Close, but no cigar

Johno Johno

The AFI has released their list of the 100 top songs from movies of all time.

They did remember some of my favorites: "Puttin' on the Ritz" from Young Frankenstein, "Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile, "Springtime for Hitler" from The Producers, and the theme from "Goldfinger" all figure, as does "Rainbow Connection" and the theme from "Shaft." Nice work there.

However, I am hard to please, and I'm flabbergasted that some very worthy selections were passed over in favor of songs from "When Harry Met Sally...", "Beaches," and "Moulin Rouge". Beaches? Did you ever know that you're my hero? Bite my implants, Bette.

Among the reasons for my irritation (not that it takes much to irritate me these days) is that not making the cut is the single greatest film theme song of all time, no discussion allowed:

  • Across 110th Street, Bobby Womack (Across 110th Street)

And let's not even mention these worthy candidates:

  • Can You Picture That, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (The Muppet Movie)
  • Stuck in the Middle With You, Stealers Wheel (Reservoir Dogs)
  • Shout!, "Otis Day and the Knights" (Animal House)
  • My Way, Sid Vicious (Sid & Nancy)
  • Rock and Roll High School, The Ramones (Rock and Roll High School)
  • Purple Rain, Prince (Purple Rain)
Posted by Johno Johno on   |   § 10

§ 10 Comments

1

Excellent catch on "Can You Picture That," Johno. I'd throw in the following:

"The Boys Are Back in Town" (The Busboys, from 48 Hours)
"Time Warp" (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
The entire soundtracks of Help! and A Hard Day's Night.
If documentaries counted, I'd get the entire soundtrack of The Kids Are Alright in there too.

Ken Hall Ken Hall

2

Oh, and how the heck could they leave out "Lust for Life" (Trainspotting)?

Ken Hall Ken Hall

3

Oh good lord! Time Warp!!
I can't believe I forgot.

Also you are 100% on Lust for Life, and I would throw in as a bonus, "I Just Checked In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" from The Big Lebowski.

Johno Johno

4

One of my alltime favorites is George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars live rendition of Stomp from the movie "PCU".

Also, the entire soundtrack of the movie, "Six-String Samurai" and "Bubba-Hotep" THose aren't really songs, but they kick ass.

The use of the Elvis song, "A Little Less Conversation" from "Ocean's Eleven" is really damn cool.

Buckethead Buckethead

6

They don't specify on the website - but I imagine there was some criteria - like written specifically for the film (or something along those lines), that might exclude some of the ones you think are missing.

brdgt brdgt

7

That's possible. And they also specify AMERICAN films, which takes the wind out of Trainspotting.

Johno Johno

8

Considering they take Unchained Melody from Ghost, I think they will take any song that appears in a film, even if the recording was not made for that film.

NDR NDR

9

"It Had to Be You" is a great song, but the song predates the film by a lot. Sex in the City did a lot of young people by introducing them to "Moon River." Classic...I really like "Moving Right Along" the best of all the Muppets songs I think. It's got the old timey shtick between Fozzie and Kermit.

Purple Rain... Oh if you only read my blog recently. My old college friend does the best karaoke rendition of it ever. It leaves me breathless. I Would Die 4 U is also pretty amazing.

How could they not include ANYTHING from The Blues Brothers? Respect by Aretha is not on this list, and that's a serious crime.

Mapgirl Mapgirl

10

And what about "Freddie's Dead" from Superfly???????? The greatest meta-commentary on a film by a song from the film of all time!

Johno Johno

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