Music
13 incredible synth film soundtracks of the 1980s
With synth music making a comeback in cinema, it's time to revisit the genre's most fertile decade.
The Social Network, Drive, It Follows – the sound of the syntheisizer has come crashing back into the mainstream film consciousness in a big way. Heck, you might even say that it peaked with the cultural phenomenon that was Stranger Things (OK, so that was TV, not film).
With brooding electronic film scores back in the limelight, we decided to go back to the 1980s and revisit some of cinema's most celebrated synth soundtracks.
Thief (1981)
German electronic band Tangerine Dream – pivotal in the development of Krautrock – composed over 60 film scores throughout their career, with 20 of those in the 1980s. Their very first was the Michael Mann directed neo-noir thriller Thief, of which the most notable instrumental was the very excellent Beach Scene, which accompanied one of picture's most memorable moments. Check it out below with lead actor James Caan, Tuesday Weld and a very fresh faced James Belushi.
Escape From New York (1981)
Along with being one of the most accomplished science fiction and horror directors of the 80s, John Carpenter – together with his contemporaries Giorgio Moroder, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis – has inspired and influenced countless producers and DJs through his film scores. Escape From New York became a cult classic of the era, with Carpenter teaming up with Alan Howarth to produce a dark and edgy soundtrack that was a synth lovers' wet dream.
Chariots Of Fire (1981)
Vangelis' Oscar winning soundtrack catapulted the Greek composer into a whole new realm of stardom, with his choice of an electronic score for a period film set in 1924 a gamble that clearly paid off. The Chariots Of Fire Theme is not only one of the most successful film themes of all time, but one of the most instantly recognisable songs of the 20th Century. The video clip is also worth watching, Vangelis playing the piano to images from the film and generally just being cool as fuck.
Blade Runner (1982)
Fresh from his Academy Award-winning score for Chariots Of Fire, Vangelis then set to work composing and performing the dark and melodic music for Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic Blade Runner. Countless electronic musicians cite this soundtrack as their inspiration to make music. A stone-cold classic and landmark of the synth genre.
Risky Business (1983)
Despite featuring many non-synth pop songs of the time from The Police, Prince, Muddy Waters and Jeff Beck, the bulk of the Risky Business soundtrack consisted of previously-released Tangerine Dream compositions, shortened and retitled to correspond to scenes in the movie. The best and most famous of these is Love On A Real Train, which accompanied the raunchy scene between a young Tom Cruise and a sultry Rebecca De Mornay. The film's soundtrack also features the massive Phil Collins hit In The Air Tonight.
Scarface (1983)
Off the back of a proven track record composing scores for Midnight Express, American Gigolo and Flashdance, legendary italo-disco pioneer Giorgio Moroder took the reigns of Brian De Palma’s gangster classic, teaming up with some of the biggest pop stars of the era like Debbie Harry, Amy Holland and Paul Engemann. Moroder’s score even managed to score a Golden Globe nomination.
Videodrome (1983)
Scored by director David Cronenberg’s buddy Howard Shore, Videodrome’s surreal and spooky score was revolutionary at the time for its combination of traditional orchestral music with electronic instrumentation programmed on a Synclavier II digital synthesizer.
Ghostbusters (1984)
Disco! Apparently Ray Parker Jr.'s theme song was released several months prior to the film, and it's massive success – and ultimately disco's commercial highpoint (or tacky lowpoint depending on how you look at it) – ensured the film was in good stance to follow suit. And it did; Ghostbusters became, at the time, one of the Top 10 highest-grossing films of all-time. Check out the theme song's star studded film clip below, as well as The Revenge's 2008 edit of another disco cut from the film, Alessi's Savin' The Day, here.
The Terminator (1984)
Though Brad Fiedel had been working as a composer in film and television throughout the 70s, it wasn't until James Cameron hired him to score his sci-fi thriller The Terminator in 1984 that the wheels set in motion for a majorly successful career. Despite working on many highly acclaimed films from then on, it was still the metallic, pounding main theme from Terminator that became the defining work of his career.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
It's a shame that most will remember German musician Harold Faltermeyer's composition Axel F (named after Eddie Murphy's character in the film) from that terribly viral Crazy Frog reinterpretation, because the original is an excellent example of catchy, cool '80s synth pop that still holds up brilliantly today. For many, Faltermeyer's theme is what made the Beverly Hills Cop series.
The Lost Boys (1987)
One of the biggest cult hits of the decade and a quintessential vampire flick, The Lost Boys soundtrack is comprised of a bunch of power rock ballads from INXS, Jimmy Barnes and Echo & The Bunnymen. But at the centre sits the soundtrack's synth pièce de résistance; Cry Little Sister (Theme From The Lost Boys) by Gerard McMann.
Near Dark (1987)
Tangerine Dream score yet another '80s movie, this time from Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, The Hurt Locker), who directed the vampire/Western horror film Near Dark, featuring one of Bill Paxton's earliest roles (RIP). The Dream delivered a typically haunting though often beautiful score for a film that – like many horror films of the time – flopped at the box office, yet was viewed favourably by critics and subsequently gained a cult following.
The Secret Of My Success (1987)
Who could forget Yello's wacky and absurdly groovy track Oh Yeah, which found its way into several '80s comedy films including Ferris Bueller's Day Off – though none more famously than the limo scene from The Secret Of My Success.
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