Purely Because of a Movie – Songs on My iPod Part 13
Concluding my summer of 2014 series, which was begun right here and chronicled my history with said device, that examined the music that ended up on my iPod byway of the films that featured it on their soundtracks. An inventory, as it were, and admittedly one I continue to add to. Especially as I press on with my movies-watching and music-listening.
New song and those of a more vintage variety, even years after the initial screening, got there purely because of a movie. As alluded in another series, the convergence of the music and film arts is one I’ve spent much time toward. I did attempt to break these songs up into the categories most fit into, at least for my bizarre thinking, purely to make it more manageable in presentation. To close, here is the recap and the numbers.1
The Categories
Totals: 4 songs, 4 movies
“I do listen and have some Country and Western music in my library.”
Totals: 10 songs, 9 movies
“The following are those that made an impression, and sung in other than English.”
Totals: 15 songs, 14 movies
“… the pop, rock, or unexpectedly unique songs needle-dropped into a movie that stood out in one way or another.”
Totals: 16 songs, 13 movies
Part 4 – Instrumental “… part of the composer’s original score, or the needle-dropped variety from other sources.”
Totals: 17 songs, 14 movies
“…serious or conventional music following long-established principles rather than a folk, jazz, or popular tradition.”
Totals: 29 songs, 19 movies
“This category should be fairly obvious, especially for any fan of the famed MI6 operative.”
Featured Song
“What music fans desire, a tune to show off. The important caveat being it’s not the film’s theme song..”
Totals: 49 songs, 37 movies
Totals: 17 songs, 9 movies
Part 7 – Featured Song, Musical
“Never knew Christopher Plummer could sing, or had a voice like this.”
Totals: 32 songs, 28 movies
Part 8 – Featured Song, Not A Musical
“Another song that’s forever melded to a heartbreaking scene.”
Theme Song
“…a melody used, esp. in a film score, to set a mood, introduce a character, etc.”
Totals: 64 songs, 64 movies
Totals: 13 songs, 13 movies
Part 9 – 40s, 50s, 90s & Beyond
“Again from fewest to most. Although combining the four lowest for a start.”
Totals: 14 songs, 14 movies
“The decade with the third most…”
Totals: 17 songs, 17 movies
“The surprising decade with the second most…”
Totals: 20 songs, 20 movies
“Closing out this series with a decade, my favorite for film, with the most theme songs on my iPod.”
The Numbers
If there’s anything that became clear in doing this series, it was discovering how much three decades of movie-watching experience had on my music listening. The 60s, 70s, and 80s representing the lion’s share of the 205 songs chronicled in this series. Exactly half my life as of this, my 60th year, were that formative. If I hadn’t stopped drinking ages ago, it’d be a tad sobering.
Songs
Movies
Directors With the Most Movies Represented
Out of the 154 total movies found here, an overwhelming number of the directors had 1 or 2 represented. Such notables as William Wyler, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Richard Lester, John Sturges, William Friedkin, and so on. Even George Lucas. So, I’ll highlight those select few, totally yet again 13, who had at least three or more films rendered on this iPod list. Those with four or better I fully expected, but the unmitigated surprise was who topped them all. Blake Edwards. Well, if he married Julie Andrews, for sure he was no slouch.
Composers With the Most Songs Represented
Again, looking at the 205 songs found on my iPod, purely because of a movie, most of their composers were a mix of the well-known (Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, The Beatles, Jerome Moross, Bernard Hermann, Irving Berlin, et. al.), the unexpected (Tangerine Dream, Marvin Gaye, etc.), and the underappreciated (Jerry Fielding, Roy Budd, Don Black, and others) represented with one or two tunes. Again, three or more separate out the top composers. Most expected, but with a couple of surprises (Mel Brooks, Barbara Streisand). Of course, the topper John Barry the least so.
By the way, while my blog’s summer music series ended this week that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped collecting music from movies. Far from it. Here then would be latest that didn’t make the series as it came after I’d penned it, but is now on Ye Old iPod. From Danny Boyle’s Trance (2013) by Emeli Sandé and Rick Smith:
How about you? What did you make of all this — besides thinking I’m nuts or obsessive, or maybe both?
- What has to be another of life’s little ironies, Apple officially stopped making the device that’s been at the center of this entire series this month. ↩
It Rains... You Get Wet 
12 Responses to “Purely Because of a Movie – Songs on My iPod Part 13”
This was fun. Thanks for putting in the work to make it so.
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Thanks so much, Naomi. It was more work than I initially envisioned, but isn’t that always the case? 😉
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Pretty cool! Loved reading (and listening to) this series, which you evidently put a lot of work into 🙂
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Many thanks for following this series throughout, Fernando. Much appreciated, my friend.
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My goodness you are the data analysis king. Fun post
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Thanks so much, Cindy 😀
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Very cool compilation, Michael!
Sorry I missed the Country post. Well done. I’ve always has a soft spot for Pedal Steel, Honky Tonk pianos and fiddles (Kinky Friedman, Commander Cody, New Riders, Judy Collins) of the 1970s.
Tangerine Dream still rates high for soundtracks. Also pleased and surprised to see Blake Edwards rate so highly! Michael Mann doesn’t hit a home run all the time, but is consistently unique and memorable.
Superior number crunching, too.
Well done, my friend!
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Thank you very much, Kevin. I appreciated your readership of the series and your wonderful music picks, my friend 🙂
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As always, classy sir.
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Thank you very much, my friend 😀
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Fantastic list all around Michael. All this data is making my head spin, ahah. Nice to see William Wyler is well-represented, I admire that guy. One thing for sure, you have an excellent taste in music! 😀
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So kind! Many thanks, Ruth 🙂
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