For the Love of Prince, Bring Back the Original Soundtrack
We lost a legend today when “Prince” Rogers Nelson died at the age of 57. I wasn’t even close to a die-hard fan and I’ve long since outgrown my “pretend to like things to seem smart or cool” phase, but I don’t see how anyone could hear “When Doves Cry” and think that song sucked. I was just a little too young to appreciate him when he first hit the scene, so I missed the boat on his early stuff, and that was the time when fans became lifetime addicts. I’ve always liked his hits, I just don’t want to give the impression I’m jumping on the post-mortem bandwagon. This isn’t even a eulogy or remembrance, or at least not really. At worst I may be guilty of hijacking the news of his passing to segue into my movie topic, but I’d rather think I’m paying tribute to one of my favorite Prince moments. I was shocked when I heard he was gone, as I am every time we lose an icon too young, probably because it reminds me of my own mortality, or even worse, my beloved William Shatner’s. (Going to be inconsolable that day.) So I started thinking about Prince and the fact that, fanatic or not, I really was a fan, or at least an observer of his whole career, from tonguing the guitar frets to the Batdance, to changing his name to a squiggle, etc. I grew up watching his evolution and I think he was a true original in a world full of cheap impostors. That’s special.
That Batman album, though, that’s what I keep thinking about. Now, in case you’re the same age as my teenage son, it goes like this. Warner Brothers gave birth to the modern superhero blockbuster when they enlisted director Tim Burton to re-imagine the Dark Knight in 1989’s Batman. All at once the film defined what superhero movies should be, and rendered Adam West, Lou Ferrigno, and maybe even Christopher Reeve performances thenceforth unwatchable. Ouch. The amazing feat for me, and my real point with this story is the soundtrack. Not only had WB taken the bold approach to creating a grown up movie from a comic book, it enlisted Prince to record the soundtrack. Prince. Not a song, the entire thing. That sounds like a bizarre combination, even for me, even now. It was bizarre too, a bizarre album that sold 11 million copies and spent 6 weeks at number one on the Billboard charts. The trick? It just worked. Featuring singles like, “Batdance” and “Partyman”, accompanied by outlandish videos and choreography, the work was an opus we could only expect from Prince. The movie and the soundtrack were both huge hits, locked in symbiotic yet distant universes, swirling around in a drunken frenzy of magnetic function and beauty. A lot like that last sentence and this one.
So my question is why don’t studios do this more often? I don’t not know the answer, I just refuse to accept it. The truth is studios take fewer and fewer risks than they did even 20 or 30 years ago, yet they make more money than ever. They’re greedy, blah, blah, blah. I’m not swallowing that pill. There should be more soundtracks by single artists or bands. Period. Let the director inspire the music, let the band make the movie better and let’s simmer that cosmic soup. If Prince can sing for the Caped Crusader, all things are possible. I wish Warner Brothers was as visionary with their idea as Burton and Prince were with their execution, but it didn’t take much research to find out that the studio had some personal motives. They needed another album from Prince, their contracted artist, and ended up keeping the publishing rights to this project, causing a bit of conflict and undoubtedly leaving a bad taste in Prince’s sexy mouth. Leave it to the Hollywood moguls to ruin dessert, they’re famous for their lava cake. None of that matters, because the point is we need to see more bold combinations of filmmakers and recording artists. We deserve it, and Prince now knows for eternity who truly owns his music.
There have been some notable comparisons, like when Toto did the Dune soundtrack, and Queen gave us Flash Gordon and The Highlander, but for me that’s it. Huey Lewis came close with two songs from Back To The Future, but shouldn’t he and The News have done that whole joint? I don’t count what I call ‘obvious team-ups’, either, because they never have the effect that an unlikely pairing does– transcendence. It’s about making unimaginable chemistry succeed, like Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un or Kelly and Michael Strahan. There have been numerous “obvious” collaborations, like Isaac Hayes doing the Shaft album, but what more is that than picking the sure fit? Bob Dylan recorded the soundtrack for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, of course he did. You can refer to Sean Hutchinson’s article on Mentalfloss for 11 of these safe examples. I appreciate his collection, but for me Tom Petty doing a chick flick, or Pearl Jam doing an indie movie soundtrack is the equivalent of the Giants running on 3rd and Goal, we all saw it coming.
Someone be bold enough to put Tarantino and Dolly Parton together, please, if even as a copycat move. Surprise us. Kanye needs money, make him do the Jurassic World II music. Maybe the Batman soundtrack is a cosmic singularity, just another reason that Prince is a legend. A record never meant to be broken, like the ’72 Dolphins or Wilt Chamberlain’s one night stands. It doesn’t mean we should stop trying, but Hollywood, whether film or music, has a bad new habit–not trying. They don’t know the difference between drawing inspiration and straight up stealing. Instead of paying tribute to classics, and using a collective influence to shape their own vision for originality, like Prince did when he crafted his sound, they’re racing to imitate last year’s few original formulas, and remake movies that are less than 20 years old. They’re not even smart enough to copycat bold moves that were overlooked in their own time, like original movie soundtracks by a single artist or band. Correction, they are smart enough, but they’re extremely busy comparing next quarter’s projected revenue to the corresponding quarter from the last fiscal year. That’s how you make magic, right? Fortunately, there are still bright stars in Hollywood, behind and in front of the camera, writing stories, and loving their craft. They give us hope. I still love movies, but I want to see more risk, more passion, more art. More Tim Burton and Prince. Don’t calculate the risk, just bet on the reward. Do it as a tribute.
If I forgot any great examples of movie soundtracks by one band or artist, reach out to me on twitter @thelancerock
'Well, uh, for Paulie, I really want to get him a snow cone machine. You like snow cones, don'tcha?'- Rocky Balboa
