Rocktrospectiva: The Incredible And Greatest "Pretty In Pink: Soundtrack" Turns 40

 

Released on 28 February 1986 "Pretty In Pink: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" was the official soundtrack of the film the same name and as with previous films by John Hughes. The title song by the Psychedelic Furs acted as a bit of inspiration for the film and was re-recorded specifically for the film's opening sequence in a version that was less raw than the original version that appeared on the 1981 album Talk Talk Talk. "Left of Center" was remixed by Arthur Baker. The first track, "If You Leave", by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, was written in 1985 specifically for the film. In addition to their soundtrack song "Shellshock", New Order also contributed an instrumental version of "Thieves Like Us" and the instrumental "Elegia", both of which appear in the film but not on the soundtrack.

 

The Rave-Ups, who appear in the film performing "Positively Lost Me" and "Shut-Up" from their Town and Country album, do not have any songs on the soundtrack album. Nik Kershaw's "Wouldn't It Be Good" appears on the soundtrack in a version by former Three Dog Night vocalist Danny Hutton's band, Danny Hutton Hitters. The Smiths' "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" appears on the soundtrack and was later covered by the Autumns for the 2000 Isn't She Still... The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Revisited album. Also noteworthy is the inclusion of Echo & the Bunnymen's "Bring On the Dancing Horses", which, according to the liner notes of the CD release of the band's compilation album Songs to Learn & Sing, was recorded specifically for the film.

The film also includes Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness", to which Duckie lip-synchs in the film, the Association's "Cherish" and Talk Back's "Rudy". These three tracks do not appear on the official soundtrack album.

Another Hughes film cracker and according to certain stories, the idea came from Molly Ringwald herself. She reached out to John Hughes, urging him to create a film inspired by her favourite tune at the time—The Psychedelic Fur' "Pretty in Pink" at the time of its released  it was nothing quite like the soundtrack that Hughes assembled for Pretty in Pink, the third film he'd written to star Molly Ringwald in a lead role, following 1984’s Sixteen Candles and 1985’s The Breakfast Club. 

The film made almost $7.5M in its opening week – In Ringwald’s own words: I made three movies with John Hughes; when they were released, they made enough of a cultural impact to land me on the cover of Time magazine and to get Hughes hailed as a genius.  There was music in Hughes’s previous film, The Breakfast Club, and it even featured a #1, era-defining single in Simple Minds’s “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” – but as many people said, there was not much else on that soundtrack that was particularly memorable.

Pretty in Pink, however, was different cause the album had a number of now-iconic UK college rock artists (back then) on it, none of whom had come anywhere near the tops of the US pops in 1986: New Order had a trio of songs featured in the film, though only  "Shell-Shock" appeared on its soundtrack, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Smiths, Psychedelic Furs and the British synthpop stars Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, a/k/a OMD, whose "If You Leave" soundtracked the film's climactic prom scene. 

Suzanne Vega, then hot off her self-titled 1985 album, also appears on the soundtrack, with Joe Jackson on piano, INXS, former Time member Jesse Johnson, former Three Dog Night singer Danny Hutton and UK synthpopper Belouis Some, who had notched a pair of top 10 US dance hits in ‘85. 

In summary, the Pretty in Pink soundtrack wasn't just another collection of tracks—it’s was life-changer! and made a huge impact in pop culture regarded as one of the ‘Best Movie Soundtracks: The 15 Film Music Compilations That’ll Change Your Life'.

 

Pretty In Pink Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Track List: 

 

1. If You Leave

2. Left Of Center

3. Get To Know Ya

4. Do Wot You Do

5. Pretty In Pink

6. Shell-Shock

7. Round, Round

8. Wouldn't It Be Good

9. Bring On The Dancing Horses

Film: The Iconic Teen Drama "Pretty In Pink" Turns 40

Originally premiered at Mann's Chinese Theatre on January 29, 1986, and was released theatrically in the United States on February 28, 1986 by Paramount Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Ringwald's performance, and grossed $40.5 million against a $9 million budge. 

Pretty in Pink was a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about love and social cliques in American high schools in the 1980s. The film stars Molly Ringwald, alongside Harry Dean Stanton, Jon Cryer, Annie Potts, James Spader, and Andrew McCarthy. A cult classic of the 1980s an it was commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film. The film followed high school senior Andie Walsh (Ringwald), and her relationships with her love interest Blane McDonnagh (McCarthy), her best friend Philip F. "Duckie" Dale (Cryer), and her father (Stanton).

It was directed by Howard Deutch, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner, and written by John Hughes, who also served as co-executive producer. The film was named after a song by the Psychedelic Furs, and the film's soundtrack, which has been acclaimed as "among the most brilliant in modern cinema", featured a re-recorded version of the song. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's "If You Leave" became an international hit and charted at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 in May 1986.

Hughes explored the spectrum of teenage angst in the films he wrote or directed. Its 1985’s The Breakfast Club, explored the cliches of high school cliques and the misunderstandings that come with them. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was a love letter to middle-class misbehavior in the pursuit of finding oneself. With Pretty in Pink we saw complex characters handle the weighty issues of love, family and class inequity. It shows us the ups and downs of romance between a lower-middle-class girl and an upper-class boy, as well as the jealousy and lovelorn feelings of a friend. The film leans into some tired tropes of high school life, sure, but it shows a refreshing female lead who is smart, confident, creative and has no desire to sell herself out to win the guy. 

But the film isn’t just remembered for its story, either. It's also considered to have one of the most remarkable soundtracks in cinema, which includes bands such as Psychedelic Furs, The Smiths, New Order, Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark and Echo and the Bunnymen. And the outstanding Cryer's unforgettable lip-synching performance to Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness," which resulted in some injuries and the demise of some vintage shoes he wore. Meanwhile, the record store Andie works in, Trax, is an audiophile's wet dream with larger-than-life posters and seemingly endless aisles of vinyl.

In the early era of teen movies, from the 1950s to the '80s, plots centered on archetypes such as rebellion, greasers, jocks and nerds, often with lighter themes. The 1990s and early aughts saw a rise in comedies like Clueless and Mean Girls; supernatural stories like Twilight and the Harry Potter series; queer narratives in films like Love, Simon; and mental health struggles like those in The Edge of Seventeen. Today, teen-focused content includes increased realism with topics like suicide, addiction, sexual identity and the pressures of social media. And it’s not just white suburbia that’s represented. 

The idea of what teen movies are has dramatically changed since their golden age in the 1980s.But high hormones, low confidence, love triangles, the woes of popularity and class divide remained until now on any teen drama. And that's the reason why Pretty in Pink remained iconical today, cause it certainly glamorizes this era of life that feels so heavy when we're in it, but so inconsequential as an adult. And even though we can predict these same old plot lines one after another, it's the proof, perhaps, that some stories like this won't die.