Various Artist # 9 : The Wild Life (OST, 1984)

Thanks to Bruce from Vinyl Connection for including me in the various music blog posts.

This was a teenager movie from 1984. I am assuming that I saw it back in the day, but my memory is a little hazy. Of note, Nancy Wilson from Heart, Ronnie Wood from The Rolling Stones, and Lee Ving from Fear play bit parts in the movie. This soundtrack is just a snippet of the music that was in the movie. In fact, many of the songs that were not on the album were probably better than a lot of the ones that were. Just as a snippet of what musicians were omitted: Hendrix x2, Steppenwolf, Peter Wolf, Huey Lewis & The News, Little Richard x 2, Billy Idol, Buffalo Springfield, Prince, and Madonna. For rock fans of the mid 80`s, this is possibly the biggest omission of all. Van Halen added much of the instrumental work that has never been released. Cameron Crowe wrote the screenplay, and Eddie (he`s called Edward on the album cover) Van Halen recorded the score. This movie has never been released to dvd or bluray because of the music rights. The only way to hear the tunes is to locate a vhs copy or to check out Youtube. Here`s a link to the VH background music. Note the beginnings of many a Van Hagar song here.

Donut City (Edward Van Halen) – This sounds like a Loverboy-Turn Me Loose outtake with EVH on guitar. This was the last recorded song EVH recorded before Sammy came on the scene. Cool guitar of course, but not as cool as any off of 1984.

Metal Of The Night (Hanover Fist) – A weird choice here. I have no idea why they chose a Canadian band here. This short-lived group got their 30 seconds of fame on this soundtrack. It`s a decent song.

It`s Not Easy (Charlie Sexton with Ron Wood) – The credits also mention Keith Richards and Anton Fig play on this one. I`m not sure why it was just “with” Ron Wood. I guess no one would know who those other guys were. A song in the same vein as a fun time Huey Lewis 80`s tune.

Human Shout (Andy Summers) – Did somebody call The Police? The others must have been off on other calls. Too 80`s sounding for me. The vocals are decent, the rest not so much.

Wild Life (Banarama) – I liked this band back in the day. Not for the music though. Speaking of 80`s sounding. Imagine the Spice Girls with awful keyboards and electronic drums. I listened to the entire song for you people. UGGGGGHHH!

Mind My Still Have I (Alain Johannes) – Um. What`s up with that title? Also, what`s up with the copying Eddie Rabbit – Drivin` My Life Away and trying to cover that up by adding in cheesy keyboards.

Make It Glamorous (Van Stephenson) – Not Van Halen. Not even Van Morrison. No need to park this Van in the back 40 though. This one has a similar beat to The Pretenders – My City Was Gone, but can stand on it`s own 2 feet. One of the better songs on the album. It is called just “Glamorous” on the back cover, but I will get into the cover later.

Who`s Gonna Break The Ice (Peter Case) – It kind of sounds like Ramones drumming with country rock. In a former life, Case opened many a show for the Ramones in his band The Nerves. I would have rather him stuck to his punk leanings, but I guess the musical wind shifted. On the cover it is called “Whose Gonna Break The Ice.”

I Go Wild (The Three O’clock) – Almost has a 90`s alternative meets 60`s rock. Weird since it was the mid 80`s. They were both ahead and behind the times. I like the way they sound. I have never heard of them, but they released quite a few albums, and are still around, at least in name. I will search out some of their albums.

No Trespassing (Louise Goffin with Charlotte Caffey) – Not a bad song. Kind of like a Go-Go`s song, which is no wonder since Charlotte was in the band at the time. Louise also had a song on the Fast Times At Ridgemont High soundtrack.

Now back to the cover. Spelling mistakes, lazy word omissions aside, the cover is confusing as hell. The front cover lists Banarama as the first band on the album and Edward Van Valen as the last. I would have been wanting to capture the buzz from the just relased 1984 album, but what do I know. The front and back are opposite, so you have to turn it around, then turn it upside down to read the print. Also, the inside record sleeve lists the songs in the wrong order. Piss poor job.

If EVH had included a number of the songs omitted, and dropped the cheesy ones, this could have been a great album. It is probably desirable for a Stones or VH fan, but for many it`s avoidable.

6/10