This is the last gift sponsored by Sandisk slotRadio, so I thought we might actually talk about music. Since John Hughes passed, I’ve been thinking about how much more I enjoy movies when a director is passionate about the soundtrack.
My favorite Hughes scenes are about the music that’s playing in his characters’ lives. Remember Duckie lip-syncing to “Try a little Tenderness?”
Or Ferris Bueller’s “Danke Schoen” cum “Twist and Shout” on the parade float:
And of course, The Breakfast Club dance scene:
Then there are the Hughes songs that knock you flat and replay footage of your bedroom ceiling, circa 1985.
“Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds
“If You Were Here” by the Thompson Twins
“If You Leave” by OMD
So this present celebrates the music Mr. Hughes brought into our lives. If you win, I’ll send you everything you need for a nostalgic movie night.
The Ringwald holy trinity:
An absurdly large box of Watermelon Flavored Pop Rocks, (Purchased after I ate the packages I bought for you at the corner store. Taste the Explosion!):
And, of course, a Sandisk slotRadio:
It comes with a bunch of songs already, but also gives you the option of picking your own music. Before you load your workout mix, I’d like you to check into these:
The Ultimate John Hughes Playlist
John Hughes Movie Soundtrack Hits
Leave a comment below, bonus points if you tell me about your favorite music-related movie scene. Be sure to include your email address in the field provided (so I can reach you if you win) by August 14 at 5 p.m. PST. Just one comment, please — I have to delete duplicates for fairness. Random.org will decide who wins. I’ll contact the lucky via email, and I’ll also tell you who won here.
Danke schoen to Sandisk for making this gift project a go. It’s been fun.
Mighty Girl 
I loved reading everyone else’s comments – such nostalgia. I, too, was a Molly wanna-be. My mom wouldn’t let me dye my hair, so I used sun-in to turn my brown hair red. Sorta worked . . . My favorite music scenes from movies from my adolescence have been well-covered by others, so I’ll give a couple of more recent ones: the music from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou and from Once is fantastic. And to go even older, “The Music Goes ‘Round and ‘Round” from the Five Pennies.
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nightmare before christmas! does that count?
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Favorite cinematic music moment:
Singing in the Rain – my love for Jimmy Stewart will never die..
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Oh, there are several. An off the beaten path track I love is “Coconut” sung by Harry Nilsson from the relatively lame movie, Practical Magic. I love the soundtrack to Hope Floats, Garden State, and many others as well. Coconut inspires me to dance around the house like a nutter though. Gotta love that…
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I’m such a sucker for Disney musicals, especially the highly underrated Mulan. I am shamed by this, but we all had cartoon crushes on Donny Osmond on college. *shakes head*
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John Hughes’ movies are certainly memorable! I loved how he could fit music into the film and match it to the character(s). His music of his movies became the soundtrack of growing up in the 80’s.
As much as I enjoyed them, other movies where I love the soundtracks are Top Gun – there’s nothing like the bar version of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and August Rush…when the main characters meet on the rooftop while “Moondance” is playing below is simply magical.
For a good time feeling, “Footloose” is a crowd pleaser too. Is it true that it is being remade? Interesting.
GREAT CONTEST IDEA!
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I’ve wondered over the past two years if my youth really allows for my participation in your incredible world. Perhaps this contest attests to that fact — most people responding will have grown up with John Hughes directing their lives, while I, being only 21, have grown attached to Hughes’ work “after the fact.”
In any case, Maggie, I think you do incredible work, and I will continue reading your posts for as long as humanly possible.
And I want to win this. The end. 🙂
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i can’t think of one, so i asked the husband. he said, “i’m going to have to go with South Park The Movie’s ‘uncle f*er’ song.”
which made me hurl a little bit. so i’m going to have to vote myself. i’m going to say when Jennifer Garner gets the entire party to do the
Thriller Dance in 13 Going On 30.
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The Movie: Say Anything
NOT the In Your Eyes scene. No.
The scene where John Cuzack is packing his duffle bag, and saying goodbye to his sister and nephew. His nephew’s wearing his karate uniform, and looks sad. Cuzack gives him fistbump (or something like that), and turns up the stereo on the way out.
The song playing – loud – is “Within Your Reach” by The Replacements. Hands down, one of my favorite loud and moody songs.
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My fave music related movie scene is Elephant Love Medley from Moulin Rouge by Baz Luhrmann. Love it!
Amy
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It is amazing how many people are remembering John Hughes. I went to Lollapalooza this past weekend and Vampire Weekend performed a song dedicated to his memory.
One of my all-time favorite movie music memories is from Toy Story 2. When Sarah McLachlan sings “When She Loved Me” during the Jessie Cowgirl scenes I always start to tear up. Yep, I’m a huge dork, but I’m ok with it.
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oh to be young and foolish again! thanks for a trip down memory lane. and now, since i’m all growed up now: PICK ME! PICK ME!
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The final scene in 16 Candles with Jake Ryan and Samantha sitting on the table, with Thompson Twins “If You Were Here” playing as they go in for the kiss.
“Make a wish”
“It already came true.”
Swoon.
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I love the ending of Garden State when Large decides not to leave. Just as he and Sam begin to kiss, the first notes of Frou Frou’s “Let Go” start up. Brilliant!
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It’s not a Hughes film (though I’m a fan of them all), but the dancing in “Footloose” just makes me want to get up and be foot-loose and fancy-free myself. The tapping toes, the crazy jumping and dancing – it’s a sacrilege that they’re thinking about ‘remaking’ it. Sigh. (Thus, why Hughes was better in the long run, I know…)
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It might be cliche, but I have to go with Say Anything, when he’s holding the boombox playing In Your Eyes. That song makes me tear up every time. Something about it just makes my chest tighten up.
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Garden State soundtrack is the best of all time. I could listen to it a million times over and never get sick of it. Perfection.
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The scene in Some Kind of Wonderful where Watts is playing the drums.
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Wonderful tribute! My favorite music-related music scene is from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Beck’s “ybody’s gotta learn sometimes”
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I’ve been having a Hughes Sap Fest for days now. I’d love to win.
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Say Anything, John Cusak, boom box, trench coat, wonderful.
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My favorite movie music has to be off of “A Lot Like Love”. It has Brighter Than Sunshine by Aqualung which is just an amazing song and the rest of the lineup is right in tune with what I grew up too.
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my favorite movie music scene has got to be the scene in Say Anything where LLoyd Dobler is outside holding up the radio playing “In Your Eyes”. I still get teary when I hear that song.
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I love hearing music I already love in soundtracks and even more I love to discover new stuff because of a movie. I really love in The Big Lebowski when The Jesus is bowling and the spanish version of Hotel California is playing by The Gipsy Kings. Of course that is probably because John Turturo is so awesome.
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It is certainly not my favorite movie music connection, but I can’t hear the music that always accompanied Darth Vader without feeling like I’m 7 years old again! Let the mocking commence.
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My favorite movie music moment would be almost any scene with Duckie in Pink movie, Try a Little Tenderness scene & Please please please, let me get what I want during the the card flipping scene. When Duckie sings John Lennon’s Love is Real into Andie’s hairbrush while she’s downstairs getting him a juicebox just KILLS me to this day. I was a female version of Duckie Dale in high school…ahhh, memories!
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’80s? movie music? since so many of John Hughes’ (may he rest in peace, brilliant chronicler of my high school years) scene/ song pairings have been mentioned, I’ll have to say Prince’s Purple Rain – all of it!
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Um, I hate to point this out but Megan (#53 in comments), it’s not Jimmy Stewart in Singin’ In the Rain — it’s Gene Kelly… Sorry, but that is an amazing movie/dance/music number and I have to give credit where credit is due.
Now then, my favorite movie scene/music combination? That’s tough… some of my favorites are:
Urge Overkill’s performance of Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon” before the OD scene in Pulp Fiction…
I adore the end of Fight Club matched to The Pixie’s “Where Is My Mind?”
Without a specific song in mind, the score to American Beauty and Requiem for a Dream are each equally amazing.
Thanks for this great question Maggie! Even if I don’t win, I loved thinking about my answer on this one!
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Fave music movie moment – “Once” when the group ends up laughing and playing on the shore because their recording session was that good
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Okay, this is really random, but the first scene I thought of was from Indecent Proposal with Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson. When they win big at the casino and she rolls around in the money in her underwear and they start to get it on, Sade’s “No Ordinary Love” is playing.
That scene is hot!
@BeingSuper
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That dance sequence in The Breakfast Club has ALWAYS been my favorite! That’s my favorite movie of all time. I also enjoy the movie montage in The Sweetest Thing. 🙂
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Yes, the Hughes movie music scenes are seared into my mind’s eye.
The other best:
The final scene in an Officer & a Gentleman played to Joe Cocker’s “Up Where We Belong,”
and
Top Gun when they play Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away.”
I was a teenager during the 80s and am now grateful.
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Pretty much “Some Kind of Wonderful”, or “Pretty in Pink”…I could watch those over and over *sigh*
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Oh man, the entire soundtrack to the Big Chill…I could- and do – listen to it all the time and grew up on it. The Tracks of My Tears is such a winner, oh man. Jeremiah was a bullfrog? What? YES!
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Yikes. One more.
9 1/2 Weeks movie and Bryan Ferry’s “Slave to Love”
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I love “I Go Crazy” from “Some Kind of Wonderful” Definitely the red-headed step-child Hughes movie.
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One: “Somewhere That’s Green” from the movie version of “Little Shop of Horrors” (does it count if it came from a Broadway show first?) in which Audrey (Audrey I, that is) sings her fantasy of what it would be like to be married to Seymour.
Two: “Suo Gan” from “Empire of the Sun” – a Welsh lullaby sung by a young British boy who’s an inmate at a Japanese POW camp in World War II, as kamikaze pilots take off. It’s not only a beautiful song on its own but we see the various characters’ faces as Jim sings, and the counterpoint with what’s happening the movie plays with your head; but of course – it’s Spielberg.
Three: “Pinball Wizard” from the movie version of “Tommy” (does it count if it came from an album first?)
There are others for me, but they’ve been mentioned and I don’t want to water down anyone else’s chances at winning by duplicating them. I will say, though, that the “Twist and Shout” parade scene in “Ferris Beuller” is classic – thanks for picking that one, Maggie!
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I know it’s a long ass biopic on a heavy topic, but somehow for me it’s movie comfort food. Curling up under a blanket with my DVD of Malcolm X always makes everything better. NOBODY is better at integrating music into his films than Spike Lee and in Malcolm X he manages to do that over and over. First with the brilliant score written by Terence Blanchard and again with a series of popular songs from the war years through to the mid-60’s. The one that stays with me the most is John Coltrane’s raw civil right anthem Alabama, played over a scene where Denzel Washington, as Malcolm is sitting in a hotel room watching news footage of the riots in the South. It’s chilling and in a way, inspiring.
Couldn’t find the clip from the movie online, but here’s Coltrane performing the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j_TDoOPnIA
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Well, RIP John Hughes. You will be missed! As far as music-related movie scenes go, how about “High Fidelity”? The whole movie is wonderful and reaches back into the 80’s for a little nostalgia and then also presents “new” stuff, too. I love that movie!
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The first movie-music memories that came to me were from High Fidelity.
The first being when Lisa Bonet is singing “baby I love your way” and Jack Black says “Is that Peter effing Frampton?!”
The second is when John Cusack puts on “Dry the Rain” by the Beta Band and everyone in the store starts groovin’–it almost seems like it could almost be a musical moment, like everyone is going to burst out in song and dance at the same time.
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I think I know every word to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack (both albums)!
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My all-time (current) favorite music-related scene is from the movie Once when Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová are in the music shop, and they create music for the first time together. The song is “Falling Slowly” and I get tears every time I hear it.
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I soooo love the Breakfast Club, one of my favorite movies! I think everyone can relate. 🙂 Thanks for rekindling some great memories!
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When I was a little kid I loved singing to the Disney movies, especially Little Mermaid & Beauty & the Beast (where the town greets her). When I became a teenager and fell in love with John Hughes movies – I loved the dance scene in TBC, in fact I still model my dancing when I go out after Claire.
I also love the classic music scenes – My Fair Lady & The Sound of Music stand out, but I don’t know if they count since they are musicals.
Wes Anderson does a great job incorporating music into his films. I love Elliott Smith “Needle in the Hay” scene in The Royal Tenenbaums is so haunting.
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The Big Lebowski: the slow-mo of Jesus bowling, set to the Gipsy Kings’ rendition of ‘Hotel California’
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This is quite a challenge. I have to say that I also love a director who pays careful attention to soundtrack, and that is one of the major reasons I love Wes Anderson. I’m going to go with Sigur Ros, “Staralfur,” playing as Team Zissou sees the Jaguar Shark near the end of “The Life Aquatic.” It is a startlingly beautiful, tender, and funny moment.
Applause to Rachel for mentioning High Fidelity. “I will now sell five copies of The Three EPs by the Beta Band.” Fantastic.
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The most recent moment of movie/music love was with Slumdog Millionaire and the scene where the kids are running through the slum. Those drums!
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Ditto to whoever said “let go” at the end of Garden State. Perfection.
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Oooh, I love this! I have to say that my favorite musical scene in a movie is the dancing scene with John Travolta and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. Claaaaassic.
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Love this one! Music scene with Julia Roberts and cast in My Best Friend’s Wedding.
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