Random List-Mania: 40 Best Original Movie Songs of the 1980s
Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at 1:00PM
NATHANIEL R in Kristin Scott Thomas, List-Mania, Madonna, Original Song, Oscars (80s), Prince, Victor/Victoria, Xanadu, Yentl, composers, musicals

We did this once for the 1990s and you loved it, so here's round two. 

Young Oscar fanatics might not have tripped over this tidbit yet but in the 1980s they were still giving out an award for "Original Song Score" - an old vestige category of the decades when a dozen plus movie musicals arrived each year. Three of these Oscars were handed out in the 1980s for Victor / Victoria (1982), Yentl (1983) and Purple Rain (1984).  None have been handed out since even though it's technically still a category... just not one that they invoke anymore. Though it's a pity they didn't consider giving one to Moulin Rouge! or Hedwig and the Angry Inch for 2001 as the category can also be awarded to "Adaptation Score"

The presence of this category in the early 80s probably explains why Purple Rain and Victor/Victoria had no "Original Song" nominees in their years (why double dip?) but it does not explain why Yentl had nominations in both categories. Because of these films I only allowed myself 2 songs per movie so as not to let these five films hog this entire list.

BEST ORIGINAL MOVIE SONGS OF THE 1980s
Beautiful Song Craft and/or Cheesy Epic Ballads For the Wins
* Oscar nominee | ** Oscar winner 

  1. "Nine to Five"* -Nine to Five (Dolly Parton)
  2. "Le Jazz Hot" - Victor/Victoria (Henry Mancini)
  3. "Purple Rain" - Purple Rain (Prince)
  4. "Into the Groove" - Desperately Seeking Susan (Madonna)
  5. "Xanadu" - Xanadu (Jeff Lynne)
  6. "Fame"** - Fame (Michael Gore & Dean Pitchford)
  7. "When Doves Cry" - Purple Rain (Prince)
    33 more numbers after the jump...

  8. "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)"* - The Color Purple (Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton, and Lionel Richie)
  9. "Endless Love"* - Endless Love (Lionel Richie)
  10. "Let the River Run"** - Working Girl (Carly Simon)
  11. "Papa Can You Hear Me"* - Michel Legrand, Marilyn Bergman & Alan Bergman) 
  12. "Crazy World" - Victor/Victoria (Henry Mancini)
  13. "Out Here On My Own"* - Fame (Michael Gore & Leslie Gore)
  14. "This One's From the Heart" - One From the Heart (Tom Waits)


  15. "Wild Wild Life" - True Stories (David Byrne)
  16. "Magic" - Xanadu (John Farrar)
  17. "Call Me" - American Gigolo (Giorgio Moroder & Debbie Harry) 
  18. "Up Where We Belong"** - An Officer and a Gentleman (Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Will Jennings)
  19. "Under the Sea"** - The Little Mermaid (Alan Menken & Howard Ashman)

  20. "Live To Tell" - At Close Range (Madonna & Patrick Leonard)
  21. "Piece of Sky"* - Yentl (Michel Legrand, Marilyn Bergman & Alan Bergman)
  22. "Flashdance"** - Flashdance (Giorgio Moroder, Keith Forster, Irene Cara)
  23. "Kiss the Girl"*- The Little Mermaid (Alan Menken & Howard Ashman)
  24. "It Might Be You"* - Tootsie (Dave Grusin, Marilyn Bergman & Alan Bergman)
  25. "Crazy For You" - Vision Quest (John Bettis & Jon Lind)


  26. "Every Sperm is Sacred" - Monty Python's Meaning of Life (André Jacquemin, David Howman, Michael Palin, Terry Jones)
  27. "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space"* - Little Shop of Horrors (Alan Menken & Howard Ashman)
  28. "For Your Eyes Only* - For Your Eyes Only (Bill Conti & Mick Leeson) 
  29. "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)"** (Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager,Christopher Cross and Peter Allen)
  30. "Don't You Forget About Me" - The Breakfast Club (Keith Forsey & Steve Schiff)
  31. "Cool Rider" - Grease 2 (Dennis Linde)

  32. "We Don't Need Another Hero" - Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (Terry Britten & Graham Lyle)
  33. "Who's That Girl" - Who's That Girl (Madonna & Patrick Leonard)
  34. "Footloose"* - Footloose (Kenny Loggins & Dean Pitchford)
  35. "Take My Breath Away"** - Top Gun (Giorgio Moroder & Tom Whitlock) 
  36. "Somebody's Baby" - Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Jackson Brown & Danny Kortchmear)

  37. "All Time High" - Octopussy (John Barry, Tim Rice, Stephen Short)
  38. "A View to a Kill" - A View To a Kill (John Barry & Duran Duran)
  39. "Together in Electric Dreams" - Electric Dreams (Philip Oakley & Giorgio Moroder)
  40. "Kokomo" - Cocktail (Mike Love, Scott McKenzie,Terry Melcher, John Phillips)

    Honorable Mention
    "Coming Around Again" - Heartburn (Carly Simon) 
    "I Can Dream About You" - Streets of Fire (Dan Hartman) 
    "Let Me Dance For You" - A Chorus Line 

 

Honorable Mentions: Anything else from Victor/Victoria, The Little Mermaid, and especially Purple Rain or Xanadu which would have left little room for anything else! Oh and also the entire Under the Cherry Moon album, too, which I forgot about while making this list. Check out this retro trailer for that ill-fated Prince movie-- Kristin Scott Thomas' debut no less!

 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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