Get ready to take a musical journey through Hollywood's golden era! We're counting down the most iconic pre-1980s films with soundtracks that defined generations, from disco fever to rock 'n' roll, and everything in between. These movies aren't just films - they're musical time capsules!
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're ranking the old-school Hollywood films, as in pre-1980s, that contain outstanding soundtracks.
00:16As time goes by...
00:20Sam, I thought I told you never to play.
00:26Number 10, American Graffiti.
00:281, 2, 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock, rock. 5, 6, 7 o'clock, 8 o'clock, rock. 9, 10, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, rock. We're going to rock around 10 o'clock tonight.
00:39Where were you in 62? This is the question asked by the movie poster for 1973's American Graffiti.
00:45The film is a nostalgic love letter and a look back to the youth of director George Lucas.
00:50A childhood full of fast cars, young love, and music. Lots of music.
00:55A laughing, friendly ride. Here's my carry-on. What's wrong?
01:04And great music too. American Graffiti possessed a soundtrack chock-full of classic oldies tunes.
01:10And it's these songs that help drive the movie's storylines and character motivations.
01:14The track listing is a veritable who's who of just about every hit the producers could afford to clear.
01:19These include but are not limited to Rock Around the Clock, Sixteen Candles, Runaway, and more.
01:25From artists as diverse as Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and the Beach Boys.
01:38Number 9, Easy Rider.
01:40Many of the best movie soundtracks possess a bit of the DNA from the time period during which they were released.
01:531969's Midnight Cowboy and our next pick from that same year fit this bill.
01:58Easy Rider juxtaposes hippie idealism with the oncoming storm of 1970's bummer culture.
02:03And its soundtrack seems to know this well.
02:10As a result, there are some strong examples of psychedelic rock from artists like the Byrds and the Jimi Hendrix experience.
02:25However, there's also a heavier and grittier dark side to the soundtrack.
02:29A side exemplified by the heavy metal Thunder of Steppenwolf and the gothic experimentalism of producer David Axelrod and the Electric Prunes.
02:41Energy. Rebellion. Freedom. These words and more describe the Easy Rider listening experience.
02:59Number 8, Casablanca.
03:11It wasn't exactly common for movies produced during the era of Casablanca to have home media copies of their soundtracks available for public purchase.
03:18That's why there was some real cause for celebration back when this film's soundtrack was finally released on CD back in 1997.
03:25Max Steiner's contributions to Casablanca are primarily orchestral.
03:28However, the movie possesses a number of all-time classics with songs like As Time Goes By, Knock on Wood, and It Had to Be You going on to help define the film for movie lovers.
03:40There's a feeling of wistfulness and romanticism that's impossible to separate from the music here.
03:59And it's helped retain Casablanca as a stone-cold Hollywood classic.
04:11Number 7, A Hard Day's Night.
04:13The Beatles were at the height of their early teeny-bop fame when they starred in 1964's A Hard Day's Night.
04:41The movie's soundtrack underlines just how difficult composing this sort of economic pop material can be at this level.
04:47As a result, A Hard Day's Night is completely brilliant since it demonstrates just how infectious the Fab Four's music was at this time.
05:11Can't Buy Me Love, She Loves You, and I'm Just Happy to Dance With You may all share one common theme, but it's a universal one.
05:23The love and perceived innocence of the 1960s practically permeates the soundtrack with a floral smell of free love and musical idealism.
05:30So dive in.
05:42Number 6, The Sound of Music.
05:55Adapting a successful stage play to the screen is always a gamble.
05:59But thankfully, 1965's The Sound of Music had an ace up its sleeve.
06:04It's listed right there in the title, too, as the titular music here has gone on to become just as iconic as its movie adaptation.
06:24My Favorite Things, 16 Going on 17, Do Re Mi, and the title song have all entered the cultural consciousness and lived there rent-free for decades.
06:33The same goes for songs like So Long, Farewell.
06:36Tunes that are so well-known, they become parody fodder for shows like Family Guy.
06:53Simply said, The Sound of Music makes you feel good, and what could be wrong with that?
07:03Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.
07:22Number 5, Greece.
07:34Hey, here's a question.
07:35Why is the main title theme to Greece a disco tune when the film is set during the 1950s?
07:41Yeah, we know the film was produced during the disco era, and if we're being honest, the Greece theme is such a banger we don't even care.
07:56This classic movie musical isn't only limited to songs from Frankie Valli, however.
08:00As Greece also contains all of those hits you love, from Summer Nights and Grease Lightning to Beauty School Dropout and Born to Hand Jive.
08:24There's a whole lot of shakin' going on, that's for sure.
08:26But also a lot of rockin', rollin' and, oh yeah, that disco.
08:38Number 4, West Side Story.
08:40Here come the jets, little world, let the sky better go, and the ground better run, better hide.
08:46We're drawing the line, to keep your noses hidden.
08:50We're hanging the sign, the visitor's forbidden.
08:53The 1961 film adaptation of West Side Story from director Robert Wise stands as one of the most respected musical films of all time.
09:01It also just happens to have one of the best soundtracks of all time.
09:04A nicely balanced mixture of orchestral brilliance and some truly iconic songwriting.
09:09Maria, I'll never stop saying, Maria.
09:24Songs from the original production include Maria, Tonight and I Feel Pretty.
09:28And they've all gone on to become standards.
09:30West Side Story is just one of those classic American movies that consistently seems to find an audience, generation after generation.
09:38And with a soundtrack this good, it's easy to see why.
09:42I like to be in America.
09:44Okay by me in America.
09:46Everything free in America.
09:49For a small fee in America.
09:53Number 3, The Graduate.
09:55Hello darkness, my old friend.
09:59I've come to talk with you again.
10:03It wasn't exactly commonplace back in 1967 for Hollywood movies to possess a pop soundtrack.
10:09There were exceptions, sure, but Simon and Garfunkel's work on The Graduate set a new standard for how pop music could be utilized within a film.
10:16It also helped legitimize this sort of music as a means with which to convey characters' feelings and emotions.
10:22April, come she will.
10:29When streams are ripe and swelled with rain.
10:35The soundtrack to The Graduate is so powerful and evocative, it feels like another character.
10:40Songs like The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson and Scarborough Fair work wonderfully with compositional cues from Paul Simon and Dave Grusin.
10:47And it all comes together within a film that, for many, helped define the 1960s.
10:52And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.
10:55Jesus loves you more than you will know.
11:00Whoa, whoa, whoa.
11:02Number 2, Shaft.
11:04The Great Shaft.
11:06The Blaxploitation film genre features an embarrassment of soundtrack riches.
11:18This is particularly true if your musical tastes lean towards soul, jazz and funk.
11:23The soundtracks to Superfly and Troubleman are both stone-cold classics of the genre.
11:28But only one bad mother stands above them.
11:31We're just talking about Shaft, and we can dig it.
11:43Isaac Hayes' soundtrack to this 1971 hit almost single-handedly broke the mold for what a Blaxploitation soundtrack was supposed to achieve.
11:51There are some fire score cues on here for sure, but film fans primarily remember Shaft for its titular theme song.
11:58This is a tour de force of bravado and style.
12:01A funky ode to the private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks.
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12:49Our number one pick actually ties into the Grease soundtrack in a unique way.
12:53That's because lead John Travolta ended 1978 with not one, but both of the top-selling soundtracks of that year.
13:00One of them was Grease, and the other was this all-time disco smash.
13:04The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever has sold more than 40 million copies, and it defines a decade of leisure suits, sequins and dancing.
13:28It's primarily a showcase for hits from the Bee Gees, including Night Fever and Stayin' Alive.
13:34But there's a lot of other great stuff, too.
13:43Walter Murphy's danceable, classical hybrid of Fifth of Beethoven stands out, as does excellent material from Tavares and composer David Shire.
13:51This one is worth the hype.
13:53What's your favorite old-school movie soundtrack? Let us know in the comments.
14:07Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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