» 1980s, Lists, Pop, Rock » Top 6 Greatest John Hughes Movie-Music Scenes
Top 6 Greatest John Hughes Movie-Music Scenes
I’m a child of the 80s and today one of our patron saints died: director John Hughes. This is the man who gave the world seven classic teen flicks over an amazingly successful five-year run:
- Sixteen Candles (1984)
- The Breakfast Club (1985)
- Weird Science (1985)
- Pretty in Pink (1986)
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
- Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
- She’s Having a Baby (1988)
- Uncle Buck (1989)
- Home Alone (1990)
Prior to John Hughes movies, teenagers were generally characterized as one-dimensional characters. Hughes captured all the nuance of the neurotic, insecure, slightly cocky, slighly geeky teenager in such a way these characters became real to their peers in the movie seats.
We all knew a juvenile delinquent-type character emobodied by Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club. Or a BMW-driving Molly Ringwald-ish popular girl that would never talk to the regular guys in her class. We all wanted to have the guts, moxie and timing of Ferris Bueller. And every math or science class had a “Farmer Ted” nerd that was perfectly embodied by Anthony Michael Hall in both Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club.
We related to John Hughes’ characters because we WERE John Hughes’ characters. And these characters spoke to us in charming, funny and silly ways. Which explains why his movies endure and I still watch moments from The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Sixteen Candles when I’m surfing the cable channels.
The soundtrack of a Hughes movie was nearly as important as the movie and his song choices were often impeccable. In fact, you could almost credit John Hughes for inventing the movie montage that later became an 80s musical cliche but remains oddly effective to build the right mood.
Here then, is my list of the “Top 6 Greatest John Hughes Movie/Music Scenes.” Let me know what I’ve forgotten.
#6. “We Are Not Alone” by Karla DeVito from The Breakfast Club
This is my personal favorite of the John Hughes movies. I’ve seen this movie as often as any 1980s movie. One of the highlights was the randomly placed musical montage of the kids dancing to “We Are Not Alone” by Karla DeVito. This clip is grainy, but it takes you back.
Breakfast Club dancing scene
The movie also featured “Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds. I can’t find the scene on YouTube, but this video montage features the song with images from the movie. Another great song that endures.
Watch The Breakfast Club trailer
Buy the Breakfast Club movie
#5. “Dr. Mabuse” by Propaganda from Some Kind of Wonderful
Propaganda is one of the greatest synth-pop bands of the 1980s. Their 1985 album A Secret Wish should be in your collection if you’re a fan of 80s synth-pop/new wave bands. So I was thrilled when Some Kind of Wonderful opened with the “Watts” character pounding away on the drum kit. After watching this scene, I REALLY wanted a girlfriend who played the drums.
Buy Propaganda’s A Secret Wish
#4. “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding from Pretty in Pink
This isn’t Hughes’ best movie. But this scene always brings laughs and “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding is #204 on Rolling Stone Magazines list of the Greatest Songs of All Time. Yet again, another great song choice by Hughes and another successful throwback to the 1960s.
Buy “Try a Little Tenderness”
#3. “Weird Science” by Oingo Boingo from Weird Science
Another classic. For two years virtually every junior high party I attended had Weird Science playing on the VCR in the family room.
Watch the Weird Science trailer
Buy the Weird Science movie
#2. “If You Were Here” by the Thompson Twins from Sixteen Candles
This is a sentimental favorite from his first successful directing effort that simultaneously launched the careers of John Hughes, Molly Ringwald and “Farmer Ted” or Anthony Michael Hall. This clip is translated into Spanish. But I guarantee it will immediately transport you back in time to the basement of your parent’s house as you watched Sixteen Candles and hoped it translated into a little romance between you and your nervous date.
Buy “If You Were Here” by The Thompson Twins
#1. “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
The ultimate John Hughes movie moment: Matthew Broderick rocking downtown Chicago and making the ghost of John Lennon proud as he belts out a passionate version of “Twist and Shout” from The Beatles debut album. It’s truly a great movie moment. I remember the entire theater cheering and kids throwing boxes of popcorn into the air when this scene ended.
Rest in peace, Mr. Hughes. You left one amazing legacy.
Buy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Written by Michael Waterman
I'm an obsessive music collector, cataloger, commenter and trivia nut. Sometimes I'm even a listener. One-hit wonders have always been a guilty pleasure.
Filed under: 1980s, Lists, Pop, Rock · Tags: Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, John Hughes, New Wave, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, some kind of wonderful, try a little tenderness, Weird Science
Love the Sixteen Candles clip. That movie had some of the greatest incidental music ever. The Specials blasting “Little Bitch” at the dance was completely awesome. But that scene at the end still gets me. I’m pretty sure I’d let Jake deflower me in the back of that 928.
Two of my favorites are the closer from Planes Trains and Automobiles. When the Paul Young cover tune kicked in, it totally choked me up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOYkwseLyk
And Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work” from She’s Having a Baby. I saw that flick with my wife when we were very newly married and that scene was pretty damned powerful to me at that point in my life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3dnFmwQy04
Nice choices, especially the Dr. Mabuse and Wish You Were Here picks. I listened to Propaganda’s A Secret With for the first time in 3-4 years while driving on the way home from Las Vegas last week. The whole album is solid. And Wish You Were Here is from another great 80s record, Side Kicks, easily the best Thompson Twins album.
A couple more I’d add to the list:
“Holiday Road” by Lindsey Buckingham from National Lampoon’s Vacation. (Yeah, Hughes only wrote the screenplay, but he only wrote the screenplay for Some Kind of Wonderful too.) In any case, Lindsey’s song is a great “road song”.
“She Loves Me” by Stephen Duffy from Some Kind of Wonderful. Stephen Duffy is one of my top ten favorite artists, especially his Lilac Time stuff. This song was a b-side that came out from his mid-80s “Tin Tin” period (famous for “Kiss Me”). This is one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it songs in the movie, but it occurs at a key moment, when Watts teaches Keith how to kiss.
“I Go Crazy” by Flesh for Lulu from Some Kind of Wonderful. Always loved this song, and also always loved “Postcards from Paradise,” also by Lulu.
“Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Lick the Tins from Some Kind of Wonderful. A nice remake of the Elvis classic that is played at the end of the movie as Watts and Keith walk down the street. Seems like the kind of song Watts would have sung.
“Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths from Pretty in Pink. (Note: this song was also used in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to even greater effect, when Ferris and his buddies are looking at art in the museum scene. It’s an instrumental version of the song performed by The Dream Academy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNMXbeaKeak&feature=related )
“Elegy” by New Order from Pretty in Pink. One of New Orders few “instrumental” songs, taken from the Low Life album. It’s used during the movie during a moment of pathos.
“Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes)” by Book of Love from Planes Trains and Automobiles. One of those great upbeat keyboard songs that make you feel good.
“Go” by Tones on Tail from Career Opportunities. Never did a white tank top look so good as it did on Jennifer Connelly in this lesser, but still fun Hughes flick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFrCr5JKG2I
“The Edge of Forever” by The Dream Academy from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Used when Ferris says goodbye to Sloane.
“Power to Believe” by The Dream Academy from Planes Trains and Automobiles. Used when the train stops working and the passengers have to walk through a dirt field. (And taken from the out-of-print, difficult-to-find second album, Remembrance Days.)
“Eighties” by Killing Joke from Weird Science.
“Apron Strings” by Everything But the Girl from She’s Having a Baby. Used during one of the sweeter music montages in movies. Great song by a great band.
“Full of Love” by Dr. Calculus from She’s Having a Baby. Dr. Calculus was a one-off band by Stephen Duffy in between his Tin Tin period and his Lilac Time period. Mostly experimental electro-trash stuff and not very good, but this song was a bright spot, and it’s used in a key scene when Kevin Bacon is walking around a set holding a baby and looking for its mother, when he eventually walks in on a bunch of models in their underwear. Here is the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUafqM7DWfQ&feature=related
I guess I’ll stop there… R.I.P. Mr. Hughes.
Mik,
I remember the scene from She’s Having a Baby well. Completely forgot about it yesterday as I made the list. You’re right, it is a damned powerful scene.
And the Paul Young cover of “Everytime You Go Away” was great too. A friend of mine says she got really tired of “Everytime you go away” back when it was a huge hit and on the radio all the time. So she substituted “meat” for “me” and she said the song instantly became awesome again.
“Every time you go away
You take a piece of meat with you…”
[...] a child of the 80s. I know the music, the movies, the books, the TV shows. Besides John Hughes, the patron saint of 80s teen movies (see my list of the “Top 6 Greatest John Hughes Movie/Music Songs”, the patron saint [...]