more 80s soundtracks

can't get enough of 80s movies at the moment. nostalgia can be indulgent but sometimes you're just fed up with the real world, or, you just prefer the music and movies of another time.

now that i have worn out and/or broken most of my sex and the city dvds, i find myself watching an 80s movie to wind down.

i wonder if, in the future, there'll be a place you can go to where to all intents and purposes, it's the 80s, or the 70s or whatever era you feel like living in. yes, one of the last 80s films i watched was back to the future.

ten more 80s soundtracks - download here

beverly hills cop (1984)

junior - do you really want my love

**bonus**vanity 6 - nasty girl

forget 'axel f' i think we can safely say its forever ruined by a crazy frog. junior was a uk soul singer whose only real hit was the growly 'mama used to say'. vanity 6's biggest hit was, for purple reasons, left off the soundtrack. the film? well if the only eddie murphy you know is the sorry fortysomething player who fathers children with desperate spice girls, you need to get this and coming to america and find out why he's even famous in the first place. get raw and delirious while you're at it as well, i hear they just came out on dvd.

ferris bueller's day off (1986)

yello - oh yeah

how does matthew broderick look the same now as in 1986? anyway, who can forget this scene - battered and defeated headmaster, ed rooney, resigned to catching a school bus. earlier he declared, 'i did not achieve this position in life by having some snot-nosed punk leave my cheese out in the wind'. like the breakfast club before it, ferris delighted in watching authoritative adults sink under the delusion that they were smarter than sassy 80s kids. i loved the character cameron in this movie. check out jennifer grey before dirty dancing and that nosejob as ferris's sister jeannie.

ghostbusters ii (1989)

bobby brown - on our own

copyact sequel, but an opportunity for young bobby to cement his growing popularity. this track hasn't engraved itself on the memory like ray parker jr's effort but it was huge in 89. he did provide another song for the soundtrack but...its awful. and i'm a huge bobby fan. don't try to track it down. think vanilla ice and those ninja turtles and be glad you left well enough alone. the film is exactly the same as the first ghostbusters - bill murray, big marshmallow baddies who threaten to eat new york. ok there might be slightly more to it than that...but not a hell of a lot.

krush groove (1985)

sheila e - a love bizarre

kurtis blow - if i ruled the world

if you're a fan of 80s hiphop, this soundtrack is worth seeking out, although it probably doesn't exist on cd. the story follows def jam's early days and features sheila e, ll cool j, beastie boys and new edition amongst others. it also stars a young blair underwood. as in the fit doctor miranda dates in the last series of sex and the city. the fit, rich doctor who can cook but also buys her pizza and a cookie that says 'i love you'. which sends her running back to broke barman steve. i'm sorry, i loved that show but COME ON that would never happen. he was too good for her - oh, ok i'll calm down now....

top gun (1986)

teena marie - lead me on

the rest of the soundtrack was eclipsed by 'take my breath away' but its actually a good representation of mid 80s power pop, especially 'danger zone', the likes of which just wouldn't work in the 00s for so many reasons. this was before living in an inner city was indeed like 'living in a danger zone' as per this song. this teena marie song is the most soul-oriented track. many a ten year old girl developed a crush on tom cruise thanks to this movie, and cocktail, that has carried into later life. until katie holmes and scientology, obviously, at which point he visibly lost it.

who's that girl (1987)

duncan faure - 24 hours

scritti politti - best thing ever

madonna filled this soundtrack with four of her own tracks, naturally, and most fans bought it for these and skipped the others. i copied from a friend as i wouldn't spend £5.49 on a tape with only four madonna songs. not when i could spend 70p on a blank tape and a bag of kola kubes to bribe said friend. we didn't share msuic quite so freely in those days. scritti politti were a great 80s blue eyed soul band with breathy vocals and this is a good example of their offerings. duncan faure? one hit wonder if this even counts. I used to think this was sung by the male lead in the film, griffin dunne.

body rock (1985)

maria vidal - body rock

fabulous example of mid 80s legwarmers-and-headband dance music, hot on the heels of fame and flashdance. i haven't seen the movie in years, but i'm not sure its really necessary, to guess what its about. this song was a favourite of sadistic p.e. teachers up and down the UK, looking to motivate lazy 16 year olds into aerobics, well into the 90s. why was all the music in those lessons at least 10 years old?? another favourite was the pointer sister's 'jump' for trampolining (arf...) and i also remember being forced to do aqua aerobics to elton john's 'i'm still standing'. funny cos i don't remember the p.e witches having a sense of humour...














bright lights big city (1987)

prince - good love

from one shortarse to another, prince contributed this rare track to michael j fox's 1987 movie. as i remember, this is almost exactly the same as 'the secret of my success'. michael, previously playing teen roles in teenwolf and back to the future, made the apparent leap to twentysomething hotshot within the space of two years. like ralph macchio, he was a good ten years older than most of his characters. which must be like the ultimate affirmation of hanging on to your youth, I presume. good for them.

our reggae music

reggae and jamaica are inextricably linked. but in the mid 70s, south london took reggae, added a dash of brixton and sent it back across the airwaves. disenfranchised black britons found an identity and an alternative to the us-led soul scene.

in contrast to the political protest of 70s island reggae, lovers rock dealt with the same issues as 70s soul, but to a different beat. not since this movement has british culture influenced the entire reggae scene to such an extent.

the south london soundsystems provided a haven and identity for inner city teenagers and clubgoers of all races. as such, many of the artists were very young, especially the girls, who provided a realistic and honest outlet for the romantic and sometimes plaintive lyrics.

i was just a baby when this music was popular and it was one of the last truly underground urban scenes - i can't imagine many outside of london were aware of it even at the time. i had no exposure to it whatsoever but when i first heard them, most of the tracks were instantly familiar and perfectly encapsulate the mood of the nation in the late 70s and early 80s.

now in their 40s and 50s, the lovers rock massive recently welcomed many of the genre's stars back into the limelight as part of the soul britannia concerts held at the london barbican centre. though the distinction between reggae and lovers rock became blurred with the advent of dancehall in the mid 80s and later ragga, its legacy survives today.

ten lovers rock classics - download here

the cool notes - i've got to let him know

not all of this group's listeners would be aware that they started their careers as part of the lovers rock movement. in the 80s they were true jheri soul artistes, albeit with a british edge, and had sizeable mainstream success. their most popular lovers tune was the era-defining 'my tune', so I've included a lesser known 1977 cut.

bob andy - honey

established reggae artist bob was one of many jamaican acts swayed by the new british sound, and this 1983 track cemented his new and successful direction. prior to this he served as part of bob marley's band, and since he has become a respected stalwart of the reggae scene, taking up the mantle at bob marley's tuff going empire.

15 16 17 - if you love me smile

one of several lovers rock girl bands, and named after their respective ages when they formed. they didn't change their band name as they got older - in fact they weren't around for very long. they covered soul classics to great effect but also sang sweetly on their own compositions.

john mclean - if i gave my heart to you

a true child of the lovers rock era, john grew up in 70s south west london and started singing with the black starliner sound system at the age of 16. it was another decade before he gained meaningful success with this song, which topped the reggae charts in 1987.

portia morgan - let me be your angel

in the early 80s, the influence of ska has become more prominent. the contrast of hopeful lyrics against a typically melancholy backing track sums up the restlessness and fear of urban britain in 1981.

junior brown - long time me call

more upbeat example of the genre from the mid 80s on the ubiquitous fashion label. not much info can be found by googling this artist...could possibly have recorded under another name?

brown sugar - hello stranger

like 15 16 17, brown sugar were schoolgirls at the peak of their success. if you thought caron wheeler was fresh faced when she hooked up with soul ii soul in 1989, you might be surprised to learn that a 14 year old caron and friends carol simms and pauline cattlin were making music back in 1977.

musical youth - heartbreaker

best known for their no1 hit 'pass the dutchie' which escaped the moral majority despite being very obviously about smoking weed. the shamen got away with a similar act ten years later with ode to ecstasy 'ebeneezer goode', no1 during national drugs week, no less. its easy to forget that musical youth weren't just a novelty act, they also made proper lover rock - like this.

louisa marks - caught you in a lie

by now you know the score...15 year old louisa marks was arguably the first lady (ok, girl) of lovers rock in 1975. she was the first british artist to score a reggae hit.

winston reedy - dim the lights

early 80s example of the genre from popular reggae artists winston, who had several successful albums. still doing his thing.