THE 50 Best Songs From 1980's Films EVER...

"After All" by Peter Cetera and Cher

Used in the movie Chances Are.Beautiful song, plays throughout the entire movie, mostly the instrumental version but at the end they play the actual song.The single peaked at number six in the United States and Canada, the only two countries where the song was officially released. However, it did manage to enter some European charts due to airplay, including Ireland, where it peaked at 24, and the United Kingdom, where it reached 84.

"After All" also became Cher's first number one hit on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States. The song found strong success stateside, but no video was ever made to further promote it.

"Against All Odds" by Phil Collins

"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (also simply titled "Against All Odds") is a song originally written and recorded by British singer Phil Collins. The song was the main theme for the 1984 film of the same name, and first appeared on its soundtrack. It is a ballad in which its protagonist implores his/her ex-lover to "take a look at me now", knowing that reconciliation is "against all odds", but also knowing that he or she must try. It has been covered by several artists.Originally titled "How Can You Just Sit There?", the song was initially from the sessions for Collins' debut solo album Face Value (1981), and it was one of about a dozen written for his first wife, who had left him.Phil Collins released the song on the soundtrack to the film Against All Odds, and it was produced by Arif Mardin. Rob Mounsey played piano and keyboard bass, Collins sang and played the drums with his (and Hugh Padgham's) trademark gated reverb sound, and a string arrangement by Mardin completed the production.

According to Collins in a 1985 interview with Dan Neer: "We recorded the song in two days: One day in New York, the other in Los Angeles. The mixes were done by phone and the song went to Number 1. I couldn't believe it." It peaked at number 2 in the UK upon its release as a single in 1984 and became Collins' third top ten single there, and it peaked at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, from 15 April to 5 May 1984. It replaced "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, and was replaced by Lionel Richie's "Hello". It is the first of six songs by Collins written specifically for a film soundtrack to appear on the Hot 100. It also became Collins' only number 1 single on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart as a solo artist, although he would achieve two other number ones on this chart with his band, Genesis.

"Against All Odds" won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1985, and it was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Collins was the only nominee in the category not invited to sing his song on stage, and sat in the audience as Ann Reinking performed it. His perceived negative reaction shown on the telecast is considered to be one of the most awkward moments in the history of the ceremony, and has been a favourite reference for Dennis Miller to relate someone reacting in a horrified fashion.

When another song Collins performed for a movie, "Separate Lives", was being nominated for an Academy Award, in interviews about the original snub by the Academy for "Against All Odds", Collins would jokingly say "the hell with him - I'm going up too", referring to if the Stephen Bishop written song were to win the award.

Collins lost to the Stevie Wonder song "I Just Called to Say I Love You". The song was first included on a Collins album on the 1998 compilation Hits, and it also appeared on his compilation Love Songs: A Compilation... Old and New (2008).The song's music video, directed by Taylor Hackford, and produced by Jeffrey Abelson, was an early example of a highly conceptual approach to creating hybrid movie/music-videos that producer Abelson pioneered. Echoing the love triangle theme of the film, Collins is seen performing in front of a wall of rainwater that is alternately lit red, blue, and green—each colour representing one of the three main characters in the film. It is this colour schematic that is used as an organic segue to and from character-specific scenes in the movie. The final scene pulls back from Collins to reveal him standing in the middle of a water-filled triangle formed from neon tubes in the same three colours—completing the visual concept as the three main characters are superimposed around the neon triangle's three sides. The concept for the video was created by Keith Williams, a Welsh-born writer who had already worked with Abelson on the video for "Dancin' With Myself" (Billy Idol), and who would go on to also create concepts for "Holding Out for a Hero" (Bonnie Tyler) and "Ghostbusters" (Ray Parker, Jr.) for the same producer as well as "Say You Say Me" (Lionel Richie) from White Nights, which Taylor Hackford also directed.[citation needed]

A number 1 MTV video for several weeks, MTV ranked it as number 4 in its 1984 year-end top 20 video countdown.

On 24 August 2007, Collins discussed the song in a phone interview as an example for break-up songs.

"Axel F." by Harold Faltermeyer

"Axel F" is the electronic instrumental theme from the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop performed by Harold Faltermeyer. The title comes from the main character's name, Axel Foley (played by Eddie Murphy), in the film. It topped musical charts in 1985 and remains a popular remix track. Mixes of "Axel F" topped European pop charts in 2003, and again in 2005 as the Crazy Frog song. In addition to the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, the song also appears on Faltermeyer's 1988 album Harold F. as a bonus track. Reportedly Faltermeyer was against including it, but MCA insisted, as it was his most recognizable track.Faltermeyer recorded the song using three synthesizers: a Roland Jupiter-8, a Roland JX-3P, and a Yamaha DX7. The drum part was created with a LinnDrum drum machine. This version of the song reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It also spent two weeks atop the American adult contemporary chart.

"Blitzkreig Bop" by The Ramones

"Blitzkrieg Bop" is a song by the American punk rock band The Ramones. It was released as the band's debut single in April of 1976 in the United States. It appeared as the lead track on the band's debut album, Ramones, also released that month.

The song, whose composition was credited to the band as a whole, was written by bassist Dee Dee Ramone (lyrics) and drummer Tommy Ramone (music and lyrics).[2] Based on a simple three-chord pattern, "Blitzkrieg Bop" opens with the chant "Hey! Ho! Let's go!". The song is popular at sporting events where "Hey! Ho! Let's go!" is sometimes shouted as a rallying cry.

"Blitzkrieg Bop" is number 92 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 31 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and in 2008 Rolling Stone Placed it number 18 on top 100 of Best Guitar Songs of All Time. In 2009 it was named the 25th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1."Blitzkrieg Bop" was named after the German World War II tactic blitzkrieg, which literally means "lightning war". The song was mainly written by drummer Tommy Ramone, while bassist Dee Dee Ramone came up with the title (the song was originally called "Animal Hop"). Dee Dee also changed one line: The original third verse had the line "shouting in the back now", but Dee Dee changed it to "shoot 'em in the back now". The precise meaning and subject matter of the song are, unlike many of The Ramones' other early compositions, somewhat vague and obscure. It may be a reference to attacking the exposed flank of tanks during a blitzkrieg operation, while some fans contend, based on lines such as "Shoot 'em in the back now", that the song tells of gang violence, which would seem to be more in line with the bands' other songs of that era. But it is more likely that the song is simply about having a good time at a concert, perhaps an ode to early punk fans.The song played when the kids tire of sing-a-long songs and don their walkmans as they leave Chicago.

"Blue Hotel" by Chris Issak

North Shore is a 1987 film about Rick Kane (Matt Adler), a young fictional surfer from a wave tank in Arizona, who heads to surf the season on the North Shore of Oʻahu and see if he has the skills to cut it as a pro surfer. As he progresses on his journey, he learns the qualities he possesses are not going to pull him through alone.Chris Isaak's song epitomises coolness and stood out a mile in a low-budget movie.

"Cities In Dust" by Siouxsie & The Banshees

"Cities in Dust" is a song written and produced by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released as the first single from their seventh studio album Tinderbox in 1985. The "Cities in Dust" 12-inch single was the first Banshees' single-release in the United States, through Geffen Records.

The song obliquely describes the city of Pompeii, destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 79AD. Imagery describing the volcano and its magma chamber, the condition of the victims of the eruption, and the subsequent discovery and excavation of the city comprises the bulk of the lyrics.

"Cities in Dust" was a more post-punk affair than singles released by Siouxsie & the Banshees in the previous several years. It also had more of a pop music melody than past releases from the band, although its cryptic lyrics were still dark, mentioning a shrine to Lares Familiares. Its upbeat 4/4 rhythm also made it a hit in danceclubs. "Cities in Dust" peaked at number twenty-one in the UK singles chart. Although not Siouxsie & the Banshees' first song to hit the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart, it was their first significant hit, climbing to number seventeen.Anthony Michael Hall gets his bag switched at the airport with a duffle full of heroin. Siouxsie performs this song live in the movie.

"Crazy for You" by Madonna

"Crazy for You" is a song by American recording artist Madonna for the 1985 film Vision Quest. It was released on March 2, 1985 by Geffen Records as the first single from the soundtrack album of the film, and later included on the ballads compilation Something to Remember (1995). The song also appears as a remix on the greatest hits albums The Immaculate Collection (1990) and Celebration (2009), and was re-released as a single in the form of this remix on February 24, 1991 by Sire Records to promote the former of these two albums. Producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber, along with music director Phil Ramone, decided to use Madonna after listening to her previous recordings. They employed John Bettis and Jon Lind to write the song. After reading the script of the film, Bettis and Lind wrote the song about the situation in which the lead characters meet at a nightclub. Initial recording sessions did not impress Bettis and Lind, and they felt that "Crazy for You" would be dropped from the soundtrack. However, a new version was recorded which did impress them and was added to the album.

John "Jellybean" Benitez was the producer for the song, and it was a challenge for him, as previously he was associated with recording dance-pop songs only. Initially Warner Bros. Records did not want the song to be released as a single, since they believed that "Crazy for You" would take away the attention from Madonna's sophomore release Like a Virgin. In the end, Peters and Guber convinced Warner officials to greenlight the release of the single. "Crazy for You" ushered a new musical direction for Madonna, as previously she had not recorded any songs in the ballad genre. It features instrumentation from snare drums, harp, bass synthesizer and electric guitar. Lyrically the song talks about sexual desire between two lovers and consists of innuendos. It received positive reception from contemporary critics and scholars, and earned a Grammy Award nomination in 1986 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

The song became Madonna's second number-one single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as well as reaching the peak position in the charts of Australia and Canada. It also reached number-two in the charts of Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, where it was released twice, once in 1985 and again in 1991. Madonna has performed "Crazy for You" in two of her concert tours – The Virgin Tour in 1985 and the Re-Invention World Tour in 2004. The performances were included in the home video releases of the tours. The song has been covered by a number of artists.

"Cry Little Sister" by Gerard McMann

"Cry Little Sister" is a single by Gerard McMann and Michael Mainieri from the 1987 soundtrack to the film The Lost Boys. The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200,[1] the single did not chart in the U.S.

released as a single in 2003 as "Cry Little Sister (I Need U Now)".

* Their 2007 album, Thou Shalt Not Fall includes a mash-up version, as well as the original Lost Boys version * Their EP How to Be Pop, Stupid, Cool includes a remix titled "Cry Little Sister" (Rebel Angel remix) * G Tom Mac remixed the song with a bluesy remix inspired by the TV show, True Blood, aptly named "Cry Little Sister" (Blood Swamp Version) * A video for "Cry Little Sister (Club Cave Mix)" Was produced by DJ Lee and G Tom Mac and released as a bonus feature on "Lost Boys: The Tribe" DVD

"The Devil Went Down To Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a song written and performed by the Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album Million Mile Reflections.

The song is written in the key of D minor. Vassar Clements originally wrote the basic melody an octave lower, in a tune called "Lonesome Fiddle Blues". The Charlie Daniels Band moved it up an octave and put words to it. The song's verses are closer to being spoken rather than sung (i.e. chant or Sprechstimme), and tell the story of a boy named Johnny, who one day is challenged by the devil to a battle of fiddle-playing: If Johnny triumphs, he claims a golden fiddle; losing the battle will forfeit his soul. The performances of Satan and Johnny are played as instrumental bridges.

The song was the band's biggest pop hit, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100.The song was featured in the movie Urban Cowboy. The choreographer of the film, Patsy Swayze, claims that she set the tempo to the song. "How fast can you dance it?" Daniels asked. "How fast can you play it?" Swayze replied.This song is played during the dance competition. Great song...even if you're not into country music. It still fires you up.

"The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" by Timbuk 3

The inspiration for the song, and the title specifically, came when Barbara K. MacDonald said to her partner and husband Pat MacDonald "The future is looking so bright, we'll have to wear sunglasses!" But, while Barbara had made the comment in earnest – it was the early '80s, the two had met and married and were starting a family, their first EP was coming, their book was filling up with gigs – Pat heard the comment as an ironic quip and wrote down instead, “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.”

From there, the lyrics to the song were born, but not the song as it ended up in the minds of popular culture. While Pat wrote a song of a youthful nuclear scientist and his monied future, listening audiences heard a graduation theme song.

Pat revealed on VH1's "100 Greatest One-hit Wonders of the '80s" list that the meaning of the song was widely misinterpreted as a positive perspective in regard to the near future. Pat somewhat clarified the meaning by stating that it was, contrary to popular belief, a "grim" outlook. While not saying so directly, he hinted at the idea that the bright future was in fact due to impending nuclear holocaust. The "job waiting" after graduation signified the demand for nuclear scientists to facilitate such events. Pat drew upon the multitude of past predictions which transcend several cultures that foreshadow the world ending in the 1980s, along with the nuclear tension at the height of the cold war to compile the song.Dream a Little Dream is a 1989 teen film directed by Marc Rocco and stars Jason Robards, Corey Feldman, Piper Laurie, Meredith Salenger, Harry Dean Stanton and Corey Haim. It was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. Released in 1,019 theaters, it accumulated $5,552,441.This was the third film featuring the two Coreys. The film's sequel, Dream a Little Dream 2, was released in 1995.

"Stay Gold" by Stevie Wonder

The Outsiders is a coming-of-age novel based in 1965[1] by S. E. Hinton, first published in 1967 by Viking Press. Hinton was 15 when she started writing the novel,[2] and 18[3] when it was published. The book follows two rival groups, the Greasers and the Socs (pronounced by the author as "so-shez", short for Socials), who are divided by their socioeconomic status.

A film adaptation was produced in 1983, and a short-lived television series appeared in 1990, picking up where the movie left off.

The song was never released and only exists on the soundtrack as an instrumental and on his solo albums as a live version.

"Hazy Shade of Winter" by The Bangles

In 1987, The Bangles were approached to record a song for the soundtrack of the film Less Than Zero. They chose to record a cover of "A Hazy Shade of Winter", a song they had been performing since their early days as a band.

Their cover, simply titled "Hazy Shade of Winter", was vastly different from the original, turning it into a harder-edged rock song, and removing most of the bridge section. The record, like the rest of the soundtrack album, was produced by Rick Rubin. After a fruitful but disappointing experience with the producer of their Different Light album, David Kahne, where they were given little input in the production of the songs, the group decided to take more control for the recording of this song, and they were given an additional producer credit. Michael Steele later commented that "we sounded the most on this record the way we actually sound live", and that "If we hadn't been so messed up as a band, it could have been a turning point for us"

Lead vocals were performed jointly by all four members of the group, with a short solo lead by Susanna Hoffs towards the end of the song. This was a rare occurrence in the Bangles songs, as they mostly had just one member singing lead on their songs. Due to pressure from their record label, The Bangles removed the verse from the original song that contained the line "drinking my vodka and lime."

When released as a single in November 1987, "Hazy Shade of Winter" became a huge hit, surpassing the popularity of the original version, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #11 in the UK. It was also a hit around Europe.

The music video for the song featured the band singing in a studio surrounded by TV screens on the walls, similar to a scene of the Less Than Zero film. Scenes of the film also appear throughout the video.

"Hazy Shade of Winter" was not included on any of the band's studio albums, but was it later included on the band's first official Greatest Hits in 1990, and on many of the band's later compilations. The accompanying Greatest Hits video compilation did not feature the "Hazy Shade of Winter" video, due to complications with the licensing of the movie rights of the Less Than Zero scenes that appear on the videoclip.

The Bangles version was commonly used as bumper music for late night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM hosted by Art Bell in the mid to late 1990s.

It is used in the film when Clay comes home for Christmas Break from college. He is meeting Blair and Julian and then he goes home to his house and looks at how his room hasn't changed.

The lyrics evoke the passage of the seasons, but (as the title suggests) focusing on the gloominess of winter. The chorus of the song repeats:

But look around, leaves are brown now And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Look around, leaves are brown There's a patch of snow on the ground.

"Hold on Blue Eyes" by LaMarca

Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavetes) and his gang steal the cars of people they threaten into intimidation races. As a result, the entire town is scared of him, except for his 'proclaimed' girlfriend Keri Johnson (Sherilyn Fenn), who, in reality, wants nothing to do with Packard.

Packard's control of the highways is suddenly targeted by the driver of a black high powered vehicle known only as the Wraith. The unknown racer arrives in town, just as a new guy named Jake Kesey (Charlie Sheen) does. Jake's first move is on Keri, and he also befriends Billy Hankins (Matthew Barry), who was the younger brother of her ex-boyfriend. Jake asks Billy about Keri's intentions with Packard, and Billy reveals to him that Keri was dating his brother Jamie before he was killed.

While Jake and Keri become closer, Packard's gang gets smaller and smaller as they each take on the unknown car in one on one races and end up dead at the end of them. Sheriff Loomis (Randy Quaid) begins tracking down the car in an attempt to find out what's going on, but the unknown driver is unstoppable.

Mark Tiemens, songwriter and producer, was born in Iowa in 1952. He co-wrote the hit song "Hold on Blue Eyes" with JD Souther and Haden Greg for the movie The Wraith. "Hold On Blue Eyes" was rerecorded as an instrumental jazz song by Bryan Savage and again as a rock song by French star, David Hallyday.The song was never released but was extremely atmospheric.It's used in the scene where Charlie Sheen and Sherilyn Fenn make out in the pond.

"I Melt With You" by Modern English

"I Melt with You" is a song by the British post-punk and New Wave band Modern English. The song, produced by Hugh Jones, was a single from the 1982 album After the Snow. It reached #7 on Billboard's Top Tracks chart and #78 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. The song gained popularity due to its airplay on MTV in early 1983 and its inclusion during the closing credits in the movie Valley Girl. The band re-recorded it in 1990 for their album Pillow Lips, the re-released version peaking at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It is ranked #39 on VH1's 100 greatest songs of the 80's and #7 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.Valley Girl is a 1983 romantic comedy movie, starring Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, E.G. Daily, Cameron Dye and Joyce Hyser. The movie was the directorial debut of Martha Coolidge, and was the first film in which Nicolas Coppola was billed as Nicolas Cage. The American release of Valley Girl was April 29, 1983.The plot is loosely based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

"If Anybody Had A Heart" by John Waite

About Last Night... is an American comedy-drama film released in 1986. The film was directed by Edward Zwick, and stars Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, and James Belushi. It is based on the 1974 David Mamet play Sexual Perversity in Chicago.Danny and Bernard are two single men who live in Chicago. When Danny meets Debbie at Mother's, a bar in the Chicago Gold Coast, the two start a relationship from a one night stand. Danny's life then takes a different turn, and he has problems committing to his life with Debbie, who realizes his phobia with the help of her friend Joan. The film follows the couple from the beginning of their relationship to its end.The song features at the end of the movie as Danny and Debbie meet up at the baseball field and go off down the road together in the distance.

"If You Leave" by OMD

"If You Leave" is a 1986 song by the British synthpop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. It was recorded for the soundtrack to the film Pretty in Pink where it was played prominently during the final scene. It became the group's biggest hit in the U.S., reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but was virtually ignored in the UK, where it only reached number 48 on the UK Singles Chart.

The song is noteable that it has no less than eight key changes.Pretty in Pink is an American 1986 teen romantic comedy-drama film about teenage love and social cliques in 1980s American high schools. It is one of a group of John Hughes films starring Molly Ringwald, and is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film.It's played in the film when Molly Ringwald shows up at the prom.

"In This Country" by Robin Zander

Over the Top is a 1987 drama film starring Sylvester Stallone, and produced and directed by Menahem Golan about a long haul truck driver who tries to win back his alienated son while becoming a champion arm wrestler. The screenplay was written by Stirling Silliphant and Sylvester Stallone. The original music score is composed by Giorgio Moroder.An OK movie, but a great song. It's a shame that because most people forgot about this movie (or at least want to forget about this movie) they forgot this great song.

"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel

"In Your Eyes" is a song by musician Peter Gabriel from his 1986 album So. It reached #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks and #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986.It was not released as a single in the UK. Gabriel later released an extended version of the song which was nearly 9 minutes in length (as compared to the original 5:29 version that appears on the album).The song was used twice in the 1989 Cameron Crowe film, Say Anything..., as well as in its trailer. An iconic scene from the film occurs when broken-hearted Lloyd Dobler serenades his ex-girlfriend, Diane Court, outside her bedroom window by holding a boombox up above his head and playing the song for her. The scene has become a standard pop culture reference for romance. Repopularized by its usage in the film, the song reentered the charts but narrowly failed to crack the top 40 in its second run, reaching as high as #41.Peter Gabriel asked to see Crowe's film and Crowe asked the production company to send Gabriel a rough cut. Gabriel approved the use of his song, but told Crowe that he was uneasy about the overdose of the main character at the end; the studio had erroneously sent Gabriel the film Wired instead.

"Into The Mystic" by Van Morrison

Into the Mystic" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album Moondance. It was also included on Morrison's 1974 live album, It's Too Late To Stop Now.

The song has a soothing, calm, medium-paced tempo. It is among the most popular songs doctors listen to while operating, according to a survey made by BBC!The lyrics are about a spiritual quest, typical of Morrison's work. "Bass thrums like a boat in motion, and the song comes back to water as a means of magical transformation."[3] "At the very end Van sings: too late to stop now, suggesting that the song also describes an act of love." (This phrase would become a key point of many live concerts.)[4] Compared to "Yesterday" by The Beatles, It has been described as "another song where the music and the words seem to have been born together, at the same time, to make one perfectly formed, complete artistic element.“[5]

Morrison remarked on the song: "'Into the Mystic' is another one like 'Madame Joy' and 'Brown Skinned Girl'. Originally I wrote it as 'Into the Misty'. But later I thought that it had something of an ethereal feeling to it so I called it 'Into the Mystic'. That song is kind of funny because when it came time to send the lyrics in WB Music, I couldn't figure out what to send them. Because really the song has two sets of lyrics. For example, there's 'I was born before the wind' and 'I was borne before the wind', and also 'Also younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was one' and 'All so younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was won' ... I guess the song is just about being part of the universe."In the film,Glenn Close and Mary Stuart Masterson sing this song together.

"Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry

"Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock and roll song composed by Chuck Berry. It is one of Berry's most important songs, being listed #7 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is widely considered to be the first Rock and Roll song, as portrayed in the movie Cadillac Records and Back To The Future where Michael J Fox plays guitar at his parents prom before they got together.

"For Just A Moment" by David Foster

St. Elmo's fire (also St. Elmo's light is an electrical weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a coronal discharge originating from a grounded object in an atmospheric electric field (such as those generated by thunderstorms or thunderstorms created by a volcanic explosion).

St. Elmo's fire is named after St. Erasmus of Formiae (also called St. Elmo, the Italian name for St. Erasmus), the patron saint of sailors. The phenomenon sometimes appeared on ships at sea during thunderstorms and was regarded by sailors with religious awe for its glowing ball of light, accounting for the name.St. Elmo's Fire is a 1985 American coming-of-age film directed by Joel Schumacher. The film, starring Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Mare Winningham, is a prominent movie of the Brat Pack genre, and revolves around a group of friends that have just graduated from Georgetown University and their adjustment to their post-university lives and the responsibilities of encroaching adulthood. In August 2009, ABC won a bidding war among networks to adapt the film into a TV comedy-drama."St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for two weeks in September 1985, and "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire" (the instrumental theme to the movie by David Foster) reached #15. Another version of the "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire" with lyrics, titled For Just a Moment was performed by Amy Holland and Donny Gerrard, and was included as the final song on the soundtrack album.

"Live To Tell" by Madonna

"Live to Tell" is a pop ballad by American singer-songwriter Madonna. Originally written by Patrick Leonard for the soundtrack of the film Fire with Fire, the song was shown to Madonna, who decided to use it for then-husband Sean Penn's film At Close Range. It was produced by Leonard and Madonna for her third studio album True Blue, released in mid-1986, later appearing as a remix on the 1990 compilation album The Immaculate Collection, in its original form on the 1995 ballads compilation album Something to Remember, and most recently on her third compilation album Celebration (again in its original form), released in September 2009.

The song includes instrumentation from guitars, keyboards, drums and a synthesizer, and its lyrics deals with deceit, mistrust and childhood scars. The music video, directed by James Foley, shows Madonna's first image makeover, featuring her with a cleaner look, shoulder-length wavy golden blond hair, conservative wardrobe and subtle make-up.

Released as the album's first single in March 1986, the song was a commercial success. It became Madonna's third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and her first number-one on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was generally well-received by music critics, who frequently referred to it as the best ballad of her career. The song faced controversy when Madonna performed it on her 2006 Confessions Tour wearing a crown of Thorns while hanging on a giant mirrored cross. The performance at Rome's Olympic Stadium was condemned as an act of hostility toward the Roman Catholic Church by religious leaders."Live to Tell" was originally written by Patrick Leonard for the soundtrack of Paramount's romantic drama film Fire with Fire, but after the company declined it, Leonard presented the song to Madonna.She decided to use it for At Close Range, the new film of her then-husband, actor Sean Penn. Madonna made a demo of the song, which the film's director, James Foley, after hearing, asked Leonard to write the score for the film, as suggested by Madonna.

Leonard initially envisioned a male voice interpreting the song,but decided to use Madonna's demo version as the main vocal with backup drums only,later recalling that "it was so innocent and so shy. It's as naive, as raw, as can be and that's part of what gave it all its charm."In a 1986 interview, Madonna said that the mood on the song was inspired by a different facet of her image makeover and her desire to focus on something different.

"Miss Amanda Jones" by March Violets

Some Kind of Wonderful is a 1987 romance film starring Eric Stoltz, Lea Thompson, and Mary Stuart Masterson. It was one of the many successful teen dramas written by John Hughes in the 1980s, although this one was directed by Howard Deutch. During filming, Deutch met Thompson and two years later the two got married. The film is considered a cult classic of the Brat Pack era due to its strong themes that were seen in previous Hughes productions.The movie is set against the strict social hierarchy of an American public high school. The tomboyish Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson) has always considered working-class Keith Nelson (Eric Stoltz) her best friend. But when Keith asks out the most popular girl in school, Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson), Watts realizes she feels something much deeper for him. Hardy Jenns (Craig Sheffer), Amanda's jealous former boyfriend from the rich section of town, still wants her and plans to get back at Keith. Eventually all this is sorted out, with Amanda realizing she needs time alone, and Keith cluing into Watts's feelings and realizing he loves her, too.

March Violets began to receive negative reviews from the music press. The accusations of selling out worsened as the band signed to major label London Records, which also saw them add drummer Andy Tolson to the line up. The subsequent "Turn To The Sky" single was released through London Records, although still bearing the Rebirth imprint. Reviews were disparaging, and despite featuring on the soundtrack to the film Some Kind of Wonderful, the band failed to find a new audience and broke up in 1987.

"No Easy Way Out" by Robert Tepper

Rocky IV is the original motion picture soundtrack to the movie of the same name. It was originally released in 1985 on the Scotti Brothers label.Scotti Brothers re-released the album on compact disc on March 10, 1992. In 2010 Intrada Records released the original score by Vince DiCola, which were not available before.

The soundtrack was hugely successful on the strength of two top-five singles, Survivor's "Burning Heart" (which Sylvester Stallone personally commissioned for the movie and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100)and James Brown's "Living in America", as well as Robert Tepper's lone top-40 hit, "No Easy Way Out". It reached the top ten on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified Platinum by the RIAA.

"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want " by Dream Academy

No soundtrack was ever released for the film, as director John Hughes felt the songs would not work well together as a continuous album.

The only official soundtrack that Ferris Bueller's Day Off ever had was for the mailing list. A&M was very angry with me over that; they begged me to put one out, but I thought "who'd want all of these songs?" I mean, would kids want "Danke Schoen" and "Oh Yeah" on the same record? They probably already had "Twist and Shout," or their parents did, and to put all of those together with the more contemporary stuff, like the (English) Beat - I just didn't think anybody would like it. But I did put together a seven-inch of the two songs I owned the rights to - "Beat City" on one side, and... I forget, one of the other English bands on the soundtrack... and sent that to the mailing list. By '86, '87, it was costing us $30 a piece to mail out 100,000 packages. But it was a labour of love.An out and out instrumental that fits in perfectly.

"Ice Cream Days" by Jennifer Hall

Bright Lights, Big City is a 1988 drama film starring Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland and Phoebe Cates, based on the novel of the same name by Jay McInerney. It was the last film directed by James Bridges before his death in 1993.Originally from Pennsylvania, Jamie Conway (Michael J. Fox) works as a fact-checker for a major New York magazine, but because he spends his nights partying with his glib best friend (Kiefer Sutherland) and his frequent cocaine abuse, he's on the verge of getting fired by his boss, C. Jones (Frances Sternhagen). His wife, a fast-rising model (Phoebe Cates), just left him; he's still reeling from the death of his mother (Dianne Wiest) a year earlier; and he's obsessed with a tabloid story about a pregnant woman in a coma. The movie captures some of the glossy chaos and decadence of the New York nightlife during the 1980s and also its look at a man desperately trying to escape the pain in his life.The song plays midway through the film briefly.

"The Road Of The Gypsy" by Adrenalin

Iron Eagle is a 1986 action film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Jason Gedrick and Louis Gossett, Jr. While it received mixed reviews, the film earned US$24,159,872 at the U.S. box office. Iron Eagle was followed by three sequels: Iron Eagle II, Aces: Iron Eagle III and Iron Eagle IV, with Gossett, Jr. being the only actor to have appeared in all four films.Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick), son of veteran U.S. Air Force pilot Col. Ted Masters (Tim Thomerson), is a music lover and an experienced civilian pilot, hoping to follow in his father's footsteps. Then, his hopes are dashed when he receives a notice of rejection from the Air Force Academy. Making matters worse is the news of his father being shot down and captured by an unnamed Arab nation while patrolling over the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the incident occurring over international waters, the Arab nation's court finds Col. Masters guilty of trespassing over their territory and sentences him to hang in three days.

"Roadhouse Blues" by Jeff Healey Band

It's a cover of an old Doors track but is sung supremely well by the late Healey in the film.

"Send Me An Angel" by Real Life

It's playing when they are bike dancing. Send Me an Angel is a 1983 song by Real Life, it was released on the album Heartland and their most known song.

The song is about a man, who asks himself whether he finds true love.

In 1989 it was released a remix of the song with the name Send Me an Angel'89, which was also successful.At the beginning of the video it's to see a man who rides through an forest and than the band performs the song. The goes about a woman, also increases the rider off his horse and the woman picked up at a lantern walk. At the end of the clip meet the rider and the woman. Rad is a film about BMX racing, first released in the USA in 1986. The film was written by Sam Bernard and Geoffrey Edwards and directed by Hal Needham. It stars Bill Allen and Lori Loughlin. While the film was critically lambasted, it has developed into a cult classic. Parts of this movie were filmed at Cochrane High School in Cochrane Alberta Canada.

"Sleep Walker" by Santo & Johnny

"Sleep Walk" is an instrumental steel guitar-based song recorded and released in 1959 by brothers Santo & Johnny. The song was composed by Santo and Johnny Farina as well. (The original single credits three Farinas---perhaps their mother or sister helped, but it's apparently false.It was recorded at Trinity Music in Manhattan. "Sleep Walk" entered Billboard's Top 40 on August 17, 1959. It rose to the number-one position for two weeks in September (the 21st and the 28th)and remained in the Top 40 until November 9. "Sleep Walk" also reached number four on the R&B chart.It was the last instrumental to hit number one in the 1950s and earned Santo & Johnny a gold record.The song is not on the soundtrack, but its played during the end credits. The ominous acoustic guitars in this instrumental will bring you to tears.

"Sweet Freedom" by Michael McDonald

Running Scared is a 1986 action/comedy film directed by Peter Hyams, and starring Gregory Hines, Billy Crystal, and Jimmy Smits. The film chronicles two Chicago police officers that decide to retire from the force and open a bar in Florida after nearly being killed on the job only to get caught up in making one last arrest before they go. The tagline for the film is:

Two of Chicago's finest? Just a classic song that really is timeless.