Two things I did a lot while growing up: Watched movies and listened to radio. In the 80’s, the movies had a strong influence on what’s being played on radio. Sometimes the music was much better than the movie! These are some 80’s songs, as part of movie soundtracks, still stuck in my mind:
Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me (1985)
The “Breakfast Club” is a great movie. It’s one of John Hughes’ classic teen movie. The soundtrack is unforgettable to me. I just love this song. I heard it so many times and I still don’t get tired of it. A bit of trivia: the song was turned down by Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry. I can’t imagine those two sing it, anyway.
OMD – If You Leave (1986)
Another classic John Hughes’ film, “Pretty In Pink” has many classic songs. This OMD song in particular was played on the radio so many times, it was hard to miss. The contender is the song “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want“” by The Smiths.
The Furniture – Brilliant Mind (1986)
Another one from Hughes’ film, “Some Kind of Wonderful“, but this time the soundtrack went alternative. This song in particular was played a lot on CFNY 102.1 alternative music station in the 80’s. I still like it.
Harold Faltermeyer – Top Gun Anthem (1986)
As I posted earlier, the movie “Top Gun” was a blockbuster success and the soundtrack went to #1 with it. The theme song represented the movie quite well. I also like Faltermeyer’s previous work: “Axel F Theme“.
Bob Seger – Shakedown (1987)
I really like the movie Beverly Hills Cop. The sequel is not bad, but not as good as the first one. For some reason, I enjoyed this song by Bob Seger on the sequel, more than the soundtrack of the first movie. I think it just a really upbeat song, and fun to sing along.
David Foster – Love Theme St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)
Once in a while, I like a good ballad . This composition is particularly beautiful. Great melody. For a “love theme” it’s quite cheerful. The movie… not so memorable.
Huey Lewis and The News – Power of Love (1985)
“Back to the Future” is awesome movie, and it has an equally awesome song by Huey Lewis. I know the lyrics well. I’ll probably ace it in Karaoke. 🙂
Duran Duran – A View To A Kill (1985)
I really don’t care about the movie “A View to a Kill“. For a Bond film, it was badly written, badly acted, and the stunts were boring. However, the featured song was great and they had chosen the correct contemporary band to play it.
Kenny Loggins – Footloose (1984)
“Footloose” is a good coming of age movie. This is Kevin Bacon’s breakout film. I don’t think he made any other decent film after this, other than “Tremors”. Anyway, the song from Kenny Loggins is so awesome, and it looked like they had fun doing the final dance scene in the movie.
Irene Cara – What A Feeling (1983)
“Flashdance” was one of those movies where the soundtrack was better than the movie. Not a good feeling for the producers and director.
Bonus Track
Killing Joke – Eighties (1985)
This song was played a lot on alternative radios, and popular in the clubs. The guitar riffs are mesmerizing, and not overwhelming. Little did I know, this song was part of the “Weird Science” soundtrack! I can’t remember where it was played in the movie. I should watch that movie again.
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