Referring to it as a flawless combination of "funk, R&B, pop, metal, and even psychedelia into a sound that defined the 80s", the editors of Vanity Fair magazine recently voted "Purple Rain" as the greatest film soundtrack ever. Looking at the tracking listing for the album and then playing the songs in my head, I am inclined to agree with them. Below are the top 10 film soundtracks selected by Vanity Fair.1. Purple Rain
2. A Hard Day's Night
3. The Harder They Come
4. Pulp Fiction
5. The Graduate
6. Superfly
7. Trainspotting
8. Saturday Night Fever
9. American Graffiti
10. The Big Chill
Their full list of the 50 greatest film soundtracks will be revealed next month in Movies Rock magazine, a one-time publication available to subscribers of the 14 magazines in the Conde Nast family. A 2 hour special (also called Movies Rock) will air on CBS in December.
Since we have turned into a society of listmaniacs, I've played along and compiled a list of my 5 favorite film soundtracks:
1. Purple Rain
2. Claudine
3. American Graffiti
4. Easy Rider
5. A Hard Day's Night
What would be on your list of the greatest film soundtracks ever? Feel free to list off 5, 10, or as many as you like.
11 comments:
Yea! "Purple Rain," one of my favorites. "Superfly" and "Saturday Night Fever" get my vote as well.
I'm with you about "Claudine." I need to add that to my "gotta get" list (smile). Other soundtracks I've enjoyed include, "New Jack City" ( I had this on tape, but a neice "borrowed" it and never gave it back) and "Waiting To Exhale."
Thanks for the heads up about the 2 hour CBS special. Sounds like a winner.
Any soundtrack written and produced by Curtis Mayfield definitely gets my vote. These include "Sparkle", "Let's Do It Again", "Piece Of The Action", and of course the ones mentioned in the post, "Claudine" and "Superfly". I just watched "Waiting To Exhale" again two days ago and as Lori mentioned, it was an excellent soundtrack. I happen to love movie soundtracks, so it will be difficult to compile a list, but here goes in alphabetical order (this let's me escape ranking my choices):
American Graffiti
American Hot Wax
Claudine
Corinna, Corinna
Dead Presidents 1 & 2
Let's Do It Again
Piece Of The Action
Saturday Night Fever
Set It Off
Sparkle
Superfly
Athough I love Prince, I wouldn't say that "Purple Rain" would be among my favorite movie soundtracks. I will definitely be watching the special on movie soundtracks, as always you are on top of all the popculture info.
I have no problem with Purple Rain as #1, but you would have thought that some of the great musicals (e.g. West Side Story, The Sound of Music etc.) would have received a nod in the top ten. I would have also included Quincy Jones' In the Heat of the Night which masterfully integrated blues, orchestral, funk, and country & western into a coherent narrative all its own.
Lori: As of now, the soundtrack to "Claudine" is out of print. On Amazon Marketplace the cheapest copy available is $65.99! You may be able to find it on eBay or somewhere similar at a reasonable price.
I can't stand it when people don't return stuff that you loaned them.
Pjazzy: Curtis was the soundtrack master in the 70s. Dead Presidents 1 and 2 was a good pull on your part. Speaking of "American Hot Wax", I wish that they would release the movie on DVD. TCM had showed it a few times awhile back. I just submitted a request through their website that they show it again.
X. Dell: You raised an interesting point about the lack of soundtracks to classic musicals in the top 10. It'll be interesting to see if they get some representation in the 11-50 slots.
I'd put A Hard Day's Night just above Purple Rain. I'm an oldie; I was around for the early Beatles. My personal soundtrack fave is Hedwig and the Angry Inch; it would definitely land on my #3 spot. I think the soundtrack for the upcoming Dylan biopic is gonna land in my top five.
Ooh, Ooh, I want to make some additions! Pjazzy named some great one's I'd forgotten all about, "Sparkle", "Let's Do It Again" and "Piece of the Action."
To that list I'd also add "Love Jones." Not sure why I neglected to name it the first time around, especially since I listen to something from it just about every week. For those who don't know, it contains cuts by folks like Maxwell, Dionne Farris, Cassandra Wilson, Lauryn Hill and even Ellington & Coltrane. Great stuff.
What?! The "Claudine" soundtrack is out of print! Don't folks know "old school" rules?
I've never heard of Claudine. Maybe I shouldn't admit this.... Two of my 13 favorite soundtracks were on the Vanity Fair list (Big Chill and The Graduate). I love several songs from Purple Rain, but it's more like in my top 50.
Wow "Claudine" is going for that much??? Who knew? I purchased one for myself and one for A. J. years back. I am amazed. Well I guess I'll go play mine (LOL).
Malcolm I was just thinking ( I do that from time to time) and could I make an argument for the fact that the "Cooley High" soundtrack and "The Big Chill" soundtracks kind of warrant comparable attention since they both capitalized largely on the "Motown Sound"?. The first when Motown was fresh and new (Hitsville U.S.A.) and the latter when the company was perhaps producing a more seasoned sound. Although the "Big Chill" had other artists on the soundtrack it still maintains a Motown feel in my humble opinion. I had just remembered how much I enjoyed the Cooley High soundtrack, In fact I have it on album and cd.
Hey Lori, I forgot about the "Love Jones" CD. A good friend of mine gifted me with the cd back when the movie was in the theaters in 1997. I enjoyed it from the first to the last song. Oh rats! Now I have Meshell Ndegeocello stuck in my head singing "Rush Over".
Beth: I'll bet that you are goodie too, right? I have seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch listed in the digital cable guide, but haven't got around to watching it. The premise does sound interesting... as does the upcoming Dylan biopic.
Lori: You know what would be sweet? If they put all of Curtis Mayfield's soundtracks onto a boxed set. You know that folks don't care about old school rules. When I found out that it was available several back in the early part of the decade, I jumped right on it. I believe it went out of print shortly thereafter.
Holly: If you like Gladys Knight and the Pips, you will probably enjoy the Claudine soundtrack. With the exception of an instrumental, the entire soundtrack is by Gladys and the Pips. Not only is the soundtrack excellent, but the movie (starring Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones) is as well.
I don't think there's any shame in admitting that you like "The Graduate" and "The Big Chill" soundtracks. Both are worthy of inclusion on the list.
Pjazzy: Charging almost $70.00 for a CD... it's highway robbery. You know you were wrong for rubbing it in about having the soundtrack to "Claudine", lol. I'm not much better because I laughed.
You make an excellent point about the soundtrack to "Cooley High". It should be on the list of 50 compiled by Vanity Fair. However, they will probably leave it off... the bastards! In addition to the classic Motown tunes, the soundtrack to "Cooley High" also included the orig. version of "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" by G.C. Cameron.
Post a Comment