VARIOUS – THIS IS… SON
OF CULT FICTION (NEW STATE ENTERTAINMENT/VIRGIN RECORDS)
Released in 1997 this
compilation pretty much represents the mindset of the moment. Following up the equally cheesy original
compilation Cult Fiction, with the Quentin Tarantino
selected soundtracks of Reservoir
Dogs and Pulp
Fiction appearing in the racks chock full of obscure and weird sounding
“lost gems” here was the opportunity for labels to jump on the bandwagon and
cash-in breathing new life into passed over classics. Fostered by the spirit of Loaded, lad culture, Trainspotting and the general
optimism and musical backward glance of Britpop, these songs were
generally where we wanted to be.
Collecting together
twenty three tracks of movie music moments and TV themes
here was a successful collision of kitsch with cool done in a beefed up manner
and despite the packaging being cheesy, the goods held within were not.
All in all this is a
pretty solid selection of songs mostly going with recognisable tunes, tracks
that won’t fail and hits that don’t quit.
On the tracklisting coupled next to each title is the movie or
advertisement that they come from.
Nothing’s subtle about this package.
The placement is key
here. Out of context many of these
tracks would otherwise struggle to hold their own but offered here as part of
this apparent movement it made sense.
Not that the album is excellent from the off…..
It begins with The Who and “The Real Me” from Quadrophenia. There are better Who songs. Then the album takes a real cheesy turn with
the CCS instrumental cover of “Whole Lotta Love” followed by “All Right Now” by
Free. The latter song in particular haunts me off
the back of its popularity with a certain friend at school that
wouldn’t know good music if it fucked his arse.
That said he was the first of our gang to get his end away on a regular
basis so with his Robert Palmer records and Dannii Minogue fixation I guess
life was just trading off.
The tempo finally ups
with the rejuvenated “Lust For Life” by Iggy
Pop offered in connection to Trainspotting.
Then as a sense of euphoria grips proceedings up next is “Theme From The A-Team” by Mike Post. Offered at full length the song seems funny,
extended and overblown. The once subtle
guitar solos are no longer subtle or even bearable. I pity the fool that bought this compilation.
Resuming the ruckus
“Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf and
“Smoke On The Water” by Deep Purple
follows seeming with the intent to turn the listener into their father. Here are two tracks born to sit next to each
other on a Top Gear compilation. Petrol
or diesel – who gives a fuck?
Another cover version
arrives in the form of Echo & The
Bunnyman’s take on The Doors’ “People
Are Strange” from Lost Boys. This was always a great track attached to a
testing soundtrack. It is very close to
the original, subtly clothed. And on the
topic of cover versions also present on the disc is the Urge Overkill version of Neil Diamond’s “Girl,
You’ll Be A Woman Soon” which for better or worse became their career high
appearing in Tarantino’s Pulp
Fiction during a key scene/moment.
Keeping things cheery
comes “Werewolves Of London” by Warren
Zevon taken from The Color
Of Money when quite frankly it might better be suited to John Landis’ An American Werewolf In London. Essentially this is just a colourful bar
song.
And with that the
record finally begins to kick in with the obscure, weird exotica of Vampyros Lesbos and
“The Lions And The Cucumber” taken from a better, trashier time. It sounds like a Serge Gainsbourg track
from his Melody
period. With that before comedown can be
achieved the very Beatle-esqe “Porpoise Song” by The Monkees drops into the mix. This was the band finding their own voice at
the end of a long line of stimulants.
Drawn out and psychedelic is serves as a good gateway/pathway to “White
Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane
which appears off the back of its appearance in Platoon. Finally in this section “Venus In Furs” by
the Velvet
Underground serves to solidly mark the mind. Sadly the credibility of the track here is
slightly tarnished by the fact it is only present through appearing in a Dunlop Tyres advertisement. That said the pounding drums, lurching
strings and twisted words of Lou Reed on
this track will never grow old.
David Lynch’s influence makes a brief
appearance as “Be Bop A Lula” by Gene Vincent appears off
the back of its part in Wild At Heart. It always sounded like a Elvis knock off to
me. “Green Onions” by Booker T And The
MGs then arrives to sooth the scenery.
With this we arrive at
the real reason I purchased this CD: “Louie Louie” by The Kingsmen.
For years this was the great lost song in our scene. We knew it but couldn’t find it in any record
shops even though it kept appearing in so many movies including the amazing Animal House, the decent Coupe De Ville and the odd Quadrophenia. In many ways this is the most perfect song in
history. Often it is the first song you
learn to play when you first get a guitar.
And it is so blissfully sloppy.
It arrives here associated with the aforementioned National
Lampoon’s Animal House in which is plays the ultimate in party roles as a
heroic room of loser drunkards with personalities in reach of the viewer dance
and celebrate while chanting along. It’s
a perfect moment.
From here the
compilation closes out and peters off with a selection of instrumentals. “Bring Down The Birds” by Herbie Hancock from Blow Up arrives seemingly based
solely on being the baseline from “Groove Is In The
Heart”.
The harmonica drive of
the “Theme From Northern
Exposure” by David Schwartz
offers a smile and some joy as to hear the song play out for a full three
minutes is an odd experience, as equally strange as using such Caribbean music for a show set in Alaska
The duffest note
occurs next as “Duelling Banjos” from Deliverance appears in the
tracklist. Who the fuck wants to listen
to that? Did you know the performers
were Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell? More importantly, did you care? This is buggery.
Returning to
television “Suicide Is Painless” by Johnny Mandel (incorrectly
credited as Jamie Mandel) from M*A*S*H
offers a late slash. I always found it
strange that this song had words. For a
while I even thought that the Manic
Street Preachers had come up with them.
Just what connects these sad words to the Korean War remains something
of a mystery to me.
A real gem arrives in
the penultimate spot with the haunting Jevetta Steele track
“Calling You” from the movie Bagdad
Café (as opposed to the TV series). The inclusion of this track shows somebody
somewhere selecting the songs for this record knew what they were doing. This is truly an obscure gem.
Then with that the CD
plays out with “Cavatina” from the John Williams’
orchestrated Deer Hunter
score appearing as if backing a set of imaginary closing credits.
This was a funny
fucking compilation.
Thesaurus moment:
stratagem.
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