The weird shit that you can find on soundtracks to obscure movies never ceases to amaze me. Most recently I found the soundtrack to Party Party, a forgotten 80s teen flick about (surprise) a party. I can find absolutely no information about it online so if anyone knows anything about it please comment. It certainly had a decent soundtrack though, with some odd ska-tinged covers of classic tunes,and some appearances by some very noteworthy 80s artists that you might not expect.
Time for a track-by-track rundown.
Elvis Costello – Party Party
I wonder how they convinced Elvis to contribute a title track to this flick? They obviously didn’t try very hard because as early-80s Elvis Costello tracks go this is pretty weak. This is on a couple of compilations but probably not any endorsed by Costello.
Dave Edmunds – Run Rudolph Run
Don’t know much about Dave Edmunds, other than the fact that he was in Rockpile. This cover of the Christmas classic is on about 80 billion Christmas compilations.
Altered Images – Little Town Flirt
Another band I don’t know shit about, although they sound kind of like a Siouxsie & The Banshees lite, so I might check them out sometime. This is a cover of a song made famous by Del Shannon and I don’t think it was ever released on any other album.
Bad Manners – Yakety Yak
I know Yakety Yak, but I’m not very familiar with Bad Manners and other than their contributions to the soundtracks of Dance Crazy and this movie I know nothing about them. Not really my style of music for the most part, but this is a fun cover and it’s never been released on anything else to my knowledge.
Sting – Tutti Frutti
Okay, this is just retarded. In the 90s a compilation album of Sting’s contributions to soundtracks was released (more on that in a bit) and this song was one of the only ones that wasn’t put on it. Listen to it, there’s a good reason why.
Bananarama – No Feelings
This is a cover of The Sex Pistols’ classic. Let me say that again, this is Bananarama covering the motherfucking Sex Pistols. It’s pretty much ‘Cruel Summer’ with the lyrics of ‘No Feelings’ put in. Rhino tacked this lovely little number on the deluxe edition of their first album, Deep Sea Skiving.
Madness -Driving In My Car
An odd song (even as Madness songs go), but there’s nothing really spectacular about it. It’s also on a quite a few Madness compilations so it’s not rare either.
Modern Romance – Band Of Gold
I’ll be honest, I never heard of Modern Romance until about five minutes before I began typing this sentence. Thanks to the glory of the interwebs, I can tell you that they were fairly big in the UK for a few years in the 80s and that Morrissey really hated them. After searching on Youtube for a bit I’ve discovered that I did know one of their songs ‘The Best Years Of Our Lives’. I didn’t like it then and I’m not a fan still. And anytime I hear the song title I think of the horribly depressing movie of the same name, which doesn’t make the song any more enjoyable. ‘Band Of Gold’ has always been one of my biggest guilty pleasures though, and they do it justice.
Bad Manners – Elizabethan Reggae
More Bad Manners, this track is on one of their rarities compilations. Why does this song make me want to smoke pot?
Pauline Black – No Woman, No Cry
Pauline Black was the lead singer of The Selecter, another ska band that’s on the soundtrack to Dance Crazy. This is a cover of the Bob Marley classic and isn’t available elsewhere.
Sting – Need Your Love So Bad
This one I have heard before, because in addition to being on the soundtrack to Party Party, it’s on that compilation of soundtrack tunes that I mentioned before. I don’t own that album, but for some strange reason my mom does and I’m assuming that’s why it sounds familar to me. It’s a good bluesy tune but it is pretty out of place considering what else is on this record.
Midge Ure – The Man Who Sold The World
Even more out of place is this spaced-out cover of the David Bowie classic by the lead singer of Ultravox. I think there are more synthesizer and vocal effects on this track than every other song on the album combined. Midge’s released this song a few times on various greatest hits compilations, but it appeared on this soundtrack first.
Chas And Dave – Auld Lang Syne
Another act I know nothing about. It is strange though that this is the second cover of Auld Lang Syne I’ve put up in less than a year. To my knowledge this track isn’t on any other album either.