No teen movie moment is complete without the perfect song to burn a mind-numbing summer job, panty-free pep rally or high school heartbreak into a generation's subconcious for eternity. Here's our list of teen movie soundtracks that made the honor roll. Study up — there may be a quiz. / By Jeff Miller / Blender.com, December 2006
No teen movie moment is complete without the perfect song to burn a mind-numbing summer job, panty-free pep rally or high school heartbreak into a generation... more
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Created 03/04/08
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1
Grease
Polydor, 1978
Talk about legs: Walk into any karaoke bar now, three decades after this soundtrack was released, and you're bound to hear at least one (and, more likely, three or four) songs from this album. "Summer Nights," "Greased Lightning," "You're the One That I Want"... the sentiments are universal, the angst crosses generations, and the suggestive-yet-chaste(ish) behavior isn't so bad that parents won't share this one with their kids — making it the rare musical whose music's as beloved as its story.
2
Dazed & Confused
Giant/Wea, 1993
The cult stoner film is credited with launching the careers of Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck, but the soundtrack's definitely not mining for the hot new thing. Instead, the point is to accurately re-create the experience of being a kid in the '70s, which means booming drums, wailing guitar solos, and banshee-like singers swinging their big hair while pontificating about "the big picture." It's got everyone you'd expect, from Foghat to Kiss, yet never feels cloying or "ironic." It's a better overall representation of the decade than any Big Hair K-Tel compilation you may see advertised on late-night TV.
3
High School Musical
Disney, 2006
Whether you love it or hate it, this list would be incomplete without a mention of this year's top-selling CD, the soundtrack to the Disney love-fest High School Musical. If you're over 20 and don't have kids you probably haven't heard it, but trust us, you will. The songs from this soundtrack (like the sports-themed "Get'cha Head in the Game" or the singalong empowerment anthem "We're All in This Together") are unavoidable with just about every 5 to 16-year-old in the country (the album has sold nearly 4 million copies.) And with a plot that screams teen movie clichés about love, about cheerleading, about individuality...this movie (and it's soundtrack) are destined for immortality.
4
Clueless
Capitol, 1995
The Clueless soundtrack didn't define an era or jumpstart a career like many of the records on this list. But it has two things that most of these records shoot for but never achieve: longevity and listenability. In fact, the soundtrack to Clueless is nearly flawless; from the Muffs' gritty take on the classic "Kids in America" to Jill Sobule's now-recycled "Supermodel," the record barely stumbles. The meat in the middle, actually, is the best part: Radiohead performing "Fake Plastic Trees" acoustic? Sublime. And the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' "Where'd You Go" is a terrific remnant from the age when ska-punk ruled supreme.
5
Dirty Dancing
RCA, 1987
The teen-dance movie that led to every other teen-dance movie (see: Lambada, Save the Last Dance), Dirty Dancing is revered by a segment of the population whose teen movie acumen is dead on: women. Of course, the music's what they remember most: "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," the film's theme, is still a staple, and the rest of the soundtrack is populated by both oldie classics ("Be My Baby," "In the Still of the Night") and forgotten cheese (The Blow Monkeys' "You Don't Own Me"). To this day, no one puts baby in a corner.
6
House Party 2
MCA, 1991
For whatever reason, it's near-impossible to find a decent hip-hop teen movie soundtrack — maybe it's because the genre's so fluid, or that there've been very few breakout hip-hop hits (save "Lose Yourself") from the medium. But for one brief moment in the early '90s, Kid 'N Play embraced hip-hop and the sound of the streets at the time, which means both low-key fare from Ralph Tresvant and fun-all-the-time party jams from Wreckx-N-Effect. In a way, Kid 'N Play both created and destroyed the hip-hop high school soundtrack, setting the bar higher than most other stars have been willing to jump.
7
Breakfast Club
A&M, 1985
Like Say Anything, this is a movie made more memorable by its soundtrack; also like Say Anything, that whole reputation is dependent on one song: Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)." John Hughes would go on to create more soundtrack classics (Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful), but his use of the Simple Minds song stands as inarguable proof that he had his finger on the pulse of the collective unconscious; his choice not only made the band's career but, in a three-minute burst, defined a decade.
8
Not Another Teen Movie
Maverick, 2001
Not Another Teen Movie was a pointed parody of the genre's shortfallings, so it only makes sense that the soundtrack album would do the same, giving artists like Marilyn Manson and Smashing Pumpkins free-reign on a slew of '80s classics by bands like New Order (Orgy's crushing run-through of "Blue Monday") and Modern English (Mest's punk take on "I Melt With You"). Though the movie's hilarious, the album plays like an homage — it's almost as if these oh-so-serious "dark" bands long for a day when the exchange student was always naked, the token black guy said "yo" all the time, and the stoners ran the school. Who can blame them?
9
Go
Sony, 1999
Doug Liman's follow-up to the music-centric Swingers was equally dependent on the tunes, as it tracked a group of high-school kids bound and determined to spend their night dancing at a rave. Thing was, most of America didn't quite get the whole "rave" thing at that point, so Liman enlightened them, enlisting both bangers like BT and ambience-makers like Air to contribute songs to the soundtrack, which became a veritable Cliffs Notes of the electronic music scene at the beginning of the century. Extra points for including Len's "Steal My Sunshine," a one hit-wonder with career-making longevity.
10
Empire Records
A&M, 1995
The movie flopped, but has become a cult hit — and the soundtrack, a veritable who's who of faceless '90s alt-rockers, has managed a second life along with it. It's no wonder: bands like the Gin Blossoms and Cracker may not have been superstars like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but, like the film, they also find fun in the teen angst of the mid '90s, and, also like the film, have enough throwaway appeal to extend one generation further.
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