John Hughes & the Soundtrack of Our Lives
John Hughes is gone and one more nail is in the '80s coffin. You can talk about Michael Jackson all you want but John Hughes was the soundtrack to my 1980s life. His movies introduced me to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Echo & the Bunnymen, Suzanne Vega, and Wang Chung. In retrospect, I could have done without the Wang Chung introduction.
Still, Hughes' taste in music was impeccable. He set the benchmark for a new era in film soundtracks where songs were as much the stars as the actors on the screen. He could hear a hit the same way a good A&R man smells the next big thing. Apparently, it runs in the family, Hughes' son, John III runs a Chicago indie electronica label called Hefty Records. Films like "(500) Days of Summer" and "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" with their song-driven plots would not exist without "The Breakfast Club" and "Pretty in Pink."
John Hughes was the DJ of our youth. Here are some of his best mixes. Bring on the dancing horses and rest in peace.
GALLERY: Favorite John Hughes cast moments
"DON'T YOU (FORGET ABOUT ME)"
"Hey, hey, hey, hey." The signature song from 1985's "The Breakfast Club" was written by an unlikely combo - disco producer Keith Forsey (the name behind "Flashdance... What a Feeling") and Steve Schiff, guitarist for German punk chanteuse Nina Hagen. Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry were both approached to sing it but they couldn't be bothered. Enter Simple Minds, who also refused initially. In the end, they recorded it in three hours and never really cared for it.
"WEIRD SCIENCE"
The title song to Hughes' 1985 film (and subsequent TV series). It was supposedly Oingo Boingo's least favorite song and was rarely performed live. Maybe because it sounds a lot like Boingo's "Dead Man's Party."
"PRETTY IN PINK"
The Psychedelic Furs released this song on the their 1981 sophomore album "Talk Talk Talk" which barely made a dent on the Billboard Top 100. Hughes dug the song so much, he wrote a script around it. The Furs re-recorded it for his 1986 film.
"IF YOU LEAVE"
Another one from the "Pretty in Pink" soundtrack. The Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song plays in the final scene as Andie (Molly Ringwald) and Blane (Andrew McCarthy) kiss outside the prom. The band recorded the song expressly for the film. Hughes gave them their biggest U.S. hit.
"OH YEAH"
Swiss electronica band Yello released this song on their 1985 album "Stella" to little notice. Hughes brilliantly dropped in his '86 classic "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" to declare Ferris' (Matthew Broderick) obsession with Cameron's (Alan Ruck) dad's Ferrari. That scene gave the song a permanent place in pop culture. "Oh Yeah" is now shorthand for anything coveted, hot, or sexy. Sadly, no soundtrack was ever released for "Bueller" as Hughes felt the songs wouldn't work together as an audio-only experience.
"THIS WOMAN'S WORK"
By the late '80s, Hughes' characters were growing up. Kate Bush wrote this song for the 1988 film "She's Having a Baby," Hughes' ode to newly-found adulthood and suburban adjustment. The next year Bush put the song on her own album, "The Sensual World."
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I remember reading an interview with John Hughes,
in which he said he listened to Elvis Costello and
Lou Reed while writing. So, then why didn't any
of their Music ever show up in his films?
I'm really not getting it. I swear, I've tried, but I still don't like that music. Or the clothes the actors wore. Or the fact that the stories were about nothing related to my life even though I was a little older than the characters despite my being the same age as the actors.
I associate "Don't forget about me" with the Londo Griffin episode of The Family Guy.
Don't do toad.
The bulk of the '80s music that I know, I only know because "Weird Al" Yankovic spoofed it.
You didn't miss much...
me too.
I grew up during the same time, but even then I knew this was crap. R.E.M, Husker Du, Sonic Youth, The Fall, Mission of Burma, The Minutemen, The Replacments all comprise a superior soundtrack.
Maybe some of his choices were too poppy, but give the man a little credit. Who else put the Smiths in their soundtracks in the 80's?
Considering the dreck that was out there, the soundtracks of most of Hughes movies were a breath of fresh air. The songs in this story were generally the 'singles' that the record company demanded; on the full soundtracks, you'd find Pete Shelley, Flesh For Lulu, The Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order, and a lot of other acts who were far from Top 40 radio. Your taste in music is great; I hear Championship Vinyl is hiring these days - you should check it out.
Add The Smiths, The Call, Lemonheads, Dead Kennedy's, and of course Joe Jackson.
And the Squeeze. You have to hand it to the Brits. They really know how to take classic American R&B (not the drivel that passes for R&B today) and give it a twist. Amy Winehouse is the best modern day example.
The Smiths are not crap.
My teenage soundtrack - John Hughes & KROQ. Oh wait, I still listen to those songs and have been pleasantly surprised that nowadays kids are still discovering those same bands, although unfortunately no matter how many kids discover those bands, I'm still 45...
I'm an 80's kid as well. All of these movies are ubiquitous in the patchwork of memories that I have from that time. I love the movies, especially "Weird Science". "Breakfast Club" and 'Ferris.....". But as I look back at the period I remember the greatness and richness of the new diversity that America was experiencing. Mine was the first real generation in my southern hometown where Black kids and White kids weren't simply paying lip service to diversity as our older sisters and brothers had. We were actually on sports teams with each other and not against each other. We dated, studied, got drunk and sometimes prayed together, And YES we partied at each others houses when our parents were out of town, got school detention and skipped school together.
Looking back on these movies and the music from them that were so much a part of my past I wonder why the diversity and integration that was so much a part of my life and many others is not represented in these 'classics' of late 20th century Americana. I wonder if people who see these movies a hundred years from now will really know what was transpiring in the culture.
Yep., About 5 responses is about right for this version of an 80s soundtrack.
Dull, mainstream dross, isn't it? Wait, you're complaining that it's not even more mainstream. What do you like? Madonna?
Interesting. I've often thought of the generation that came of age in the 80s as a selfish, materialistic one. I made that observation after watching my younger siblings and their friends grow up.
You've given me a different perspective.
"little bitch" by the specials works in perfectly with anthony michael hall & molly ringwald in the school dance scene in "sixteen candles".
Every one of those songs are part of my high school soundtrack. Brings back lots of memories - good and bad. John Hughes was good at showcasing two things, that's for sure - teen angst at being a geek, and being an outsider looking in at a preppy caste that I would never be a part of (my family wasn't rich). Being part of the geek squad from the wrong side of the tracks at my own high school, I could completely relate to his movies.
I'll never forget being in the theater and watching Pretty in Pink and seeing the Smith poster in the record store and just squealing with joy! NO ONE where I lived knew who the Smiths were and to see them on the big screen was incredible. All of John Hughes movie soundtracks are the best of the 80's...forget that crap that was mainstream and on MTV. These were the underground bands from England that I craved and loved and here was someone else that "got it."
Although he hadn't made a relevant movie in years, he will always be missed. To John Hughes, who holds a special place in my impressionable youth.
Hearing any of those songs produces an emotional link to each movie and how it made me feel. I think it takes something special to do that. John Hughes was in tune with his audience and it showed. What is your favorite John Hughes-directed film? I'd have to go with Ferris but it's a tough call. PT&A has to be the flat out funniest--see the clip on my Tribute to John Hughes, and take a second to vote for your favorite.
I would not be who I am today, were it not for John Hughes movies. In fact, I likely would not be alive today were it not for John Hughes movies. The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Beuller, Some Kind of Wonderful showed us kids at the time that it was okay to be a "freak", a "weirdo" and an "outcast"
And the music, oooh, the music. I grew up on New Order, The Furs, OMD, and Kate Bush was the high preistess of alternative rock, reigning along side Siouxsie Sioux.
The legacy of John Hughes will last forever, even while music and fashion trends change, because kids will always be kids, and there will always be "freaks", "weirdos" and "outcasts"
But thanks to John Hughes, I'm glad to be counted amongst them
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