Oh Yeah, I Forgot That Was Great - No. 3: Cheesy 80s Film Soundtracks

OK, let's go with the whole "80s films" thing briefly mentioned yesterday, then, while my brain is deciding to co-operate. Thanks to the glory of the Portable Music Device What Plays Songs Into Your Ears, I had a sudden urge to listen to an album that I hadn't heard in a while and, lo and behold, there it was at my fingertips. That album was the soundtrack to Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure and he listened to it and heard that it was good.

I mean, obviously, it's pretty naff. It's an album full of cheesy 80s-style rock bands who sound kind of like a lot of the major rock bands at the time but very much aren't them thus making their songs more available and, chiefly, more affordable. Given that the two main characters in the film are major rock fans, it feels like the album should have tracks by Van Halen, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, AC/DC and oh so many more on there. That's not what you actually get, though. No, the album features a far superior line-up including such greats as Shark island, Big Pig and Glen Burtnik. I know, I know, contain your excitement. The only reasonably famous name on there is Extreme of cheesy cock-rock ballad "More Than Words" fame and, of course, not forgetting their hilariously titled track "Get The Funk Out" (oh stop my aching sides).

Despite all that, though, there are a good selection of enjoyably cheesy songs that leave you with that feelgood factor. This isn't the only 80s soundtrack album with a rock theme to have this effect on me. I've mentioned before my love for the greatest film of all time, Transformers: The Movie (forget about Michael Bay, the proper one from the 80s with leonard Nimoy, Orson Welles and Eric idle in it*. Not least because it features the ultimate cock-rock power ballad, The Touch by Stan Bush.

So here's to the cheesy 80s rock-based film soundtrack. Long may they continue to satisfy my ears with their inoffensive guitar riffitude. And, to sign off, here's The Touch in all its glory followed by Play With Me by Extreme.









* No, I'm not making that up, they're really in it, go and check.