The radio only needs remind us daily which songs from the movies were hits – and which weren’t. From the entire “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease” LPs to ‘Unchained Melody’ (“Ghost”), “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” (from “Armageddon”), “Everything I Do” (from “Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves”), and, of course, “I Will Always Love You” (from “The Bodyguard”), motion picture soundtrack’s have produced more than their few share of Top 40 bits. But what of the others? Those musicians sang for their supper but went home hungry; still, doesn’t mean they didn’t give their lungs a great workout.
Here are ten great soundtrack songs, compiled by all the members of Moviehole, that went the way of Harold Holt.
20. “A Walk to Remember” (2002)
Switchfoot : Dare You to Move
A cousin of the heart-drenched “Notebook”, the film adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks’ novel contains quite a few good songs – some by the film’s star, Mandy Moore. This one’s a favourite of ours :
19. “Cocktail” (1988)
Starship : Wild Again
Used over the opening credits for the Tom Cruise movie – and it works magnificently! Really gets you in the mood for.. a movie about a promiscuous bartender.
18. “Get Over It” (2001)
Kirsten Dunst : Dream Of Me
What a gorgeous song… and hey!? Who knew Mary-Jane Watson had such a beautiful voice!?
17. “The Crow” (1994)
Jane Sibbery : It Can’t Rain All The Time
Amazing suited to the movie, but it also serves as a beautiful send-off for the late Brandon Lee, who was tragically killed while filming the 1994 film.
16. “Clueless” (1995)
Radiohead : Fake Plastic Trees
The Alicia Silverstone-starrer encompassed a swag of fascinatingly hip and happening songs, namely this moving rock ballad by hit-makers Radiohead.
16. “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” (1995)
Jennifer Love Hewitt : How do I deal?
Jennifer Love Hewitt scored a moderate hit with the theme to her own “I Know” sequel; sadly, her singing career didn’t even last as long as this one did on radio programming schedules.
15. “Bounce” (2000)
Leigh Nash : Need to Be Next to You
Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t set the box-office on fire with the film, just as Leigh Nash didn’t inch close to any gold records with her theme. Having said that, both the film and the song are solid.
15. “Josie and the Pussycats” (2001)
Josie and the Pussycats : Pretend to be Be Nice
Rachael Leigh Cook lead the fictional band at the center of the film – based on the comic strip of the same name – and got to belt out some great songs as a result! Get the Soundtrack!
15. “AdventureLand” (2009)
Outfield : Your Love
Clint’s suggestion this one; it’s a rockin’ 80′s tune that serves as Ryan Reynolds & Kristen Stewart’s love theme from a well-liked Greg Mottola movie from a couple of years back called “AdventureLand”. Clint says it was his ringtone for a couple of years – on his old, troublesome Blackberry!
14. “Up Close and Personal” (1996)
Celine Dion : Because You Loved Me
Former Moviehole contributor Olivia reminded us of the Celine Dion song that featured in the Robert Redford/Michelle Pfeiffer film.
13. “Love Actually” (2003)
Dido : Here With Me
Though probably best remembered as the theme song to TV’s “Roswell”, the song’s life was momentarily extended thanks to an appearance in the terrific “Love Actually”.
12. “Tootsie” (1982)
Stephen Bishop: It Might Be You
The movie did big business – and all these years later is still really watchable – and Stephen Bishop’s beautiful song rode it’s coat-tails.
11. “Empire Records” (1995)
Gin Blossoms: Til I Hear From You
Being set in a record store, you’d expect “Empire Records” to have a great soundtrack; One of the highlights on the CD is this poppy Gin Blossoms number.
10. “A Smile Like Yours” (1997)
Natalie Cole : A Smile Like Yours
A lovely little ditty from the under-seen Greg Kinnear/Lauren Holly relationship dramedy.
9. “The Secret of My Success” (1987)
Pat Benatar : Sometimes The Good Guys Finish First
Hit-maker Pat ‘Love is a Batterfield’ Benatar didn’t score with her knee-shaking tune from the Michael J.Fox movie, but should’ve! It’s a goodie!
8. “Zapped” (1982)
David Pomeranz : Got to Believe in Magic
Terminally ’80s but still delightfully romantic, Pomeranz’s love theme from Scott Baio vehicle “Zapped” is understandably more memorable than the movie itself.
7. “Teen Wolf” (1985)
Amy Holland : Shooting for the Moon
For such a cheapie, rather ridiculous movie, Canadian comedy “Teen Wolf” showcased a really marvelous soundtrack. Hard to track down though!
6. “The Karate Kid Part III” (1989)
LRB : Listen to Your Heart
Little River Band-fan Phoebe said it’d be a crime not to include one of the most touching tunes to ever feature in a Ralph Macchio movie (tough competition there).
5. “Super Mario Bros” (1993)
Roxette : Almost Unreal
“I love when you do that hocus pocus to me, the way that you touch…” Roxette, renowned for their hits (one of which appeared on the soundtrack to “Pretty Woman”), knocked it out of the park with the theme song to… the worst movie of 1993.
4. “Flashbacks of a Fool” (1993)
Roxy Music : If There Is Something
“The Best thing about the movie” says Moviehole’s Mandy, of a lip-synching scene – performed by Felicity Jones and Harry Eden – to Roxy Music’s classic ‘If There Is Something’.
3. “Chances Are” (1989)
Cher & Peter Cetera : After All
Phoebe, who reunited with her boyfriend after 8 months apart, said the song from 1989′s “Chances Are” is a song that hits you right between the heart muscle. The movie, starring Robert Downey Jr, achieved similar success but is also quite sweet.
2. “Reality Bites” (1994)
U2 : All I Want is You
On such a great soundtrack, it’s understandable that only a couple of songs are going to be associated with the movie – in this case, namely Lisa Loeb’s ‘Stay’. But let’s not forget the use of U2′s amazingly romantic ‘All I Want is You’.
1. “Navy SEALS” (1991)
Vicki Thomas : Wounded Warrior
The all-boys actioner had an appropriately “Top Gun”-like soundtrack, featuring the likes of Bon Jovi and . One of the lesser-released songs on the album was the terrific ‘Wounded Warrior’.
Thanks to ‘Hugh’, ‘Mandy’, ‘Phoebe’, ‘Clint’, ‘Olivia’, ‘J.Anthony’, ‘Mel’, ‘Dom’, ‘Claudia’
