After spending an entire month looking back at the 80’s, I realized one thing. I need more. Luckily, a couple of fellow music fans on Twitter came up with the brilliant idea to highlight #30DaysOf80sMovieSongs during the month of April. I couldn’t resist at the opportunity to keep going, to keep listening, and to keep celebrating the decade that has meant more to me than any other from a musical standpoint. Each day I’m playing a different soundtrack favorite on the Mental Jukebox.
Movie: Pretty In Pink
Few albums captured the essence of the 80s better than the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. It was a defining soundscape for the Brat Pack and the exciting, yet incredibly awkward teenage world of John Hughes. The title track was an obvious hit. not to mention “If You Leave” and The Smiths’ mopey ballad “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”. But today I’m highlighting a song that’s less known in mainstream circles, but was huge for new wave kids like me: “Bring on the Dancing Horses”.
This wasn’t Echo & the Bunnymen’s most celebrated song among the masses. That distinction belongs squarely on the shoulders of “The Killing Moon” and “Lips Like Sugar”. But it was an endearing staple for the band’s fans. It was smothered in layers of synth like molasses. A sugary, pop tune that benefited from a simple, catchy melody and a somewhat cryptic commentary on the human soul by Ian McCulloch. Hearing the guys perform this at Coney Island back in 2017, the song felt like a nostalgic new wave trip down memory lane.
“First I'm gonna make it. Then I'm gonna break it till it falls apart.”