I was flipping through the channels late the other night when I came across Mo’ Better Blues and was instantly taken back to college. I was raised on jazz so Denzel plus Spike Lee plus music composed by Bill Lee played by the Branford Marsalis Quartet featuring Terrence Blanchard was an intoxicating mix. Yes, I was a hep cat, man.
While Rodgers and Hammerstein started off on Broadway, when the productions such as Oklahoma and The Sound of Music went to the big screen, the music was engulfing as a crucial component to the movies. Granted, those were musicals, but it helped solidify music as a backdrop for the soaring highs, tension-filled drama and heart-breaking moments of the story. Later composers like Bill Conti (Rocky and The Right Stuff) and Ennio Morricone (The Mission and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) have paid this genre its deserved due. They capture the moment of the movie so well that without the music, the dialogue loses some of it’s punch.
Prince’s Purple Rain is an obvious contender for top spot for many reasons, and The Bodyguard launched a million “AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEIIIIIIIII will always love YOUUUUUUUUUs” in cars and kareoke bars (unfortunately).
With all of these choices, what is your favorite movie soundtrack?
*Music purists, I realize that we are blending soundtracks with scores but let’s just go with it.