Cross posted with more media on The Playlist.
In honor of the late, always great director John Hughes we at The Playlist put together a collection for you of his greatest movie music moments from some of his greatest ’80s teen movies. For a lot of us John Hughes in the ’80s was the expression of the lives we wished we lived or the kind of teenager we hoped to grow up to be. He was a great aspirational filmmaker who tapped into the pulse of a generation. He was also a musical savant, personally picking many of the songs that would appear in his films. He was very into exploring British music that hadn’t made it to America yet and gave some of the first mainstream credence to then-unknown bands from the Dream Academy to The Vapors to the Psychedelic Furs. It was also nice that for Hughes, teen films didn’t just mean teen boy films and we were able to see some relatively rich females on the screen and hey, he gave us Molly Ringwald.
“Sixteen Candles” (1984)
There are myriad great music moments in Hughes’ first teen comedy, from The Specials’ blaring “Little Bitch” as Jake Ryan’s (Michael Schoeffling) party spirals out of control to the gym slow dance while Spandau Ballet’s “True” plays in the background. The pivotal song, however, is paired with the final scene and blazed in the minds of millions of girls who’ve dreamed of their unforgettable crush for decades. That would be the Thompson Twins “If You Were Here” which comes in as Ryan picks up Samantha (Molly Ringwald) at her sister’s wedding to surprise her with a birthday cake. There is no erasing that song’s connection to a romantic moment.
Thompson Twins – “If You Were Here” in “Sixteen Candles”
“The Breakfast Club” (1985)
This movie turned out to be much more than just a teen drama. “The Breakfast Club” was a micro reflection on society, stereotyping and the lovely little boxes we all find ourselves trapped in. There was not a ton of pop music in the movie — because most of it is driven to Ira Newborn’s awesome synth-y score — but again Hughes did manage to score it with a breakout hit. Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” was a theme song for the movie that went on to become a cultural sensation in the mid ’80s.
“Weird Science” (1985)
John Hughes’ oddball male teen fantasy film marked the first, but not last, time Hughes would use a title track to score a film. He’d worked with Los Angeles based band Oingo Boingo, as led by future Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman, on soundtracks before but this time he asked them to compose a song specifically for his movie, which became the theme. Interestingly, the band rushed this song out as they were appearing as the house band in the Rodney Dangerfield flick “Back To School” at the same time, as well as composing “Dead Man’s Party” for the Dangerfield movie, but naturally the John Hughes movie brought them more fame in the end. Let’s also not forget the winning and celebratory use of General Public’s “Tenderness,” when the boys win the hearts of the girls. Also Ira Newborn, who basically composed the score to all of Hughes film’s did some great work in this one.
However, the key ace-in-the-hole deep cut is the instrumental synth-doo-wop song, “Weird Romance,” where Wyatt (whatever did become of Ilan Mitchell-Smith?) makes out with his new paramour Hilly (Judie Aronson) and god, that song is so romantic and tops, seriously.
Oingo Boingo – “Weird Science”
“Pretty In Pink” (1986)
Picking the one song that stands out in “Pretty In Pink” is a toss up — you’ve got the title track from the Psychedelic Furs and the prom scene featuring Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark’s “If You Leave.” The soundtrack was absolutely replete with great songs — you had L.A.’s The Rave-Ups as the house band, The Smiths’ “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” scoring Duckie’s (John Cryer’s) saddest moment and the amazing Otis Redding scorcher, “Try A Little Tenderness” sing-a-long scene. We guess we’ll give the musical moment to the prom scene, though, since this is a teen romance and nothing is more game changing than Andie (Ringwald) choosing sensitive minor-douchebag Blaine (Andrew McCarthy) over Duckie. [ed. still upset to this day and not getting over it anytime soon]
OMD’s “If You Leave” playing in the final scene in the film which segues into the Psychedelic Furs’ titular song.
“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986)
Hughes incorporated some not only classic songs into the “Ferris Bueller” soundtrack — from The Flowerpot Men’s “Beat City” (the montage when they drive around Chicago) to Wayne Newton’s “Danke Schoen” — but boasted some indelible and unimpeachable movie/music moments to illustrate the most sophisticated teenage mind the world had ever seen in one Ferris Bueller (has Matthew Broderick ever been so perfect?). The stand-out track and perhaps most obvious song from the film, was Yello’s “Oh Yeah” which became an unlikely radio and MTV staple as soon as this movie was released, but nothing touches one of the greatest, most joyous and electric movie music moments where Ferris does karaoke to The Beatles’ “Twist & Shout.” That scene never ceases to put a huuuge smile on our face and a shiver up our spine.
However, if we’re going to pick a song near and dear to our heart, that’s probably one of the most beautiful, and heartfelt moment in a John Hughes film ever, we’d have to go with the instrumental version of The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,” as covered by the Dream Academy while the trio of Ferris, Sloan (Mia Sara) and Cameron (Alan Ruck) meditatively contemplate their lives within the halls of the Art Institute of Chicago. It’s a scene that’s always moved us and perhaps a fitting ending to this tribute. This song breaks our heart. Rest easy, John Hughes.
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