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 
My favorite John Hughes film is “Some Kind of Wonderful”. I fell in love with the music and immediately went out and bought Flesh for Lulu….the cassette TAPE. 🙂
LikeLike
Has anyone else mentioned “Say Anything” and Peter Gabriel’s “In your Eyes” I was never the same after watching that. I worked in a video store one summer and had the joys of watching my fav scenes over and over. Lucky me.
LikeLike
I love the end of Breakfast Club when John takes off his diamond earring and gives it to Claire then “Don’t you…forget about me” starts playing! Ahh, so good!
LikeLike
i have to say i was blown away with the whole soundtrack of In To the Wlld. I know Eddie V did the whole thing but it just really made every scene so powerful and poetic at the same time. i thought it was well done and not heavy handed.
LikeLike
not a movie, but the west wing episode where Simon Donovan gets shot and the ‘hallelujah’ song plays has me bawling every time it plays.
LikeLike
At leat one other person mentioned this too: Prince’s Purple Rain. The acting was just appalling, but the musical performances within the movie (and so many of them!) were absolutely electric.
LikeLike
maybe not along the same theme… but oh, I love how david lynch uses music in films and television.
LikeLike
I have to second every single movie music scene already mentioned, so fun to read through these comments.
A couple more that I love:
-Audrey Hepburn singing Moon River in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
-Dazed and Confused when the slo-mo cars are driving into the parking on the last day of school set to Aerosmith’s Sweet Emotion
-Reality Bites when Ethan Hawke walks by Winona and Ben Stiller making out with Baby I Love Your Way playing
LikeLike
I love the scene in the royal tenenbaums when luke wilson lets the hawk fly away and “Hey Jude” plays.
LikeLike
Oh god, they’re all so good.
LikeLike
I was laid off last week and I think Molly Ringwald will cure me of my blues!
LikeLike
say anything. john cusack. in your eyes.
LikeLike
The scene in “Donnie Darko” with the Echo and the Bunnymen song “The Killing Moon.”
LikeLike
I get chills from Baz Luhurmann’s Romeo & Juliet with the Quindon Tarver’s remixed version of “When Doves Cry” and also of course Exit Music (for a film) by Radiohead that first turned me on to that wonderful band.
LikeLike
Hands down, no contest: John Cusack, Peter Gabriel, pouring rain, giant boombox. In Your Eyes scene, Say Anything. Talk about setting the bar high for real-life romantic gestures.
LikeLike
The end of “Amadeus” where Mozart is dictating the Requiem on his death bed. SO beautiful and heartrending…
LikeLike
I love all the musical scenes in “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”. Especially the final montage of shows at the hotel set to “Finally”. Also in that vein…love, LOVE “Strictly Ballroom”. The music for the paso doble at the end and “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” are fantastic.
LikeLike
My best friend and I were (and kinda still are!) such huge Spandau Ballet fans, that at the age of 11 we thought it important to always watch Sixteen Candles through the end credits to see Spandau Ballet mentioned in the music credits. Good times!
LikeLike
Oh, I love those movies!
And my favorite movie music scene is also the boombox scene from Say Anything. Love John Cusak 🙂 Not surprised to see that it’s a common favorite.
LikeLike
My favorite song ever from a movie is the Terms of Endearment Theme Song. You know the one…piano instrumental. Always brings a chill. I always think of Tyra Banks dancing on a bar (Coyote Ugly) when I hear “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” And I loveall the movie songs from Grease and Grease 2.
LikeLike
Ooh La La by The Faces playing over the closing scene in “Rushmore.”
Also, for my money you can’t beat Robert Johnston’s “Devil Town” playing over the final scene of the Season 1 finale of Friday Night Lights.
LikeLike
#24 Sara stole my first choice, but second choice has to be from “The Full Monty.” I do love the final stripping sequence, but I almost think the accidental rehearsal to “Hot Stuff” as they wait in line for their dole checks is even better!
LikeLike
Hands down, my favorite movie music scene is the finale in Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze plucking Baby from the corner and performing to “I’ve had the time of my life.” I still cry every single time I catch it on TV.
LikeLike
Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke in 9 1/2 Weeks, especially Bryan Ferry’s “Slave to Love” – of course, the only way we knew how to appreciate all of that sophisticated sex stuff was because we were suckled at the teat of Hughes throughout our high school careers.
LikeLike
When “The Outsiders” special DVD came out a few years ago, I had to have it – it’s one of my favorite movies. But while watching it, I realized they added a lot of lyric-based songs to the soundtrack, and it didn’t appeal to me.
Now I know I’d rather watch the original. I guess I’m emotionally attached to the swells and dives in the instrumental parts more than I thought.
LikeLike
David Bowie singing “As the world falls down” in Labrynth.
LikeLike
i just saw (500) days of summer, which had some great music – i love a dance scene out of left field!
but i think my fave fave is “my sharona” in the food mart from reality bites! gas card!
LikeLike
“If You Were Here”. Samantha Baker was the hope for all of us.
LikeLike
The opening credits to “Some Kind of Wonderful” where she’s drumming and he’s getting ready for school, and of course “The Breakfast Club” dance scene.
LikeLike
This is fun! One of my favorites would have to be Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear and lip syncing to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘N Roll” in Risky Business. Probably rather cliche now but man oh man! It’s a CLASSIC!
LikeLike
My sister just quoted “Footloose” to me yesterday, so I’ll pick the scene where Kevin Bacon is trying to teach Chris Penn to dance. Priceless.
LikeLike
In Empire Records when the whole store is dancing to Dire Straits – Romeo and Juliet.
LikeLike
Favorite movie soundtrack: Garden State. Love it!
Also, a close second would be the Footloose soundtrack, simply because I listened to it until it wore out when I was younger and Let’s Hear It For the Boy will always have a place in my heart.
LikeLike
Sadly, Jon Cryer’s dance is what opened my eyes to Otis Redding! I suppose that alone is worth a hearty thanks to Mr. Hughes. Never mind the fact that there was a point in my life where I could recite every word of The Breakfast Club, thus causing all of my friends to boycott watching it with me. I couldn’t blame them!
LikeLike
The scene with “Tiny Dancer” in Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” is my all time music/movie favorite, though I always have to through up a Judd Nelson inspired fist pump whenever I hear “Don’t You Forget About Me”.
LikeLike
Grosse Point Blank…the entire movie is a “music moment”.
Thanks for having this contest
LikeLike
Without a doubt, my favorite musical movie moment is the Delores Del Rio scene in Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. Though there are many other instances of movie music that cheer me up, inspire me, or make me want to dance, this is an eloquent statement about art, about film, and about consciousness, all wrapped up in a brief performance.
LikeLike
Duckie throwing cards into his hat in the alley while Morrissey’s “Please, please, please let me get what I want” plays. I was a moody teenager 🙂
LikeLike
Too many! But to stick within the 80s, I’ll 554th the John Cusack as Lloyd/boombox outside the window/”In Your Eyes” scene in Say Anything -oh so romantic!
LikeLike
Its hard to narrow down:
Walking on Sunshine – High Fidelity or
If you Leave – Pretty in Pink
And to the person who mentioned music on the West Wing, lets not forget Yo Yo Ma in the 2nd season holiday episode “Noel” when Josh has PTSD and Mrs. Laningham dies. Tear jerker.
LikeLike
I was always sorry in Pretty in Pink that she didn’t go for Duckie. He was FAR preferable than that BLAINE character. Who wouldn’t want their own personal daily Duckie drive-by?
LikeLike
How about Julia Roberts singing Prince’s “Kiss” in the bathtub in Pretty Woman? And don’t forget Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” during the shopping scene.
LikeLike
Lloyd Dobler. Boombox. Say Anything. Seeeeriously.
LikeLike
John Cusack. Boombox. Never will it be tired or cliche. :0)
booklusteratgmaildotcom
LikeLike
The final song from the Princess Bride is my favorite but hearing all of these comments make me rethink my netflix choices for the week…
LikeLike
My favorite scene is in “A Room for a View” when Helena Bonham-Carter’s character is being kissed by the Julian Sands character while the aria from “Gianni Schicchi” (aka “O mio babbino caro”). (#2 is the Lloyd Dobbler boombox, as I’ve been reminded of in these comments.)
LikeLike
Looks awesome!
LikeLike
Man, there are just so many! But I have to say one of my favorites is Kevin Bacon’s angry gymnast dance scene in Footloose. It’s so deliciously dramatic.
LikeLike
Fav movie music scene: CJ doing The Jackal on West Wing. Ok, that is a TV show, but still, classic! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7H_L5cYkg8)
LikeLike
I’m kind of a sucker for Newsies.
LikeLike