By Megan Bianco
Film soundtracks have become a great way for new music artists to get quick exposure, especially in this day and age when radio could go obsolete at any moment. Back in the silent era, soundtracks weren’t even a thing, with a pianist literally accompanying the film while it was shown. Then by the time “talkies” were a thing, film scores became a big, sweeping thing in epic studio films like King Kong (1933), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Gone with the Wind (1939). Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (1937) had the first full-length soundtrack released for the public, while The Wizard of Oz (1939) would have the first soundtrack released that also incorporated the movie’s dialogue.
It wouldn’t be until around the mid-1950s when popular songs would make an appearance in Hollywood movies with hits like Blackboard Jungle (1955) which would feature Bill Haley & the Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” as the opening song, and help jump start the rock & roll in the United States. Elvis Presley’s movie vehicle Jailhouse Rock (1956) quickly became a smash between the King’s natural star quality and the catchy theme song. Flash forward a decade and James Bond theme songs would also have their own successes like Shirley Bassey’s title song for Goldfinger (1964), and later on Wings’ theme on Live & Let Die (1973) and Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does It Better” from The Spy Who Loved Me (1978). 1967 would be a big year for movie soundtracks with Simon & Garfunkel’s iconic songs for The Graduate, as well as Lulu’s title song for To Sir with Love and Dionne Warwick’s theme for Valley of the Dolls.
The Bee-Gees would coin the record breaking smash hit soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever (1977), with eight original songs for the feature. But the 1980s would be the defining decade for music artists collaborating with Hollywood. The usually under-appreciated new wave band Oingo Boingo would embrace movie theme songs like “Weird Science” for the 1985 John Hughes flick or “Dead Man’s Party” for Back to School (1985). Huey Lewis & the News would have their biggest hit, “The Power of Love,”debut during the opening of Back to the Future (1985); Ray Parker Jr. made a name for himself with the theme for Ghostbusters (1984). And Kenny Loggins would be the king of movie soundtracks with a triple whammy of “I’m Alright” for Caddyshack (1980), the title song for Footloose (1984) and “Danger Zone” for Top Gun (1986).
These days movie theme songs, original or already popular, are still a thing, like the indie bands Family of the Year featuring their song “Hero” in Boyhood (2014) or the Raveonettes’ “Recharge & Revolt” in American Honey (2016). Chris Cornell, who recently left us, also kept busy in his later years with movie themes for films like Casino Royale (2006) and The Avengers (2012).
In many ways, movie soundtracks have become a go-to vehicle to discover new artists and new music in the last half a decade. Let’s hope the exposure never dies.
Megan Bianco is a Southern California-based movie reviewer and content writer with a degree from California State University Northridge.
