Unsung 80s Soundtracks

Based on the beloved fantasy novel by Peter S. Beagle, 1982’s The Last Unicorn is a beautiful - and beautifully strange - animated fantasy. The film follows a solitary unicorn (Mia Farrow) who learns that she may be the last of her kind. Setting out to find other surviving unicorns, she encounters bumbling magician Schmendrick (Alan Arkin) and spirited Molly Grue (Tammy Grimes), who join her on a journey that leads to the castle of the sinister King Haggard (Christopher Lee). Featuring iconic storybook animation by Rankin/Bass, The Last Unicorn has endured as a singular cult classic, equally beloved as a cherished family favorite and a genuinely strange piece of 1980s fantasy. Part of our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series, The Last Unicorn's is built around an unlikely collaboration between composer Jimmy Webb and the the harmony-rich folk-rock of America, who perform the film’s songs. Webb wrote the score as well as the songs, including the haunting title track, “The Last Unicorn,” which became one of America’s most enduring songs from the film. America also performs “Now That I’m a Woman,” “In the Sea,” and “That’s All I’ve Got to Say,” while Webb’s orchestral score gives the film much of its wistful, dreamlike quality. A ’70s soft-rock trio scoring an animated medieval fantasy may seem like an unlikely pairing, but somehow, it works perfectly.

Calling all blondes!  Join us for Julien Temple's gloriously goofy 1988 sci-fi musical Earth Girls Are Easy - a true essential in our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series! Geena Davis stars as Valerie, a manicurist whose boring life takes an unexpected turn when a a trio of extraterrestrials crash-lands in her San Fernando Valley swimming pool.  Played by Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, and Damon Wayans, the three furry E.T.'s are soon given a makeover by Valerie and her ultra-bubbly best friend Candy (Julie Brown, who also served as co-screenwriter), and given the new names of Mac, Wiploc, and Zeebo. Valerie takes them out into the strange world of late-’80s Los Angeles, where they quickly discover the pleasures of Earth life, from dancing to romance to surfing to - why not? - even a couple of musical numbers. Loaded with some of the era’s most recognizable alternative and new-wave sounds by British punk provocateur and music-video director Temple, Earth Girls Are Easy feels like a two-hour mixtape from the end of the 1980s.  The soundtrack features the B-52’s, The Vandals, The Cramps, Devo, The Go-Go’s, and The Tubes, along with original songs performed by the film’s cast. The soundtrack was released as a companion album in 1988, and has become a sonic time capsule of the late-’80s neon, campy, "far out" alternative scene.

It'll come as no surprise to any Jonathan Demme fan to find one of his films in our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series. From the filmmaker who gave us Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses,” Bruce Springsteen’s Oscar-winning “Streets of Philadelphia,” and, of course, the electrifying sounds of Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense, comes 1986's Something Wild, a quirky romantic comedy that gradually turns into...well, something quite wild. Jeff Daniels stars as Manhattan businessman Charles Driggs, a relatively square individual whose uneventful life is upended when he meets the mysterious and free-spirited Lulu (Melanie Griffith). After she impulsively “kidnaps” him from a restaurant, the two head out on a road trip that becomes increasingly unpredictable adventure when they cross paths with Lulu’s dangerous ex-husband, Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta). Funny, sexy, strange, and surprisingly unsettling, Something Wild is one of the great genre-shifting movies of the 1980s, and an early showcase for the late, great Liotta. Demme fills his film with a remarkably eclectic mix of ’80s new wave, punk, rock, and pop, featuring Talking Heads, New Order, The Feelies, The Pretenders, and others. The music doesn't simply serve as background decoration; it helps chart the film’s transformation from playful road movie to something darker. The soundtrack was released as a compilation alongside the film, and like so much of Demme’s work, it reflects a director with an unusually sharp ear for music, and a knack for finding exactly the right song for the moment.

"Get the funk up!" Our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series continues with Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman - or what happens when a movie studio also owns the recording contract of a pop superstar! One of the defining films of its decade, Batman stars Michael Keaton as billionaire Bruce Wayne, who secretly spends his nights stalking the streets of Gotham City as the costumed vigilante Batman.  As Batman closes in on dastardly villain Joker (Jack Nicholson, oozing charismatic menace), he also finds himself drawn to photojournalist Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger). With Burton’s gothic visual style, Danny Elfman’s soaring score, and Oscar-winning Art Direction-Set Decoration by Anton Furst and Peter Young, Batman proved that a comic-book movie could be dark, stylish, and strange, while also humorous and wildly entertaining. Batman is something of an unusual entry in the soundtrack canon, with two very different albums coming out of the film. Danny Elfman’s orchestral score became one of the most recognizable superhero themes ever written, while Prince was brought in to create a separate album of songs inspired by the film. The resulting Batman soundtrack became a massive commercial success, spending six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and spawning hits including “Batdance,” “Partyman,” and “Scandalous.” The album was conceived around the Joker and Vicki Vale, with Burton reportedly giving Prince a rough cut of the film to inspire the songs. Elfman’s score and Prince’s album rarely appear together in the film, but both became essential parts of the movie’s identity, making Batman one of the biggest soundtrack phenomena of the 1980s.

Plunging into the 1970s Berlin underground, this unforgettable portrait stands as one of the most harrowing films ever made about drug addiction. Based on the true story of Christiane Felscherinow, whose shocking memoir made her the face of a generation of troubled German youth, this bracing dramatization follows the alienated thirteen-year-old Christiane (Natja Brunckhorst) as she goes from popping pills to shooting heroin amid West Berlin’s infamous club scene. An instant cult sensation on account of its authentically grimy location shooting and electrifying soundtrack by David Bowie, Christiane F. (original title: Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo) remains a haunting vision of a young life in free fall. As part of our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series, we will be presenting Janus Films' new 4K digital restoration, approved by director Uli Edel, featuring a new 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. The soundtrack album is essentially a David Bowie compilation created around the film, rather than a conventional original film score. Bowie also recorded the German-language version of “Heroes,” “Helden,” specifically for the German market/film connection. Bowie also appears as himself in concert footage, and his music is deeply woven into the film's atmosphere and Christiane's obsession with him. This film contains mature themes and intense subject matter that may be triggering for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

Released in 1982 to near-instant cult status, Slava Tsukerman’s Liquid Sky is a surreal collision of new wave, fashion, drugs, and extraterrestrial weirdness, and easily one of the strangest movies to emerge from New York’s downtown scene. Anne Carlisle stars as both Margaret and Jimmy, a pair of androgynous club kids whose chaotic lives are upended when a tiny alien spacecraft lands on the roof of their apartment building. Leaving a trail of increasingly bizarre encounters in its wake, as well as a few dead bodies, the alien has come to Earth in search of a mysterious substance produced during human sexual activity. Shot on the streets and in the clubs of early-’80s Manhattan, and on an extremely low budget estimated at approximately $500,000, Liquid Sky nevertheless exudes a look and attitude that feel remarkably ahead of their time. Released during the height of the early-’80s New York new wave scene, Liquid Sky has become a cult touchstone for anyone interested in the intersection of underground cinema, electronic music, NY fashion, and queer nightlife. The soundtrack to Liquid Sky is as strange and distinctive as the movie itself. Composer Brenda I. Hutchinson and director Slava Tsukerman built the score around primitive synthesizers, electronic textures, and the sounds of New York’s downtown club scene, creating something that feels less like a conventional movie score than music beamed in from another planet. A slight cheat in our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series in the sense that Liquid Sky's sounds are more of a score, its entirely synthetic soundtrack, mirroring the film’s icy visual palette and alienated characters, felt like an essential for the era.

Described as a "Rock & Roll Fable" by its director Walter Hill, 1984's Streets of Fire is an essential inclusion in our Unsung 80’s Soundtracks series. Michael Paré stars as Tom Cody, a tough-as-nails mercenary finds himself pulled back into a life he left behind when his former girlfriend, rock star Ellen Aim (Diane Lane), is kidnapped by motorcycle gang leader Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe). Enlisted by Ellen’s manager Billy Fish (Rick Moranis), Tom joins forces with his former partner McCoy (Weapons Oscar-winner Amy Madigan), and sets out into the neon-lit, rain-soaked streets of the city to rescue her. Blending rock & roll, comic-book melodrama, and 1950s street-gang mythology, Streets of Fire features original songs mixed in with 80's staples such as Dan Hartman’s “I Can Dream About You," as well as performances by the Blasters, Ry Cooder, and others, ultimately earning its cult status as something of a rock concert wrapped around a plot.