by Gotham Dark Knight

Created on: July 03, 2007

Everything I know about music in the 80's I learned from a John Hughes' film. Okay not quite, but the sound tracks from his movies are a great place to start if you want to sample music from that era. After all, John Hughes is an icon of the 80's and his movies captured the essences of teen angst during that period of time, and by default the music that was prevalent during that decade as well.

A good starting point then is the coming of age film "Sixteen Candle (1984)." The sound track of this hilarious teen movie offers a gold mine of music. From Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell," to the absurdly funny "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors, this collection of tracks has a bit of everything. Though it should be pointed out that it also leans heaviest towards New Wave than other musical genres, a trait that's rather common to John Hughes films. Still, it's an absolutely fabulous collection that also includes "Wild Sex in the Working Class," by Oingo Boingo, and David Bowie's "Young American." Yet nothing in the CD captures the sound of the decade better than Spandau Ballet's "True" or the climactic song, "If You Were Here," by the Thompson Twins.

In 1985 Hughes followed up his first teen offering with the cult classic ode to teen rebellion, "The Breakfast Club (1985)." Woven into the fabric of this film is the hit song, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds, a song which became an anthem of sort for those growing up in the 80's. That same year a lesser Hughes' film, "Weird Science (1985)" gave us a return of Oingo Boingo, whose catchy tune carries the movie's title as its hook. This film though touched a bit on the metal sound of the era with tracks from Van Halen and Ratt as well.

The Molly Ringwald trilogy was completed the following year when Hughes directed "Pretty in Pink (1986)," a film which perhaps offers one of the better sound tracks of the decade. This CD includes cuts by INXS, New Order and The Smiths, though one of the more memorable hits to come out of it is "Pretty in Pink," by the Psychedelic Furs.

Hughes next offering "Ferris Beuller's Day Off (1986)" had such a diversity of music that the director did not bother putting out a CD for it. Hughes figured that such a wide mix would not find an audience. Still, who could forget the song "Oh Yeah," by Yello? Hughes was back to compiling another great musical sound track for his next film the underrated "Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)." For those of you wanting to sample the sounds in this good little film try "Brilliant Mind" by Furniture.

While a half a dozen John Hughes' soundtracks can't possibly do justice to a decade that ran from the Glam Metal bands to Goth Rock, it is the perfect place to start. After all, who captured the essence of the decade better than John Hughes.

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