Joy Division's Dead Souls), the Rollins Band (covering Suicide's Ghost Rider) and Rage Against The Machine redoing one of their old B-Sides. The dark and the heavy continue; with Helmet, Pantera, Jesus & Mary Chain and Stone Temple Pilots. But since they are fresh on my mind - there is also Burn by The Cure, a typically dark echoing song, full of deep rumbling bass, written especially for the movie (and one they played when I saw them last week). This is a nice touch, as apparently they were a big influence on the original comic book series by James O'Barr.

(music video of clips from the movie)

8. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Dick Dale & The Deltones: Miserlou

Pulp Fiction is another film almost defined by its soundtrack - rock n roll / surf / soul in this case. Well okay, that and it's almost obscene levels of gang violence! Director Quentin Tarantino wanted it to be the rock n roll version of a Ennio Morricone spaghetti western soundtrack. There's Kool & The Gang, Al Green and Maria McKee providing some gritty soul, Chuck Berry with the classic rock n roll - and plenty of surf rock; The Centurions, The Revels, The Lively Ones, and of course, the classic opening track by the pioneer of it all, Dick Dale (with his Deltones).

(video from when it appeared in another film - 1963s A Swingin' Affair)

9. Singles (1992)

Paul Westerberg: Dyslexic Heart

This Cameron Crowe film starred Bridget Fonda, Kyra Sedgwick and Matt Dillon. Now, I've never seen this film, but the soundtrack is pretty special - a snapshot of the burgeoning Seattle grunge scene. It's not 100% grunge though, with numbers from Jimi Hendrix and Nancy Wilson's other band, the Lovemongers also in there. There is all those northwestern favourites - Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell / Soundgarden, Screaming Trees and Mudhoney. But there is also room for the early solo exploits of Minneapolis roister doister, and until recently, the man leading rabble rousing, lo-fi alt-rock legends, the Replacements - Paul Westerberg. He contributed Waiting For Somebody and the track we are featuring, Dyslexic Heart.

(official music video - including clips from the movie)

10. High Fidelity (2000)

Stereolab: Lo Boob Oscillator

If Pretty In Pink was the soundtrack for the new wavers, High Fidelity is the one for the eclectic urban cool people. I guess that is probably not all that surprising, as it is based on Nick Hornby's novel about a record store owner. You've got 60s folk-rock covered by Dylan, top notch British songwriting from The Kinks and Elvis Costello, cool avant-garde (Velvet Underground) and psychedelic electronic folk (Beta Band). And sticking at the more electronic end of things, we have gone with the ultra cool noodling of Anglo-French hipsters, Stereolab, and the most excellent Lo Boob Oscillator (and no, I don't know what one of those does either - could be fun, could be painful).

(live at Pitchfork Festival, Chicago, 2019 - in all of its 9.5 glorious minutes!)