Greatest Movie Soundtracks of All Time

I was watching VH1 classic the other day hoping to catch an episode of Alternative, which may be the best video show of all time, and I stumbled upon the list of top 20 movie soundtracks of all time. I’ll get to that in a minute, Alternative is this great show of alternative music. You will get videos by Depeche Mode followed by Sonic Youth, followed by REM, then the Smiths. It is a great show. Anyway back to the countdown. Here is their list and I would like to give you mine (which a little farther down), it is a bit different.

 

20. Almost Famous- They showed the video clip of from the movie with Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer”

19. Pretty In Pink- They showed the videos for “Pretty in Pink” by the Psychedelic Furs and “If You Leave” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

 

18. Tommy- They played the videos for “Pinball Wizard” and “I’m Free” by the Who.

 

17. This is Spinal Tap-They played the video for “Hell Hole” by Spinal Tap

 

16. The Bodyguard- They played the video for “I will always love you” by Whitney Houston

 

15. Trainspotting- the video for “Lust For Life” by Iggy Pop was shown.

 

14. Pulp Fiction- the video for “Girl You’ll be a woman soon” by Urge Overkill was shown

 

13. The Breakfast Club-the video for “Don’t You Forget about Me” by Simple Minds was shown

 

12. Dirty Dancing-The videos for “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes and “Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen 

 

11. The Doors-The video for “Light My Fire” was played

 

10. Eddie and The Cruisers-The video for “On the Dark Side” by Eddie and The Cruisers was shown

 

9. 24 Hour Party People- “Blue Monday” by New Order was the video shown for this one

 

8. Footloose- “Holding Out for A Hero” by Bonnie Tyler, “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins and “Let’s Hear it For the Boys” by Deniece Williams were the videos chosen off this soundtrack

 

7. Valley Girl- “I Melt With You” By Modern English was the video shown here.

 

6. Top Gun- “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin was shown here.

 

5. Singles- “Nearly Lost You” by Sceaming Trees is the video chosen to be shown here.

 

4. Saturday Night Fever- “How Deep is Your Love” by the Bee Gees

 

3. Dazed and Confused- “Rock n Roll All Night” by Kiss was shown here.

 

2. Purple Rain- “When Dove’s Cry” by Prince is the video

 

1. Rocky Horror Picture Show-They showed the video for “Time Warp”

 

That was VH1’s list as voted on by over 25,000 people. I would like to throw my two cents in. Feel free to give me yours in the forum. I am going to give you my top 10 movie soundtracks of all time.

 

Parrothead’s top 10 Greatest Movie Soundtracks of My Lifetime.

 

10. Grease- Great songs Like “Summer Nights”, “Greased Lightning” and “We Go Together” take this soundtrack into the top 10.

 

9. Pretty In Pink- Songs on this soundtrack include “If You Leave” by OMD, “Left of Center” by Joe Jackson and Susan Vega, “Pretty in Pink” by the Psychedelic Furs and “Please Please Please Let me Get What I Want” By the Smiths make it a classic.

 

8. Above the Rim- This Hip Hop inspired soundtrack gives you “Regulate” by Warren G and Nate Dogg, “Anything” by SWV, “I’m Still in Love with You” by Al B. Sure and “Afro Puffs” by Lady of Rage.

 

7. The Commitments- This movie in which the phrase “the Irish are the Blacks of Europe” is actually uttered, is great. The soundtrack may be better, taking old soul classics like “Mustang Sally”, “Try a Little Tenderness” and  “In the Midnight Hour” and bringing them to a new generation.

 

6. High Fidelity- With songs the Range from “Who Loves the Sun” by the Velvet Underground to Bob Dylan’s “Most of the Time” right back to “Le Boob Oscillator” by StereoLab makes this a music snobs dream soundtrack.

 

5. Gross Point Blank- Back to Back Cusak movies, I know I know, but this soundtrack is great. Two songs by the Clash, “Under Pressure” by David Bowie, “Let My Love Open the Door” by Pete Townsend! Great music, not to mention the Guns n Roses song “Live and Let Die”

 

4. Cocktail- So I know that everyone hate “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys, I happen to like the song, but if you take that song away you still have a great soundtrack. “Wild Again” by Starship, “Powerful Stuff” by Fabulous Thunderbirds, “Hippy Hippy Shake” by The Georgia Satellites, “Rave On” by John Cougar Mellencamp, “All Shook Up”  y Ry Cooder, etc. It is a solid 10 track soundtrack.

 

3. 10 Things I Hate About You- This soundtrack really grabs the late 90’s vibe in music; a little bit of everything, from “Your Winter” by Sister Hazel to “Cruel to Be Kind” from Letter to Cleo to “The Weakness In Me” Joan Armatrading. There is even the dog himself George Clinton on this soundtrack. My favorite  Madness song is here also “Wings of a Dove” This soundtrack does have something for everyone.  

 

2. Top Gun- With “Danger Zone” and “Playing with the Boys” by Kenny Loggins, “Take my Breath Away” by Berlin, “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding, “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” by The Righteous Brothers and “All Shook Up” by Jerry Lee Lewis. How Can you not love this Soundtrack.

 

1. Garden State- For me this is the greatest movie soundtrack of all time, it almost became a character in the movie. You get great bands like the Shins with “Caring is Creepy” and “New Slang”, Frou Frou with “Let Go”, Coldplay’s “Don’t Panic”, Iron and Wine’s great cover of the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights”, two Zero 7 songs and “The Only Living Boy in New York” by Simon and Garfunkel. Top to bottom this is a great soundtrack. I have not heard one better, yet…..

 

Honorable Mentions: O Brother Where Art Thou, White Men Can’t Jump, Rocky IV,  Can’t Hardly Wait,  Pulp Fiction, Dazed and Confused, Saturday Night Fever, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Almost Famous, Undiscovered