One of the best soundtracks of the 80s, Pretty in Pink brought masterpieces of British indie rock to the general public.
Pretty in Pink is the quintessential 80s soundtrack. Contrary to the industry standard, where a “theme” song is specially made for the film and promoted to the point of saturation ('Footloose', 'Ghostbusters', '9 to 5', 'Against All Odds', 'Goonies', 'The Neverending Story', etc.), put together with fillers from artists that record companies wanted to promote, the soundtracks for John Hughes' films were carefully selected to contain not only songs that matched the mood of scenes, but with several tracks by alternative artists, with the goal to become a sample of the musical universe that the teenagers, portrayed in the film, actually heard, and not the artists that the record companies wanted them to hear. Ok, Psychedelic Furs indeed re-recorded “Pretty in Pink” especially for the film, but the fact is that the music inspired the film and not the other way around.
Another important point is that the soundtrack was not just a collection of songs gathered to sell the film, but they had the function of complementing the theme songs in the construction of the emotions in each scene, generating a stronger emotional connection with the audience, as we can witness how New Order's 'Elegia' and 'Thieves Like Us' instrumentals were used in specific scenes, or with 'Try a Little Tenderness', that the character Duckie “sings” in the film, these tracks may not be on the album, but they are essential in the construction of history.
The album is perfect for alternative music lovers, three British bands from independent labels contribute to the album: The Smiths with 'Please, Please, Please Let me Get What I Want', Echo & the Bunnymen with 'Bring on the Dancing Horses' and New Order with 'Shellshock' (bonus: in a different version than the one that would be released in the Substance compilation). Adding to the recipe, we have alternative and post-punk artists like OMD, with the beautiful 'IF You Leave', Suzanne Vega and her captivating 'Left of the Center', INXS with 'Do Wot You Do' and, of course, Psychedelic Furs with the title track.
Like the film, the soundtrack marked a generation and is considered one of the best soundtracks of all time, with The Huffington Post putting it on its list of 15 soundtracks that will change your life [1] and Rolling Stone ranking it 11th in its list of the 25 best soundtracks of all time [2].
Like! Share! Comment!