I've never been the kind of person who can rattle off details about my favorite music, like album names or obscure substitute band members. Nor have I spent time creating the "perfect playlist" on Spotify.
Sure, I have music I like, and if I really like it, I might even be able to tell you who sings it!
What can I say? I'm just not a music person.
In the previous two Summer Music Memories, I created lists of songs that were important to me or, at the very least, brought back memories of summertime moments as a kid. Like any good song, music provides a sort of soundtrack to our life and memories of the past. When we hear a particular song, it gives us an instant flashback to events, places, and people.
This year, since I couldn't come up with more than one or two more songs that meant something to me (regarding summertime), I thought I'd put together a list of five Summer Songs that came from big blockbuster summer movies!
In this post, we'll look at 5 of some of the biggest summer songs from blockbuster movies of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.
Be sure to click "Play" on each of the associated videos, and rock out with me! Let's get to the list!
1) “GHOSTBUSTERS” by Ray Parker Jr. from GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)
This song wasn't even originally intended to be a song. According to Parker, Jr, "The original song was only to be a 20-second part of the opening library scene. Ivan Reitman (the director) liked the song and wanted to make it a record, so I had to return to the studio and make it longer." The rest, as they say, is history. The pop-funk-infused, slickly produced theme song has an infectious chorus that makes everyone sing along.
"Ghostbusters!"
This may be just a goofy, catchy novelty song, but who doesn't love watching "Ghostbusters" and singing along to this song when they hear it? It may have started as a summer song, but these days, it's a staple at many Halloween parties and gets plenty of radio airplay during the spooky season.
Huey Lewis sued Parker, Jr., over this song, accusing him of ripping off "I Want a New Drug." Allegedly, producers contacted Lewis to create the music first, and when he turned them down, they asked Parker, Jr. to create something "like Huey Lewis would." I guess he did.
I don't see the similarities in the two songs, but the two singers settled out of court.
Debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 68 on June 16, 1984, the song peaked at No. 1 on August 11, staying there for three weeks. It was Parker Jr.'s only chart-topper.
2) “THE POWER OF LOVE” by Huey Lewis and the News from BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)
Huey Lewis and the News were riding high with their first number-one album, "Sports," in 1983, which contained four different Top 10 hits. Robert Zemeckis approached the band about writing theme songs for his new comedy/sci-fi film about a time-traveling teenager; Lewis wasn't interested.
Initially citing his lack of interest in writing for movies, he eventually changed his mind and delivered the smash hit "The Power of Love." It certainly didn't hurt that it was featured heavily in 1985's biggest summer blockbuster, but "The Power of Love" rocketed to the top of the charts to become Huey Lewis and the News' first number 1 single.
After this song's success, Lewis changed his tune about writing for movies and said, "Writing for a movie can be inspirational somehow. It's almost liberating because you're not writing for yourself."
Huey Lewis and the News made extremely "hooky" rock songs through the 1980s. The band's little earworms were everywhere, but "The Power of Love" was" (to me) of a level that they never matched again.
3) A BONUS TWO-FER!
“DANGER ZONE” and “TAKE MY BREATH AWAY” from TOP GUN (1986)
Two songs from the same movie rarely become top hits, but during the summer of 1986, Top Gun provided us with this one-two punch of classic summer songs. You can either rock out with Kenny Loggins or sing along to Berlin's epic ballad at the top of your lungs.
Danger Zone channeled the thrill-seeking rush of fighter jets roaring through the sky. This outlandishly macho song is hard not to laugh at today but was "way cool" back in the 80s. It topped out at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the second most successful single from the movie soundtrack. The song is also featured in the 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" is a pure 80s love ballad. When the soundtrack was released, this synthy love song took the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100. People today still find it difficult to not sing along, myself included.
According to Allmusic.com, the Top Gun soundtrack "remains a quintessential artifact of the mid-80s." In any event, both songs were just as epically melodramatic as you'd expect from an 80's summer blockbuster, helping Tom Cruise create the image for himself as the cocky flyboy that we all know and love.
4) "I DON'T WANT TO MISS A THING" by Aerosmith from ARMAGEDDON (1998)
Armageddon was Michael Bay's overblown sci-fi epic blockbuster that starred Bruce Willis saving the world from a meteor. Aerosmith's equally epic power ballad "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was one of four songs the Boston-based band created for the film.
In the United States, the song was initially supposed to be a radio-only single, but due to popular demand, Columbia Records issued it commercially in August 1998. It subsequently debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving the band their first and only number-one single in their home country. The song stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks.
This song, written by 11-time Oscar nominee Diane Warren, is chock full of emotions that would give anyone a lump in their throat. Meant to musically articulate the passion between Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler's characters in the film, the song follows the 80s and 90s template of attaching love ballads to a macho summer action blockbuster.
Unfortunately, hardcore Aerosmith fans consider this the band's "jump the shark moment" and the embodiment of the once-badass band selling out to corporate interests.
5) "AMERICAN WOMAN" by Lenny Kravitz from AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME (1999)
When Lenny Kravitz covered The Guess Who's "American Woman" for the soundtrack to 1999's Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, it was released as a single in May, prior to the film's June release. It was later included on the reissue of Kravitz's album "5."
Lenny's version of the song is slower and softer than the original, without the signature guitar solo. He later said he skipped over the guitar portion because he "...couldn't get the sound. I couldn't get the right tone."
The cover reached the top 20 in several countries, such as Australia, Finland, and Spain. It reached 26 in Canada and, unbelievably, only achieved 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100 list.
The music video featured actress Heather Graham (who also starred in the film). The original political themes of the song were largely replaced, in the video, by Graham's sex appeal.
In 1999, the Guess Who joined Kravitz for a live performance of "American Woman" at the MuchMusic Video Awards.
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