Pretty in Pink
They don’t make them like they used to.
Anytime you start something off by saying that it clearly means only one thing: you’re old. I guess I’m dating myself by saying this but I believe it’s true – they really don’t make movie soundtracks like they used to. I mean, I know that there were some crappy movie soundtracks from the 1980’s (Top Gun, anybody?). But as a general rule, I find the movie soundtracks from the 80’s (particularly the early 80’s) to be far superior to the stuff coming out nowadays.
Now, I’m not including musical soundtracks (like Chicago) in my rant here. I’m talking about movies where music was an integral part of the film. John Hughes did this quite successfully with his movies. Of that genre, I would have to say Pretty in Pink is my favorite. Once again, I’m dating myself. I think my becoming a teenager/young adult at that time obviously plays a factor. But I could listen to the soundtrack to Pretty in Pink, Valley Girl or Fast Times at Ridgemont High anytime and immediately start feeling the nostalgia. Even the soundstrack to Stand By Me, which was a period movie with music from 20 years earlier, brings back memories for me.
Of course back then, only some movies had soundtracks. Now it seems like they automatically create a soundtrack for any movie – good or bad. It’s all about the Benjamins. But even in the 90’s, the occasional good soundtrack came out. I hate to admit it -but my favorite 1990’s soundtrack was, gasp, the Coneheads. Seriously! It’s quite good!
Okay, I should end this now before you lose all respect for me.
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Ooh, me too, me too! See, you’re not that much older than me! Pffthhbpttt! 😀
Crappy? I *loved* the Top Gun soundtrack. I played the hell out of that tape. (yes…tape. I’s old too.)
I think the soundtracks to Natural Born Killers is awesome! So, are the soundtracks to Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, too. Oliver Stone and Tarintino do fairly well with their soundtracks, I think.
However, I do like that one song from Pretty In Pink — and, at the time, I really liked that song by Berlin in Top Gun. However, I never understood that silly movie. I mean, were they at war or war games — and why/how did that guy die? What was that all about it. It just went right under my head. …maybe I was stoned when I saw it. It was the 80’s….
Valley Girl – one of the great unrecognized 80s classics. Young Nicholas Cage! Modern English! That movie had it all.