MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS
THEY SHOOT… THEY SCORE
IN THE 80S, HOLLYWOOD TURNED ITS BACK ON ORCHESTRAL FILM SCORES IN FAVOUR OF JUKEBOX-STYLE COMPILATIONS THAT SOLD IN THEIR MILLIONS –BUT DID COMMERCE WIN OUT OVER ART?
WILL SIMPSON
The soundtrack to Footloose topped the US Billboard Chart in 1984
© Alamy
Rocky IV’s soundtrack included hits for Survivor and James Brown
Getty
The relationship between movies and music is long and intertwined, from the live soundtracks that were performed to accompany silent films to the stirring orchestrations of the golden age of Hollywood. Just as a decent meal requires a sauce of some description, so films need music.
For decades, Hollywood had contracted out its supply to individual composers and many gained significant fame from it, their names becoming synonymous with certain cinematic genres. Ennio Morricone will forever be associated with the innovative way he created drama for Sergio Leone’s westerns. Likewise, John Barry will always be linked to the James Bond franchise.
But the 1980s saw the decline of the specifically commissioned score and the rise of the compilation soundtrack. Within a few years virtually every blockbuster sported one, from Flashdance to Footloose, Ghostbusters and The Goonies to the Rocky series.
Indeed you can trace the shift through Sylvester Stallone’s boxing franchise. Its first two instalments featured Bill Conti’s largely instrumental score. By 1985, the Rocky IV soundtrack is a star-encrusted compilation featuring James Brown, Kenny Loggins, Go West and Gladys Knight.
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