I have quite a few songs on my playlist that are from movies featuring fictional bands. I will blame this partly on the fact that The Monkees, the ultimate made-for-TV band, were a big part of my childhood. The rest of the blame lies on the movies or songs themselves: they might not be great art, but they are great at making me smile. And even as much as I like Spinal Tap and 2ge+her (MTV’s send-up of boy bands which didn’t last nearly long enough), it’s not about satire either, at least not for this part of my playlist.
And those songs?
“On The Dark Side” from Eddie and the Cruisers: John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band got compared to Springsteen and the E Street Band a lot when this movie came out. I have been a Springsteen fan for a long time (in case it is not obvious from my domain name – brilliant-disguise.net if you are reading this on LJ). As for the movie, I love Tom Berenger (even as Aaron Noble in Third Watch, which is a stretch). And I like Michael ParĂ©, at least in this movie and one other…
Streets of Fire which is one of my favorite movies and favorite soundtracks. The plot is nothing new: biker gang kidnaps hot chick singer and her ex is summoned home to rescue her. The visuals and casting and yes, the music, make it something special. “Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young” and “Nowhere Fast” are my favorites, followed closely by “Countdown To Love”. By the way, did any song of Jim Steinman’s from that time NOT have the sound of a motorcycle revving somewhere in the background? This movie also has one of my favorite quotes: “Everywhere I go, there’s always an asshole” which sadly is true in most places in real life as well.
“Break My Heart” from Spectacular! Yeah, I was surprised, too. Funny what turns up when you are bored and clicking the remote or the mouse. I would not generally expect to find a fun, perfect-for-the-car song like this from a Nickelodeon movie, but hey, there it is.
Two days of my schizophrenic musical taste is probably more than enough for most of you, so tomorrow will feature a new and exciting topic. Or something!