You kids don’t know how easy you have it.In my day, if we wanted to hear a song we loved, we had two choices:buy the album or record the song off the radio.
Buying the album was the easy way out, but we didn’t have the disposable income to go buy every album under the sun just because we liked one song.Of course, that changed towards the end of the 80s when the “Cassingle” was introduced.But had to be the song you wanted.If it was buried towards the end of the album the chances were you would never get it in that format.So, that leaves you with option two; record it.
Recording was a bitch, even with one touch recording.If you had the time and tape, you could set up the radio to just record an hour’s worth of music and then just hope to find the song you liked.Again, it had to have been released on the radio, but it was doable.Problem was, most songs had incessant DJ chatter over the beginning or end of songs which usually took up the instrumental opening of most songs.OR… they’d lower the volume of the song at the end and cut it short.
Then, came mp3s and iPods and iTunes and YouTube.Now, you can get to any song, any version, live or acoustic recordings, and even mash-ups all at the click of a mouse.The precision timing of a record/stop movement on a boom box equipped with a TDK DNR 90 minute cassette is a lost art form.Go ask your mom and dad and get off my lawn.
But to that point, did you ever have a song that you wore out with repeated replays? Was there one song that forced you to break out the No. 2 pencil and do reconstructive surgery on the wheels of a Maxell or Memorex, because of continual rewind and replays, over an evening of dark sunglass brooding due to a case of heartbreak or unrequited love?
I remember setting up one tape to record every time I heard Bryan Adams’ “Everything I do”.That way, I could just run through 30-45 minutes worth of Michael Kamen/Canadian Pop Rock God influenced cheese to fulfill my inner dork.Eventually, I had one or two versions intact among all the DJ chatter and overlapping of other songs.After a marathon session of gaming on my Apple IIC on a lonely Friday night, I’d set the boom box to just play that one tape and I’d slowly doze off into dreamland.Of course, the harsh reality of the world would snap itself with the end of the tape and that distinctive “CLICK” of the end of the tape.
Other times, I’d just turn on the tapes and just relax, trying to focus on the music.In a teenage state of constantly over analyzing the universe, I’d want to focus on every note and every word of a song.Ultimately, my mind would drift off and I wouldn’t realize that the song was over and I missed it.So, I’d reach up from my horizontal state, and with one finger, REWIND, REPLAY, and REMEMBER.
When I graduated high school, I found another song to replace Bryan Adams…I already had the Robin Hood soundtrack on CD by then and could simply just choose “Repeat One” on my boom box.So, the need to focus on capturing that one song was no longer an issue.So, I obsessed on one song that sort of became my anthem of change.It was an anthem of letting go.It was the song I used in order to deal with life’s changes.I was a freshman heading 600 miles to school, trying to find my way to an "Ordinary World".
Yes, roll your eyes, Internet.Roll your eyes at the concept of an 18 year old male, stuck in love, and 600 miles away from his high school girlfriend, listening to an early 90s Duran Duran song on Cassingle.The other songs were an acoustic version and Save a Prayer, by the way.I wore that tape out so much that the cardboard sleeve disintegrated before Sophomore year.My Walkman hated me for always piping that song through my foam covered earphones again and again as I rode my bike through the quiet campus in Myrtle Beach.And when we broke up in 1995 and I would find myself wrapped like a cocoon in my dorm at Pitt, single and lonely, I’d reach up and click, with that one finger, rewind, and then replay.It was so I could remember.
I heard it today on the Lite FM station, coming into work.I wish I had a rewind button on the radio, but I didn’t.I just tried to sit there and be absorbed in the, now, 38 year old’s anthem for coming to grips with the world of change.Slowly trying to get his life in order and learning to survive with all that has gone down.I know I haven’t REALLY talked about it and it’s just not time yet.There are things to consider.People.Privacy.
A coworker brought this up to me and it made me wonder the following:
“Do people spend long amounts of time talking to their close friends on the phone?”
By that, I mean, the friends that they see on a regular basis. Not the ones they haven’t seen since childhood or went to college with and only see like once in decade. I’m talking about classmates, coworkers, neighbors.
The reason I wonder is that with the technology we have, the ability to talk on a phone is probably the least of the features people want when they shop for a phone. People want texting and Internet and apps. And do people even worry about home phones anymore?
If talking on the phone with a friend for more than ten minutes is a out of date practice then I weep for the new generation. Let me set up a scenario for you.
Circa 1987, there was a show on MTV called Remote Control. Most will only know that this is where Adam Sandler became well known and moved onto Saturday Night Live from there. At its zenith, MTV could balance shows with music videos but… that ended with a loud thud around 1992. That’s another story.
Anyway, after a long day of seventh grade, I came home and turned on the television to see this new show on MTV. The next day I told my friend about it and he said he had seen it, too. So, the next time it was on, I called him and we pretty much sat on the phone for a half hour, bullshitting while watching this show. There was no important discussion; no need for a call. It was just two friends watching the same show, in two different houses, at a time when a stretched phone cord could be considered lethal to someone under five foot had they ran from one room to another.
I cannot remember the last time I spent a half hour talking with someone on the phone without an explicit purpose. “We have Facebook and texting and email, who talks 30 minutes in a row? How do you get anything done?” We’ve become so task oriented in life. If we can’t get it done while doing two other things, we don’t do it. I can’t sit in a meeting unless I’m troubleshooting one issue, reading email, and IM’ing another person about another issue all at the same time. I am not that important of a person. I could only imagine someone with three letters in their title. You probably never see those people laying on their bed with a phone pressed to their ear to the point of sweatiness discussing their favorite show with their friends. These are things we don’t do anymore.
Do teenage girls call teenage boys anymore? Is this something I’ll need to deal with when my kid is ten years older? Her generation will never know the pains of my generation when it comes to a house telephone. We had one line, no call waiting, and no answering machine before 1984. That was when we had two high school students in the house at one time.
When we moved into a new house in 1984, we had a second line set up for my brother and sister, but still no call waiting or answering machine. In fact, we still had two rotary phones and a push button one, all corded. Then, when my brother and sister were off to college or working late nights, my parents had another push button phone put into their bedroom. Still no call waiting but we did have an answering machine by 1987.
In fact, I don’t think my parents have call waiting in 2012, but they have upgraded to wireless handsets and both have cell phones. That’s why I don’t know how much of an impact the phone will have in my life when my daughter gets to be a teen. She’s certainly not getting a cell phone… at least one that can text or take pictures until she’s 18. (I know. I can wish, right?) If anything, I’d like her to be only able to call us or the police from a cell phone until she’s 18, but I know that’s not going to happen. In any case, I have a cell phone. My wife has a cell phone. We don’t use our home phone that much except for other calls, that we usually don’t answer as it is. We mostly have the ringer turned down because stupid calls come at inopportune times. We can called ID on our television, so we know if we want to answer it, anyway.
But even in the most extreme cases, I won’t care that my kid is on the phone, unless she’s talking long distance to a friend, for hours, or if she’s calling a nursing home for me. Then, I might cut the cord. Or… at least the power.
I’ve been counting down my top 25 most iconic musical performances in a non musical film. Once again, these are musical performances, lip synched or otherwise that stood out in the landscape of pop culture. These are not from movies that have a real musical story element. These are from films where someone, for whatever reason, breaks out into song and dance.
Now, I’ve visited the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s for selections 25-6. I’ve done mostly comedies, and at least one thriller. While a majority of the top five includes comedy, one of them is black and there is one war film in there. For the top five, I’m going to give a little exposition on each one. Sort of why I picked it and why it left an impression on me.
So, let’s not waste anymore time. OK?
The typical childhood pop culture diet usually contains equal parts annoying kiddie show music, repetitive imagery and music from cartoons, and Disney. Well, my kid doesn’t get that. She’s more on the ball with my childhood’s pop culture landscape than I was when I was her age.
In my childhood, my father warped my mind with viewings of Monty Python and other British late night comedies. Couple that with stealing HBO as a kid and I saw more movies that led to my corruption. Chief among them were the films of Mel Brooks. History of the World Part I, To Be or Not To Be, and Blazing Saddles were some of my favorites. But one stood out among the rest. It was a black and white monster film. OK, it was really a comedy, but still, it had a mad scientist, an ominous monster, and a hilarious musical performance that has become a quintessential joke whenever someone imitates Frankenstein’s monster. “Puuhtin ahn tha Riiiitz!”
In typical 80s fashion an outlandish scheme is hatched to cover up an even more outlandish lie which results in everything being positively resolved by the end of the film. If only life could work like that.
Anyway, all this 80s style mayhem and one superstar’s career started simply with a pair of sunglasses, tighty whities, and Bob Seger.
4. Risky Business "Old Time Rock and Roll"
War movies are usually not known for being upbeat or sing-songy… unless that movie is South Pacific. They’re mostly dour and somber with explosions and grief. However, one must keep up the British end, even when a POW. When faced with impossible odds, keep a stiff upper lip, stick out your chest and whistle a tune which serves as a placeholder for lyrics that speak of Hitler only having one ball.
Most kids don’t relish watching a two and a half hour war film, especially one that does not involve Stallone or Schwarzenegger blowing up bad guys with their one liners. For me, though, this next film was a classic already and I loved it. It was more cerebral than its muscle headed 80s counterparts. But, mainly, I loved it because it had Obi-Wan Kenobi as sort of a bastard. Seeing Alec Guiness play against type of the stoic, Zen like Jedi Master in Star Wars was really a treat. I’d love to see his George Smiley from the BBC’s 1979 version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
But for now, I’ll just have to remember to put my lips together and blow.
3. Bridge on the River Kwai "Colonel Bogey March"
Also, I have to include as a footnote that the Colonel Bogey March appears again in another memorable 80s classic. Same idea, POWs trying to make the best of a bad situation; Saturday detention.
Breakfast Club "Colonel Bogey March"
Stanley Kubrick was a sick f*ck. Bloody brilliant director though. I saw the Shining at a young age and that damn scene with the bear suit still freaks me out. And I saw 2001 and that damn star child still freaks me out. But, it wasn't until college that I actually saw this film. And yet, to this day, no matter how much I love his work, Malcolm McDowell still freaks me out.
2.Clockwork Orange "Singin' in the Rain"
Here it is, number one. I hemmed and hawed of what I considered to be the most iconic musical performance in a non musical film. It had to be something that sort of reached across some boundaries for people. Being in my late 30s I thought back to first movie I ever rented on VHS. We had just got a decent VCR for Christmas that year and my brother and I went down to the Valley Dairy to rent a video. I had never seen this movie which had came out in theaters the previous summer. It was a big hit in the theaters and had led to a recharting of an old tune from the 60s. The scene featured two songs, lip synched by the lead character who pretty much just wanted to have a good day off from class.
I think you know of which movie I speak.
1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off "Danke Schoen / Twist and Shout"
Hope you enjoyed the list. I'm going to put up an honorable mention list real soon.
We're still counting down the 25 most iconic musical performances in a non-musical film.
After posting the first part, I was immediately hit with a lot of suggestions and ideas from friends which is awesome! I guess this was a pretty good topic to choose. It's almost a great drinking game.
But, I have to clarify a couple of things. I went with the selections I did because they were something that sort of happened out of the ordinary but left an impression on pop culture. I shied away from the most obvious choices, like Michael J. Fox singing "Johnny B. Goode" in Back to the Future and Gene Wilder singing that psychedelic boat song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It pained me to do it because Marty McFly was in a band. That was a plot point and Willy Wonka is basically a musical.
So, I apologize for not including a lot of the suggestions I got but I'm sticking with my guns. I'll still post comments from you all who had your own take or suggestions.
UPDATE Due to my screwed up math, I listed 11 in the first post and have been going back to fix that. I also omitted one of the best ones, so I had to drop off number 20, renumber the rest, and that caused number 5 to slip into the six spot. So, I left the commentary I reserved for the top five because it was special... to me, anyway.
15. Fletch "Moon River" (It's short but who doesn't quote this?)
14. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles "Three Coins in a Fountain" / "Meet the Flintstones"
13. Pretty Woman "Kiss" (Couldn't find the original but found an outtake)
12. Ten Things I Hate About You "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You"
11. Pee Wee's Big Adventure "Tequila"
10. Three Amigos "My Little Buttercup"
9. Stripes "Do Wah Diddy Diddy"
8. Top Gun "You've Lost That Loving Feeling"
7. Jaws "Show Me the Way To Go Home"
Here's where number five dropped into number six with the commentary.
In 1992, I was a junior in high school. I had just got my license the year before and I was still not really allowed to drive around with my friends in the car. Yet, I had friends, who were older, that would drive me around to various places. It was nothing for us to say, “Hey, let’s go to a Pittsburgh Pirates game or drive to Morgantown, or even up to Seven Springs.” We’d pop a mix tape in the car stereo and were off on another adventure. There were some great memories riding in the car with friends, goofing off, and having no cares in the world.
But in February of 92, I was with some older friends and we decided to go take in a movie one night. I can honestly say, that was one of the most hilarious and funny nights of my life. I won’t say the film was Oscar worthy, but it was memorable, and for months we drove around with the soundtrack blaring. For months, I had a stiff neck. To this day, anytime I hear this song on the radio, I have to reenact this memorable scene. I have to bang my head.
5. Wayne's World "Bohemian Rhapsody" With that out of the way, here's the next set.
Musical Numbers. There's a whole genre of movies built around singing and dancing. They're iconic and memorable. But what about films that aren't built around the idea of characters singing and dancing? What about characters that break into song and dance because they just feel like it? Maybe they're forced into it. What about them?
Well, this is my selection for the top 25 musical numbers, lip synched or actually sung in a movie by one or more characters. You won't see Chicago or The Blues Brothers here. This is strictly things that occurred either off the cuff or were not part of the normal progression of the movie.
UPDATE I screwed up the numbering and omitted one of the greatest moments so I had to remove Clueless since it was number 20 and sometimes, there are losers. Like me! So, here is the redux list.
Here we go...
25. The Jerk "Picking Out a Thermos For You"
24. Jerry Maguire "Free Falling"
23. The Replacements "I Will Survive"
22. Mr. Deeds "Space Oddity"
21. Tommy Boy "Superstar", "Come On Eileen", and "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
20. Sixteen Candles "Birthday"
19. Elf "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
18. Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me "Chili's Baby Back Ribs"
What are the best love stories in pop culture, today?
New Year’s Eve? Gack. Crazy, Stupid, Love? About cheating and divorce. Just Go With It? Adam Sandler. It’s a love of childish humor. Breaking Dawn? There we have it.
And before you start going on about, “This is a Twilight bashing post” I’m going to stop you right there.
Yes, it is.
But it’s much more than that.
The concept of love in a movie has been whittled down into this poor excuse for a relationship that is the Twilight saga. And before that, it was a Nicholas Sparks book adapted into a film.
Step 1: Two pretty white people fall in love.
Step 2: One dies.
Step 3: Advertise with a stupid reused poster of two people kissing with the guy holding the cheeks of the girl. (Rain optional)
Step 4: Profit
So, my coworker, who is 10 years younger than I am (damn kids, kidding), asked me, “What was the love story of your day?” Meaning “What did girls and adult females consider the pinnacle of romance back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and phones had mangled fifty foot long cords.”
I thought about it and here’s what I came up with, looking at it generationally (20 year period) from 1978 through 1998. I would have been between the ages of three and 23 during this period.
General Hospital (1978)Luke and Laura
As a kid, I remember two big romantic to dos in the world. Luke and Laura being married and Charles and Diana. Since we are talking about impacting television, readers, or movie goers, I think Luke and Laura win out in that category. However, like Twilight, the beginning of this supercouple involves a bad relationship… including a drunken Luke raping Laura. While Twilight never moves toward sexual assault, there is a case for an abusive relationship.
Empire Strikes Back (1980) Geeks in love?
Well, every preteen in 1983 made the jump to hyper-puberty when Carrie Fisher showed up in the gold bikini on Jabba the Hutt’s party barge, but three years before, romance filled the galaxy as Han and Leia pouted. The already sexual tension filled storyline between the two characters, which kicked off in the first movie, mixed with Irvin Kershner’s direction pretty much set the stage for romance among the stars as Han and Leia smooched in the bowels of a space slug aboard the Millennium Falcon and led to one of the greatest improved lines of all, “I know.”
Why does that work? It seems kind of cocky and prick worthy, which IS Han Solo, but watch that scene directly after the scenes in the Falcon, and in the corridors of Echo Base on Hoth. Han is pretty much saying, “You love me. Why won’t you admit that I am an OK guy and that we could be good together?”
When Leia says, “I love you,” Han could easily say to her, “I love you, too.” He doesn’t. Why? Because he acknowledges that she has taken that step into the abyss and torn down the wall between their feelings. She’s confirming his statement to her back on Hoth about, “…because of the way you feel about me.” This isn’t goodbye. He gets that she gets it and let’s her know that he understands and welcomes what she is saying, not just because of the circumstance they are in at the moment.
Brat Pack Invasion (1984-89) The combination of John Huges and Cameron Crowe
This one spans almost five years, five films, two directors, and 20 plus actors. Probably the biggest comparison can make to teen love and angst comes in the form of Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, TheBreakfast Club, Some Kind of Wonderful and Say Anything. Even though some people often think Say Anything is a John Hughes movie, because of the cast and subject matter, it has nothing to do with Hughes. It’s actually a bit darker in tone because of the plotline involving John Mahoney going to jail. It still follows some of the formula that John Hughes mined for 80s movie gold and it’s still awesome 23 years later.
Whether it be Claire and Bender, Duckie and Andie and Blaine, Samantha and Jake, Watts and Keith and Amanda, or Diane and Lloyd, the history of love and heartbreak is as universal as Shakespeare or even the triangle of Jacob and Bella and Edward. (gack.)
But teen girls everywhere hearted Jake Ryan and Lloyd Dobler. They wanted to be with bad boy John Bender and even sort of pulled for Keith to stop going after Amanda Jones and choose the tomboyish drummer, Watts, who may have resembled them in a way.
John Hughes and Cameron Crowe wrote dialogue that normal teenagers didn’t use out loud but their thoughts mirrored what the characters said on film. It would be another ten years before that kind of sentiment was expressed through scripts spoken by high school kids.
Then there’s this: The ultimate expression of love for millions of guys hurt by the girl they love.
Phantom of the Opera (1986) She chose wrong!
My own wife thinks that Christine should have gone with the Phantom. Of course, she loves Twilight, too. Well, a lot of women and girls loved the Andrew Lloyd Webber adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel. Though anyone with any kind of theatrical training loathes how this became the standard for musical theater) High School and College Freshman drama geeks who dedicated their lives, or at least an entire wall in their bedrooms, to POTO were worse than Hipsters or Gleeks are today.
Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990) Television Series with Linda Hamilton and Ron Pearlman.
RON FREAKING PERLMAN! Female audiences swooned over the prosthetic faced enhanced Perlman as Vincent. He looked like a cross between the lead singer for Europe and the transformed Michael Jackson at the beginning of Thriller. Of course, that’s understandable because the makeup for both was done by Rick Baker. The relationship between the two transcended looks and worlds and Vincent was probably better looking Fabio in most rights.
Sadly, the show suffered the loss of Linda Hamilton in season three, at her desire. Hey, she didn’t pull a David Caruso. The following year she went full throttle into stardom, reprising her role as Sarah Conner in T2.
Disney Strikes Back (1989-1993) Four movies that made you fall in love all over again
The Classic era of Disney animated features is speckled with a rich lineup. Snow White, Cinderella, The Lady and the Tramp, and Sleeping Beauty all had strong romantic themes to them. We've all, at least, attempted to push a meatball across the plate with our nose or slurped up a single noodle between us and our significant other at one time or another. But it would be 30 years before the notion of a strong romantic storyline would grace the cels of a Disney animated film. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King all had the same things in common; strong female characters, a love story, and Oscar winning songs by Alan Menken, collaborating first with Howard Ashmen then Tim Rice after Ashmen's death in 1991.
The themes in those three movies resonated for adults as much as they did in children and made Disney the animation powerhouse to beat,until a little company called Pixar animated a few toys. It also didn't hurt to have some of the top R&B Soul and Pop Music artists record your main theme song. This was a trend that started with Beauty and the Beast and continued through Tarzan. Each year becoming a little more ridiculous as they trotted out past their prime pop stars from the 80s like Phil Collins and Michael Bolton. Sadly, Michael Bolton's best work since then was in an SNL Digital Short called "Jack Sparrow". Regardless, love was in the air but the heavy handed love song from The Lion King, while extremely popular, its place in the film is a bit lost as the love story between Simba and Nala is a minor one. That's probably why "The Circle of Life" was also a big hit from the soundtrack, unlike previous years which only had one song on Top 40 radio.
***UPDATE*** The Wonder Years (1988-1993) Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper
I can't believe I forgot this one. I almost pulled an Entertainment Weekly. The world of puberty told through the eyes of Kevin Arnold by one of the Sticky Bandits. The first episode set all the groundwork you needed for romance history. That one girl in the neighborhood. The one that was always there, geeky and awkward. She comes back after one summer and she's transformed into the goddess of your dreams. Then, you know how it goes, you make plans to get some of that and you envision her dead Vietnam Vet brother protecting her from likes of you.
Kevin and Winnie's was one of those tv romances that worked because it was sweet and innocent. The show worked because it was life for all of us who grew up with them. It was the romantic equivalent of A Christmas Story for me.
Unfortunately, YouTube won't let me embed this but it's a great compendium of Kevin and Winnie moments.
My So-Called Life (1994) Angela and Jordan
My friend actually called me on this one. How could I forget it? Sad to say, a lot of people did miss this bright spot in the tv spectrum. It was cancelled before it's time and while it was on par with the WB Explosion a few years later, in terms of pop culture impact, it was too dark for ABC and mainstream programming.
The relationship between Angela and Jordan was one of those troubled teen romances that was a great parallel for how kids acted in the real world. The dialogue was smart and the angst was almost Shakespearean in nature. While their relationship wasn't the main focus on the show, it was probably one of the most memorable aspects of it.
***END UPDATE***
Titanic (1997) The biggest thing that went down wasn't the ship...
Unfortunately, this is probably the single biggest impact on romantic film or television of any age group during my cross section of life. In fact, the biggest thing in this film isn’t the historical account of the ship hitting the iceberg or its sinking, it’s the imagined love story between a lady of status and a third class passenger.
Let’s face it, it’s a tacky love song and almost an overly melodramatic chick flick, 15 years later. Holy Crap?!?! My wife’s niece wasn’t even alive when this film came out. Gawd, I’m old. Shut the blinds, I don’t want to see the light!
The WB Years (1997, 1998) The second coming of John Hughes for television
As a little upstart network, far down the depth chart of the television dial, The WB cranked up the competition with the big four by populating its lineup with smarty-smart teeny bopper dialogue from maverick's like Joss Whedon and Kevin Williamson. Having a self deprecating and self aware outlook on teen life and romance, they wrote smart dialogue for shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson’s Creek.
Much like John Hughes, 15 years before them, Joss’ and Kevin’s characters spoke differently than the average real life teen but their take on relationships were a lot more real and acceptable than Stephanie Meyer. Not saying they were any less abusive. It’s not every day that a girl loses her virginity to a hundred year old vampire who then wants to torture and kill her and her friends. But, it’s a better metaphor for giving into peer pressure and sexual urges only to find that what you’ve built up as the end all, be all of human existence turns out to be a monster who doesn’t share your sentiment after the deed is done. Whether or not you have to kill that boy in order to save the world is beside the point.
Dawson grew up with the Nick at Nite version (my generation’s version) of parents and his life was far from realistic but like John Hughes’ characters, everyone rooted for Joey Potter and sometimes Jen Lindley. After all, it was the typical Ginger and Mary Ann contrast of female characters. You want Ginger for sex, but you want to settle down with Mary Ann. Just like girls WANTED John Bender for sex, but wanted Brian Johnson for a loyal and dependable husband figure.
But there is still the eyeroll factor when you look back at the early WB teen romance shows and realize that “I’ll Be” was the “In Your Eyes” of the first season finale and the pinnacle of love songs in which to express your true feelings to. It was also the soundtrack for episode promos with that raspy voice over that wasn't Don LaFontaine
