Yesterday, with great pride, my teen niece sent me a music video on social media, which according to her: "you have never listened to any better than this". She had discovered it in a television series and was so excited that she kept playing in it on a loop.
Long story short, this was the clip that she sent me:
And even though I haven't watched yet the fourth season of "Stranger things", the song was no stranger to me, as I have been listening to Kate Bush since my teen years.
But that gave me the occasion for today's post. It occurred to me how many (oldies) songs have returned to the charts after they were included in a TV series or movie soundtrack. Anyway, this day also calls for it as (apart from the Summer Solstice) it is also the World Music Day.
Bella ciao - La casa del papel
The italian partizan song was made a great hit after being including in the Tv series "La casa de papel". It became known to the younger generations as the two protagonists through it created one of the most iconic scenes in television history. The Professor along with Berlin and the other members of the gang sing "Una mattina mi sono alzano..." as they prepare for the biggest money robbery. And so this partizan song entered the music charts, became electronic recordings, and some may have searched for the story behind it.
Quentin Tarantino- Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and almost all his movies.
This director - a lover of music of the 1950s and 1960s could not leave these songs out of his films. And Quentin Tarantino in each of his films makes sure to include in the soundtrack songs from these decades, making them famous again. Who could forget the emblematic title sequence of Pulp Fiction with Misirlou, or
"Bang, bang" with Nancy Sinatra in Kill Bill.
And how many times we danced to the song along with Uma Therman and John Travolta with "You never can tell"?
Red right Hand - Peaky Blinders
One of my most favourite songs was matched exquisitely with the one of the most violent tv series. The gang of Peaky Blinders are using the "Red right hand" to declare the violence, as the title of the song itself reveals. Although in the eighties it was quite well known in rock circles (Cave is especially beloved in Greece), its use in the series brought it back to the forefront and made it known to most.
Sinnerman-Sherlock
I hadn't watched Sherlock before, but one of my older students mentioned it to me, since he knows that I enjoy a good detective story. Among the others that caught my eye -that means Benedict Cumberbatch and of course the most beloved Martin Freeman- was this song by Nina Simone.
And that explained for me why in all of a sudden did that oldie song trend in the greek clubs few years ago.
Something - Batman
Once again, this song is a referance by my niece, as she was looking for the first rendition, the original, as she called it. And when I told her that I had first listened to this song when I was about her age, her eyes popped out and asked me: "So, this song is that old?" (thank god, as a tutor I am used to comments about the antiquity of my age). So I had her listen to the original, and of course some more songs of Nirvana...She loved the voice of Kurt Cobain and told all her friends that her aunt was old enough to have known the singer that they had listen to in Batman. (Huh, I wished that I had)
And since I started this post with Kate Bush, I will end it again with her magnificent voice. Not a song that became famous through movies and Tv series, but an exceptional video clip by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam and Donald Sutherland.
You know me...I love music and movies, so I couldn't leave out the option to write about both of them, And I really love that these oldies are getting the attention that they deserve.
Happy Music Day! Pump up the volume!
Thank you for reading!