The Rolling Stones, ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ in
‘Mean Streets’ (1973)
Director Martin Scorsese is credited for forging a unique
connection between pop music and film, and having a lot of influence on younger
filmmakers who followed his lead. It goes back to his first critically
acclaimed film from the early 1970s, where wannabe Mafia guy, played by Harvey
Keitel, waits in a bar for his childhood chum Johnny Boy, played by Robert De
Niro, to enter the picture. The camera zooms in on Keitel’s face as watches
with envy, as De Niro walks up with a young woman under each arm. Johnny Boy is
wearing his favorite pork pie hat with a goofy smile across his face. The song
sets the tone for the scene, along with red barroom lighting; and it will
encourage you to watch his concert documentary, ‘The Last Waltz.’
Elvis Presley, ‘Jailhouse Rock’ in ‘Jailhouse
Rock’ (1957)
While most of Elvis Presley's movies were considered to be mediocre in quality, this
one is well worth seeing. Presley plays Vince Everett, who’s serving time in a
state penitentiary for manslaughter. Later he’ll become a young pop star,
leaving prison behind. ‘Jailhouse Rock’ became a famous dance number in the
picture, where Presley sings in a black coat and striped outfit while several
other inmates wearing the same outfits back him up. Presley gets to slide down
a pole and lead a dance number shown on a local TV station. Could such
prisoners be that good playing musical instruments and taking dance steps choreographed
on Tin Pan Alley? Who cares? Just watch it.
Bob Dylan, ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ in
‘Don’t Look Back’ (1967)
In one of my favorite documentaries, a young Bob Dylan goes to London for his 1965 solo tour on acoustic guitar and harmonica – soon
before he would be going electric and enraging traditional folk music fans.
Dylan is sitting in a hotel room with his entourage when young Scottish folk
singer Donovan joins the party. Later known for his acid rock hits “Sunshine
Superman” and “Mellow Yellow,” Donovan plays a simple folk song on his guitar
while Dylan listens in behind big dark sunglasses. Dylan then takes off his
glasses and borrows the acoustic guitar to play the new song off his ‘Bringing
It All Back Home’ album. Donovan sits in awe watching the chord changes, taking
in mind-bending lyrics, and puffing on a cigarette, as Dylan smiles wide and
belts it out.
Chuck Berry, ‘You Never Can Tell,’ in ‘Pulp
Fiction’ (1994)
'Pulp Fiction' was considered to be a movie that opened the door for alternative, artsy movies backed by the majors. Director Quentin Tarantino became known for
his style that included placement of lesser-known pop hits from previous
decades. Chuck Berry’s ‘You Never Can Tell’ was played nice and loud at Jack
Rabbit Slim’s retro-50s diner. John Travolta led Uma Thurman on the floor,
making it nearly a tribute to the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ star’s dance moves. In
the years following the 1993 acquisition by The Walt Disney Company, Miramax was
able to tap into the surprise 1994 hit to fund several other art movies – several
years before one of the Miramax brothers/founders, Harvey Weinstein, saw his
highly successful Hollywood image disintegrate through revelation of sexual harassment.
Tarantino and Disney will get along fine without him.
Cat Stevens, ‘Trouble’ in ‘Harold and Maude’
(1971)
It is strange to think of a major studio funding a movie about a young man, faking
suicide attempts to frustrate his mother, falling in love with a woman about to
turn 80. But there were a few more released in the ‘70s (i.e., “Deliverance,’ ‘Chinatown,’
‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and ‘Nashville’) before mega-hits like ‘Jaws’
and ‘Star Wars’ shifted the gears. ‘Harold and Maude’ could top the list in
terms of a bizarre storyline unfolding that you have to watch. As the Cat
Stevens song is being played, a sequence of events is unfolding. Has Maude died
and will Harold drive his converted funeral limo off a cliff? You have to watch
it to find out, and to hear some of the best movie soundtrack songs ever (in my
opinion).
Another
seven you should see, at least in YouTube shorts:
Jimmy Cliff, ‘The Harder They Come’ in ‘The
Harder They Come’ (1972) The movie that inspired much interest in reggae music,
along with Bob Marley records. It’s a tough movie to watch at times, with the
impoverished, rising talent Jimmy Cliff being taken advantage of by the record
company.
Alan Price, ‘O Lucky Man’ in ‘O Lucky Man’
(1973) The former Animals keyboardist, Alan Price,
(who you can see complaining about it to Dylan in a ‘Don’t Look Back’ scene)
wrote and performed in a movie score right up there with ‘Harold and Maude.’
The movie was a sequel to another dark and strange movie from 1968 that also
starred Malcolm McDowell, entitled ‘If.’
The Doors, ‘The End’ in ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979) The Vietnam War
picture starts with an infamous opening sequence where Martin Sheen drunkenly
punches a mirror in his hotel room and watches his hand bleed, which he smears
over his face and body. You get the impression you’re going to be seeing a lot
of blood and darkness, which is definitely the case.
Public Enemy, 'Fight the Power' in 'Do the
Right Thing' (1989)
While released five years later, ‘Pulp Fiction’ is credited with opening the
door to daring, unconventional pictures, but this one already had a lot to do
with it; along with Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Sex, Lies and Videotape’ that same
year. The movie shows the racial powder keg that can erupt in neighborhoods
like Brooklyn. It starts off the with the hip hop classic setting the tone for
opening credits as Rosie Perez dances through it.
David Bowie, ‘Heroes’ in ‘The Perks of Being a
Wallflower’
(2012) This is one of the best uses
of a song I’ve ever seen in a movie, with a carload of high schoolers racing
through a highway tunnel with the song playing full blast. ‘Harry Potter’ icon
Emma Watson, then a few years older, stands up in the back of the pickup as
they drive through the tunnel with the song soaring – and makes you wonder if
Watson will be flying away like a bird.
Derek and the Dominoes, ‘Layla’ in ‘Goodfellas’
(1990) I
won’t go into the details, but you get to hear the closing instrumental coda to
the rock classic as the camera pans over a montage of made guys and their women
murdered in the Mafia tradition. It’s one of several unforgettable music
moments in another classic Martin Scorsese picture.
‘Time Warp’ from ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ (1975)
Going to watch a midnight movie showing of this campy cult musical is a
must-do, but don’t let the fans get to you. Yes, they will be standing up close
the screen in mimicked outfits shouting out words – to the extent that you occasionally
won’t be able to make out what’s being said on the screen. But that’s okay.
Songs like ‘Time Warp’ rock hard, and each member of the movie cast plays it up
perfectly. You can’t miss this one, even if you need to watch it on your home
theater.
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