Idolator
Have the movies gotten too hip with the indie rock and hip-hop and the disco? The AP says yes, as it laments the loss of "the kind of movie theme song that no longer exists." You know..."My Heart Will Go On," the tortuous oeuvre of Diane Warren, and so on. The "big and poignant," melodramatic MOR pop songs that were "huge radio hits" as well as Oscar winners. But can the era of the inescapable movie tie-in ballad really be over after so many decades?
But in the past few years, filmmakers like Cameron Crowe and Wes Anderson (following the example set by directors like Martin Scorsese) have been more likely to choose pre-existing songs to punctuate a moment or create a certain mood. Then those soundtracks — like the ones for Crowe's "Vanilla Sky," Anderson's "Rushmore" or Zach Braff's "Garden State" — go on to be popular themselves.
It seems there's just no room on the pop charts any more for an "Up Where We Belong" (from "An Officer and a Gentleman") or a "Take My Breath Away" (from "Top Gun"). Eminem's "Lose Yourself" rap from the 2002 film "8 Mile" is the rare recent Oscar winner that's also had radio success — as catchy as "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" was from 2005's "Hustle & Flow," it wasn't exactly radio-friendly.
Oh? All those radio-friendly "pimps" might disagree. But Celinian moments do seem in short supply these days. (Or maybe I've just blanked out the most recent example of this kind of crossover smash.) So why did they go away, if they did? Radio DJ Kid Kelly's argument about there being "so much fragmentation" when it comes to radio formatting seems sensible enough, as it's doubtful America's lost its incurable weakness for this particular brand of cornball tearjerking, but rather that the virus has fewer places (i.e. the "adult contemporary stations, where many of these movie themes traditionally have been popular") to take root and spread out into popular culture. But it's also dangerous to count out the monster ballad—and the article is definitely talking about a very specific kind of prom-baiting, slow-dancing balladry whether it always acknowledges it or not—especially given how much corn still makes it to No. 1, even in our niche-marketed times. It could always just be mutating into a new and even deadlier form.
Comments
Thank god for Wes Anderson and Zach Braff. They save us music-loving moviegoers from the scourge of Celine Dion and her noisome diva cohorts.
I miss Kenny Loggins.
I blame the return of swing music.
Dianne Warren is prime enemy no. 1. I loath her a passion, and yet respect her evil ways.
@Oldboy:
Never thought I'd see "thank god" and "Zach Braff" used in such terrifying proximity to one another.
@Agro: My thoughts exactly!
Another reason might be that Hollywood doesn't make very many romantic movies--or more specifically movies that market to any other demographic besides young heterosexual men. No wonder, then, that eminem and indie rock might be doing well in the movies.
"And they say that a hero can save us.
I'm not gonna stand here and wait.
I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles.
Watch as we all fly away."
Oh how I'll mourn the loss of these songs.
There are a couple of reasons this has happened. But mostly, it's the fault of NOW! That's What I Call Music. I will explain.
1. Hip-hop: Its dominance at Top 40 radio has splintered all the other formats, making it tough to impossible for a movie-closing ballad to sweep across the radio dial. Note that the end of the big-soundtrack era (say, 1999 or so) coincides perfectly with the moment hip-hop and its derivatives completely took over pop radio. In the AP story, Sondre Lerche hints at this with his "Maybe if the song was performed by 50 Cent..." comment. Also note that the only movie song in the past decade to both top the charts and win the Best Song Oscar was by Eminem; "Lose Yourself" was the exception that proves the rule.
2. The iPod: Young filmmakers are all junior Scorceses now (using proven pop songs) because they're all record geeks now with three generations' worth of songs at their disposal. It's telling in The Darjeeling Limited that Wes Anderson has the Jason Scwartzman character flip on his Pod+speakers every time he wants to set the mood.
3. The death of the album business: Sure, iTunes means we don't need soundtrack albums anymore; but the truth is, the model was already dying in the late '90s. Billboard covered the death of the soundtrack in a story about five years ago, and the smartest comment was by a retail guy who observed (I'm paraphrasing), "I noticed that the soundtracks started to tail off once we got the NOW! discs. People used to buy the City of Angels or Crow soundtrack as a way to buy a selection of radio hits. Now, we collect the big hits for them on a single CD every six months."
(Those of you who'd point to Garden State as the post-millennial equivalent of that phenomenon, remember: as massive/annoyingly ubiquitous as the Braff album seemed 2-3 years ago, it contained no proven radio hits, and it sold one-fifth to one-tenth as many discs as City of Angels or Titanic did back in the day.)
I think this retail guy was dead accurate. Now, of course, it's even easier to get the hit you want - buy it for 99¢, or just rip it from a friend/peer. But either way, whether you're buying an album packed with hits or downloading, you're defeating the '80s/'90s soundtrack model: the thematic album packed with catchy radio-friendly hits.
I thought that was a pic of Prince when I first looked at it.
They went away because they are pure evil and they suck giant, stanky moosecock and everybody with half a brain under the age of 65 hated the shit out of them. Duh.
@dennisobell: But mostly, it's the fault of NOW! That's What I Call Music = the first Idolator T-shirt design?
but the lauryn hill song in happy feet was so good!
@dennisobell: Is Eminem "the exception that proves the rule" in everything?
Excellent analysis, dennisobell. I saved that one. I guess the Shins didn't save our lives, after all.
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