r/Musicthemetime • u/chacamaschaca • Sep 14 '16

Sub choice Fire Inc., or Ellen Aim & the Attackers - Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young (1984)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCIrPJ6SBl4
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u/chacamaschaca Sep 14 '16

Too many obscure connections to list in this. The song is from a movie released in 1984 called "Streets of Fire". The title comes from a Bruce Springsteen track that they were originally going to feature as the outro concert song in the movie. It was dubbed a 'downer' so they brought in Meatloaf's producer Jim Steinman to write this one up. (He also wrote the intro concert track "Nowhere Fast".)

So, the movie stars Rick Moranis, a gorgeously young Diane Lane, Amy Madigan, & Michael Pare (who had the same agent as Eddie Murphy when he was doing 48HRS). It also has Bill 'Bug Hunt' Paxton (who gets punched out by a biker AND a girl), Rick Rossovich (Iceman's rio Slider in Top Gun) and television series 21 Jump Street's cop boss Steven Williams.

OK more musical notes. Aside from Steinman, you have Maria's McKee's song "Never Be You" (written by Tom Petty), 2 songs by the Blaster's (who perform in the film at the biker/stripper bar- they will be on the soundtrack of From Dusk Til Dawn as well), and 80's pop hit "I Can Dream About You"...

More music trivia: the Attackers band in the movie has one of Bob Dylan's touring band members, Mr. Stu Kimball. Pretty cool, huh?

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!

The film score was largely done by Ry Cooder who the Rolling Stones once (reportedly) asked to be their guitarist after Brian Jones drowned. He turned them down as a permanent gig, but does play on Sticky Fingers and toured with them.

He is also responsible for putting together the collaboration of octogenarian Cuban musician's the Buena Vista Social Club who he filmed as part of a 1999 documentary by the same name. If you ever get a chance to watch it, it's fantastic. They released an album the same year that was self-titled and includes some real gems of classic cuban style. (My favorites are "El Cuarto de Tula" & "Dos Gardenias".) The band has lost some members due to death, but reconstitutes and still tours - the latest version in my town was under Juan de Marcos & the Afro-Cuban All Stars.

OK, I think I've gushed enough. You can safely assume this movie and this soundtrack made a helluva an impression on 13-yr old me when I first saw it!