'Love Me, Love Me ... '
This week's writing
Journey back with me, please, to the summer of 1996. I’d just graduated college and moved to New York City, and you couldn’t turn on the radio — a device for listening to music — that summer without hearing “Lovefool” by The Cardigans, my favorite Swedish band whose name didn’t start with “A.”
“Lovefool” was the breakout hit from The Cardigans’ third album First Band On The Moon. It would explode in popularity because of its inclusion in the Baz Luhrmann film Romeo + Juliet starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio. (Watch below.)
Summer movies usually had a big song directly associated with it. Back in 1984, it was “Ghostbusters” and, well, all of Purple Rain. Tim Burton’s 1989 blockbuster Batman had Prince’s “Batdance” and 1995’s Batman Forever had Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” and U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me,” which I still adore. (Watch below.)
Will Smith would simultaneously star in summer blockbusters while dropping the summer hit tune. In 1997, he was both Bill Murray and Ray Parker Jr. in Men In Black. (Watch below.)
Even Smith’s less successful, “I turned down The Matrix for this?” follow-up Wild Wild West produced the number one hit single “Wild Wild West,” and the extended music video was equally unavoidable. (Watch below and you’ll spot Stevie Wonder in a cameo, counting his money from the sampled use of his song “I Wish.”)
That same summer, Madonna released the psychedelic pop hit “Beautiful Stranger” on the soundtrack for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. The competition for inclusion on the highly anticipated soundtrack album was reportedly so intense one manager connected to the project called the process a “bloodbath.”
“Beautiful Stranger” won the coveted debut single position. Madonna didn’t even need the tie-in money. She just likes to win. Mike Meyers appears in the promotional video that ran constantly on MTV, which still aired music videos. Madonna’s arms are their own special effect. (Watch below.)
Then it all stopped.
The absence was keenly felt. The infamous Bully Maguire dance scene from 2007’s Spider-Man 3 seems specifically designed for a summer hit song tie in. I can imagine a “Kiss from a Rose” style tearjerker ballad for Spider-Man: Brand New Day with an accompanying music video featuring clips of Tom Holland and Zendaya gazing at each other. They don’t do this anymore, though. Maybe it’s because MTV is gone and attention spans are even shorter.
August has arrived, but my special summer subscription sale is still in effect — 40 percent off the usual annual paid subscriber rate. That’s just $30 a year. Thanks to all who have upgraded to paid subscriber status recently.
This week, I wrote about Spider-Man: Brand New Day and how Spider-Man realized working for Marvel ICE was a bad idea.
Center-left Democrats were terrified that Francesca Hong would win the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary. Will establishment nominee David Crowley and his oversized glasses frames leads Democrats to a trifecta in November?
I wrote about the Bajorans on Star Trek and how they are quite
Author and activist Maya Contreras stopped by the podcast to discuss the recent Democratic primary elections in Michigan and Wisconsin, and why some Democrats struggle with a true “big tent.” Part two of our discussion drops next week.
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That’s it for now. See you on Monday.
Awww, the summer of 1984. The first summer I could drive (a 1970 Toyota Corona!), Purple Rain on cassette, over and over. I don't even remember any other tape in that car.
Huh, you're right—I never even really thought about how the hit song tie-in with movies is pretty much gone now.
You know, I don't really care about the bad-mouthing "Wild Wild West" has gotten over the years. I still kinda like it because it's silly, fun, and watchable. Having Kevin Klein in it doesn't hurt, either. 😍