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Generally speaking, the term soundtrack refers to the recorded sound in a motion picture.
In terms of film formats, the soundtrack is the
physical area of the film which records the synchronized sound.
The term soundtrack is also commonly used to refer to the music used
in a movie, and/or to a record album sold containing that music. Sometimes, the music has
been recorded just for the film or album (e.g. Saturday
Night Fever), though this is rare. In 1916, Victor Schertzinger
recorded the first music specifically for use in a motion picture, and releasing soundtracks of songs used in films became
standard in the 1930s.
Notable Soundtracks
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (memorable theme music
Also Sprach Zarathustra became a radio hit, rare for a classical instrumental piece)
- American Graffiti
(massive-selling double album of rock oldies)
- Apocalypse Now (another hit, memorable use of the
Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner)
- The Bodyguard (by Whitney Houston and others, best selling of all time)
- Selmasongs (from Dancer in the Dark by Björk)
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High
(successful soundtrack, using contemporary hits)
- Flashdance (launched several hit songs, surprise hit)
- A Hard Day's Night (early rock and roll soundtrack by The
Beatles)
- The Harder
They Come (massively successful soundtrack and movie, launched career of Jimmy Cliff, early mainstream reggae music)
- Jungle Book (first soundtrack in the modern sense, from
the 1942 film scored by Miklós Rózsa)
- Mo' Better Blues (established Gang Starr's reputation and helped launch jazz rap)
- O Brother Where Art Thou?
(surprise bluegrass hit, Grammy winner)
- Reservoir Dogs (soundtrack deliberately chose the worst
songs of the 1970s, became a cult favorite)
- Saturday Night Fever (massive hit mostly by
the Bee Gees, brought disco to the
mainstream)
- Shaft (massive hit by Isaac
Hayes, his biggest record)
- Star Wars (hugely popular movie, and music by John Williams that became the best selling score-only
soundtrack of all time)
- The Stoned Age
(early teen film focused on a cult band, Blue Öyster Cult)
- That's the Way of the World (film unsuccessful, soundtrack a huge hit for Earth, Wind & Fire)
- Till
the Clouds Roll by (soundtrack and film inspired by life of Jerome
Kern, early use of the release of a soundtrack to promote a film)
- Maceo (film showing summary of
three Maceo Parker concerts in Cologne; this film and the brilliant soundtrack really catches the atmosphere of those concerts)
The Best-Selling Soundtracks
- The Bodyguard 1992 16 times platinum
- Saturday Night
Fever 1977 15 times
- Purple Rain 1984 13 times
- Forrest Gump 1994 12 times
- (tie) Dirty Dancing 1987, Titanic 1997 11 times
- The Lion King 1994 10 times
- Top Gun 1986 9 times
- (Tie) Grease 1978, Footloose 1984 8 times
- Waiting to
Exhale 1997 7 times
List of songs popularized by a movie
Some of these songs had been released before the movie, but had found little success, while others were released alongside the
film or were briefly re-popularized some years after their initial peak. This list does not include songs associated with a
cinematic opera or musical. Most of these theme songs occur at least once
during a climax during the movie, and are often played
during the opening and/or closing credits; the close association between the highlights of a movie and a particular song,
especially when the two are marketed together (as in a music video), means
that songs can find new audiences. For example, Quentin Tarantino's use of "La La Means I Love You" and 1970s Philly soul group The Delfonics led to a renaissance in hipness for the band some fifteen years after their mainstream
success ended.
See also:
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