Movie soundtracks feel like a 20th century idea in 2023. Sure, motion picture soundtracks still get released to varying results. Twenty long years ago Spider-Man jubilantly somersaulted over skyscrippers to “Vindicated” and “We Are” in theaters across the globe. Today the film and movie industries chase the same cultural moment only achieved by Tik Tok and a clean shaven Christopher Carrabba.
Soundtracks help put the time and place in a movie plot into context, and when executed properly elicit the required emotional response from the audience to emphasize with the film. Air, a rare example, effectively sets viewers into the American 80’s with “Money for Nothing” and with “In a Big Country” endears you a bit to Sonny Vaccaro on his way to meet the Jordans. These collections of songs affix you to characters, story, and ultimately the film and songs themselves.
There are quite a few soundtracks beloved in my life like Adventureland, Superbad, and many others but I don’t own most of them. Some were never pressed on wax while others cost more than a decent espresso machine. Still, I flipped through my coffers to find my favorite soundtracks in my collection. It didn’t take much time to pick out my favorites.
Hair pulling difficult to select just one song to feature from Pineapple Express, but the humor derived from “Electric Avenue” swirls together like cookies and cream frozen yogurt. Comedic perfection for a goofy dope in 2008. Only pressed once for Record Store Day in 2017, only 1,800 green grass marble copies exist. Looking back this may have been the first year I lined-up at Lou’s Records for RSD.
Over the years Pineapple Express became a stable in my household for hosting friends for game nights, pre-gaming before hitting the city, or just chilling at home responsibly (I stress very responsibly). Through my twenties and into my thirties this soundtrack outlasted the rewatchability of the film itself. There’s more here than just rocking with Eddy Grant or M.I.A.’s “Paper Airplanes” which only appeared in the movie trailer.
It introduced me to Peter Tosh with “Wanted Dread or Alive” which pushed me to explore reggae beyond Bob Marley. Also an amazing cooking song. Robert Palmer’s “Woke Up Laughing” garnishes the final cherry on top of real friendships established in the final scene in Pineapple Express. On brand ending for a Judd Apatow film but with an underrated choice swan song.
No other film better appreciated the dysphoria of the American workplace than 1999’s Office Space during the Y2K transition from 20th century to the 21st. Packed with breakroom bangers like Biz Markie’s “Shove This Jay-Oh-Bee” and a “9 to 5” cover Office Space offers the best after work soundtrack over cheap beers with the neighbor and breast exams on channel 9.
The Geto Boys however catapulted the humor of the movie into the either of meme immortality. “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” perfectly embodied Peter Gibbon and the audience’s lifelong pursuit of a carefree lifestyle of not giving a fuck. “Still” lives on forever as proof you can hear memes. Never has brutalization of janky technology been more satisfying.’
One could argue Geto Boys delivered three enduring tracks when Michael Bolton spits Scarface’s “No Tears” in rush hour traffic. One of the hardest tracks on the soundtrack highlighted by Michael locking his car door, lowering the stereo volume, and self-censor a certain no-no word when passing by a black man selling flower bouquets.
When I hear Seal’s cover of “Fly Like an Eagle” I visualize Michael Jordan gliding through the heavens of the hardwood for a majestic layup. It’s not a choice either. Call it automatic or conditioned, Michael Jordan’s omnipresence in popular cultural even reached me at 5 years old in Denmark. I never saw him play on TV until he unretired (again) in 2001, after I moved to the USA.
Space Jam capitalized on the cultural phenomenon of Jordan in 1996 with Bugs Bunny and the institution of the Looney Tunes universe. The soundtrack had to match the star power of the movie, so why not call on B-Real, Coolio, Method Man, LL Cool J, and Busta Rhymes for cascades of bars on “Hit ‘Em High” the Monstars’ theme.
Quad City DJ’s “Space Jam” theme set the bar for hype for anyone born in the late 80s and early 90s. That elation never goes away when I hear it, no matter how old I get. Doesn’t hurt it was the first CD I bought with my own coin.
R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” spun on repeat through my boombox and MTV. I stress, at the time, it was the reason I bought soundtrack. I had no clue Kelly sexually abused children which ultimately tainted my feelings towards all of his music. Yet some affinity remains. I cannot deny how aspirational that song was in 1996.
Photo by Chris Hardy
Disaesthetic 