Its Movie music week at mykidsfamily! I have been thinking about doing a movie song week for a while, and on Friday it will be clear why I chose this week.
I have been thinking about songs from movies and looking at lists of songs in movies and I have come to the conclusion that I could probably do this for a whole month! Picking a few has been difficult, but I decided not to just look for the biggest hits, but to look for songs, first off that I like, and that were not necessarily the most well knows or top ten hits. With that in mind, there will be two special days later in the week that focus on a specific theme in movie music. Today, though, I will just highlight three of my favorite songs from movies.
I’ll start out with some Classic Rock music.
In 1969 the movie Easy Rider came out and really changed American movies and movie making. The film was produced by Peter Fonda and directed by Dennis Hopper, who both starred in the film. It began a phase in movie making that was dominated by young film producers and directors taking on topics ranging from drugs, racial strife and sex. The films were often filled with popular music and most did very well at the box office. The movie featured the great song Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf.
In 1979, the very popular Broadway musical Hair was adapted for the screen. The movie was amazing with beautiful photography, great songs that were from the original musical and unbelievable dance which was choreographed by Twyla Tharp. The best song from this musical is of course Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In which was later made famous by The Fifth Dimension. In the movie these two songs are separate songs.
The year before Hair came to the screen, another Broadway musical made it there with incredible songs. This of course was Grease and the song I am picking from Grease is Summer Nights. This is the movie that made a star out of Olivia Newton John and cemented John Travolta’s stardom after his performance in Saturday Night Fever.
These are three songs that I can remember singing all the time when hearing them on the radio. Born to Be Wild especially became the best roll down your windows and sing at the top of your lungs song for me, and probably for many other people as well. The amazing thing about these songs too is that you still will hear them on the radio today. Aquarius is a staple on oldies radio; Born to Be Wild on Classic rock and oldies radio, and Grease is being performed right now in a revival on Broadway.
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7tuUG6dLv4]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhbxI5eVnM4]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhNrqc6yvTU]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blcvkFqeKac]