The Lost Art of Sound-tracking

     Once upon a time, a film contained music, either current or past, but whatever the choice, it was placed in the film for the same reason a score was, to help tell the story. Songs were carefully selected and were relevant to the particular scene in which they were played. This was particularly true in the eighties, when the song selection not only enhanced the movie watching experience, but in may instances helped move the story along or develop characters, resulting almost in a musical. These were mostly found in movies that were about music, or dancing. Think about those movies for minute: Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Iron Eagle, and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, to name a few. This was the most extreme form of sound-tracking, but it gave those who didn't like traditional musicals (perhaps due to their inherent cheesiness) a feel for the genre, by making a musical that is actually realistic.

   These days, soundtracks contain mainly background music, more of an aesthetic than an actual functional tool. But back in the eighties, when the birth of the mix tape changed the face of music forever, movie producers were mixing it as well. Take for example Iron Eagle. That movie's soundtrack served just as an important role as it's score. If we look at the scene when the kids are running around the base stealing the information for their secret mission and taking on authority, could there have been a better choice of music than Twisted Sister's We're Not Gonna Take It? It serves the same function of a classic movie score, in that it is meant to let us know that what is going on is a form of rebellion. Another example is Gimme' Some Lovin' by The Spencer Davis Group. In the same way that the Opening Chase Scene music score from Indian Jones and the Last Crusade told us someone was trying to get away from something, this song let us know that things are starting to heat up. They both serve the same purpose and while it is very commendable and without comparison when a composer can convey these emotions without words, sometimes a pop hit does the job better for a specific movie or scene, if only because we can relate more to it.

     The popularity and relatability of the art of sound-tracking can perhaps be attributed to the common practice of mix-taping that also started in the 80's. The flexibility of making playlists with whatever songs you wanted resulted in everyone making their own soundtracks for day to day use. This made it so that sound-tracking was just the next natural step for movies as everyone could now relate to it. In other words, Kevin Bacon wasn't the only person mixing up songs on his cassettes. To this day, and now more than ever, mixing is the most common practice for listening to music. We do it on our I-Pods and smartphones, and there are even apps and websites that allow you to make playlists and listen to them without even buying the songs. We don't call it that today, but this is mix-taping at its heart.

     I think that sound-tracking, like mix-taping, was a skill and an art form that seems to have been lost, both in cinema and real life. In real life because while twenty years ago we had to pick just 15 songs for total portability as opposed to the hundreds we can can now fit in an I-Pod, and in cinema because music just isn't what it used to be anymore. 80's music was a soundtrack to life, and that was translated onscreen because the movies of the period were much more realistic and relatable than they are today. That's what made 80's entertainment so great, but that's for another post.