Archive for the soundtracks Category

80smetalman Poll: Would you have liked a full album from the Dudes of Wrath?

Posted in 1980s, films, Heavy Metal, Music, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 22, 2023 by 80smetalman
Dudes of Wrath

I know I said that the next post would be the Nine Inch Nails but with all the things I had to do with the run up to Christmas, I haven’t been able to give their debut album my full attention. Therefore, I got to thinking and ever since I posted about the “Shocker” soundtrack a few weeks back, I have been wondering if the one band, The Dudes of Wrath, should have put out a full album. They played the opening and closing songs on the soundtrack, although the closer is a reprise from the opener. Plus they back up the strange duet between Alice Cooper and Horace Pinker. While, the duet might have been strange, the song they do play is pretty good, so, was there potential there? The stellar line up alone suggests that they should have moved forward.

Desmond Child- lead vocals

Paul Stanley- lead vocals

Vivian Campbell- guitar

Guy Mann-Dude- guitar

Rudy Sarzo- bass

Tommy Lee- drums

Kane Roberts and Michael Anthony- backing vocals

So, tell me your thoughts, good or bad. Should we have heard more from the Dudes of Wrath?

Normal service will resume after Christmas.

To buy Rock and Roll Children, it makes a nice Christmas present, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

Great Soundtracks of 1989: Shocker

Posted in 1980s, films, Heavy Metal, Music, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 26, 2023 by 80smetalman

I’ve never seen the movie “Shocker.” From what I’ve read and what I remember, it received mixed reviews everywhere. I came to be in possession of the soundtrack via my sister, Dawn, who sent it to me as a Christmas present in 1989. It turned out to be a great present because no matter what is said about the film, this is an amazing soundtrack.

The first and last songs on it are from a super-group calling themselves The Dudes of Wrath. It consisted of Desmond Child and Paul Stanley on vocals, Vivian Campbell and Guy Mann-Dude on guitar, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Lee on drums. Also, Michael Anthony and Kane Roberts provide backing vocals. No argument from me about this being a super-group. They open the soundtrack with the title track and I have to say, it’s a pretty good way to open things. Paul’s vocals are quite obvious and he and all the dudes do a good job on it.

Second up is “Love Transfusion” from Iggy Pop. After the harpsichord sounding intro, the track goes proper metal. It has a strong, commanding beat and I regret to say but this was my first experience of Iggy. Let me say it was a great introduction. T

That is followed by what I guess you can call the single from the soundtrack, Megadeth’s cover of the Alice Cooper classic, “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” I remember this song getting pretty far up the UK charts in 1990 and even the metal hating UK newspaper, “The Sun,” ran a small article on the band and didn’t say anything negative about them. Still, while this is a cool cover, it wouldn’t win an “Original vs. Cover” competition, at least not in my view.

Up and coming German band, Bonfire, are up next with their song, “Sword & Stone.” Like stereotypical Germans, Bonfire get straight down to business with a cool, straightforward metal jam. This one ticks all the boxes, cool vocals, a strong rhythm section and some excellent guitar solos. Side one ends with a very haunting but hard hitting power ballad from Saraya. Some called this band the next Heart and we will explore that more when I get to their self-titled debut album but for now, I just want to sit back and thoroughly enjoy this power ballad. That piano intro and Sandi Saraya’s vocals are just mesmerizing.

Side two opens with the return of The Dudes of Wrath, only this time, Desmond and Paul are relegated to backing vocals. “Shockdance” is a rap duet between the movie’s villain, Horace Pinker, played my Mitch Pillegi and one Alice Cooper. The track is very amusing, especially the line “And I never do the dishes.” The backing music from The Dudes make sure the rap isn’t a joke.

Like Saraya, another metal band which got some notoriety on this soundtrack is Dangerous Toys and I will be posting their 1989 album in due time. Here, they give us “Demon Bell (The Ballad of Horace Pinker)” and for me, it has 1980s hair metal all over it. Still, it’s a nice track and there was great potential with Dangerous Toys here.

The following two tracks are from bands I have only heard of on this soundtrack. First up is Voodoo X with “The Awakening.” Since, I had never heard of this band I heard this song, I can award it the hidden gem of the soundtrack. It’s a good metal song, sort of Whitesnake before they went into more ballads. It did prompt me to research them more and I can say their one and only album has been added to the list for 1989.

Maybe, like many soundtracks from the 1980s, who try to incorporate all forms of music, the people who put the “Shocker” soundtrack tried it with all forms of metal. Penultimate track, “Different Breed” from Dead On is a nice thrash/speed metal track. While there is nothing ultra spectacular about it, it is good enough for me to add their debut album to the list. The soundtrack ends with a reprise as The Dudes of Wrath takes it out singing, “We will have the power, we will have the glory.” It’s a nice way to end things.

Track Listing:

Dudes of Wrath
  1. The Dudes of Wrath- Shocker
Iggy Pop

2. Iggy Pop- Love Transfusion

Megadeth

3. Megadeth- No More Mr. Nice Guy

4. Bonfire- Sword & Stone

Saraya

5. Saraya- Timeless Love

6. The Dudes of Wrath featuring Alice Cooper and Horace Pinker- Shockdance

Dangerous Toys

7. Dangerous Toys- Demon Bell (The Ballad of Horace Pinker)

Voodoo X

8. Voodoo X- The Awakening

Dead On

9. Dead On- Different Breed

10. The Dudes of Wrath- Shocker (Reprise)

Who cares about the film? I ask. This is a great forgotten soundtrack with some excellent heavy metal. Now, I know some of you will come back with “I haven’t forgotten this soundtrack” and that’s cool. In fact, pull it out and listen to it again as it’s that great.

Next post: A joint post with Mike Ladano- Our Top Ten Savatage songs.

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition giving Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

Joint Posts

Posted in Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , on September 28, 2022 by 80smetalman

After all of the great feedback and all the fun I had writing a joint post with 2loud2old, I would be happy to write joint posts with many of you in the future. It doesn’t even have to be two person post adventure and I’m sure many of us here could put our heads together and write a joint post. Posts could be ranking a band’s albums, ranking musicians or anything really, the sky’s the limit!

The only issue is that I would like to keep these type of posts spaced out as I am totally committed to the tour of heavy metal’s golden decade. Actually, I’m closer to the end as I am now well into 1988 and there’s only 89 left. However, it was never my intention that when I posted the final album of 1989, to end 80smetalman. You don’t get rid of me that easy! While I might cut down the frequency of the posts after that, I would still be open to ideas and joint posts would be one of them. Although, we could still write some along the way.

One point which I must absolutely insist on is that any joint post involving Savatage, Mike has to be included. He’s a big Tage fan as much as I am. Other than that, the sky is the limit.

Survivor Albums Ranked From Worst to First

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 26, 2022 by 80smetalman

The idea for writing a post ranking albums from Survivor came as a result of comments on my post about their 1988 album, “Too Hot to Sleep.” Reading comments from 2loud2oldmusic, I suggested we write a joint post ranking Survivor albums, to which he thought it was a good idea. What this has done is to get both of us going back and listening to all eight of Survivor’s studio albums and putting them in our order of preference. Here’s mine:

8. Premonition

“Premonition” was Survivor’s second album released in 1981. Many bands seemed to have the Sophmore jinx and the same applies here. The album has its good moments but overall lacks the hunger of the debut and it’s not quite as finely tuned as future Survivor albums.

7. Survivor

Like with so many debut albums, the band’s hunger is there to see. The 1970s progressive hard rock is clearly there to hear and it has some great hard rocking moments as well as guitar solos.

6. Eye of the Tiger

Ah, the album made famous by the “Rocky” films. Even if the title cut hadn’t appeared in “Rocky III,” it was still a good enough album to stand on its on. They tended to go more hard rock on this one.

5. When Seconds Count

A good album which continues down the melodic rock path began by its predecessor, “Vital Signs.” If I had been writing this post in 1986, it would have probably be one place lower but as I am mellowing with age, I can appreciate the musicianship quality of it. However, I haven’t mellowed that much and still prefer a good rock out.

4. Vital Signs

With “Vital Signs,” Survivor veer away from hard rock and head in a more progressive, melodic rock direction. The album proves that they did so with considerable ease. There are still a couple of great guitar solos on it.

3. Caught in the Game

This album passed me by in 1983, I blame it on being in the service. But when I listened to it, I had a very pleasant surprise. This is a really good hard rocking album with some of the best guitar solos.

2. Reach

After being away for nearly 20 years, Survivor’s comeback album in 2006 is fantastic. Cliche warning: it’s almost as if they had never been away. Having different vocalists on the songs gives the album a different perspective which works well. Plus it ends with a phenomenal power ballad.

1. Too Hot to Sleep

The members of Survivor do everything to their full potential here. Great vocals, guitar solos, keyboards and a great rhythm section. Even if studio musicians were brought in for the latter. There is some great rock to be had by all. Sometimes, I can’t understand why they waited 18 years after this one to record their next album.

So there you have it, my ranking of Survivor albums. As you can see, 2loud and I have differing opinions on this but that’s something a good band with so many good albums will produce. Everyone will have their favourites.

Great Rock Albums of 1988: Cheap Trick- Lap of Luxury

Posted in 1980s, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , on June 5, 2022 by 80smetalman

Today’s post comes compliments of 2Loud. The reason for this is because by 1988, I thought Cheap Trick had disappeared into obscurity and I was left to simply enjoy memories of classic albums such as “Dream Police” and “Cheap Trick At Budokan,” Fortunately, 2Loud’s recent series on Cheap Trick alerted me to the many albums I had missed after the 1982 “One on One” album. After reading, 2Loud’s post on the 1988 “Lap of Luxury” album and how successful it was in the US, I had to put it on my list.

Memories of Cheap Trick came flooding back with opening riffs of “Let Go.” Hearing that gave me reassurance that they hadn’t gone anywhere and had not lost their touch. While I try not to let other reviews on albums effect my own, I can’t help agreeing with 2Loud’s point that they were (probably under the record label’s direction) trying to adapt to the pop of the 1980s. That comes through on the second track, “No Mercy.” It’s obvious to me that it’s still Cheap Trick playing the song, Robin’s vocals are too unique, the drums seem to be turned up to synth pop level and while this is no intent against what a great drummer Bun E. Carlos is, it does detract from the song a bit.

Another reason why the album passed me by is that I was already established in England by this time and the album made no headway there. Case in point, the band’s only number one single, “The Flame.” It only reached number 77 in the UK charts and therefore went pretty much unnoticed. That was a damn shame because even though it’s a ballad, Rick Neilsen shows he still can bend the six string to his will with a cool acoustic guitar intro followed by a his best guitar solo on the album. For me, this is the best song on the album.

“Space” sounds very 80s to me with the keyboards but there is the drone of the guitar in the back to make it hard rocking enough. There is another good guitar solo from Rick and I like the backing vocals on it. However, the singles seem to be the best songs on the album because “Never Had a Lot to Lose” is a traditional Cheap Trick rocker. It has the harder guitar with the new wave melody. Robin’s diverse vocal style definitely makes the song but it might have been better if Rick had more of a guitar solo on it but that’s up to debate.

On the other hand, while I can understand why they might have wanted to release the cover of the Elvis classic, “Don’t Be Cruel.” as a single, I wonder if it should be on the album, let alone released as a single. Don’t get me wrong, I like Cheap Trick’s spin on it but in comparison to the rest of the album, it feels a little out of place. Saying that, it’s growing on me a little. Things do go back to normal with “Wrong Side of Love” where I love Tom Petersson’s bass work on it and I’m glad that he rejoined the band when I hear him. Rick’s guitar work is great as well and together, they make “Wrong Side of Love” the hidden gem.

Here’s my one thought of a flaw on the album. It’s simply a case of song order. I think that tracks eight and ten should have been swapped around. To my ears, “All We Need is a Dream,” would have been a better closer. It’s a ballad but the intro stomps it’s authority in a way that tells me that this is the end of the album. Robin’s vocals assist on this point and the way the band all seems to come together on the song just screams “Closer!” All Wound Up” is a good song too but it would have been better placed anywhere from tracks 2-8. Penultimate track “Ghost Town” is best left where it is as it does serve as a great set up to whichever song is going to be the closer. It’s a ballad and Robin nails it with vocals and there’s nothing wrong with an album finishing with two ballads had they swapped those tracks around.

Track Listing:

  1. Let Go
  2. No Mercy
  3. The Flame
  4. Space
  5. Never Had a Lot to Lose
  6. Don’t Be Cruel
  7. Wrong Side of Love
  8. All We Need is a Dream
  9. Ghost Town
  10. All Wound Up
Cheap Trick

Robin Zander- lead vocals, rhythm guitar, synthesizer

Rick Neilsen- lead guitar, backing vocals

Tom Petersson- bass, backing vocals

Bun E. Carlos- drums, percussion

“Lap of Luxury” was the first album where outside songwriters were used. In the case of this album, it worked, at least in the US. I can say that while “Lap of Luxury” will not make me put away all those classic albums from the late 1970s, it’s still a good album and it was great to see that the band was still chugging away.

Next post: Tracy Chapman

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

Note: I have been told that “Rock and Roll Children” is available as an e-book but this hasn’t been made known to me.

To sign the petition to give Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link; https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

If You Have Netflix, Then Watch This Movie!

Posted in 1980s, films, Heavy Metal, Music, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 21, 2022 by 80smetalman

My stepson, Teal, recommended the film, “Metal Lords,” to me and in the past few weeks, I’ve seen it twice and now I’m going to plug how good the film is here. Without spoiling the entire plot, “Metal Lords” is about two socially displaced high school kids, Hunter and Kevin. Hunter is a total metalhead who dreams of hitting the big time as a great metal guitarist. Kevin, the drummer, although not a metalhead in the traditional sense, follows Hunter’s lead because Hunter saved him from a bully in third grade. Together, they form the band, Skullfucker.

All the heavy metal cliches are in the film but the thing was, I don’t care because they are all the truth. There’s the being picked on by the jocks, singled out by teachers and late in the film, Hunter’s father has him committed to a clinic because as we all know, only insane people listen to heavy metal. In addition, Kevin gets a girlfriend, Emily, who plays the cello. With the band still not able to find a bass player, Kevin tries to pitch Emily but Hunter rejects it saying that the cello is not a metal instrument. This eventually leads to a falling out between the two friends and Kevin joining the bubble gum pop band, Mollycoddle. It all leads to what some will call a predictable ending but it’s all done a great metal form.

My strange ability to pick out the small details in films, I found it amusing that when Kevin is in Mollycoddle, he finds playing the drums to their songs a lot easier than being a metal drummer. Even if he does nail, “War Pigs.” Then there’s my favourite scene when Kevin is in the pool and about to cheat on Emily, he is visited by Scott Ian, Tom Morello, Kirk Hammett and Rob Halford who all (Rob even more so) remind Kevin what a great girl Emily is and he shouldn’t cheat on her. Then again, if those four Gods visited me, I would do anything they said. One last point, “War Pigs” sounds excellent played on the cello.

Kevin being visited by Scott, Tom, Kirk and Rob

Of course no metal film would be worth its weight if it didn’t have a killer soundtrack.

  1. Skullflower- Machinery of Torment
  2. Judas Priest- Metal Gods
  3. Iron Maiden- The Trooper
  4. Avenged Sevenfold- Hail to the King
  5. Judas Priest- Painkiller
  6. Metallica- For Whom the Bell Tolls
  7. Black Sabbath- War Pigs
  8. Mastodon- Blood and Thunder
  9. Judas Priest- Grinder
  10. Ozzy Osbourne- Dee
  11. Motorhead- Ace of Spades
  12. Metallica- One
  13. Pantera- Cowboys From Hell
  14. Metallica- Master of Puppets
  15. Zeal & Ardor- Trust No One
  16. Guns ‘N’ Roses- Since I Don’t Have You
  17. Metallica- Whiplash
  18. Pantera- I’m Broken
Performance of the song in the film

I urge everyone to watch “Metal Lords.” It may be a little predictable but with all of that metal, who the hell cares?

Next post: Original vs. Cover

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition for a knighthood for Bruce Dickinson, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson/dashboard?source_location=user_profile_started

My Experience of Desmond Child

Posted in 1979, films, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2021 by 80smetalman
Desmond Child, 2019

Reading many of your blogs out there, Mike Ledano and 2Loud’s especially, I have learned a lot about one Desmond Child. I never knew that he wrote songs, many of them hits, or produced albums for the likes of KISS, Aerosmith, Cher, Bon Jovi, Bonnie Tyler and many many more. My association with Desmond came about through a totally different manner. Not through his producing, my introduction to him came via the soundtrack of my all time favourite film, “The Warriors.” FFI- I’ve included my post on said soundtrack should you wish to read it.

Desmond not only writes my favourite track on the soundtrack, the closer, “Last of an Ancient Breed,” he sings it as well and I must say that Desmond is a decent singer and could have made it as one if he had gotten the breaks. Note: There were a couple of other talented singers on the soundtrack who vanished after. So, enough of me prattling on, here’s the song.

Yes, they do use excerpts from the 1983 film, “The Outsiders” in this video as well.

Hope you enjoyed!

Next post: Malice- License to Kill

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

Some Great Films of 1984

Posted in 1980s, Death, Heavy Metal, soundtracks with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 19, 2017 by 80smetalman

Not only was I a big music fan back in 1984, as I am today, I was also a great cinema buff, unlike today. Posting about those two soundtracks from said year threw my mind back to some of the other great and not so great films I got to see in 1984. They may not have had soundtracks I wanted to listen to but most of them were good films or at least a good source of amusement. Therefore, in regards to the golden year of heavy metal, I thought I’d list the films I saw that year.

Ghost Busters

This was probably the most popular film in 1984. It’s theme song, sung by Ray Parker Jr, got a lot of play on MTV. Never cared much for the song but I did like this film as I was a fairly big Bill Murray fan at the time.

Karate Kid was probably the second most popular film in 1984

In spite of the above, I never accepted the proposition that all the blonde haired, blue eyed teenage boys in Southern California were all karate experts.

Ghost Busters might have been the most popular film, but The Terminator was my favourite.

“I’ll be back” has been a very popular catchphrase from the film. However, my favourite part was when the hotel landlord asks, “Do you got dead cats in there?” Robot Arnie’s brain flashes possible responses and he chooses, “Fuck you asshole.”

Hyped up to be the final chapter of the Friday the 13th series. No surprise it wasn’t.

These were considered the big films of the year but there were many more out there.

The Keep: Nazi soldiers are killed in a haunted castle

This was the first film I went to in 1984.

DC Cab: Mr T stars in a film about an on the rocks cab firm.

This was the second

Angel: High school honour student by day, Hollywood hooker by night.

There were some really funny quips in this film. Example: When Angel’s transvestite friend opens the door to the killer, he asks, “Who does your hair, dickface?”

Tank: A soldier uses a tank to rescue his wrongly convicted son from a redneck prison.

I had been out of the marines only nine months when I saw this film so I was able to identify all the military inaccuracies.

Patrick Swayze leads a bunch of high schoolers against the invading Communist armies.

This film was definitely made to encourage America to accept Reagan’s Contra war in Nicaragua.

Thief of Hearts: A burglar breaks into a home and discovers the wife’s diaries. He uses them to seduce her.

Starman: An alien world accepts Voyager 2’s invitation to visit Earth.

This was the last film I went to see in 1984.

Naturally, there were many more movies in 1984 but these were the ones I went to the cinema to see. That seems to be what I was doing when I wasn’t headbanging away. What films did you all see and like?

Next post: Bon Jovi

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Roll-Children-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1609763556/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1508426476&sr=8-3&keywords=michael+d+lefevre

Great Soundtracks of 1984: Streets of Fire

Posted in 1980s, films, Music, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 16, 2017 by 80smetalman

Unlike “Footloose” the soundtrack to the film “Streets of Fire” went with virtually unknown or less known artists, at least for the time. It would be six months to a year before I would hear about The Fixx. The only others I had heard of were Ry Cooder and The Blasters and I’ll get to them in a minute. Stevie Nicks does write and sing backing vocals on the Marilyn Martin track, “Sorcerer” but for the most part, the artists were virtually unknown to me at the time. However, I would take this soundtrack over that of “Footloose.” Quiet Riot, Foreigner and Sammy Hagar weren’t quite enough to tip it past “Streets of Fire” in my eyes.

Before I get onto the soundtrack, let me provide a little background about the film, which was slammed mercilessly by most critics. The 23 year old me in 1984 thought this film was okay. I mean it was the 1980s where one shot from a gun could set off multiple massive explosions and men settled their differences with sledgehammers. What wasn’t there to like? However, as I grew older, I realized how surreal the movie was almost bordering on the ridiculous.

“Streets of Fire” is about a famous rock singer named Ellen Aim who gets kidnapped by a motorcycle gang, led by a guy named Raven played Willem Dafoe, while performing a gig in her home town. Without going into great detail, Ellen is rescued by former boyfriend Tom with the help of an ex-army girl named McCoy played by Amy Madigan. After many explosions and action sequences where they receive aid from an all black doo-wop band called the Sorrells, Tom and Raven have their predictable show down at the end. First with the fore-mentioned sledgehammers and then with fists. Therefore, Dafoe gets his ass kicked twice. Other little details include Rick Moranis, playing the usual nerd but this time it’s in a serious role as Ellen Aim’s manager and current boyfriend. His best line in the film is, “It’s the shits.” He says it several times and his performance, while good, never made me think that doing “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” was a bad career move. The best performance was by Amy Madigan who did receive a nomination for best supporting actress, so I’m not just saying it because Mrs 80smetalman is a huge Amy Madigan fan.

Amy Madigan as McCoy

Rick Moranis as Ellen Aim’s manager. “It’s the shits.”

Willem Dafoe as Raven. Note the pvc dungarees.

Okay, the film wasn’t Oscar material but that doesn’t stop it from having a rather cool soundtrack. When it first came out, MTV plugged the film by constantly playing the video from the first single, Fire Inc’s “Tonight Is What it Means to Be Young.” I do really like the song which was probably why it didn’t go anywhere in the charts. The most successful song as far as chart success was “I Can Dream About You” by Dan Hartman. It is a good song but the irony here is that in the film, the song is performed by The Sorrells. Back in 1984 many people were amazed that a song performed by a black quartet in the film was actually sung by a white man. I think it’s great we’re more wiser about these things nowadays.

Dan Hartman

The Sorrells in Streets of Fire

While all the songs I’ve mentioned are good ones, for me, it’s the rockabilly songs that make this soundtrack. The two tracks by The Blasters are the best songs here and “Hold That Snake” by Ry Cooder gets the bronze. All three of these tracks are just really damn cool and the soundtrack wouldn’t be nearly as good without them. For the record, the song by The Fixx, while good as well, didn’t have me wanting to check out future material without hearing it first.

So, is “Streets of Fire” a bad film with a really cool soundtrack? Well, it’s not a bad film, but it does have a killer soundtrack.

Next post: Great and Not So Great Movies of 1984

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Roll-Children-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1609763556/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1508165794&sr=8-3&keywords=michael+d+lefevre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great(ish) Soundtracks of 1984: Footloose

Posted in 1980s, films, Heavy Metal, Music, Rock, soundtracks, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 11, 2017 by 80smetalman

 

There was a very strange trend in regards to movie soundtracks in the mid 1980s. It seems that in order to appeal to all forms of music lovers, there would be songs representing nearly every genre. There would be some trendy pop songs, some rock, some soul oriented songs and even a heavy metal jam or two. This is exactly the case with the soundtrack for the film, “Footloose” which came out in the very beginning for this year.

Let’s start with the trendy. Kenny Loggins was already known for hit songs from soundtracks. He achieved it with the 1980 film, “Caddyshack.” So, it was no surprise that he sings the title track to the film. It has always been one of those songs I’ve neither loved or hated. The “Footloose” soundtrack also gave one hit wonder Deneice Williams her one hit with “Let’s Hear it For the Boy.” That song seemed to be on every AM radio station during the summer of 1984. I’ve heard worse but I’ve certainly heard far better. On the other hand, the soundtrack was unable to give 1982 one hit wonder Karla Banoff her second hit. It’s a song that’s just there. Then comes the usual practice of using former hits like Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero.” Finally, there’s the let’s take two singers from established bands and have them do a duet for the soundtrack. Cue, Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson from Heart with “Almost Paradise.” It was supposed to be a power ballad that draws rock lovers and top forty fans together but no, it doesn’t. Both singers do a good job on the song and it’s better than most of the other tracks but not good enough to get into my top power ballad list.

Let’s side track for a moment. I have an experience with “Almost Paradise.” Mrs 80smetalman and I chose it for our wedding at our local registry office. Three weeks before our wedding, we get a letter from the registrar stating that we can’t use the song because it has religious connotations, which is not allowed at a civil wedding in the UK. I wonder if they would have said the same if I asked for a Deicide song.

Back to the point, “Dancing in the Sheets” by Shalamar was a definite attempt by the movie makers to appeal to music lovers of African origin. It’s like, let’s put in a song by a black band and black people will buy the soundtrack. That’s my take on it. Now, for true rock lovers like me and you, there’s the classic John Cougar song, “Hurt So Good” and another attempt to bridge the rock/top 40 gap, let’s bring back the Foreigner classic ballad, “Waiting for a Girl Like You.” Now to the metal, we got the great “Metal Health” by the then up and coming Quiet Riot but for me the best song on this soundtrack has to be Sammy Hagar’s “The Girl Gets Around.” Maybe someone heard the “Heavy Metal” soundtrack and said, “Hey, let’s use a Sammy Hagar song.” At least they chose a good one.

A note about the film: “Footloose” is about a teenage boy, played by Kevin Bacon, who moves into a small town, which is run by people who are anti-music. The local reverend is the spearhead of the anti-rock campaign. Of course, Kevin and the music win the day and music is allowed in the town but maybe Hollywood was onto something here. The religious right’s war on music was just in the early stages in 1984 and maybe this film could be a prophecy of things that could come about. It’s something to think about. Oh yes, the track by unknown band Moving Pictures called “Never” isn’t bad but it never (pun intended) made me want to explore their discography.

Track Listing:

  1. Footloose- Kenny Loggins
  2. Let’s Hear it For the Boy- Deneice Williams
  3. Almost Paradise- Mike Reno and Ann Williams
  4. Holding Out For a Hero- Bonnie Tyler
  5. Dancing in the Sheets- Shalamar
  6. I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man)- Kenny Loggins
  7. Somebody’s Eyes- Karla Bonoff
  8. The Girl Gets Around- Sammy Hagar
  9. Never- Moving Pictures
  10. Metal Health (Bang Your Head)- Quiet Riot
  11. Hurt So Good- John Cougar
  12. Waiting for a Girl Like You- Foreigner
  13. Dancing in the Sheets (12 inch mix)- Shalamar

Quiet Riot

Bonnie Tyler

John Cougar Mellencamp

Foreigner

Sammy Hagar

“Footloose” wouldn’t be the only film whose soundtrack got the ‘corporate’ treatment. While there’s something for everyone, at least it’s thought so, there’s not enough songs here for me to ever go out and buy the album. Besides, I already have the tracks I do like from here on other albums.

Next post: Streets of Fire

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Roll-Children-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1609763556/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1507754027&sr=8-3&keywords=michael+d+lefevre