I saw this film! I am certain that this record came for a thrift shop, meaning that I paid about $2 for it. That's a good deal. It as some classic tracks, such as: Smokey Robinson - Tracks Of My Tears, The Doors - Hello, I Love You, Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit, Aretha Franklin - Respect, Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay, The Rascals - Groovin' and others.
This is a soundtrack to a film, by Reginald Harkema, that I have never seen. According to Discogs, it is a "limited release of 1000 copies, distributed at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival." My copy, which II found in a box on the side of the road, has no cover, as you can see from the image above. I don't know if any comes had covers. The track listing is rather intriguing:
Comets On Fire – The Black Poodle (edit) 0:55 Sun Ra Arkestra – Nuclear War (edit) 2:58 Ultimate Spinach – (Ballad Of The) Hip Death Goddess (edit) 3:40 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – What if we all Stopped Paying Taxes? 4:27 Weird War– Girls Like That 4:38 Outrageous Cherry – Saturday Afternoon 2:46 The Fugs – Kill for Peace 2:17 Refused – Protest Song '68 3:16 The Make Up – Pow! To the People 2:59 Pink Mountaintops – I [fuck] Mountains 2:42 Leonard Cohen – The Old Revolution
I have never seen this film (surprise), but I have read the book and I hated it with a passion. I also hated Imperial Bedrooms. Why so much theft of Elvis Costello? Anyway, this soundtrack contains the good, the bad, and the ugly. Mostly, I have it because of the LL Cool J track, Going Back to Cali. The video for that tune is good too. That tune never showed up on on any LL Cool J records, unless you got the CD version of Walking the Panther.
I also like the Public Enemy tune, the Joan Jett song, of course, and some others. But, the Bangles (covering Simon and Garfunkel), Poison, Aerosmith, Slayer? No so much.
Here is a rare occurrence. I've seen the corresponding film to this soundtrack. Amazing. And, I liked the film very much, though watching it is a truly sad experience. Eight of the twelve tracks are performed by Los Lobos. Other artists appearing are Brian Setzer, Bo Diddley, Howard Huntsberry, and Marshall Crenshaw. I'd argue that this is a pretty good collection of tunes and the cover versions are all very well done.
This record was originally released in a limited edition of 2500 copies in 2004. I have in my possession the repress from 2015. The original pressing will cost you a few bucks. Most of the soundtrack is music by Explosions in the Sky, a band I really like. The record also has one track from Daniel Lanois, which is great. There is one track from David Torn. I generally like his music, and this track is very good and very atmospheric. Finally, there is one track from Bad Company. I'm not really a Bad Company fan, but this song is passable.
Some of the music was re-used in the TV series of the same name. I have not seen the movie or the TV series.
I suppose this should really be filed under John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band, rather than the title of the film, but whatever. I guess I dropped the ball on that one and broke my soundtrack rule, previously described. I've never seen the film and I was surprised to learn (just recently) that a sequel was filmed.
At the time, I seem to recall that John Cafferty was heralded as the new Bruce Springsteen. It certainly seems like the band was attempting to emulate (copy) the sound of the Boss and his band. There is even a sax. In fact, a casual listener might even be convinced that this is Bruce and Co. on Tender Years, an overt and obvious, yet weak, attempt to channel Bruce. Overall, the album is not that great, but maybe if I saw the film, I would change my mind.
Back in the day, a friend of mine (and Springsteen enthusiast) told me emphatically that this record sucked. That should be the last word.
