Best soundtracks of the '80s? Tell us your favorites

The best soundtracks of the '80s -- it's a list that has eluded mankind for far too long. But its time has come.

I spent the weekend doing laps around Lake Itopia and was amazed how my iPod kept spitting out classic tunes from soundtrack after soundtrack, thus defeating the unwritten rule that I don't stop my workout until a bad song comes on over my sweaty little headphones. (All I can say is, thank you Wham for saving me from a heart attack.)

For some reason, I kept hitting repeat on the Gary Myrick song Time To Win from Valley Girl, which plays when Randy and Julie make out in the back seat of the car the first night they meet. And it's not even the best tune on the soundtrack. (What is? That's up for debate too, but I'm leaning toward A Million Miles Away by the Plimsouls. Heck, any song by the Plimsouls.)

So here's the drill. Leave a comment with your favorite soundtracks of the '80s. You can name as many as you want, but let me know if one stands above the rest. A couple of rules too. The soundtrack must have actually been released either on vinyl, cassette or CD, though not necessarily during the '80s, and it doesn't have to still be in print. Soundtracks with '80s songs are going to rate higher than soundtracks with songs from previous decades. (Sorry, Big Chill fans!) Here are some obvious candidates.

VALLEY GIRL (1983): Perfectly captures the KROQ radio sound of Southern California in the '80s with bands the rest of the country hadn't heard yet. Josie Cotton, Sparks, the Plimsouls and many more. Of course, it also houses the most overplayed song of the '80s, Melt With You by Modern English.

PURPLE RAIN (1984): An obvious frontrunner. It won every award in the book. We've all committed it to memory. And it was far better than the actual movie. But it would have been better had the soundtrack actually included the tunes by Morris Day, Apollonia 6 and the Modernaires.

SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984): A-ha! A tricky one, since the original soundtrack only featured six songs from the film. (But hey, you can buy a copy autographed by Molly Ringwald on eBay for only $200.) If they ever release a complete soundtrack, this would be a contender thanks to Spandau Ballet, Oingo Boingo, the Vapors and more.

PRETTY IN PINK (1986): Yes, of course John Hughes movies are going to dominate this list, because he put more thought into the music than perhaps any director before or since. Again, the soundtrack -- Echo and the Bunnymen, OMD, New Order, the Smiths -- is maybe better than the film.

REPO MAN (1984): Bet you didn't see that one coming. Hey, every pick can't be a Hughes movie. And give a little love to the film that honored Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies and the Circle Jerks. Very intense. But remember, "a repo man spends his life getting into tense situations."

Add your favorites and let's band out the authoritative list of best '80s soundtracks.

Comments

[scargogo]

Vision Quest-

This was the quintessential soundtrack of the times.

1. Only the Young - Journey
2. Change - John Waite
3. Shout to the Top - The Style Council
4. Gambler - Madonna
5. She's on the Zoom - Don Henley
6. Hungry for Heaven - Dio
7. Lunatic Fringe - Red Rider
8. I'll Fall in Love Again - Sammy Hagar
9. Hot Blooded - Foreigner
10. Crazy for You - Madonna

[Glenn]

How could nobody have mentioned the Something Wild soundtrack? My favorite of the 80s.

[mike]

Miami Vice and Footloose are two that are really good.

[Vegasgirlfriend]

OK Mr Hyperbole, John Hughes pays more attention to soundtrack music than any other director? Ever heard of this guy named Marty Scorsese? I bet the soundtrack for Curly Sue was just amazing. Hughes is good for the most part, but so is John Waters, Wes Anderson, PT Anderson and a host of others.

[GlennS.]

I have to echo Wuenchdog's comments about Local Hero. A great soundtrack to a great film. One of my all-time favorites.

As for Pretty in Pink, I bought the soundtrack when it came out for the then-rare New Order and Suzanne Vega tracks but I've never actually seen the movie. Uh oh, should I have admitted that on this blog?

[Lyle]

What about "Ghostbusters?" I also had "Top Gun," "Footloose," "Over the Top," "Best of the Best," "Stand by Me," "Back to the Future," "Rocky III," and "Rocky IV." If scores count "Star Trek II," "The Empire Strikes Back," and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom."

[ryan in iraq]

back to the future 3, with zztop

secret of my success with michael j. fox had night ranger doing the score.

I.J. temple of doom, had the best theme soundtrack as far as im concerned.

[ryan in iraq]

back to the future 3, with zztop

secret of my success with michael j. fox had night ranger doing the score.

I.J. temple of doom, had the best theme soundtrack as far as im concerned.

[Blake Britton]

Sid And Nancy had a great soundtrack!!

Love Kills!

[julie in nc]

Hands down, The Lost Boys!

[Mr. Paul]

"Top Gun" was the first thing that popped into my head. Then "Xanadu". Then my head exploded.

[80sfan]

Without a doubt the soundtrack that has gotten the most play from me since the 80's is The Lost Boys. The tracks still stand up today.

After that I would have to say Hard to Hold but only for the Springfield tunes. That Peter Gabriel song is just terrible.

[Spears]

Hard to believe, but "Over The Edge" wasn't released on DVD until 2005 and it's not cheap. Even at half.com, you gotta fork out $12 or $13 for it.

[rotnes]

A couple of euro dark horses

Dario Argento started to play with popular music in his soundtracks in the 80's
"Phenomena" (aka Creepers) has great stuff from Motorhead and Iron Maiden along side his ususal great stuff by Goblin and cool intro from Bill Wyman.

Two of his producing credits "Demons" and "Demons 2" feature Love and Rockets, Saxon, The Smiths, Gene loves jezebel, Motley Crue,Dead Can Dance, The Cult,Art of Noise, and Peter Murphy

[rotnes]

Yep Spears, I think we Grandfather
"Over the Edge"
because according to imdb it didn't get released in the US until 1981.

"The Wild Life" also has a great soundtrack with original stuff by Eddie Van Halen and tracks from Hendrix, Billy Idol, Human League, Madonna, and Huey Lewis.

[Jen with one n]

Ah, the wisdom of crowds. I absolutely agree with many of the lists here. Here's mine:

Purple Rain
Parade: Music from the Motion Picture Under the Cherry Moon (yeah, I said it)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Valley Girl
Pretty in Pink
Some Kind of Wonderful
Repo Man
Less Than Zero
Footloose

And the 5 I'd have to add (did someone say these yet?):
Sid & Nancy
Suburbia
Last American Virgin
Bright Lights, Big City (LOVE this one, and it has a Prince single on it)
Grease 2 (one of my fave guilty pleasures)

[Joe P.]

I would agree with Valley Girl, that is the defining 80's soundtrack as far as I was/am concerned.

Of course what is the actual "soundtrack" is a matter of some debate, as others have mentioned. The film was slated to have "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" by the Culture Club as well as a Clash tune. In fact, they still appear on the original credits. But Culture Clash blew up while the film was being released, so that and the Clash tune were never secured rights-wise. The planned (Epic? I think?) lp was pulled, with only rumors of its existence. The mini-lp on Roadshow was as close as it came until the CDs were later put together by Rhino. The original film version, the first VHS release and the later DVD release all have different songs, again because of the problem in securing rights. But you still can't beat the Plimsouls.

[DerekT]

Yes, Highlander has some great Queen songs on it.
There are several great soundtracks on this blog. There is at least two podcasts or one real long one.

[ARod]

I have to say I still enjoy listening to the Footloose soundtrack. You can pretty much listen to the soundtrack without a whole lot of song skipping. I do enjoy Highlander both because of the score pieces and the songs by Queen. Simply a classic. As far as scores go, The Mission by Ennio Morricone is one of my favorites solid soundtracks from that time with Glory by James Horner and E.T. by John Williams as close seconds.

[Anders E]

I'm surprised "Escape from New York" has not been mentioned yet, that score gained a great deal of attention at the time IIRC. Composed and performed by John Carpenter himself.

"Blue Velvet" has a fine of oldies (e.g. Bobby Vinton, Roy Orbison) and then-contemporary stuff (e.g. Chris Isaak, Julee Cruise).

"Hairspray" - John Waters sure knows his oldies. This would qualify for the inclusion of Toussaint McCall's "Nothing Takes the Place of You" alone.

There were also the musical biopics. Off the top of my head: "Bird", "Coal Miner's Daughter" and "Amadeus".

[Mick in Sydney]

I've seen many good soundtracks come up here but I must of missed something. No way that nobody mentioned Better Off Dead. Hands down best soundtrack ever. E.G. Daily was rockn with The title track and the song a little luck. ALso "with one look" from some of the guys from the Fixx and one by terri Nunn(berlin). I would give almost anything to go back to when I first heard that. I was probably driving my '79 Tran Am around with a bottle of schnaps lament another lost girlfriend lol. At least i still had my car.
One other notable was Lost Boys, loved the movie and loved the sound track. Movie made me grow my hair long as I thought the blonde vampire (Paul) was way too cool. Ahhh the memories.

[Blaine]

Great topic! And where to begin?

I think most, if not all, of my faves have been mentioned, but I'll second: Risky Business (that sweet Tangerine Dream score never lets me down), Pretty in Pink, To Live and Die in L.A., Miami Vice, Real Genius, and Sixteen Candles. Just to name a few...

[Wuenchdog]

Like alot of others, I have "Purple Rain", "To Live & Die in LA" and "Pretty In Pink". I do have one more that no one has mentioned. It's "Local Hero" done by Mark Knopfler. It's hard to compete against the other soundtracks that have gobs of pop singles and rock tracks. This soundtrack as it only has one song with a vocal (70's great Gerry Rafferty sings!), but as far as the music tying in with the mood of the movie, this is what makes this soundtrack stand out. I've heard it said that the soundtrack actually has sold more copies than the movie.

Some people might think this movie is slow, but it oozes charm and everytime I hear the soundtrack it brings a smile, wishing I was out on the Scotish beach watching the Aurora Borealis and waiting for that "phone box" to ring. At the end of the movie/soundtrack, I too feel like "Mac" (Peter Riegert), wishing I could trade places with Gordon.... (drunkenly) "I'd be good Gordon, Gordon."

[Tracy]

Top Gun
Footloose

[Spears]

"Over the Edge" is a great movie and soundtrack, but it's also 1979. Should it be grandfathered in?

[rotnes]

Gonna go with

Over the Edge
Van Halen, Cheap trick, The Cars, Hendrix and The Ramones

Ladies and Gentleman, The Fabulous Stains
Mostly original stuff written for the movie by Paul Cook and Steve Jones(Sex Pistols)

Less than Zero
Already mentioned What Rick Rubin
did with the bangles is brilliant but getting Slayer to cover Inna Gadda Da Vida...fantastic!

[Miguel]

Steve Say Anything has more good tunes beside In Your Eyes.It has Fishbone (Skankin`To the Beat),The Replacements (Within Your Reach).
I agree with Some Kind of Wonderful.Vision Quest has some interesting stuff.
I had an offbeat one. Monty Python Sings wich is basically a huge soundtrack to their work including a lot of classics from The Meaning of Life (1983).

[Michelle]

"Silverado" for movie score instead of soundtrack.

[DerekT]

I have 2 that I agree should be amoung the best and that is Heavy Metal and This is Spinal Tap. I would like to add one that has yet to be mentioned:
The Goonies. Yes you heard me, the Goonie.
Besides 2 songs by Cyndie Lauper, it has an orginal song by REO Speedwagon, also the Bangels, Luther Vandross, Philip Bailey,and Teena Marie.

[Dave in Sydney]

For great atmospheric music that really goes with the movie, I'd go for the Paris Texas soundtrack by Ry Cooder. Not your typical 80s fare but brilliant nonetheless. Also, on the same tangent, The Last Emperor soundtrack is pretty fine too, with some of the tracks written by David Byrne. Coincidentally, they are also two of my favourite all-time movies.

[Lisette]

1. The Lost Boys
2. The Wraith

[Aaron]

Transformers the movie
Top Gun
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Pretty in Pink
Heavy Metal

[sp]

I can't believe no one has mentioned "About Last Night!" That was my favorite next to "St Elmo's Fire."

[CHAD]

three words

over the top
has sammy hagar, kenny loggins, eddie money, robin zander, and asia. it's a crappy movie, but a great soundtrack. even the lesser known artists have good tunes.

[Spears]

"The Wall" is an interesting dilemma. I obviously put aside my personal tastes in situations like this. But a movie essentially made about an album after the album was released? Do I have that right?

Essentially that makes "The Wall" technically NOT a soundtrack.

[Bruce]

Uh, Xanadu (ONJ and ELO)? And, while no one will say it's one of the best, I liked Flash Gordon (All Queen) and Iron Eagle's soundtrack too. (Queen, King Kobra, Dio, Helix)

[Bassnote]

Kevy Metal, there is no way Steve is going to put anything by Pink Floyd on the list.

Steve, we love Say Anything because it is a great soundtrack. Aside from the Peter Gabriel song, The songs by the Replacements, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Fishbone are worth getting the soundtrack for. Plus you have Cheap Trick, Joe Satriani, some live Living Colour and Depeche Mode, and the awesome Nancy Wilson. The weak song is the one by Freiheit, "Keeping The Dream Alive." That song even wound up being a top 40 hit.

Does the reason you don't like it have something to do with the restraining order by Ione Skye?

[Roy, UK]

White Nights
Say Anything
Top Gun
Footloose
Flashdance
To Live and Die in LA
She's Having A Baby
Purple Rain

That's my penny's worth

[Robert]

SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL
Pretty In Pink

by far my favorite soundtrack from the 80's is Some Kind Of Wonderful. Think of it as the hip cousin of Pretty in Pink. The big difference, although they are both filled with alternative/new wave acts, Some Kind soundtrack did not really have any bands that had any kind of following- whereas pretty in pink did (Smiths, Echo)

Regardless, the soundtracks are what matter
and that's where Some Kind Of Wonderful stands out.
Brilliant Mind is one of my fav 80's tunes, just act my roommate how many times I've played it. Then throw in
Shyest Time, I Go Crazy, Cry Like This-- it's a shame- but
any of those songs should have been top 40 hits.
Well at the least I'm happy to see the soundtrack get it's due.

With that being said, Pretty In Pink is no slouch. I just do play it as often as Some Kind Of Wonderful, which means something I guess.

Robert

[Kevy Metal]

"Pretty In Pink" would be my above-all-others choice. A rock solid compilation from start to finish.

There was a soundtrack release to "The Last American Virgin". It is unfortunately long out of print. I've seen a vinyl copy and I'm 99.9% sure it was never released on CD. This one should make the list.

In the traditional film score category I suggest the "Blade Runner" soundtrack by Vangelis. The recent 25th Anniversary Edition is freakin' sweet.

Also:
Footloose
Valley Girl
To Live and Die in LA
This Is Spinal Tap
Repo Man

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" probably does not count even though there was an accompanying film, but if it gets by on that technicality then you gotta put it on the list.

[Jay]

Two more
Band of the Hand
Only the Strong

[todd]

kmcg--great suggestion with The Mission. a list on movie scores would be good for those of who like movie music.

the soundtrack I listen to the most is Some Kind of Wonderful.

also like:
Vision Quest
Lost Boys
Back to the Future has some good stuff

[Jay]

Streets of fire
Highlander
Better Off Dead
and I hate to say it Top Gun

[DoctorDrew]

- Big Chill
- Lost Boys
- Stand by Me
- Good Morning Vietnam

Love the Repo Man selection.

What about Less than Zero?

[Frank Koehntopp]

Streets on fire - Tonight is what it means to be young!

[Spears]

Wow, I'm surprised at all the "Say Anything" nominations. Aside from the Peter Gabriel song, I don't think there's anything special in that one.

But I've been wrong before (says the twice-divorced blogger).

[Ray]

"Say Anything"
"Footloose"
"Top Gun"
"Pump Up The Volume"
"Eddie & The Cruisers"
"Miami Vice"
"Lost Boys"
"Beverly Hills Cop"
"Purple Rain"

[Michelle]

"She's Having a Baby," "Dirty Dancing" and "Footloose."

[Heckler]

agree on fast times. anything from that movie works. what about st. elmo's fire? or OMD? those tend to send me back whenever i hear them.

[Rock Fields]

Two of my favorites are:

Heavy Metal
Highlander

I've been listening to Heavy Metal lately and really been missing my copy of the Highlander sound track.