I Love Soundtracks

My 57th birthday happened recently, and my girlfriend gave me the John Wick soundtrack on vinyl. Her goal was to find something cool, and she scored when she found the album at a local curiosity shop. She knows how much I love the John Wick movies. They are all action-packed good times. I was extremely excited by the gift for a couple of reasons (besides that it came from her).

First, it was an album.

My girlfriend and I started buying vinyl records again about seven years ago. Nothing crazy, just a few to add to the collection I had from my youth, but the albums are always a wonderful reminder of how we used to be in touch with our music.

There was nothing like pulling a record from its cover and placing it on the turntable. The protective slip often had lyrics, which I loved reading. I think I’ve always been more interested in a song’s lyrics than the guitars or drums. Sometimes, an album cover would open like a book, and there would be pictures of the band. The lyrics might be here, too.

This tactile experience is much the same as a cassette. I’ve recently been thinking about getting a cassette player to join my turntable and CD player. Call it nostalgia if you will, but I miss holding my music, flipping through the albums, cassettes, or CDs to find something interesting, then listening to every song on the album, one after the other.

As great as streaming is, it lacks an intimate connection with our tunes. Our movie and television watching has been affected in the same way. Immediate gratification. Binge the weekend away. None of the deeper connections.

Speaking of movies, this brings me to the second reason I got excited by my birthday gift.

I love soundtracks!

When I was a kid, my dad brought home a variety of soundtracks. Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Rocky were just a few that we had on vinyl. I listened to them all, especially that Rocky album, over and over. He also had musical soundtracks like Grease, Annie, and Godspell.

One of my favorite albums that my dad had was the Mike Post Television Theme Songs collection. Post created so many great themes it’s hard to list them all. Shows like The Rockford Files, Magnum PI, and The Greatest American Hero. I listened to that album repeatedly, too!

As a teenager, I started buying a few soundtracks myself. I think the first one I ever bought was Tron. I still have it! Later, I bought Footloose, The Secret of My Success, and The Lost Boys on cassette. I’m sure there were more, but I’ll refrain from listing them all here. Unfortunately, I got rid of all my cassettes decades ago (which is funny now that I’m thinking about getting a cassette player).

Part of the fun of listening to a soundtrack was recalling the movie or TV show it came from. I felt like Axel Foley whenever Bob Segar’s “Shakedown” blasted through my car stereo (Beverly Hills Cop II). I often drove like a maniac with Kenny Loggins singing “Danger Zone” (Top Gun). Survivor’s “Burning Heart” and “Eye of the Tiger” (Rocky IV) helped me get in shape for basic training.

I still listen to soundtracks, but now they’re on Spotify. I streamed the Fletch soundtrack not too long ago (so much fun!). I also enjoyed To Live and Die in LA (so freaking good I listened to it twice!).

We put the John Wick album on and cruised through it. I tried to remember all the scenes the music corresponded. It took some effort, so I’ll probably have to watch the movie again. Darn. 😊

This post originally appeared as a VIP Newsletter.