Today I want to mention the songs that will appear in the “Soundtracks” section of Satan’s iPod. You’ll know ’em.
“Respect” by Aretha Franklin. Every single time there’s a scene in a movie where a woman gets the upper hand over some idiot male in her life (the one that comes to mind is Bridget Jones’ Diary) they play this song. Knock it off.
“I Feel Good” by James Brown. I honestly wonder if anyone who makes commercials, TV shows, or movies actually watches commercials, TV shows, or movies. (Scene in an ad agency’s office: “Hmm, we need a song to put in this commercial for our new conditioner/air freshener/dog food..” “Hey, I got it! What about that ‘I Feel Good’ song?” “Brilliant! Nobody’s used that before!!” ) I hope the Godfather of Soul is getting a little piece of the royalties for this. It has to be the most overused song in advertising and entertainment history.
“Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger. You know, Risky Business was an okay movie. You had Tom Cruise when he showed promise, Rebecca De Mornay being, well, Rebecca De Mornay, and that kid who played Burt Viola on Moonlighting. Oh, and that “Balki” guy. The scene with Tom dancing to this song was mildly funny the first time we all saw it. Since then, it’s inexplicably become part of the pop culture landscape, and it’s been reenacted by everyone from Ron Reagan Jr. (in a Saturday Night Live skit that was actually funnier than the original movie scene) to this really stupid-looking Garfield movie that’s coming out soon. Again, the movie and TV people aren’t watching movies and TV. No more, please.
Finally, please– no more usage and/or remakes of Blondie’s “One Way or Another” and for that matter, The Romantics’ “What I Like About You.” These songs seem to keep popping up in the waves of Amanda Bynes/Hilary Duff/Lindsey Lohan movies for the ‘tweeners. And as the dad of two girls at whom these movies are targeted, I get to hear this stuff more than I oughta.