These epic tracks helped make these 80s movie moments unforgettable! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for those deep cut tunes from 1980s movie soundtracks that we feel deserve some reinvestigation!
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00:00Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those deep cut tunes from
00:121980s movie soundtracks that we feel deserve some re-investigation.
00:24Number 10.
00:25Jungle Love – Purple Rain
00:28To paraphrase Jay from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,
00:31I've never said an unkind word about the time.
00:34Forrest Day and The Time are indeed the mad note.
00:38Jungle Love is unequivocally the group's legacy and calling card.
00:42But this isn't a bad thing.
00:44After all, any 80s funk band worth their salt would kill for Prince to write a song this
00:50good for their catalog.
00:59Jungle Love hinges upon that ultra-synthesized 80s production, that smooth bassline and backing
01:05vocals that become immediately stuck in listeners' heads.
01:08Meanwhile, the song's appearance in Prince's own Purple Rain allowed Forrest Day and The
01:13Time's amazingly cool choreography to swing for the fences.
01:24Number 9.
01:25To Live and Die in L.A. – To Live and Die in L.A.
01:35Director William Friedkin struck gold once again with 1985's To Live and Die in L.A.,
01:41yet another standout from a filmography that included both The Exorcist and The French
01:46Connection.
01:47Wang Chung's theme to the film updates its crime, mystery and thriller themes with a
01:52and expansive.
02:00Dance All Day's and Everybody Have Fun Tonight may be the songs most associated with Wang
02:04Chung's chart success, but To Live and Die in L.A. deserves to be equally remembered.
02:09The modulated section that occurs shortly before the three-minute mark ramps up the
02:13tension a little bit, while the song as a whole is a smooth synth pop song with style
02:18to spare.
02:27Number 8.
02:28Only the Young – Vision Quest The history of Only the Young is an interesting
02:34one, because its composers and journey actually sold off the rights to Patti Smith and Scandal,
02:40who recorded the first version in 1984.
02:52That said, most listeners are probably more familiar with the version that Journey themselves
02:56released as a single in conjunction with the 1985 film Vision Quest.
03:02There's certainly no shame in Scandal's game, but there's few that would deny Steve
03:06Perry all of the flowers when it comes to Journey's version.
03:16Co-songwriter Neil Schoen also adds some tasty guitar accents to the chorus, while Jonathan
03:21Kane's keyboards create urgency and drama.
03:25This latter sentiment ties into Vision Quest as a character piece concerning love, challenge
03:31and competition.
03:38Number 7.
03:40Somebody's Baby – Fast Times at Ridgemont High
03:43You could be forgiven for spacing out on this Jackson Browne soundtrack cut for Fast Times
03:48at Ridgemont High.
03:57After all, this was a movie soundtrack that was absolutely stacked with killer cuts.
04:02Somebody's Baby is a case of musical kismet, a tune where the lyrics resonate with those
04:08awkward moments of first love, romance and heartbreak.
04:16Meanwhile, Browne and his band craft a main melody that's wistful and slightly melancholic
04:23– a nostalgia-fueled trip back for fans who remember watching Fast Times for the first
04:28time.
04:29It's virtually impossible at this point to separate Somebody's Baby from its filmatic
04:37source material, and this is a good thing.
04:45Number 6.
04:47I Still Believe – The Lost Boys
04:51The soundtrack to The Lost Boys is another release that's chock-full of bangers.
04:56Cry Little Sister from Gerard McMahon serves as the film's outstanding main theme.
05:04However, there's little that can stand in the way of Tim Capello's blaring saxophone,
05:12oiled-up physique and gyrating masculinity.
05:28I Still Believe is actually a cover, the original of which was written and recorded by a group
05:33known as The Call.
05:34Capello brings his own inimitable style of swagger to the tune, however, as well as a
05:39nice dose of hard-rock attitude.
05:42This results in a cover that's as slick and MTV-friendly as The Lost Boys was for
05:47kids in the late 80s.
05:59Number 5.
06:00Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young – Streets Of Fire
06:04There's just no other way to say it.
06:13Streets Of Fire goes hard.
06:15The soundtrack is equally dense, featuring a bevy of songwriters, studio musicians and
06:21singers working together to get the project off the ground.
06:32Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young is pantomimed slash performed by Diane Lane's character
06:37in the film, but the recorded version was by a session group called Fire Inc.
06:48The song was written by frequent Meat Loaf collaborator Jim Steinman, and its vibe embodies
06:53everything that name entails.
06:55This is big, bombastic and gothic rock, full of grandeur and with absolutely zero sense
07:01of irony.
07:02It's a vision that's as ambitious as Walter Hill's script and direction for Streets
07:07Of Fire.
07:08In other words, it's a true cult classic.
07:18Number 4.
07:19Almost Paradise – Footloose
07:22Man, they don't make them like this anymore.
07:31It's difficult to replicate a song like Almost Paradise in the modern day, since there's
07:36just so much sincerity at play within the songwriting.
07:40Eric Carman and Dean Pitchford struck gold with their music and lyrics respectively,
07:45with Almost Paradise being an earnest love theme for a movie soundtrack that was already
07:50bursting with hits.
08:03The Footloose soundtrack may be remembered today for its more upbeat numbers, but Mike
08:07Reno of Loverboy and Anne Wilson from Heart absolutely kill it with this mid-tempo ballad.
08:13This is pure, unfiltered 80s schmaltz, mainlined straight into the rose-colored hearts of Footloose
08:20fans around the world.
08:28Number 3.
08:29No Easy Way Out – Rocky IV
08:40We honestly could have populated this list solely with amazing, pumped-up montage tunes
08:45from the world of 80s action flicks.
08:48But you know what?
08:49No Easy Way Out by Robert Tepper would still rank way up there, and that's how hard this
08:54song jams.
09:02Tepper contributed this song to the soundtrack for Rocky IV, and it goes broke right from
09:07Jump Street.
09:08The vocals are brutally emotive and passionate, while the synthesizer stabs and a fantastic
09:13bass line anchors the entire affair.
09:16No Easy Way Out isn't only one of the best Rocky soundtrack cuts, it's one of the best
09:21songs from the entire 1980s.
09:29Number 2.
09:31Mighty Wings – Top Gun
09:40A lot of classic soundtracks have those tentpole cuts that become inseparable from the film.
09:46Berlin's Take My Breath Away and Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins do that sort of work for 1986's
09:52Top Gun.
09:58That said, we'd argue that Mighty Wings from Cheap Trick is the dark horse hero from that
10:03OST.
10:05Maybe it's due to the fact that the full version of the tune didn't get played until
10:08the film's closing credits?
10:20All we know is that this Harold Faltermeier, Mark Spiro composition gets the Cheap Trick
10:25treatment of raging guitars and a lead vocal to die for.
10:29Oh, and apparently Mighty Wings also influenced the composition of Ken's theme from Street
10:34Fighter 2.
10:35Now that we know that, we can't unhear it.
11:02Number 1.
11:03Who Wants to Live Forever – Highlander
11:18There's no denying that Queen's Who Wants to Live Forever sounds great in a vacuum,
11:23away from the 1986 film Highlander.
11:26That said, the song takes on a whole new meaning as viewers watch the film, since its placement
11:31occurs during a montage of Connor McCloud and his wife Heather.
11:35The former is a Highlander, destined for immortality or the blade, while his wife is immortal.
11:49Connor is forced to watch his beloved age while he remains young, making the Queen tune
11:54feel like a heartbreaking concerto for this tragedy.
11:58Who Wants to Live Forever asks this question of its audience, while the story on screen
12:03acts as a bittersweet cautionary tale.
12:13Is there a particular decade that you feel locked in the art of the film's soundtrack?
12:19Let us know in the comments!