RIP John Hughes: The Genius Of His Movie Soundtracks

Today is a sad day for film fans the world over. The untimely death of director, producer and writer John Hughes came as a shock to us all and brings back memories of watching VHS copies of The Breakfast Club and the endless repeats of Ferris Bueller's Day Off on the television. John Hughes films are synonymous with the 1980's and have inspired pretty much every teen movie in the past twenty years.

However, this is Gigwise not IMDB and John Hughes films were not just great stories, they had great soundtracks too. Like the most avid mixtape creator Hughes knew how to blend the tunes around the narrative and held an ability to tie the two seamlessly together. Take Sixteen Candles for example, the 1984 coming of age tale featuring Molly Ringwald. Featuring the likes of 'Rebel Yell' by Billy Idol, Altered Image's 'Happy Birthday' and the fantastic 'Young Americans' by David Bowie, the soundtrack is both cool and fun showing a strong taste in the alternative but with a strong pop sensibility. The film may have also featured a Spandau Ballet song and inspired a Fall Out Boy track but we will forgive it for those crimes.

Elsewhere The Breakfast Club, perhaps Hughes best known film, featured a lead single by Scottish band Simple Minds. Rumour has it however that both Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry rejected the opportunity to record 'Don't You (Forget About Me)'. Undoubtedly the high point of these soundtracks is The Pretty In Pink album. The film took it's name from the Psychadelic Furs song which features accordingly alongside The Smiths, Echo and The Bunnymen and the schmaltzy but excellent 'If You Leave' by OMD.

As testament to how seriously John Hughes took soundtracks, the score for Ferris Bueller's Day Off was never officially released as Hughes felt it did not work as a compilation. The only copies which exist are the ones given to the people who worked in the studio and feature the hit single 'Love Missile F1-11' by Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Hughes had previously shown his love for punk by using 'Blitzkrieg Bop' by The Ramones on the National Lampoon's vacation soundtrack, proving he was a man of great taste.

Ultimately John Hughes legacy will be in his films, but any aspiring director should also look to his use of music as an example of a man who took full control of a project and reaped the benefits. In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. ”