Favorite Movie Soundtracks of All Time

August 7, 2014 posted by Vicki in The Ten

I just watched Guardians of the Galaxy with my son Enzo last weekend and the movie soundtrack was so amazing – it was such a great eclectic mix of 70s tracks such as Hooked on A Feeling, Escape (The Piña Colada Song), Ooh Child, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and many others– that it made me think about my favorite movies with awesome soundtracks. I believe when you watch the movie again today, you remember all these feelings you had when you first watched it and you can’t help but feel nostalgic.

When I was a teenager, on the weekends I would visit my sister’s boyfriend’s house and spend hours making mixtapes from all his records (he was a spinner! Do you remember those?). Making mixtapes- for a friend or a boyfriend- is an expression of affection, ‘cause as they say, music is what feelings sound like. For a long time it was difficult to make mixtapes/ mixed CDs of old and new music, but today with apps like Spotify, where you can download millions of songs at the click of a button and store them in your mobile device, this retro art of making mixtapes is back again, and how fun!

What adds to the storyline of Guardians of the Galaxy is precisely the role this mixtape plays. The protagonist Peter Quill or Star Lord’s mother made him an Awesome Mixtape 1 – a compilation of all her favorite songs when she was growing up. And in the end, this mixtape proved vital to Peter’s connection and bond to her. How do we influence our own children with the music we play? I wonder how my music choices will shape Enzo’s musical preferences as an adult.

Almost Famous and Stand By Me

So in honor of this truly awesome movie soundtrack, I’ve decided to make my top 10 movie soundtracks of all time. I hope that should he one day mix any of these tracks into his own mixtape or playlists, Enzo will fondly remember me. Here it is, in no particular order:

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Clueless
3. Pretty in Pink (and any Brat Pack movie soundtrack for that matter)
4. Dazed and Confused
5. Hackers
6. Grease
7. Empire Records
8. 50 First Dates
9. Stand by Me
10. Almost Famous (and any Cameron Crowe movie soundtrack for that matter)
    
11. Notting Hill (yes cheesy, I know, but I love it.)

I would love to hear what yours are, too.

May all your gypsetting dreams come true,

Vicki