Re: TP (not) at the Oscars!

Every so often I still manage to get myself cheesed off that "Call Me" by Blondie was not nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars the year of its eligibility, despite it being the most popular song from a movie the year it came out, but the Academy has never particularly liked anything that would be considered TP music - the first song by a "Trouser Press Artist" that I can see to get nominated (and win!) was "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin, and Berlin was never really an artist Trouser Press was too happy to be associated with (despite them being a featured TP flexi disc artist.)

Anyhow, just thinking of some TP songs that would have fit the criteria to receive Oscar noms (basically being a song written for or at least pretending to be written for the movie it appeared in), and have listed them below, along with the songs that won that year, for maximum outrage.

If any others spring to your minds, call them out.

1979 -
"Rock & Roll High School," the Ramones, Rock & Roll High School
Winning song for 79 - "It Goes Like It Goes" from Norma Rae. No fucking clue what that song was. Apparently it was sung by Jennifer Warnes. Feh. Of the nominated songs that year, "The Rainbow Connection" is far and away the most beloved.

1980 -
"Call Me," Blondie, American Gigolo
"Flowers of the City," David Johansen, Times Square
"Take This Town," XTC, Times Square (I think it qualifies? As far as I know, this was the only place to find it until Rag & Bone Buffet. It's from the brief period XTC were on RSO, who were behind the movie.)
Winning song for 80 - "Fame" Eh, all right, I guess. The noms for 1980 are actually pretty lousy with songs people actually liked at the time and are remembered now - "Fame," "9 to 5," "On the Road Again" - but there are a couple of forgotten slabs that could've been axed to make way for Blondie at least

1981 -
I Must Be Dreamin'," Cheap Trick, Heavy Metal
Winner - "Arthur's Theme," Christopher Cross. Somehow, of the nominated songs, it might be the ballsiest. Be ashamed, 1981.

1982 -
"I Burn For You," The Police, Brimstone and Treacle (And I guess you could call Sting's title track for that movie a proper song)
Winner - "Up Where We Belong," or, as my mom mondegreened it "The Lift Goes Up When We Get On."

1983 -
"Forbidden Colors," Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
"Rush Rush," Debbie Harry, Scarface
"Party Party," Elvis Costello, Party Party
"My Name Is Mok," Lou Reed, Rock & Rule
"Triumph," Lou Reed, Rock & Rule
"Pain and Suffering," Iggy Pop, Rock & Rule
"Angel's Song," Debbie Harry, Rock & Rule
"Send Love Through," Debbie Harry & Robin Zander, Rock & Rule (Rock & Rule rules!)
Winner - "Flashdance" Other noms were the same film's "Maniac", a couple of ditties from Yentl and something from Tender Mercies

1984 -
Every damn song from Purple Rain, Prince. Seriously, how the fuck does that movie not get a single song nominated? Imbeciles!
"Repo Man," Iggy Pop, Repo Man
"Romancing the Stone," Eddy Grant, Romancing the Stone
"Julia," Eurythmics, 1984 (I think that's the only song from the Eurythmics soundtrack that made it into the movie, rightly so. It's maybe my favorite Eurythmics album, but hoo boy, is it inappropriate for the movie it was supposed to soundtrack.)
Winner - "I Just Called To Say I Love You." Cue Jack Black rant. 84 was also the year Phil Collins got butt-hurt for not being invited to sing "Against All Odds" at the ceremony.

1985 -
"Don't You Forget About Me," Simple Minds, The Breakfast Club (Again, HOW did they not nominate that, given how popular it was?)
"A View To A Kill," Duran Duran, A View To A Kill (Ditto)
"Into the Groove," Madonna, Desperately Seeking Susan (And yes, Madonna's inclusion as a TP artist is controversial, but she's been in the guides since the 80s. She came out of the same NYC dance-punk scene as Cristina and most of the Ze artists. She just actually sold records. And "Into the Groove" is one of the best she ever sold.)
"This Is Not America," David Bowie and Pat Metheny, The Falcon and the Snowman
Winner - "Say You Say Me" by Lionel Richie. I didn't remember that being from a movie. Apparently it was in White Nights. And is Huey Lewis a TP artist? I haven't checked if he's got an entry or not. Anyhow, if he is, he beats Berlin to the punch as the first TP artist nominated for a song Oscar for "The Power of Love"

1986 -
"If You Leave," OMD, Pretty In Pink
"Love Kills," Joe Strummer, Sid and Nancy
"Ghost," the Pogues, Sid and Nancy
I think everything from Parade by Prince, but I've never watched Under the Cherry Moon to know what all's in there
Winner - The aforementioned Berlin for their contribution to Top Gun

1987 -
"The Living Daylights," A-Ha, The Living Daylights Anyone remember how that song goes? Anyone remember what happens in that movie? Me neither, and I just watched all the Bonds a couple years ago. I think it was about Timothy Dalton arming the Taliban.
"If I Should Fall From Grace With God," The Pogues, Straight To Hell
Winner - "I've Had the Time of My Life". Motherfucking Willie Deville actually got nominated that year, but lost to that codswallop.

1988 -
"This Woman's Work," Kate Bush, She's Having a Baby
"Hairspray," Rachel Sweet, Hairspray
"Trash City," Joe Strummer, Permanent Record
Winner - that Carly Simon song from Working Girl. Only three songs nominated that year and the idiots still couldn't make room for the most gut-wrenching song Kate Bush ever wrote.

1989 -
"Fight the Power," Public Enemy, Do The Right Thing
Whatever songs off Batman that actually made it into the movie, Prince
"Pet Sematary," Ramones, Pet Sematary
"Rocky VI," Nicky Tesco (RIP), Leningrad Cowboys Go America
"Ballad of the Leningrad Cowboys," Nicky Tesco, Leningrad Cowboys Go America
Winner - "Under the Sea" What can you do? It was the beginnings of the Disney resurgence.

Okay, I've exhausted myself just trying to remember appropriate songs from the 80s, so I'm stopping. If I get a second wind, I'll go for the 90s. Until then, if anyone else thinks of original songs from movies by TP artists that were robbed ROBBED of the gold, chime in.

Semi-OT: I watched AMERICAN GIGOLO for the first time last year, and I found it amusing that the entire score consists of different versions of "Call Me!"

This is a fantastic topic!

Purple Rain won Best Original Song Score (1984). As for Best Original Score, TP artists Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Byrne (along with non-TP composer Cong Su) won for The Last Emperor (1987).

Two other artists whose work, I would argue, extends (or at least should extend) into the TP universe, also won Best Original Score during the 70's/80's time period: Giorgio Moroder's Midnight Express (1978) and Vangelis's Chariots of Fire (1981). Those are two terrific electronic scores.

Here are my alternative nominations, primarily in terms of scores, not songs:

1977: Best Original Score - Sorcerer by Tangerine Dream.

1981: Best Original Score - Thief by Tangerine Dream. (I believe, however, that Vangelis absolutely deserved to win).

1982: Best Song - "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" by David Bowie & Giorgio Moroder; Best Original Score - Cat People (Moroder); Blade Runner by Vangelis; Café Flesh by Mitchell Froom. I know, I know--the Academy wouldn't have touched Rinse Dream/Stephen Sayadian's hardcore masterpiece with a ten-foot pole, but both film and score are stunning. Slash released Froom's source music as The Key of Cool in 1984.

For 1982's Best Adaptation Score, I would nominate Liquid Sky by Slava Tsukerman, Brenda I. Hutchinson, and Clive Smith. (I realize that most people didn't see Liquid Sky until 1983, but it's technically an '82 release. I was obsessed with this film and saw it ten times in two weeks in late November/early December '83.)

1983: Best Original Score - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - Ryuichi Sakamoto.

1989: Best Original Score - For All Mankind by Brian Eno w/Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno. Eno released the score for this great documentary as Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks in 1983--it's my favorite album of that particular year--but director Al Reinert kept tinkering with the picture for several years until the film's "official" release in Autumn '89.

Cat People was one of the first songs I thought of on this topic, then it completely fled my mind when I was writing the post.

Vangelis composed several excellent scores in the '70s, but the European nature documentaries they soundtracked were far off the Academy's radar.

It now seems strange that instrumental songs from soundtracks like "Chariots of Fire" and Harold Faltermeyer's "Axel F." became major hits. "Chariots of Fire" even got to #1! Now instrumentals are completely shut out of pop music.

I've had that same thought about Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" and "Hocus Pocus" by Focus (which I guess technically has vocals if yodeling counts). Just so weird to me that those became Top 40 hits.

Or songs with long and bizarre instrumental interludes like ELP's "Lucky Man." What marketing genius decided that it was a good idea to release a single of the day Keith Emerson experimented in the studio with his brand new Moog?

Ha! In high school my best friend and I were also enamored of Liquid Sky. Heaven knows how many times we watched it. In our small town, I didn't know that anyone else even knew of its existence! Thanks for the reminder.

This is a fantastic topic!

Purple Rain won Best Original Song Score (1984). As for Best Original Score, TP artists Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Byrne (along with non-TP composer Cong Su) won for The Last Emperor (1987).

Two other artists whose work, I would argue, extends (or at least should extend) into the TP universe, also won Best Original Score during the 70's/80's time period: Giorgio Moroder's Midnight Express (1978) and Vangelis's Chariots of Fire (1981). Those are two terrific electronic scores.

Here are my alternative nominations, primarily in terms of scores, not songs:

1977: Best Original Score - Sorcerer by Tangerine Dream.

1981: Best Original Score - Thief by Tangerine Dream. (I believe, however, that Vangelis absolutely deserved to win).

1982: Best Song - "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" by David Bowie & Giorgio Moroder; Best Original Score - Cat People (Moroder); Blade Runner by Vangelis; Café Flesh by Mitchell Froom. I know, I know--the Academy wouldn't have touched Rinse Dream/Stephen Sayadian's hardcore masterpiece with a ten-foot pole, but both film and score are stunning. Slash released Froom's source music as The Key of Cool in 1984.

For 1982's Best Adaptation Score, I would nominate Liquid Sky by Slava Tsukerman, Brenda I. Hutchinson, and Clive Smith. (I realize that most people didn't see Liquid Sky until 1983, but it's technically an '82 release. I was obsessed with this film and saw it ten times in two weeks in late November/early December '83.)

1983: Best Original Score - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - Ryuichi Sakamoto.

1989: Best Original Score - For All Mankind by Brian Eno w/Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno. Eno released the score for this great documentary as Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks in 1983--it's my favorite album of that particular year--but director Al Reinert kept tinkering with the picture for several years until the film's "official" release in Autumn '89.

Sorry, folks--I'm not sure why the above response was published twice.

Peter Gabriel, "It Is Accomplished" ('Last Temptation of Christ' S/T)
Wang Chung, "To Live and Die In LA" ('To Live & Die In LA')
Flesh For Lulu, "I Go Crazy' ('Some Kind of Wonderful S/T)
David Bowie, "Absolute Beginners" ('Absolute Beginners S/T')

Thanks for calling out Rock & Rule! It's a pretty silly film, but I've always enjoyed the heck out of it, on the rare occasions when I've seen it.

Funny to have "Rock + Rule" mentioned as I remembered seeing the video clips on Night Flight and was just thinking of them recently. As in, …"how the hell did that happen?" Canadian animation studio ropes in Punk Rock/New Wave Royalty? But looking at the last 50 years of Oscar® winning songs, I was thunderstruck by how awful they all were! It just shows to go you that H'wood is infinitely older and less hip than the music industry. And the music industry is hardly a paragon of hipness!

Of the winning and nominated songs I've actually heard [admittedly a small fraction] they were all MOR slop. Only one stands tall in my Record Cell… the almighty "Theme From Shaft." Which I actually have 50 year old memories of seeing Hayes "perform" the track [lip synced, I'm sure] in an elaborate production number where the most powerful production value was the vest of chains worn by the artiste. Daaaaaaamn right!


Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2022 11:47AM by Post-Punk Monk.

I forgot "The Goonies R Good Enough," which, dang it, was as good as anything Cyndi did in the post-Unusual 80s.

And I gave John Hughes movies short shrift - I considered them mostly one new song, and a bunch of other previously released stuff. But Pretty In Pink debuted "Shellshock" by New Order, and "Left of Center" by Suzanne Vega and Joe Jackson, while Some Kind of Wonderful sports a Pete Shelley tune unique to that soundtrack. And yes, technically those are Howatd Deutch films and not John Hughes, but everyone considers them Hughes movies, whether he directed them or not.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2022 02:11PM by breno.

Oingo Boingo songs featured prominently in movies in consecutive years:

1985 - "Weird Science" (Weird Science)
1986 - "Dead Man's Party" (Back to School)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2022 03:38PM by zoo.

zoo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oingo Boingo songs featured prominently in movies
> in consecutive years:
>
> 1985 - "Weird Science" (Weird Science)
> 1986 - "Dead Man's Party" (Back to School)
That made me think of "Wild Sex (In the Working Class)" from Sixteen Candles. That movie has not aged well but look at the soundtrack:
(Only including TP artists)
"Love of the Common People" Paul Young
"Kajagoogoo" Kajagoogoo
"Happy Birthday" Altered Images
"True" Spandau Ballet
"Wild Sex (In the Working Class)" Oingo Boingo
"Little Bitch" The Specials
"Growing Pains" Tim Finn
"Turning Japanese" The Vapours
"Rev-up" says The Rezillos but should be the Revillos
"Gloria" Patti Smith
"Rebel Yell" Billy Idol
"Young Americans" David Bowie
"If You Were Here" Thompson Twins
"Sixteen Candles" The Stray Cats

I would swap out "Reach Out" for "I Must Be Dreamin'" but then the former wasn't written by anyone in Cheap Trick. Also, Devo's "Through Being Cool" was in the movie but not on the soundtrack.

Lastly, Frankie Goes to Hollywood did a wild version of "Relax" in 1984's Body Double

Heff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> zoo Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > Oingo Boingo songs featured prominently in
> movies
> > in consecutive years:
> >
> > 1985 - "Weird Science" (Weird Science)
> > 1986 - "Dead Man's Party" (Back to
> School)
> That made me think of "Wild Sex (In the Working
> Class)" from Sixteen Candles. That movie
> has not aged well but look at the soundtrack:

The music used in Sixteen Candles is excellent, but the vast majority of the songs in the movie are not on the official soundtrack. In fact, it's a mini-EP. Here's that tracklist (copied from Wikipedia):

Side 1
1. "16 Candles" Stray Cats 2:52
2. "Hang Up the Phone" Annie Golden 2:59
3. "Geek Boogie" Ira Newborn & the Geeks 2:48

Side 2
1. "Gloria" Patti Smith 5:54
2. "If You Were Here" Thompson Twins 2:55

Here's a question. In the '90s attending a screening of 10 Things I Hate About You, I was happy to see the song Calypso by the excellent Spiderbait was the song for the opening titles but it does not appear on the soundtrack album. Is this simply a licensing issue?