All crab legs, no filler
Original motion picture soundtracks of the ‘90s
I recently scrolled across a rather snarky thread implying that streaming music has ruined the concept of an album. I’m not sure I agree. Has Spotify spoiled the vast majority of musicians’ chances of making anything close to a living from their art?1 Probably! But Billie Eilish’s “cohesive body of work” has never been the default, even in the heyday of the prog-rock concept album or the golden age of hip hop. For every album that had an overarching narrative theme, there were ten others built around tentpole singles plus filler to justify the album price. And people have always skipped the filler even if they had to get up and push a fast-forward button.
After CDs became ubiquitous, song order mattered even less. When I was 21 I had a six-disc changer in my car and I put that shit on shuffle 90% of the time! See also: mixtapes. See also: “original motion picture soundtracks,” which are basically commercialized mixtapes.
I listened to a lot of film soundtracks in my teenage years, partially because I lacked access to music retailers and/or was too intimidated to set foot in the one non-chain record store within range, but mostly because soundtracks were like a music buffet with all crab legs and no bland sides. I started by “borrowing” my parents’ soundtracks (The Big Chill! Dirty Dancing!) but soon moved on to Gen X-ier pastures. Some of the ones that got the most time in my cassette Walkman:
Batman (Prince) - 1989
Sneaking this one in here because what is a cultural decade? Batman is atypical among soundtracks in that it IS a concept album, actually! Prince did what he wanted and we all loved it! I remember my almost-13-year-old self being scandalized/secretly intrigued by the lyrics “Every time you do me, such a rush” in “Lemon Crush” like Is he talking about s-e-x??? (Yes, yes he was, Prince was always talking about sex.) Every song on this record is a banger, and while “Partyman” was the anointed single, I can’t help but be ensnared by the sheer Phantom of the Opera over-the-topness of the video for “Batdance.”
Soundtrack from Twin Peaks (Angelo Badalamenti) - 1990
Twin Peaks was such a mood and the music was a huge part of that. Part score, part soundtrack, all atmospheric. Julee Cruise’s singing was iconic.
Angelo Badalamenti explains how he composed “Laura Palmer’s Theme”:
Singles Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Various) - 1992
I’m sure there’s a story behind Nirvana being left off this who’s who of Seattle grunge (or maybe they just didn’t have the right vibe for what was essentially a romcom?) but the intro bass line for Alice in Chains’s “Would” always made my heart rate pick up a little.
Natural Born Killers (various) - 1994
Reality Bites might have been the heavy hitter among soundtracks in 1994 but Natural Born Killers was the preferred movie tie-in for us edgelords and edgeladies. Much like (I suspect) the film itself, a few of these tracks would not hold up! L7’s “Shitlist” is the one I remember blasting out of my car windows the loudest, and it positioned me perfectly for my introduction to riot grrrl a year or so later.
The Crow Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Various) - 1994
The Crow holds a special place in my heart because 1) it knows what Devil’s Night is and 2) its rain-swept aesthetic reached deep into my gothy little teenage brain. The soundtrack is surprisingly rockin’ though, particularly Helmet’s “Milktoast/Milquetoast”—the grinding guitar! The driving bass! The vocals that somehow sound like they were recorded at the bottom of a well inside someone’s bedroom! Love it.
Pulp Fiction - Music from the Motion Picture (Various) - 1994
I cannot overstate how obsessed my friends and I were with Pulp Fiction. A good part of our conversations consisted of us quoting Samuel L. Jackson at one another which, cringe. The soundtrack includes audio of many iconic scenes from the film, especially the Jack Rabbit Slim’s Twist Contest to Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell.”
(I was going to embed “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” because, at the time, I felt like the song was ~speaking to me~ but the lyrics grossed Adult Me out too much.)
Lost Highway (Various) - 1997
God I love a brooding Bill Pullman. I mean, Wholesome Bill Pullman in While You Were Sleeping is great but as a toxic, tortured asshole in Lost Highway? Riveting.2 David Bowie’s “I’m Deranged” over the title sequence just sets the mood.
This soundtrack also marked the interesting cultural moment that was the David Bowie/Trent Reznor collaboration (culminating in “I’m Afraid of Americans” which was genuinely terrifying and, uh, prescient? CW for gun imagery.)
Author updates
WHEN I’M HER just had its one-month birthday and I love seeing readers’ reactions and pictures of the book out in the wild!
I’ll be at Thrillerfest at the end of the month, on the panel “Sweet, Sour or Bitter? The Taste of Revenge” with S.K. Andrews, Jaime Lynn Hendricks. Amy Impellizzeri, Bonnie Kistler, and Tessa Wegert moderating. If you’re going, check us out at 9am on Friday May 31!
Reading/watching/listening
An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King - a complex and tender dystopian novel about one of China’s unmarriageable extra men (a result of China’s One Child Policy and son preference) and the family he hopes to become part of.
Sneakers. It holds up!
‘90s film soundtracks, obviously, but I also recently discovered SUSS through
’s newsletter. Like many people I can’t listen to music with lyrics while I write, but this ambient country fits perfectly into the grooves of my creative brain.
If you enjoy my ramblings, you might like my books!
The Other Me, which PopSugar called a “Black Mirror-esque rabbit hole,” is an inventive page-turner about the choices we make and the ones made for us.
When I’m Her asks the question: How far would you go to get even with the woman who ruined your life?
I haven’t seen Murdaugh Murders and frankly I’m not sure I want to go that toxic, lol.
I almost have too much to say because I LOVE a good soundtrack and you picked some bangers. I also do love "Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon" but . . . yeah. And so cool to see all the pictures of your book!!