The news of John Hughes passing away came as a shock to many of us. This is the man who made so many memorable movies when I was growing up.  He seemed to capture the whole lifestyle of what it was to be a teenager in the 80’s wrapped up most likely in a blanket of a cool soundtrack.  From the poor girl trying to get the attention of the rich popular guy,  or the boy from the wrong side of the tracks wishing to get a date with the most beautiful girl in school (Miss Amanda Jones), John Hughes understood the teenager genre. I still remember watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in the movie theater and thinking what an awesome movie that was ( I know I said awesome). His choice in music was very up to date with what was cool at the time. New Order, OMD, Psychedelic Furs, General Public, Echo and the Bunnymen and the list goes on and on. A lot of people who grew up at the time said his movies were the soundtrack to their lives and I couldn’t agree with them more.  Who wouldn’t have a tape of Pretty in Pink in their cassette deck? I would have to say it was cool growing up in the 80’s and John Hughes will be a big part of that.  There are so many songs to list and show, but I think this one will capture it all.

Now it might be hard to believe for some that I do listen to other types of music besides my core tastes. One in particular is the music composed by the famous Ennio Morricone. If you don’t recognize the name, then I know for a fact you’ve heard his music before. He’s probably most famous for his music in the films directed by Sergio Leone like The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly or Once Upon a Time in the West. With all the lovely music he’s composed for the movies he’s not yet won an Academy Award for them.  I’m pretty shocked at this piece of information and somebody should of gotten fired for that; however, he did win a honorary Academy Award in 2007 for the contributions he made for his music in films.

Mr. Morricone has many famous songs from the  “Spaghetti Western” era, but other films that he’s associated with include The Mission, The Untouchables, Casualties of War, and one of my favorites, Once Upon A Time in America. With out his music, I don’t know what the movies would of been like if he never existed. It’s a scary thought.  Below is a video of him conducting from one of my favorite songs from the film Once Upon A Time in America, titled “Deborah’s Theme”.  Other songs that are popular from that soundtrack also include “The Main Theme” from Once Upon A Time In America and “Cockeye’s Song”. Another soundtrack worth mentioning is The Untouchables with Kevin Costner.  Don’t worry it was 1987 and things were different back then. Anyways, “The Main Theme” is so damn inspiring and nothing is more sad than listening to the “Death Theme” from The Untouchables.

Now I just have to justify myself in spending money to get the digitally remastered import version of Once Upon a Time in America. Now if anybody is actually reading this my birthday is in December and Christmas is surprisingly in December as well.

Happy Listening.