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 bought soundtracks after seeing “She’s Having a Baby” and after “P.S I Love You”. I am a Chicago girl and loved that John Hughes’ movies were filmed here. Speaking of “Woman’s Work” from the above movie, that song was recently used on my favorite TV show “So You Think You Can Dance” and it was used in a dance showing the struggle of a couple when the woman is sick with breast cancer. Powerful stuff
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Oh man, great picks for the songs! I’m going outside the theme for my favorite movie music – Impromptu is my all-time favorite movie featuring and about music. Hugh Grant is even, dare I say, good!
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Best scene ever is from “Say Anything” when Lloyd Dobbler blasts the song “In your eye” by Peter Gabriel outside the girls room. I don’t even remember the girls name. But I still swoon for Lloyd Dobbler.
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Oooh, I think the opening to Cruel Intentions – Every You, Every Me by Placebo is a favorite and gets me bouncing every time. Also, Darth Vader’s theme in Star Wars: A New Hope. I remember being so damn happy and proud that my “song” (with my 8th grade boyfriend) was “In Your Eyes” – *before* Say Anything came out – and I cried to that scene (we’d already broken up – ah, first love). And the ending of Pretty in Pink. Oooh, great songs playing through my head this morning!!
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This is amazing. My favorite movie music scene is from “Young Einstein” (starring Yahoo Serious! Remember him??!) after he invented the electric guitar and sand “Rock & Roll Music”. True story. Lame, but true.
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I could probably list a thousand favorite movie-music moments, but the first one that came to mind is the scene near the end of Harold & Maude, when Harold is driving his Jaguar Hearse with “Trouble” by Cat Stevens playing over the footage. I love the pairing of that song with the cinematography in this scene. There’s a moment where he sticks his head out the window to let the wind hit his face that hits me right in the gut.
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Great post and give away!! I feel a two hour session with youtube and awesome eighties videos coming on… One of my favorite eighties movies with THE greatest musical montage scenes… “Some Kind of Wonderful”… from Eric Stoltz dancing around in the shower to “Amanda Jones” to the kiss with Watts in the garage while “She Loves Me” plays… to the end scene where he says “you look good wearing my future” and “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” is playing…. Totally Awesome!
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Upon reflection – this actually took me some time to narrow down – I would have to say my favorite music scene in a movie is the Tiny Dancer scene in Almost Famous. I remember getting chills as they sang and feeling really one with the movie.
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I was sad to hear of John Hughes death! I love every one of his fabulous movies! All time favorite: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off!! I think I know all of the lines! I would love this!! Thanks for the give-a-ways!
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The soundtrack to Grosse Pointe Blank is pretty awesome, as well.
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My favorite movie soundtrack is High Fidelity. Such a great soundtrack. But my favorite movie scene that revolves around music is when Capt. Von Trapp sings “Edelweiss”.
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My favorite movie ever is Songcatcher, an amazing film about the music of the Appalachian mountains. Oh my… now I think I have to add it back to my netflix queue to watch it again very soon. I love every song, every moment, it’s freakin’ awesome (at least for those of us with a love of old Irish folk music!)
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The best scene would definitely be the day-o scene in Beetlejuice, but my favorite soundtrack is Valley Girl!
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My favorite movie music scene is in The Bodyguard when Kevin Costner’s character takes Whitney Houston to a country bar to hear his kind of music. When they walk in you hear John Doe of X singing “I will always love you”.
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My Sharonna by the Knack in Reality Bites. The characters are in a mini-mart and the shot is from across the parking lot…all you see is bouncing heads. Hilarious.
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What a great topic! So many fabulous choices from the eighties. Growing up in the Chicago ‘burbs, it was always great fun to take a day off and hit all the sights Ferris did. We did most of them, but sadly, the stopped having parades during the week because it messed up traffic too much. So we never were able to have our ‘Twist and Shout’ moment–still my favorite. RIP John Hughes.
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I love that one from Ferris Bueller- I think it’s the smiths- when he and Sloane are wandering around in Chicago. Sigh.
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It isn’t an 80s movie, but I love, love, LOVE the soundtrack to The English Patient…it’s mostly instrumental, sweeping, epic kind of stuff that gets to the romantic in me. Of course, I love all of John Hughes’ stuff, too.
Awesome giveaway!
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I do love the John Hughes movies.. but I think I was just a couple of years young enough that they didn’t really hit me the way they could have. The music movies from my teen years were Pump Up the Volume, Dirty Dancing, and
But my all time favorite movie moment is in Cameron Crowe’s movie (that’s somewhat autobiographical), Almost Famous, when everyone on the bus sings Tiny Dancer.
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Crap! I can never think of favorite movie music scenes when I’m under pressure. There are just too many. I can say that I am on of those people that feel music and with out it I think most movies would be worthless. I do remember a summer spent at a lake with a dock that you could swim out to. My sister and I spent hours out there listening to the soundtracks to Mermaids and Good Morning Vietnam.
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It has to be the scene in Say Anything where John Cusack is holding up the boom box, blasting “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel. Every girl’s dream!
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My favorite John Hughes music moment is Jon Cryer channeling Otis Redding. That scene was the spark of a never ending crush. Oh how I pined for Duckie.
Non John Hughes music moment would have, have, have to be John Cusack and his boombox in ‘Say Anything’. “In Your Eyes” was the soundtrack to a n intense college relationship – the song still opens the floodgates of good memories.
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Favorite John Hughes scene…Ferris Bueller on the float. What a great scene.
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It’s too hard to choose! I guess I’d have to go with the dancing scene in the Breakfast Club…or Duckie…okay, I can’t choose!
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My favorite music scene is the montage in Forrest Gump where he’s thinking of Jenn-ay during the ’70s-KC and the Sunshine Band “Get Down Tonight” and “Free Bird” by Lynard Skynard. Don’t know why but they’re so perfect together.
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My favorite movie music scene is a tie. I’m a child of the 80s, and a girl, so of course the boombox scene in Say Anything has to be up there. (On a side note, I actually HAD A BOY DO THIS FOR ME ONCE. Too bad he was SO not someone I had any interest in. My dad made me go outside and be nice to him, but oh boy was I more mad than swept away!) I also really love the bus scene in Almost Famous, where everyone starts singing along to Tiny Dancer.
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I have always loved Ferris Beuller. I only found out recently that Ferris was just a figment of Cameron’s imagination!!! I was told that you have to watch closely, but that it was true! I will have to watch it again.
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I’d have to say that one of my favorite scene/soundtrack combinations is from Goodmorning Vietnam. It’s the scene where Robin Williams character dedicates Louis Armstrongs It’s a Wonderful World to two soliders he met earlier in the movie and while the music is playing, idyllic scenes of the vietnamese country side is flashing by showing the gorgeous scenery and the daily life of the people. Then the pictures change and begin to focus on the unrest and violence of the war in this beautiful setting and the contrast between the beauty of both the song and the secnery with the beatings and executions of civillians, and bombings of villiages is just such a powerful image. One of the all time best scenes that would not have been anywhere near as powerful without the perfect soundtrack. The whole movie is great, but this is my favorite scene.
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Movies with awesome soundtracks: garden state, high fidelity. And I like the use of music in about a boy, too.
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Oh man, I have to go with Flashdance on this one! There are so many great moments that are completely centered around songs :o) Or the song “Holding Out For A Hero” in Footloose. Love it! Oh, also the Men at Work scene in Footloose.
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I love the ending to Beaches, when Bette Midler’s character CC is singing “Glory of Love”, as her friend’s daughter watches from the sidelines. The words from the song resonate with me even now
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Empire Records definitely has one of my favorite movie soundtracks (though the much more recent Garden State soundtrack is a close second), but I think my all-time favorite movie music moment (and John Hughes movie scene) is the ending scene of Sixteen Candles. Jake Ryan was just oh-so-dreamy.
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Grosse Pointe Blank. Best 90’s soundtrack ever.
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Dirty Dancing for me. It’s corny, but I can’t hear any of those songs, without immediately thinking of the movie.
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Dirty Dancing, “Stay Just a Little Bit Longer.” Seriously, nobody puts baby in the corner.
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My favorite music-movie moment is in When Harry Met Sally, when Harry is singing Surry With the Fringe on Top and runs into Hellen. It kills me every time when Sally says “It’s my voice!” I love how self centered Sally can be. =)
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I’m another Empire Records fan. It’s hard to pick a favorite scene, but I’ll always associate “This is the Day” by The The – which plays over the ending and the credits – with my senior year of high school thanks to dozens of screenings of the movie with my friends.
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Thanks for the great giveaway!
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My favorite music-related movie scene is in Garden State. Of course that movie is chock-full of great tunes, but I especially loved how it worked The Shins right into the script (you know, the dr’s office scene where Natalie Portman gets Zach Braff to listen to New Slang by The Shins because “it’ll change your life”?)
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Mine’s a total cliche but I love the scene in Say Anything where John Cusack holds up the boombox and plays In Your Eyes in front of Ione Skye’s house.
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About to go up to my camp reunion (it’s been 23 years since I was in the oldest bunk), and I can’t think of a better way to relive those glory years than winning the John Hughes swag and watching all of the movies ad nauseum before I head up to Maine.
Favorite movie/music moment? There are so many. Probably the montage where Sylvester Stallone runs through Philadelphia to the theme from “Rocky”. (I am from Philadelphia, so I feel the need to include that.) Also, every scene in “Once” where Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are collaborating on the demo (it’s such an excellent movie).
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As the most annoying phrase known to man at this present time goes, Loves It! And, does Dirty Dancing in it’s entirety count as a scene?
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I love the entire Hedwig and the Angry Inch soundtrack, but get chills every time I hear “Midnight Radio”. It’s such a beautiful, moving ballad.
My favorite John Hughes music moment is definitely the “If You Were Here” table scene at the end of Sixteen Candles. Oh, how I would have loved to be Molly Ringwald *sigh*.
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For the barely-15-year-old, never-been-kissed me, Johnny & Baby’s first bedroom scene in Dirty Dancing shook me to my core. That song was “Cry to Me” by Solomon Burke. I can hear it in my head RIGHT NOW.
“Dance with me.”
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Man from Snowy River, where he’s riding down the mountain!
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I’m going to go with “I Go Crazy” by Flesh for Lulu in Some Kind of Wonderful. That song, like the movie, seemed to perfectly catch my teen angst and frustration. (Although, not being as cool as the characters in the movie, ultimately, I got neither the Amandas nor the Watts’ of my young life.)
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My religious upbringing wouldn’t let me watch such heathen movies… so surely GOD wants me to watch them now!
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I want the steel drum (or whatever it is) intro to True Romance to be my walk-down-the-aisle music ( :
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Is it wrong that my favorite music/movie moment is from a musical? When the nuns sing How Do you Solve a Problem Like Maria? it gets me every time.
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Love the Hughes memory trip! I love those movies, what teenager didn’t feel better watching them.
As for favorite movie/music scene, mine comes from an unlikely movie. American Pie, the one where they get married. The scene where they are having their first dance, and they are dancing to Joe Cocker’s Into the Mystic. I love it!
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