In this episode of Ramblin’ Tunes we put the spotlight on movie soundtracks.
| Title | Artist | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 20th Century Fox Fanfare | Bateman & City of Prague Philharmonic | |
| Theme From “Shaft” | Isaac Hayes | “Theme from Shaft”, written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971 for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie Shaft. The theme describes the character of John Shaft and Isaac Hayes became the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. |
| Across 110th Street | Bobby Womack | New York City’s “110th Street” is the traditional dividing line between Harlem and Central Park that functioned as an informal boundary of race and class in the 1970s. The 1972’s movie title song, written and performed by Bobby Womack, was later featured in Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 homage ‘Jackie Brown’. |
| Everybody Needs Somebody to Love | The Blues Brothers | This song was originally recorded in 1964 by one of the founding fathers of soul music, Solomon Burke and since then covered by many other artists. In the 1980 American musical comedy film “The Blues Brothers”, “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” is sung by Saturday Night Live stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as The Blues Brothers. |
| Ghostbusters | Ray Parker Jr. | The movie “Ghostbusters”, co-written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, was released in 1984. Aykroyd had initially conceived it as a project starring himself and John Belushi, who died in 1982. The theme song, “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr., became a number-one hit. |
| Don’t You (Forget About Me) | Simple Minds | Scottish rock band Simple Minds released their number one hit single “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” in 1985. They had been reluctant to record the song which was written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff for the 1985 American coming-of-age movie “The Breakfast Club”. |
| Pinball Wizard | Elton John | The original song “Pinball Wizard” is written by Pete Townshend, member of the English rock band the Who, for their 1969 rock opera album “Tommy”. “Tommy” is about a “psychosomatically deaf, mute, and blind” boy who becomes a pinball champion and a religious leader. In 1975 Ken Russell produced the film version of the Who’s rock opera Tommy where Elton John performs this song. It’s among the first films to be released with Dolby-encoded soundtracks. |
| Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life | Monty Python | Monty Python’s Life of Brian, is a 1979 British comedy film telling the story of a young Jewish-Roman man who is born on the same day as Jesus, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah. Some countries like Ireland, Norway and Italy banned the showing of the movie. Monty Python member Eric Idle wrote the song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” which appears at the end of the film. The rest is history .. |
| Everybody’s Talkin’ | Nilsson | “Everybody’s Talkin’ ” sung by Harry Nilsson is the title song for the 1969 film “Midnight Cowboy”. Nilsson had earlier discovered this song written and performed by Fred Neil in 1966. Nilsson’s version later also appeared on the soundtrack of the 1994 film “Forrest Gump”. |
| You’re the One That I Want | John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John | This world hit was released in May 1978 as the second single from the Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture “Grease” with John Travolta as Danny Zuko, leader of the T-Birds, and his girlfriend Sandy Olsson, played by Olivia Newton-John. Rest in peace dear Liv. They were the subject of persistent romance rumours after they steamed up screens in 1978’s “Grease.” Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta never got physical while filming the movie musical, and instead went on to share a 44-year friendship that remained strictly platonic. |
| Stayin’ alive | Bee Gees | Another world hit released in 1977 as the second single from the Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture “Saturday Night Fever”, featuring John Travolta as Tony Manero a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn, New York, who spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local discothèque where he is king of the dance floor. “Stayin’ Alive”, written and performed by the Bee Gees, has a disco beat of 120 beats per minute which coincides the heartbeat of your heart when you’re excited. A study on medical professionals found that the quality of CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) is better when thinking about the beat of “Stayin’ Alive”. Bee Gees manager and film producer Robert Stigwood had signed a million dollar deal with John Travolta in 1976. |
| Flashdance…What A Feeling | Irene Cara | American singer and actress Irene Cara Escalera (born in The Bronx, New York on March 18, 1959) co-wrote the song “Flashdance… What a Feeling”. She had already become a star since her performance in the 1980 hit film “Fame”. For the movie “Flashdance” in 1984 she worked with Keith Forsey on the lyrics and Giorgio Moroder for the music composition. |
| A Brand New Day (Everybody Rejoice) | The Wiz Stars | The Wiz is a 1978 American musical adventure fantasy film directed by Sidney Lumet, featuring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.The story is based on the children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. The adapted 1978 movie version follows the adventures of Dorothy Gale, a shy, twenty-four-year-old Harlem schoolteacher who finds herself magically transported to the urban fantasy Land of Oz, which resembles a dream version of New York City. “A Brand New Day”, also known as “Everybody Rejoice”, is written by Luther Vandross. |
| Over the Rainbow | Judy Garland | At the age of sixteen, Judy Garland played the role of Dorothy Gale in the 1939 cinematic adaptation of The Wizard of Oz where she performed this ballad “Over the Rainbow”. She received the Academy Juvenile Award for it. Fifteen years later she received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in “A Star Is Born”. |
| Evergreen (Love Theme from”A Star Is Born”) | Barbra Streisand | “Evergreen” (also called “Love Theme from A Star Is Born”) is the theme song from the the film “A Star Is Born”. Composer, performer and actress Barbara Streisand received an Academy, a Grammy and a Golden Globe Award for it. The 1976 version is a remake of the 1937 original picture, which had also been adapted in 1954 as a musical starring Judy Garland, and again in 2018 starring Lady Gaga. |
| Hero | Family of the Year | Hero” is a song by American band Family of the Year and written by Joseph Keefe. It was used first in the 2012 comedy ‘Thanks for sharing’ and was prominently used in the 2014 epic coming-of-age drama ‘Boyhood’. Director Richard Linklater filmed from 2002 until 2013 the childhood and adolescence of Mason Evans Jr., played by Ellar Coltrane. |
| In The Death Car | Iggy Pop | “In the Deathcar” comes from the 1993 comedy drama “Arizona Dream” composed by Sarajevo born, Goran Bregović, starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway. “In the Deathcar” is a variation of Enrico Macias song “Solenzara” sung by Iggy Pop. |
| Car Wash | Rose Royce | The Los Angeles-based group Rose Royce released in 1976 their Billboard number one single and movie theme “Car Wash”. |
| Goldfinger | Shirley Bassey | Welsh singer, Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey recorded the theme songs to three James Bond films: Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979). The picture “Goldfinger” starring Sean Connery and with music by John Barry received the Oscar for Best Sound Editing. |
Sources
The information sources of the song facts include, but are not limited to, Wikipedia, songfacts.com, discogs.com, secondhandsongs.com, YouTube and artists’ related websites.
