gonna put this out there:
i've got a pitch i'm shopping about the movie soundtrack album, its unstoppability in the '80s and '90s, how it died at the hands of streaming, and how a few movies (Lion King, Barbie, Twisters, TV Glow) are trying to bring it back
editors, hit me up
You absolutely need to write this and I know a few soundtrack nerds who would absolutely provide you fodder.
Off the top of my head with 90’s soundtracks:
The Last Days of Disco
He Got Game
Cradle 2 The Grave
Bulworth
SLC Punk!
Ghost Dog
And I’m not even trying hard here.
I have this very idea in my pitches folder, but I haven’t pitched it yet and am unlikely to get to it soon or possibly ever. Which is a long way of saying “great idea!” Good luck with it.
It’s the worst, and yet somehow still getting worse? Superlatives don’t function anymore.
Did you ever hear MK Ultra’s “Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” album? It’s like a mid-90s movie soundtrack with snippets of movie dialogue and everything, but there was no film. Nice concept. Good songs.
It fits the idea, sorta. Like a band couldn’t make that album today without it seeming intentionally retro. But at the time, it was of its time. I loved it.
(I used to go to a lot of MK Ultra shows. One time no one else showed up, so they gave me a T-shirt. Still have it somewhere.)
Two albums/films that I think deserve a mention in the attempted revival: Into the Spider-Verse (all original songs by top artists) and Divergent (bad movie, but original songs by several top artists, and a deliberate attempt by the producers to create an album of "future music.").
see THIS is one of the biggest parts of the story. all those "music from and *inspired by*" soundtracks, where clearly they got a bunch of b-sides. like how does the Batman & Robin soundtrack go so hard???
To this day I can’t quite understand how one of my favourite bands, Underworld, put possibly my favourite track of theirs, Moaner, on that disaster of a film.
No names, but we got 2 versions of the same song from 2 different artists.
It, and a Tonight Show /SNL appearance, were the only pure forms of exposure that worked. For catalogue, why not, pending script approval.
A sidebar is how studios go to the trouble of producing full on original musical TV shows and then don’t sell the cast recordings?! Like, they OWN THE RIGHTS. They’d expand their audience. Create cult followings. Print basically free money. And still don’t. WTF
