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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Favorite Movie Soundtracks

I'm in the mood for some good music this Monday because I re-watched Forrest Gump this weekend and it is one of my very favorite soundtracks of all time. I love all those rock-n-roll classics, the mood music...I could listen to those tracks all day long, I swear. "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Joy To The World" by Three Dog Night, "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd...I know all the words by heart and sing 'em out loud when no one's around because ears would be bleeding for sure. They do put me in a great mood, though. Especially when I'm driving. I tap out the beats on the wheel and it makes me a whole lot more pleasant in the car in heavy traffic. I tend to cuss out the other drivers who get on my last nerve.


Forrest also got me thinking about some other favorite soundtracks. Dirty Dancing is a soundtrack guaranteed to get me going and I own both the original 1987 album as well as the 20th anniversary compilation. I especially love "Cry To Me" by Solomon Burke, "Love Is Strange" by Mickey and Sylvia, "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes and "In The Still Of The Night" by The Five Satins. What a softie I am. :)
I am an 80's child and one of the penultimate 80's dance movies, aside from Dirty Dancing is Footloose. This 1984 soundtrack is one of my very favorite albums. Nothing gets me going like "Dancing In The Sheets" by Shalimar, the title song "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins and "Hurt So Good" by John Mellencamp. God, Kevin looks young on this cover, too. LOL

Now, lest you think I'm only about pop and rock, I do have my big dramatic soundtracks, the ones I listen to relax or to inspire me as I write. One favorite in this category is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This one definitely inspires an epic battle or two as well as providing some haunting music to inspire those scenes of conflict and angst.
My final choice for today comes from a little known Tom Selleck, Bess Armstrong film called High Road To China. It is one of my most favorite romances of all time. I have worn out two VHS copies and a DVD watching this one. As well as scratched up the original album and lost a CD listening to the soundtrack. This one inspired my current WIP, a pilot story set along the Old Silk Road. I don't admit to this film very often because well, I think of this movie as my comforting favorite. I watch it whenever I am depressed, nervous, upset. It is my cure all, I guess. I never saw this in the theater, I found it in the video store completely by accident. How incredible is that?

What are some of your favorite movie soundtracks?
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36 comments:

  1. Jamie GibbsNovember 27, 2011 at 10:32 PM

    Good call on LotR soundtrack :) It's a definite winner.

    My favourite is the Jurassic Park soundtrack - it's beautiful. Also, Vangelis' Conquest of Paradise is amazing.

    I don't know if it's cheating (since they're musicals) but Little Shop of Horrors and Labyrinth are my two top soundtracks :)

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  2. UnknownNovember 27, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    @Jamie I love the Jurassic Park soundtrack, it's incredible and no, Little Shop of Horrors is definitely allowed here. My house, my rules. :)

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  3. Alex J. CavanaughNovember 28, 2011 at 3:34 AM

    High Road to China - I'd almost forgotten about that movie.
    Soundtracks can be a mixed bag, but I liked the ones for the Bill and Ted movies.

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  4. UnknownNovember 28, 2011 at 4:22 AM

    @Alex Oh heck yeah the Bill & Ted soundtracks!! Love those.

    Soundtracks sure can be a mixed bag. I've gotten some real duds and some movies, I've just plain hated the music.

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  5. DEZMONDNovember 28, 2011 at 5:28 AM

    MOULIN ROUGE is my absolute favourite soundtrack. Especially the songs sung by Ewan McGregor :) I don't think we shall ever get such a stunning album as that one was.

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  6. Jeremy [Retro]November 28, 2011 at 6:34 AM

    my favorite score of all time... is "Edward Scissorhands" by composer Danny Elfman. It's sad, epic and sometimes scary... mostly beautiful. As for the regular soundtrack it's a toss up amongst "Fright Night", "Iron Eagle" and "A Nightmare Before Christmas"...

    Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
    Visit The Madness:
    IZOMBIE

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  7. Jennifer ShirkNovember 28, 2011 at 6:46 AM

    Oh fun question!

    I love the Grossepoint Blank soundtrack and You've Got Mail, and of course...Grease. LOL

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  8. julie feddersonNovember 28, 2011 at 8:14 AM

    I'm not usually one for classical music, but the Last of the Mohicans with Daniel Day Lewis has the best soundtrack. I write to it sometimes. And picture Daniel Day in a loin cloth.

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  9. George Beremov [Nebular]November 28, 2011 at 8:15 AM

    Great picks, sweetheart!

    I love Dirty Dancing's soundtrack, and the movie as well. It's one of my guilty pleasures. ;)

    I would add Hero and Crouching Tiger's soundtracks... they're both absolutely mesmerizing.

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  10. Deniz BevanNovember 28, 2011 at 10:17 AM

    Oooh, those are some great choices, especially Forrest Gump and LOTR.
    Um... okay, here goes... I have never seen Dirty Dancing or Footloose.

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  11. Craig EdwardsNovember 28, 2011 at 6:10 PM

    Good stuff there! For pop music, anything with American Grafitti on it was a good compilation (there were like four volumes between the two movies; for orchestral - any John Barry 007 soundtrack, Superman or Star Wars for some John Williams, Lee Holdridge's score from Splash is lovely...I do like a good soundtrack!

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  12. UnknownNovember 28, 2011 at 10:18 PM

    @Dezz Moulin Rouge is a great soundtrack. Ewan has an incredible voice.

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  13. UnknownNovember 28, 2011 at 10:20 PM

    @iZombie I'd forgotten about Edward. I actually have that and will now dig it out so I can listen to it again. I loved that movie. Nightmare before Christmas rocks, too. Digging, digging...:)

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  14. UnknownNovember 28, 2011 at 10:21 PM

    @Jennifer Grosse Pointe Blank!!! The Violent Femmes..Yeah, baby! Definitely one of Cusack's best. And Grease is always fun, a guaranteed good time.

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  15. UnknownNovember 28, 2011 at 10:23 PM

    @Julie You know, I think we were separated at birth. LoTM is one of my favorite movies and picturing Damiel in a loin cloth is an awesome inspiration. ;)

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  16. UnknownNovember 28, 2011 at 10:24 PM

    @Nebular That is too cool that we both rock out to Dirty Dancing. What a great album! I love Crouching Tiger, it's so epic, but I'll have to listen to Hero again. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie. I'm sure it's just brilliant music. :)

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  17. UnknownNovember 28, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    @Deniz No worries about not seeing Footloose or DD. :) Some of my nearest and dearest have not seen them either. Isn't the LOTR music just inspiring? I worked out a battle scene in one of my WIPs to Return of the King.

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  18. UnknownNovember 28, 2011 at 10:28 PM

    @Craig Glad you liked my choices! John Williams is definitely one you can never go wrong with. His compositions are very stirring. And American Grafitti... I was just listening to that like a week or so ago. Awesome classic rock.

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  19. M.J. FifieldNovember 29, 2011 at 8:16 AM

    You listed a lot of my favorites already. I love the LoTR soundtracks for writing sessions.

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  20. Annalisa CrawfordNovember 29, 2011 at 2:54 PM

    Hi Melissa - I very rarely notice music in film unless it's part of the film, like The Wedding Singer, and of course - as you mentioned - the great Footloose!

    I've left an award for you over on my left. Please stop by to check it out.

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  21. Rawknrobyn.blogspot.comNovember 29, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    I just need to say I love you, not only for your movie and music picks, or ever-entertaining writing, but also for your weird boy stories. So many freaks out there!
    xoRobyn

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  22. Russell_LDNNovember 29, 2011 at 8:29 PM

    Great post Mel, soundtracks can make a good movie great and a great movie fantastic!

    One of my favourites is 'The Last Samurai', it's an instrumental score from Hans Zimmer and it is truly beautiful.

    Now bear with me, but the 'Getting Even with Dad' soundtrack is a lot of fun. Yup for an average family film from 1994, the music included;

    Money (That's What I Want) - Barrett Strong
    2. Do You Love Me - The Contours
    3. Ball The Wall - Professor Longhair
    4. I Need Money (Keep Your Alibis) - Slim Harpo
    5. Blues Ain't Nothin' - Taj Mahal
    6. You Can't Get There From Here - A.J. Croce
    7. I Found Faith - A.J. Croce
    8. Weight Of The World - Ringo Starr

    Otherwise the one piece of music which simply takes me back to the movie and I can watch the entire thing in my head is the Superman theme. Personally, it's my favourite soundtrack ever :)

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  23. LeoviNovember 30, 2011 at 9:26 AM

    I love, my favorite is The Lord of the Rings.

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  24. ✗✗November 30, 2011 at 9:02 PM

    Ooo great post!! I love this! Fantastic picks, I too enjoy the Dirty Dancing and Forrest Gump soundtracks especially Forrest Gump.
    I think my favorites are Garden State, Now and Then, Grindhouse (2007), Almost Famous, Atonement and Amadeus.

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  25. UnknownNovember 30, 2011 at 9:10 PM

    @M.J. LoTR is just the best for writing. It inspires me every time. I'm so happy we have some of the same faves. We have great taste in music.

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  26. UnknownNovember 30, 2011 at 9:11 PM

    @Analisa Ah The Wedding Singer. Who could forget Julia Gulia? LOL That had some killer tunes.

    Thank you so much for the award. You made my week.:)

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  27. UnknownNovember 30, 2011 at 9:20 PM

    @Robyn Aww...I love you, too!! There are just way too many freaks out there so we need to stick together. It means a lot that you enjoy my writing so much. :)

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  28. UnknownNovember 30, 2011 at 9:22 PM

    @Russell That is one terrific soundtrack. I will have to get this and give it a listen. :) Superman is an enduring classic that is extraordinarily powerful. Williams is a master.

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  29. UnknownNovember 30, 2011 at 9:23 PM

    @Leovi Lord of the Rings is definitely in a class by itself. The music amazing.

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  30. UnknownNovember 30, 2011 at 9:24 PM

    @Oh I love Garden State and Almost Famous. Those two albums are right up there with the ones I listed. Such classic music.

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  31. Movies on my MindDecember 2, 2011 at 10:21 AM

    My all time favourite is the soundtrack to Larry Clark's KIDS.

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  32. UnknownDecember 5, 2011 at 7:15 PM

    @Movies I have not heard of this movie. I will checking for it immediately as you have some great taste in films.

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  33. Maynard MorrisseyDecember 7, 2011 at 11:26 PM

    Nice Choices. I would add the fabulously entertaining Trainspotting soundtrack :)

    btw, I have to apologize for not having been around late!

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  34. M. HufstaderDecember 8, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    Clearly, I have some catching up to do! Nonethless, Forrest Gump is brilliant. It really fucked over any Vietnam movie that comes after because you cannot top the soundtrack of that movie. LOTRs is another one on my top lists--it competes with the Inception soundtrack daily.

    I second Maynard Morrissey--Trainspotting is excellent music to my ears! Otherwise, great list!

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  35. UnknownDecember 10, 2011 at 2:45 AM

    @Maynard Trainspotting is totally killer! Iggy Pop, Lou Reed...heavy, heavy talent on here. I have both volumes.

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  36. UnknownDecember 10, 2011 at 2:50 AM

    @M Hell to the yeah on Inception. It is some truly inspirational music as well. I have it set to play when I work. And yep, I agree absolutely that you cannot top FG on music. All those classic rock tunes make me feel like kid riding around in my cousin's El Camino. Super 8's sound track rocks as well.

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