No Doubt was one of the great 90s bands, and their Tragic Kingdom one of the great 90s albums.
I didn’t really follow the group much past this record, but it’s impressive to see Gwen Stefani looking even more gorgeous two decades later. Honestly, it’s hard to differentiate the woman in this 1995 video from the woman who coached on the last season of The Voice.
Full disclosure: I created this top ten list pretty much so I could list today’s SOTD in the #1 spot.
John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club is, incomprehensibly, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and has been very much in the cultural spotlight recently. All that coverage has teleported me back to my early teens, when this film (and this song) were godlike.
The funny thing is that I’d always assumed the track was not written for the film but unearthed by Hughes from a Simple Minds record. Not the case, as it turns out. The song was written for the film by Keth Forsey and Steve Schiff and recorded by Simple Minds only after three other acts declined.
I could make a top ten list of just Wes Anderson’s use of music. And if I did, The Royal Tenenbaums would likely make several appearances.
My favorite is the Rolling Stones two-fer of ‘She Smiled Sweetly’ and ‘Ruby Tuesday’ that plays during Margot and Richie Tenenbaum’s encounter in the tent. I especially like that those songs don’t appear in that order on the band’s Between the Buttons. Anderson created an alternate-universe version of that record’s track list because it suited his film.
Commenter Amy predicted last week that I’d feature ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ at some point during this countdown.
She was close. Same movie, same setting, same two characters onscreen. But the song from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction that sticks with me most isn’t Dusty Springfield’s classic, but a Neil Diamond cover by an obscure 90s alt-rock band.
This list is dominated by directors I number among my favorites, which raises the question: Am I listing these songs because I love the films of these directors, or do I love the films of these directors in part because of how well they use these songs?
I’ll argue for the latter. My favorite filmmakers make great use of music, whether it’s Woody Allen’s Gershwin tunes, Spielberg’s John Williams scores or Wes Anderson’s ear for 60s Brit Pop.
