Music Throughout the Ages

Movies just wouldn’t be the same without music. The soundtrack is a vital part of an amazing movie. Music is what makes a love, fight or chase scene even better. Music heightens the emotions and wet the appetite for the next movie scene to come. It leads the viewers in nervous anticipation awaiting a frightful villain in horror films. Music is the thriving force behind every film ever written. What are some of the most memorable music in movies?

Soundtrack Hits

The Way We Were

The Way We Were is a 1973 American film which tells the story of Katie Morosky, an intense Jewish woman, who marries Hubbell Gardiner, a carefree but talented WASP, following World War II. Fundamental differences in outlook and personality – as revealed in their responses to the rise of McCarthyism – eventually pull them apart. Starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, along with Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, Patrick O’Neal and Viveca Lindfors, the film is both a romance of star-crossed lovers and a morality tale about the importance of commitment.

In addition to the title song’s Oscar win, Barbra Streisand’s rendition of “The Way We Were” was a tremendous commercial success, becoming her first number-one single in the United States. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1973 and charted for 23 weeks, eventually selling over a million copies and lasting three weeks at number one in February 1974. It was Streisand’s second number-one hit after “People” in 1964. Billboard named “The Way We Were” as the number-one pop hit of 1974. “The Way We Were” was also the title song of a Streisand album that also hit number one (distinct from the soundtrack album of the movie, which peaked at #20.

Rocky

Rocky is a 1976 film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone and directed by John G. Avildsen. It tells the rags-to-riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but good-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in Philadelphia. Balboa is also a club fighter who gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship when the scheduled contender breaks his hand. The film, made for only US$1.2 million, and shot relatively fast in 28 days, was a sleeper hit; it made over US$117.2 million, won three Oscars, including Best Picture, the film was reviewed very well and launched Stallone’s career into the stratosphere. The film spawned five sequels: Rocky II, III, IV, V, and Rocky Balboa.

“Gonna Fly Now”, also known as “Theme from Rocky”, is the theme song from the movie Rocky, composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta Little and Nelson Pigford. Released in 1976 with the movie Rocky, the song became part of American popular culture after main character Rocky Balboa completed his daily training regimen while the song played. The song finishes as Rocky completes his famous run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and raises his arms in a victory pose. The song is also often played at sporting events.

The song (whose lyrics have a total count of 30 words) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in the 49th Academy Awards. The version of the song from the movie, performed by Conti with an orchestra, hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977, while a version by jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson hit the top 30. Disco versions by Rhythm Heritage and Current were on the chart at the same time. Conti’s single was certified gold by the RIAA.

Tootsie

Tootsie is a 1982 comedy film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job. Not having worked in four months, he eventually hears of an opening on the soap opera Southwest General Hospital (a parody of General Hospital) from his friend Sandy Lester (Teri Garr), who initially tries out for the role but doesn’t get it. In desperation, he cross-dresses, auditions as ”Dorothy Michaels” and eventually wins the part. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, with a supporting cast that includes Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Sydney Pollack, George Gaynes, Lynne Thigpen and Geena Davis.

In 1998 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film “culturally significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The theme song to the film, “It Might Be You” by singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop, was a Top 40 hit in the U.S. Bishop’s recording peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on May 7, 1983 and spent eight weeks in the Top 40. It also spent two weeks at #1 on the adult contemporary chart.

Back to the Future

Back to the Future is a 1985 science fiction–adventure-comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg. Zemeckis wrote the story, along with Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox as teenager Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as scientist Dr. Emmett L. Brown. The film’s basic storyline involves the premise of time travel being used to bridge the generation gap. In a time machine invented by Dr. Emmett L. Brown, Marty accidentally travels back to the year 1955 when his parents were teenagers. Having interfered with their first meeting, Marty must ensure that his young parents fall in love so that he will be born. Furthermore, the Dr. Brown of 1955 must find a way to return Marty to 1985 without the plutonium necessary to fuel the journey.

“The Power of Love” is the title of a 1985 single by Huey Lewis and the News written for and featured in the film Back to the Future. It gave the band their first number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and later peaked at #9 in the UK, while appearing on UK editions of the band’s fourth studio album, Fore!. The song was nominated for an Academy Award at the 58th Academy Awards.

The song appears early in Back to the Future as Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) skates to school, then when he and his band played the song for a Battle of the Bands auditions (which Lewis, himself, is judging), and later when Marty returns to his neighborhood. In the sequel, Back to the Future Part II, the 2015 version of Marty barely plays the song on his guitar just after being fired, but because his hand was damaged from his 1985 accident with a Rolls Royce, he cannot play the guitar well. It is hard to tell that he is playing “Power of Love.” Finally, it can be briefly heard playing in the car where Needles and his buddies are driving when Needles challenges Marty to the fate-determining car race near the end of Back to the Future Part III.

The Bodyguard

The Bodyguard is a 1992 romantic-suspense film directed by Mick Jackson, written by Lawrence Kasdan, and starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. In her film debut, Whitney Houston plays Rachel Marron, a pop music superstar. It seems that one of her fans is stalking her and has threatened to kill her, so Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner), a professional bodyguard and former Secret Service agent, is hired to protect her.

Singer Whitney Houston covered the song for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard her film debut. Houston was originally to record Jimmy Ruffin’s “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” as the lead single from The Bodyguard. However, when it was discovered the song was to be used for Fried Green Tomatoes, Houston requested a different song and her co-star Kevin Costner brought her Linda Ronstadt’s 1975 cover version of the tune from her album Prisoner in Disguise.

During recording of the song “I Will Always Love You”, there was some difficulty arranging the cover until someone suggested that Whitney Houston sing the first verse without instrumental backing, and that version became the one used in the film. Houston re-arranged the song as a soul ballad. Her record label did not feel a song with an a cappella introduction would be as successful. Houston and Costner, however, insisted to maintain an a cappella intro.

The soundtrack to the film is one of the best selling soundtracks of all time. The Bodyguard soundtrack sold over 17 million copies sold in North America and 42 million worldwide. Houston’s cover version of “I Will Always Love You” is the most successful cover tune ever.

Titantic

Titanic is a 1997 disaster film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It features Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, and Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, two members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ill-fated 1912 maiden voyage of the ship. The main characters and the central love story are fictional, but some supporting characters (such as members of the ship’s crew) are based on real historical figures.

The film received steady attendance after opening in North America on Friday, December 19, 1997. By Sunday that same weekend, theaters were beginning to sell out. The film debuted with $8,658,814 on its opening day and $28,638,131 over the opening weekend from 2,674 theaters, averaging to about $10,710 per venue, and ranking #1 at the box office. Titanic had increased in popularity and theaters continued selling out. Its biggest single day took place on Valentine’s Day 1998, making over $13 million on that day, more than six weeks after it debuted in North America. After it was released, it stayed at #1 for 15 consecutive weeks in the U.S. box office, an undefeated record 1998 US box office.

By March 1998, it was the first film to earn more than $1 billion worldwide. Some theaters in Australia, India, and South Africa ran it for more than one year. The movie stayed in theaters in North America for more than nine months before finally closing on Thursday October 1, 1998 with a final domestic gross of $600,788,188, and making more than double that amount overseas with an international gross of $1,248,025,607. The film accumulated a grand total of $1,848,813,795 worldwide, and to this day Titanic retains the record as the most successful box office film in history. Titanic eventually won nearly 90 awards and had an additional 47 nominations from various award-giving bodies around the world.

“My Heart Will Go On” is the theme song of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. With music by James Horner and lyrics by Will Jennings, it was recorded by Céline Dion. “My Heart Will Go On” is Céline Dion’s biggest hit and one of the best-selling singles in history. It reached number 1 all over the world and on the United World Chart. Although in the U.S. it debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in that position for 2 weeks, it spent 10 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay. It was also number 1 for 2 weeks on the Hot 100 Singles Sales. Only a limited number of copies were released - 687,000 - which were sold out in a few weeks. The single was eventually certified gold in the U.S.  It dominated the Grammy Awards of 1999, winning Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. “My Heart Will Go On” won also the Golden Globe Award in 1998.