00:00Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those deep cut tunes from
00:121980s movie soundtracks that we feel deserve some re-investigation.
00:24Number 10.
00:25Jungle Love – Purple Rain
00:28To paraphrase Jay from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,
00:31I've never said an unkind word about the time.
00:34Forrest Day and The Time are indeed the mad note.
00:38Jungle Love is unequivocally the group's legacy and calling card.
00:42But this isn't a bad thing.
00:44After all, any 80s funk band worth their salt would kill for Prince to write a song this
00:50good for their catalog.
00:59Jungle Love hinges upon that ultra-synthesized 80s production, that smooth bassline and backing
01:05vocals that become immediately stuck in listeners' heads.
01:08Meanwhile, the song's appearance in Prince's own Purple Rain allowed Forrest Day and The
01:13Time's amazingly cool choreography to swing for the fences.
01:24Number 9.
01:25To Live and Die in L.A. – To Live and Die in L.A.
01:35Director William Friedkin struck gold once again with 1985's To Live and Die in L.A.,
01:41yet another standout from a filmography that included both The Exorcist and The French
01:46Connection.
01:47Wang Chung's theme to the film updates its crime, mystery and thriller themes with a
01:52and expansive.
02:00Dance All Day's and Everybody Have Fun Tonight may be the songs most associated with Wang
02:04Chung's chart success, but To Live and Die in L.A. deserves to be equally remembered.
02:09The modulated section that occurs shortly before the three-minute mark ramps up the
02:13tension a little bit, while the song as a whole is a smooth synth pop song with style
02:18to spare.
02:27Number 8.
02:28Only the Young – Vision Quest The history of Only the Young is an interesting
02:34one, because its composers and journey actually sold off the rights to Patti Smith and Scandal,
02:40who recorded the first version in 1984.
02:52That said, most listeners are probably more familiar with the version that Journey themselves
02:56released as a single in conjunction with the 1985 film Vision Quest.
03:02There's certainly no shame in Scandal's game, but there's few that would deny Steve
03:06Perry all of the flowers when it comes to Journey's version.
03:16Co-songwriter Neil Schoen also adds some tasty guitar accents to the chorus, while Jonathan
03:21Kane's keyboards create urgency and drama.
03:25This latter sentiment ties into Vision Quest as a character piece concerning love, challenge
03:31and competition.
03:38Number 7.
03:40Somebody's Baby – Fast Times at Ridgemont High
03:43You could be forgiven for spacing out on this Jackson Browne soundtrack cut for Fast Times
03:48at Ridgemont High.
03:57After all, this was a movie soundtrack that was absolutely stacked with killer cuts.
04:02Somebody's Baby is a case of musical kismet, a tune where the lyrics resonate with those
04:08awkward moments of first love, romance and heartbreak.
04:16Meanwhile, Browne and his band craft a main melody that's wistful and slightly melancholic
04:23– a nostalgia-fueled trip back for fans who remember watching Fast Times for the first
04:28time.
04:29It's virtually impossible at this point to separate Somebody's Baby from its filmatic
04:37source material, and this is a good thing.
04:45Number 6.
04:47I Still Believe – The Lost Boys
04:51The soundtrack to The Lost Boys is another release that's chock-full of bangers.
04:56Cry Little Sister from Gerard McMahon serves as the film's outstanding main theme.
05:04However, there's little that can stand in the way of Tim Capello's blaring saxophone,
05:12oiled-up physique and gyrating masculinity.
05:28I Still Believe is actually a cover, the original of which was written and recorded by a group
05:33known as The Call.
05:34Capello brings his own inimitable style of swagger to the tune, however, as well as a
05:39nice dose of hard-rock attitude.
05:42This results in a cover that's as slick and MTV-friendly as The Lost Boys was for
05:47kids in the late 80s.
05:59Number 5.
06:00Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young – Streets Of Fire
06:04There's just no other way to say it.
06:13Streets Of Fire goes hard.
06:15The soundtrack is equally dense, featuring a bevy of songwriters, studio musicians and
06:21singers working together to get the project off the ground.
06:32Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young is pantomimed slash performed by Diane Lane's character
06:37in the film, but the recorded version was by a session group called Fire Inc.
06:48The song was written by frequent Meat Loaf collaborator Jim Steinman, and its vibe embodies
06:53everything that name entails.
06:55This is big, bombastic and gothic rock, full of grandeur and with absolutely zero sense
07:01of irony.
07:02It's a vision that's as ambitious as Walter Hill's script and direction for Streets
07:07Of Fire.
07:08In other words, it's a true cult classic.
07:18Number 4.
07:19Almost Paradise – Footloose
07:22Man, they don't make them like this anymore.
07:31It's difficult to replicate a song like Almost Paradise in the modern day, since there's
07:36just so much sincerity at play within the songwriting.
07:40Eric Carman and Dean Pitchford struck gold with their music and lyrics respectively,
07:45with Almost Paradise being an earnest love theme for a movie soundtrack that was already
07:50bursting with hits.
08:03The Footloose soundtrack may be remembered today for its more upbeat numbers, but Mike
08:07Reno of Loverboy and Anne Wilson from Heart absolutely kill it with this mid-tempo ballad.
08:13This is pure, unfiltered 80s schmaltz, mainlined straight into the rose-colored hearts of Footloose
08:20fans around the world.
08:28Number 3.
08:29No Easy Way Out – Rocky IV
08:40We honestly could have populated this list solely with amazing, pumped-up montage tunes
08:45from the world of 80s action flicks.
08:48But you know what?
08:49No Easy Way Out by Robert Tepper would still rank way up there, and that's how hard this
08:54song jams.
09:02Tepper contributed this song to the soundtrack for Rocky IV, and it goes broke right from
09:07Jump Street.
09:08The vocals are brutally emotive and passionate, while the synthesizer stabs and a fantastic
09:13bass line anchors the entire affair.
09:16No Easy Way Out isn't only one of the best Rocky soundtrack cuts, it's one of the best
09:21songs from the entire 1980s.
09:29Number 2.
09:31Mighty Wings – Top Gun
09:40A lot of classic soundtracks have those tentpole cuts that become inseparable from the film.
09:46Berlin's Take My Breath Away and Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins do that sort of work for 1986's
09:52Top Gun.
09:58That said, we'd argue that Mighty Wings from Cheap Trick is the dark horse hero from that
10:03OST.
10:05Maybe it's due to the fact that the full version of the tune didn't get played until
10:08the film's closing credits?
10:20All we know is that this Harold Faltermeier, Mark Spiro composition gets the Cheap Trick
10:25treatment of raging guitars and a lead vocal to die for.
10:29Oh, and apparently Mighty Wings also influenced the composition of Ken's theme from Street
10:34Fighter 2.
10:35Now that we know that, we can't unhear it.
11:02Number 1.
11:03Who Wants to Live Forever – Highlander
11:18There's no denying that Queen's Who Wants to Live Forever sounds great in a vacuum,
11:23away from the 1986 film Highlander.
11:26That said, the song takes on a whole new meaning as viewers watch the film, since its placement
11:31occurs during a montage of Connor McCloud and his wife Heather.
11:35The former is a Highlander, destined for immortality or the blade, while his wife is immortal.
11:49Connor is forced to watch his beloved age while he remains young, making the Queen tune
11:54feel like a heartbreaking concerto for this tragedy.
11:58Who Wants to Live Forever asks this question of its audience, while the story on screen
12:03acts as a bittersweet cautionary tale.
12:13Is there a particular decade that you feel locked in the art of the film's soundtrack?
12:19Let us know in the comments!
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