Dan W’s favourite 50 soundtracks

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As the title suggests. Tough decisions, not least deciding not to have any concert soundtracks so no ‘Last Waltz’ or ‘Stop Making Sense’. Thought about limiting it to one composer or director but only having one John Barry score or Coen Bothers soundtrack was too much.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Koyaanisqatsi 5
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 5
Blade Runner 4
The Harder They Come 4
Purple Rain 4
A Hard Day’s Night 4
Amelie 3
Velvet Goldmine 3
Under the Skin 2
Anatomy of a Murder 2
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 2
Natural Born Killers 1
Mandy (2018) 1
Midnight Cowboy 1
Paris, Texas 1
Pennies From Heaven (1978 TV) 1
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 1
Inside Llewyn Davis 1
Repo Man 1
Get Carter (1971) 1
Saturday Night Fever 1
Superfly 1
Do The Right Thing 1
True Stories 1
The Revenant 0
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School 0
20th Century Women 0
Times Square 0
Third World Cop 0
Shaft (1971) 0
Shutter Island 0
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1964 TV) 0
The Social Network 0
Something Wild 0
Somewhere in Time 0
Radio Days 0
Beats 0
Blow-Up 0
Boogie Nights 0
Casablanca 0
The Civil War (1990 TV) 0
Drive 0
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai 0
Love and Mercy 0
Magnolia 0
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence 0
The Ladykillers (2004) 0
Oh Brother Where Art Thou? 0
The Piano 0
Albino Alligator 0


Dan Worsley, Friday, 25 August 2023 15:25 (two years ago)

Already regret not including any Wes Anderson, but there you go.

Dan Worsley, Friday, 25 August 2023 15:27 (two years ago)

The Harder They Come just barely over Morricone, nice idea

out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Friday, 25 August 2023 16:49 (two years ago)

Cool, this idea crossed my mind too.

Shockingly, in terms of LPs I actually return to moderately often divorced from the films, Midnight Cowboy (The Groop! Elephant's Memory! c'mon lol) might even take the prize over the most of the 'pure' scores here!

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, 26 August 2023 04:56 (two years ago)

I'm almost never satisfied with Various Artist soundtrack albums, but "Ballad of Maxwell Demon" by Shudder to Think on Velvet Goldmine is a great "All the Young Dudes" pastiche:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tJhxM4Qt6E

As a whole record, I'll vote for Koyaanisqatsi.

Halfway there but for you, Monday, 28 August 2023 02:06 (two years ago)

also voted for koyaanisqatsi

is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Monday, 28 August 2023 02:56 (two years ago)

Scrolled down the list to vote for Taxi Driver, o_0 at not finding it. Need a couple of months of listening before I can choose.

The Terroir of Tiny Town (WmC), Monday, 28 August 2023 03:00 (two years ago)

Torn between The Harder They Come (esp. for 'Many Rivers to Cross') and Do the Right Thing (just for 'Feel So Good' by Perri). Third place to Get Carter.

dubmill, Monday, 28 August 2023 11:26 (two years ago)

Blade Runner vs The Harder They Come

Saxophone Of Futility (Michael B), Monday, 28 August 2023 11:32 (two years ago)

Purple Rain too, sheeeeit...I never think of it as a soundtrack album but I guess it is

Saxophone Of Futility (Michael B), Monday, 28 August 2023 11:33 (two years ago)

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service just edged out Anatomy of a Murder and Get Carter, with Under the Skin not far behind. Nice list! Needs more Takemitsu though.

look i'm not sally fucking rooney (Matt #2), Monday, 28 August 2023 11:38 (two years ago)

The end credits of “Something Wild”, did a lot of the heavy lifting to get it on to the list. Warning, if you haven’t seen it, there’s a slight spoiler.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyGTkdfRpDY

Dan Worsley, Monday, 28 August 2023 12:52 (two years ago)

A Hard Day’s Night it's not even close.

honorable mention to Anatomy of a Murder. underrated!

budo jeru, Wednesday, 30 August 2023 00:40 (two years ago)

So much stuff I love on here. Harder They Come was one of my dad's favorite records, which means it's been one of mine since I was little.

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 30 August 2023 01:39 (two years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Monday, 4 September 2023 00:01 (one year ago)

voted for Velvet Goldmine

Dan S, Monday, 4 September 2023 00:11 (one year ago)

jukebox soundtracks vs original scores is kinda apples/oranges I think

voted get carter nonetheless

Daniel_Rf, Monday, 4 September 2023 09:21 (one year ago)

the soundtrack is the best thing about Blade Runner, played that on many a comedown, voted for it

or something, Monday, 4 September 2023 09:35 (one year ago)

Love Blade Runner but had to vote Morricone.

Not enough of a soundtrack stan to have my own list, but a few not listened that I got and dig that are not on the list would be the following.

Halloween < John Carpenter
8mm < kinda crap movie, but the soundtrack by Mychael Danna is excellent
Solaris < Cliff Martinez, this one is great. Unique sounds.

earlnash, Monday, 4 September 2023 14:12 (one year ago)

Oh yeah...also got to rep Lalo Schifrin's music for Dirty Harry and Magnum Force.

earlnash, Monday, 4 September 2023 14:14 (one year ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 00:01 (one year ago)

Would have voted for Shaft.

beard papa, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 06:27 (one year ago)


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