Wednesday 21 September 2011

FM movie soundtrack

I managed to buy this old, second-hand two-record set from Joe's Mac at the Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya when I was down there last month. I had been searching for the record for quite a while ever since I watched the movie a very long time ago. Of course, I was a little apprehensive about the sound quality but surprisingly there were very little pops and crackles. Besides, it looked like Joe Rozario, the shop's owner, had cleaned up the records quite a bit. My own cleaning process revealed very little dirt too. So it was a reasonably good buy.

What I liked about the record set was that it was something similar to one of those "Various Artists" sort of compilation: one song here from this band and one song there from this singer. A pick here, a pick there. That sort of thing. It was practically, well, a radio station! If anyone had watched the movie FM, they'd know what I meant.


Side One: FM (Steely Dan), Night Moves (Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band), Fly Like An Eagle (Steve Miller), Cold As Ice (Foreigner), Breakdown (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), Bad Man (Randy Meisner)
Side Two: Tumbling Dice (Linda Ronstadt), Poor Poor Pitiful Me (Linda Ronstadt), Livingston Saturday Night (Jimmy Buffet), There's A Place In The World For A Gambler (Dan Fogelberg), Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel)
Side Three: Life In The Fast Lane (Eagles), Do It Again (Steely Dan), Lido Shuddle (Boz Scaggs), More Than A Feeling (Boston)
Side Four: It Keeps You Runnin' (Doobie Brothers), Your Smiling Face (James Taylor), Life's Been Good (Joe Walsh), We Will Rock You (Queen), FM-Reprise (Steely Dan)


Anyway, FM was one of those movies that tried to jump onto the music industry-related bandwagon. It was a movie all about a number one radio station, how the greedy station executives tried to sell more commercials for more profits (hello, what's new??), how the staff rebelled and went on strike and how the matter was finally resolved. The best parts of the movie were, of course, the live performances of Jimmy Buffet and Linda Ronstadt. Buffet sang two songs but only one appeared on the record; similarly, Ronstadt sang three songs and one went missing from the album too. Plus, bonus appearances by REO Speedwagon and Tom Petty, although they didn't perform live in the movie.




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