The Lost Boys
Let's take a trip back to the year 1987... Apart from being a music junkie, I was a pretty regular movie-goer back then. Most fridays used to be movie days, as far as something cool was being shown in the theatres. Okay, there were some movies that turned out to be not that cool or good, but that's another story.
I can't remember whether it was late 1987 or early 1988 when t"The Lost Boys" was released in Finland, but I do remember that I went to see it the day it came to the theatres. It wasn't a hit, as besides me and my friend, there were only a handful of people to see it. I don't know what kind of an impact it had on them, but I came out of the theatre thinking that I had just seen probably the coolest movier ever! Vampires, rock, horror, action, comedy, troublesome youth, girls... the movie was loaded with everything, and the whole athmosphere of the town "Santa Carla" was magical. Not to mention the gang of vampires, led by none other than Jack Bauer - Kiefer Sutherland!
A major part of the movie's charm is its' soundtrack. To be honest, it's hardly the Most Perfect Collection of Songs Ever, but it does have several memorable moments. There's a bunch of songs on the album that I have no recollection of being in the movie at all, but the ones I do remember left a lasting impression.
"Cry Little Sister" (Theme From The Lost Boys) by Gerard McMann makes its' first appearance during the opening sequence, and it sets the tone with its' haunting melody. It is very much THE song of the movie, to the extent of it being used in the dreadful 2008 sequel "Lost Boys: The Tribe" as well, although it was "updated" by the band Aiden. The song alone couldn't save the film from being very average. It did sell well though, a record-breaking 1,250,000 DVD copies! A third movie was made in 2010 called "Lost Boys: The Thirst", again a direct-to-DVD affair. I've got it in my collection but haven't dared to watch it yet...
I don't really care much for The Doors, but the cover of "People Are Strange" by Echo And The Bunnymen is strangely enjoyable, at least in the context of the movie. It's being first played while the Emerson family arrives to Santa Carla, where some of the people are, well, strange. Dead strange.
An eighties' action movie without an AOR song or two would sound weird, wouldn't it? The Lost Boys has it's share of AOR, with Lou Gramm's "Lost In The Shadows" and Tim Cappello's "I Still Believe" being the most well-known tracks of them. "Lost In The Shadows" is a pulsating track with plenty of keyboards, and I would rate it as one of the best Lou Gramm solo tracks. Stylewise it's closer to Lou's shortlived band Shadow King than "Midnight Blue" or Foreigner.
Tim Cappello gets to perform his song live (or at least lipsync) and his performance is quite memorable. Cappello, who played saxophone in Tina Turner's band during the eighties and the nineties, appears in the scene with his muscular upper body shirtless and oiled and a with a Steven Seagal-like ponytail. This image has been later duplicated in comedy scetches and videos that have gone viral - go and google "The Sexy Sax Man" for example. At the time of first seeing this movie, I thought it was Kane Roberts on stage...
Inxs and Jimmy Barnes perform two tracks together on the soundtrack, but I can't remember whether they were featured in the film. Possibly, as I find both tracks rather forgettable, basic rock tracks. Cult AOR band Eddie And The Tide's "Power Play" isn't too bad an AOR track but I can't remember it being played in the movie either.
During the closing credits, you can hear a Roger Daltrey-sung version of Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", which has been given a sort of a power ballad/Chicago treatment. This version is produced by Beau Hill, who was one of the most successful rock producers of the late eighties.
The movie has become something of a cult film over the years and it has had an influence on certain bands as well. To name a couple… already a couple of years after the film's release Lizzy Borden wrote "Be One Of Us" for their "Master Of Disguise" album, and more recently Finnish gothic rockers The 69 Eyes scored a big hit with a song called "Lost Boys". Both songs are obviously and admittedly influenced by the movie.
This episode of "And Then Some..." was written by Kimmo Toivonen
Soundtrack:
1. Good Times
3:52
2. Lost in the Shadows 6:36
3. Don't Let the Sun Go
Down on Me 6:11
4. Laying Down the Law 4:29
5. People Are
Strange 3:39
6. Cry Little Sister (Theme From The Lost Boys)
4:47
7. Power Play 3:59
8. I Still Believe 4:52
9.
Beauty Has Her Way 3:58
10. To the Shock of Miss Louise
1:24
The movie:
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Starring:
Jason Patric …
Michael Emerson
Corey Haim … Sam Emerson
Dianne
Wiest … Lucy Emerson
Barnard Hughes …
Isoisä
Edward Herrmann … Max
Kiefer
Sutherland … David
Jami Gertz … Star
Corey
Feldman … Edgar Frog
Jamison Newlander … Alan
Frog
Brooke McCarter … Paul
Billy Wirth …
Dwayne
Alex Winter … Marko
Chance Michael Corbitt
… Laddie Thompson