Underrated ‘80s Movie Soundtracks (You May Have Never Listened To Before)

by ethan brehm by ethan brehm Prior to the Prior to the 1980s, most 1980s, most movies movies

(with the exception of musicals, of course) had maybe a handful of original tunes backing the goings-on of their characters. But thanks to the popularity of soundtracks from certain ‘60s and ‘70s films, most notably American Graffiti, Easy Rider, The Graduate, and Saturday Night Fever, the following decade went all-in with underscoring their films, not just relying on traditional film scores—though many utilized both. But what happened was, the compilations of pop songs were often becoming more notable than the composed scores, and rising out of that popularity we got some of the biggest soundtracks of all time.

A great soundtrack goes beyond just one or two songs—that would be too easy. The great ones manage to compile an assortment of recordings that eternally fit together to immerse us into movies we love.

If you grew up in the ‘80s, you undoubtedly wore out the mixes from your favorite John Hughes films, while baby boomers likely had the soundtrack from The Big Chill on repeat. Many of us can easily recall the songs from Dirty Dancing, Footloose, and Pretty in Pink, but what about the more forgotten-about soundtracks that affected their respective movies in the same way, but just failed to garner a certain cultural ubiquity? Soundtracks allow us to take home us a piece of our favorite films, and even let us live inside those worlds for a little while, which is why a good soundtrack is almost never mutually exclusive with a good movie. However, there can be some exceptions—and there are. Some of these albums are from well-known films, but simply seem to get forgotten about when the conversation of “greatest soundtracks” ever comes up, while others are from movies that have been shrouded with just as much obscurity as the songs themselves.

Below are Below are some of the some of the many that many that have flown have flown under the under the radar over the radar over the years (in order years (in order of release) of release)

Appealing to those who desire to relive their high school days from the ‘80s, the soundtrack backing Scott Baio’s teen comedy Zapped!, about a teen scientist who develops telekinesis, will undoubtedly appeal to fans with a taste for poppy power ballads and relentlessly cheerful pop-rock vocals of that era. However, the album does so with a committed conviction that’s admirable. Though none of these songs necessarily “hold up” by today’s standards, and they’re all performed by fairly obscure acts circa 1982, they’re still an adequate snapshot of what teen life was like during that decade, in both sound and content.

The Highlights

Plain Jane - “Shoot the

Moon”: “They teach us how to punctuate/But we just want to graduate” is one of literally a coupledozen on-the-nose lyrics from this song about the agonies of being in school. Despite itself, the tune is catchy and finds the charm in its silliness.

The Keane Brothers - “Tryin’ to Kill a Saturday

Night”: The tight musicianship of this song by The Keane Brothers feels akin to something you’d hear in an Eddie Money hit, but the pop duo holds their own here and cranks out a solid recording with some killer harmonies sprinkled in.

Zapped!

(1982)

Night of the Comet

(1984)

Thom Eberhardt’s 1984 horror/ comedy/sci-fi movie about how a comet passing overhead has turned everyone on earth into zombies has become a cult favorite over the years, and its soundtrack has garnered a similar recognition. Consisting of largely unknown artists, the album refuses to conform to one specific style, much like the film itself. With a lot of great melodies, it’s tempting to research some of the talents on display here, but many of them frustratingly return no results on the Google machine.

The Highlights

Revolver - “Unbelievable”

Look this one up on Spotify if you can. It’s worthy of being added to at least a few of your playlists.

Chris Farren & Amy Holland “Learn to Love Again”

If this soulfully cheesy love duet makes you want to dust off your old Michael McDonald records, just know that his wife is the female voice singing on the track and one of the only acts on this list that has her own Wikipedia page.

Revolver - “Tell Me Yourself”

Man, I really wish this band didn’t have such a generic name so I could find more of their music. But their 2nd track (of three) on this album is Elvis Costello-esque by nature with its mix of dancehall influence and a jangly post-punk chorus.

Jude Cole - “Hot Nights”

This road rocker wails as the girls drive down to Florida.

Shandi - “Seven Day Heaven”

Mixing calypso steelpans with ‘80s synths, singer-songwriter Shandi’s theme plays over a couple of scenes and embodies the film’s tone perfectly. I can never get this one out of my head.

Peter Beckett - “Jennie”

The film’s finale features the typical unrealistic in-movie song about the main character, sung by her love interest who’s competing for her affection. But this time, the song is catchy and executed in a memorable way. It’s corny and silly and just the thing we need in this otherwise-unexciting picture.

Where the Boys Are ‘84

(1984) Porky’s Revenge!

(1985)

The remake to the 1960 teen movie classic, Where the Boys Are ‘84 doesn’t quite have the same cultural impact and just may be the very definition of an unnecessary remake, but still has enough appeal that makes for a fairly enjoyable and harmless outing. A big part of that charm is due to a really catchy set of songs.

The spring break film, set in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has a soundtrack to match that wild energy. There’s a mix of original tunes and modern covers of old ‘50s songs, including Gene Vincent’s

“Be-Bop-a-Lula” and Little

Richard’s “Rip it Up,” the latter of which did not make the album.

Toronto - “Girls Night Out”

The only non-original track from the album is also one of the most memorable. This anthem sung by the Canadian rock group, who somehow blends the vocal stylings of Heart’s Ann Wilson and Rush’s Geddy Lee, doesn’t settle on just being a straightforward rock track, but evolves and builds as it goes, featuring a killer bridge as well.

The

The third installment in this sex comedy trilogy isn’t necessarily leagues above the previous film(s), but what sets the juvenile farce apart from its predecessors is a rockin’ soundtrack, which can make or break even the worst movies in the world. While most films set the tone for their soundtrack, Porky’s Revenge! gets overshadowed by its music and remains watchable because of it. Somehow managing to get former Rockpile frontman Dave Edmunds to produce and assemble a collection of both original and cover tracks made specifically for this film by wellestablished rock legends, such as George Harrison, Jeff Beck, Robert Plant, and Willie Nelson, the studio lucked out with pairing their ridiculous romp with an absolute brilliant collection of songs, which undoes any disdain this movie has ever received.

Highlights

Dave Edmunds - “High School

Nights”: The opening track sets the bar high with an incredibly catchy original, while also establishing a tone that the rest of the songs manage to keep up with.

Jeff Beck - “Sleepwalk”

Becks’ hypnotizing take on the already-mesmerizing classic by Santo & Johnny is executed with the guitar legend’s signature balance of distortion and warmth.

The Return of the Living Dead

(1985)

Not only an underrated soundtrack, but an underrated film, The Return of the Living Dead is pretty important in the lineage of horror, as it gave us the lore that zombies like to eat brains and the first time the living dead were seen running. The soundtrack itself features the likes of punk rock and death rock acts such as The Cramps, T.S.O.L, 45 Grave, and the Flesh Eaters, earning an underground reputation that fits in perfectly with the movie it represents, and, more importantly, one of the things that makes the film work so well, regardless of how you feel about the genre. A mix of originals and pre-existing songs, the film is perhaps the first one to fuse zombies and the punk scene together this effectively.

Roky Erickson - “Burn the

Flames”: Perhaps nobody better than Erickson to contribute a song to this zombie film, the oft-imaginative and expressive songwriter’s original recording stands out amidst the raucous melodies of the rest of the album, but his 6-minute epic is not one you want to gloss over.

SSQ - “Tonight (We’ll Make Love

Until We Die)”: Even though this tune strays away from the film’s punk sensibilities with a dance beat and a wailing electric guitar, its haunting production seems to fit in well amidst the dark tone of the others.

The Highlights

The Cramps - “Surfin’ Dead”

This sardonic earworm adequately sums up the quirky tone of the film, and makes for a killer addition to any Halloween playlist!

T.S.O.L. - “Nothin’ For You”

If unfamiliar with the punk group T.S.O.L, you may think the raspy vocals are that of Alice Cooper (which would also be fitting), but that may be by design. This is one of the group’s more accessible tunes, perhaps unintentionally emitting a synth-pop influence, but also keeping with the macabre vibe of this film.

(1986)

While Richard Band, brother of the film’s producer Charles Band, provided the experimentally wacky (and spooky) musical score, the horror-comedy also features five songs (three vocal, two instrumental) from Los Angeles-based art rock group, The Fibonaccis. The songs range from hard rock to lounge jazz to space-age jazz (which blends the stylings of The B-52s and Esquivel) to space-age rock (which just straight up sounds like The B-52s—but maybe even weirder). There were hopes that the success of the film would bring attention to the band, but unfortunately TerrorVision didn’t really earn much success until it reached the home video market. Nonetheless, the coinciding album is a fun one to say the least.

The Highlights

The Fibonaccis - “TerrorVision”

Vocalist Magie Song sounds absolutely alien on this theme song with a brilliant delivery that aptly matches the intentional oddity of the movie.

The Fibonaccis - “Advice to a

Mutant”: This cheeky lounge parody quotes a line from the classic 1927 musical Show Boat’s “Ol’ Man River,” and also has a lyric that goes, “There’s protoplasm on the floor/There’s so much more to you.” I mean, what else do you really need to know?

over the top

(1987)

You want epic rock anthems? Sylvester Stallone movies are a great place to start. Backing his 1987 film about arm wrestling and father-son relationships is a soundtrack that’s representative of what was once all but a prerequisite for the actor to join any project. Featuring the likes of Kenny Loggins, Eddie Money, Sammy Hagar, and Asia, Over the Top keeps the guitar shrills constant and the arm pumping at a maximum.

The Highlights

Robin Zander - “In This Country”

This song perfectly underscores the film’s emotional final moments as the credits begin to roll. I dare you not to get goosebumps.

Kenny Loggins - “Meet

Me Half Way”: Move over Top Gun and Footloose, this de facto theme song by Loggins is basically the objective high point of the album and the movie.

Asia - “Gypsy Soul”

A fantastic road trip song with a driving beat and a deliciously assertive hook.

School Daze

(1988) The Highlights

Overshadowed over time by Spike Lee’s 1986 debut She’s Gotta Have It and his 1989 masterpiece Do the Right Thing, the necessity of watching School Daze has seemed to be forgotten about. The film opened up the dialogue about taboo issues within Black American culture, having the awkward conversations most were too afraid to have. Lee lessens the blow and finds creative ways to air painful laundry by masking the discussion behind effective musical numbers and diegetic edits, rather than simply presenting over-expository dialogue. Many of these songs are performed by characters in the movie, whether in the context of the musical number or simply a band performing on stage.

EU - “Da Butt”

The soul-funk mashup earned the group One Hit Wonder status, but “Da Butt” is more than just a novelty song. It’s one that seems to unite the two feuding sides on campus in the movie—albeit briefly—while also posing the dilemma of needing a distraction from the issues to be the only thing that can bring us together.

Jigaboos and Wannabees Chorus - “Straight and Nappy”

The first real musical number, taking us out of the setting of the film for a few minutes, blends classical jazz with traditional broadway razzledazzle, pairing the production with truly brilliant choreography. This is not to detract from the deceivingly deep-rooted issues underneath the flashy presentation.

Keith John - “I Can Only Be Me”

If you didn’t read the liner notes, you would swear this ballad was sung by Stevie Wonder, himself. Wonder writes and produces the track, but it’s John who does his spot-on impersonation of the Motown legend.

Bill & Ted’s

excellent ADVENTURE (1989)

In a movie about two clueless valley boys who are prophesied to write a song that will bring peace and harmony to the universe 700 years into the future, a killer soundtrack would make sense. Yet few remember/realize how near-perfect this collection of songs actually is. Almost entirely made up of original tracks by relatively obscure artists (sans Extreme), this excellent soundtrack puts together a cohesive assortment of hard rock tunes that, if we didn’t know any better, we could assume were always destined to be with one another. After listening, we can’t imagine one song not being included, and likewise if one were absent, it would throw off the flow of the whole album.

The Highlights

Extreme - “Play With Me”

Serving as the background for the iconic mall scene, Extreme’s fast-fingered riffs are most reminiscent of Van

Halen’s “Eruption”, but the melodic hook takes on a life of its own, thankfully never straying far from its progenitor, to the delight of the film’s two title characters.

Robbie Robb feat. Steve

Salas - “In Time”

A beautiful love ballad that I secretly used to simp to in high school.

Power Tool - “Two Heads Are Better Than One”

A fun rocker that serves as the pseudo-anthem to this adventure-comedy.

Road House

(1989)

When it comes to gritty southern blues, perhaps no other movie from the ‘80s (or any other decade for that matter) embodies the vibe better than the Patrick Swayze vehicle Road House. About a bouncer at a roadside bar, the film has its own house band, fronted by Jeff Healey, which plays several blues rock covers. The album omits three tracks by chicano rock band The Cruzados, but features mostly-originals, while managing to place us in the Double Deuce with Swayze, who contributes a couple songs, himself.

The Highlights

Bob Seger - “Blue Monday”

Seger howls this rhythm and blues standard with a soulful delivery that meshes perfectly with the honky tonk orchestration.

The Jeff Healey Band - “When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky”

It goes without saying that Healey’s haunting rendition of Bob Dylan’s 1985 song is better than the original, but you really need to listen to this one yourself.

Patrick Swayze - “Raising Heaven (In Hell Tonight)”

What would an ‘80s movie be without a catchy reverb-filled pop-rock anthem? But also, how many can boast that said anthem is performed by the film’s star? You’d never guess this was Swayze singing, and despite its ‘80s cliches, we love it for its ‘80s cliches (yes, you read that correctly).