I’ll have a lot more to say about I Saw the TV Glow in a couple of weeks, so today I’ll just note that it has one of the year’s best soundtracks.
Consisting of both music written for the film and deep cut alternative rock songs, it lives in the same uneasy emotional space as the film itself. Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun said they wanted the soundtrack to be a “teen angst classic” and, well, mission accomplished.
Like yesterday’s post, today’s SOTD is from a musical biopic set across the pond. But Kneecap is a very different movie than Better Man.
The film depicts the beginnings of the titular Irish rap trio, an unlikely outfit made up of two troublemaking young men and an Irish language teacher (who wore a ski mask during the band’s early performances to hide his identity from people who knew him from his day job).
They are among the few remaining speakers of the Irish Gaelic language, and use it liberally in their songs.
Getting back to my favorite musical moments from 2024 films, here’s the second I’ve featured from a movie about a musician.
The film is Better Man and the musician is Robbie Williams, a hugely successful British pop star who is completely off the radar of most Americans. This is a guy who held the record for the UK’s largest stadium show yet has never had a song on the Billboard Top 40.
Petula Clark topped the Billboard Hot 100 the week of January 26, 1965, with ‘Downtown.’ It was the song’s second straight week at #1.
This single was the first U.S. chart-topper for the British singer/actress, and kicked off a phase of her career during which she released 15 consecutive Top 40 hits in the States.
Throwing back to the week of January 25, 1955, we find a slew of repeats atop the singles chart, as usual for this decade: ‘Let Me Go Lover‘ by Joan Weber, ‘Mister Sandman‘ by The Chordettes, ‘Hearts Of Stone‘ by The Fontane Sisters, and ‘The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane‘ by The Ames Brothers.
Keeping the sibling theme going at #5 that week were The McGuire Sisters with ‘Sincerely,’ a cover of a song written by Harvey Fuqua and Alan Freed for The Moonglows the previous year.
Meet Me In Montauk 