Risky Business (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

In August of 1983, a movie about an entrepreneur high school Senior who is left alone while his parents are on a trip hit the movie theatres. Risky Business became a box office smash, launching a young Tom Cruise into stardom. The film also starred Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano, Curtis Armstrong, Richard Masur and Bronson Pinchot.

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Stranger In Town

This month marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the release of Stranger In Town, the tenth studio album from Bob Seger and his second with the Silver Bullet Band. It also features backing by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. This multi-Platinum seller from 1978 reached number 45 in Sweden, number 31 in the UK, number 28 in Germany, number 14 in France, and number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 200.

FM (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

In April of 1978, Universal Pictures released a film about radio station QSKY, where corporate management enacts an advertising push that the station manager and on-air personalities do not buy in on. The protest quickly escalates when the deejays use the airwaves to stir up the listeners to join in the conflict. The cast of the film included Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras, Cleavon Little and Cassie Yates.

While many might not remember the film FM itself, they would certainly be familiar with the songs that appear on the accompanying two-disk soundtrack album. The tracks read like a who’s who of artists that were appearing on album-oriented rock stations at the time. This soundtrack album peaked in the top five of the US Billboard Hot 200, was certified Platinum by the summer of 1978, and won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

Randy Newman - Trouble In Paradise

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Trouble in Paradise, the seventh studio album from singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It climbed to number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 200 chart. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 67 on its list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 80's.

Newman had a number of guest performers on the record. Appearing on vocals are Lindsey Buckingham, Don Henley, Rickie Lee Jones, Christine McVie, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger, Wendy Waldman and Jennifer Warnes. On the music side, the record also featured Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro of Toto, Waddy Wachtel and many more.

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - The Distance

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of The Distance, the twelfth studio album from American rock singer Bob Seger. It was also the fourth and final album he would record with the Silver Bullet Band. This December 1982 release was a Platinum seller in both the US and Canada. Chart-wise, it reached number 45 in the UK, number 19 in Austria, number 16 in Germany and number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 200.

Beverly Hills Cop II (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday. And today (May 6th) we wish a very special happy sixty-seventh birthday to American rock musician Bob Seger.

After the huge box office success of the first Beverly Hills Cop film in 1984 and its smash hit soundtrack album (click here for my review of that record), Paramount Pictures re-teamed Eddie Murphy with Judge Reinhold and John Ashton for the sequel. Naturally, a soundtrack album was also released; the Beverly Hills II album debuted at number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 200 charts and spent a total of twenty weeks there (slightly more than half the time its predecessor spent on the charts which was forty nine weeks).