Slap on the ol' Bat Head Phones!
Crank up the volume!
It's time for Songs For Saturday, baby!
Today's theme: songs from movie soundtracks from the 1980's.
Let's kick off with Lindsey Buckingham with "Holiday Road" from National Lampoon's Vacation.
In case you're wondering who was joining Lindsey Buckingham on this track, the answer is no one. This son of a bitch did every damn thing: guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, drum programming and vocals.
"Holiday Road" is short and sweet, coming in handy during a radio gig I had in the early 1980's. I had a shift on Saturday afternoons that end at 6:00 PM. At 6, the station went to a satellite program so I had to be be sure whatever music I was playing ended before the station ID and the network program. If I was coming up short by about 2 minutes, "Holiday Road" was on my list of 2 minute songs to fill out the time correctly.
It was called backtiming a record and it's pretty much a dead skill these days in radio.
Next up is Kenny Loggins with "I'm Alright" from Caddyshack.
"I'm Alright" was most decidedly a team effort. In addition to 5 other instrumentalists, Kenny was also assisted by 5 credited back up vocalists including the distinctive voice of the late, great Eddie Money who takes lead on the song's bridge.
Kenny Loggins became known as the King of the Movie Soundtrack. In addition to "I'm Alright" from Caddyshack, Kenny contributed to soundtracks for Footloose, Over the Top, Top Gun and Caddyshack II.
In advance of the release of Tim Burton's Batman movie, you could not escape this next song. Here is Prince with "Batdance" from the soundtrack of the 1989 film Batman
We're back to a one man band again with Prince doing the vocals and playing various instruments.
"Batdance" was a last-minute replacement for a track titled "Dance with the Devil" which Prince felt was too dark.
"Batdance" is different, chaotic, switching from a mechanical dance beat to a funky groove and back again. It was like Prince took every single idea he ever had or would have and poured it all into one glorious danceable, beautiful mess of a song.
I hope you enjoyed today's post. Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.
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