100 Fun Facts About Movie Soundtrack

Which soundtrack is the best-selling of all time?

The Bodyguard. Its signature ballad was a late swap: Whitney Houston was due to cover 'What Becomes of the Brokenhearted' until another film used it, so she sang Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' instead.

Which actor insisted on Whitney Houston as his co-star for her acting debut in 1992?

Kevin Costner. To get her, he held the production back for about a year, until her world tour had finished.

Which group wrote and sang the biggest hits on the 1977 John Travolta disco film's soundtrack?

The Bee Gees were only brought in during post-production: on set, John Travolta had been dancing to Stevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs.

Which John Travolta film hit did its label want retitled 'Saturday Night'?

'Stayin' Alive'. Its writers said too many songs were already called 'Saturday Night', and told their producer they would keep it for their own album if he disliked the new title.

Which album held the title of best-selling album in history until Michael Jackson's Thriller?

Saturday Night Fever. The film behind it was based on a magazine report on Brooklyn's disco dancers that its author, Nik Cohn, admitted in the 1990s he had largely made up.

Which two Purple Rain singles topped the Billboard Hot 100?

'When Doves Cry' and 'Let's Go Crazy'. Prince pulled the bass line out of the first at the last minute to make it less conventional, and it became the biggest US single of 1984.

Who composed the orchestral score for the 1997 film Titanic?

James Horner. The director wrote the script listening to Enya and approached her first; when she declined, Horner kept a Celtic sound, with Norwegian singer Sissel supplying the wordless vocals.

Who initially opposed putting a pop ballad like 'My Heart Will Go On' in Titanic?

James Cameron feared that ending the film on a pop song would look commercial, so the composer had Celine Dion record a demo and waited for him to be in a good mood before playing it.

Who sang the title song of Grease, written for the film by Barry Gibb?

Frankie Valli. By his account he was offered a choice between singing the title song and appearing in the film; he took the song, and another Frankie, Avalon, played the Teen Angel.

Which group plays the dance band in Grease and has six songs on its soundtrack?

Sha Na Na appear as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers. The 1950s revival act had won a slot at Woodstock nine years earlier with Jimi Hendrix's help, playing just before he closed the festival.

Who recorded 'Danger Zone' for Top Gun after plans for Toto to sing it fell through?

Kenny Loggins. The song had done the rounds first: he says REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin told him he passed on it because the notes were too high for his voice.

Which Top Gun song won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song?

'Take My Breath Away'. It was Berlin's biggest hit and its undoing: founder John Crawford had no hand in writing it, and the band split the following year.

Which 1987 film's soundtrack spent 18 weeks atop the Billboard 200?

Dirty Dancing. Few who saw it early expected a hit: one producer told its makers to burn the negative and collect the insurance.

Which film star sang the 1987 soundtrack hit 'She's Like the Wind'?

Patrick Swayze co-wrote it in 1984 for another of his films, Grandview, U.S.A., which turned it down, and he later played the demo to the producers of his new one.

Which composer produced Flashdance's music and shared the Oscar for its title song, 'What a Feeling'?

Giorgio Moroder composed and produced it, while Irene Cara, who co-wrote the words with Keith Forsey, sang a lyric in which the word 'Flashdance' never once appears.

'Eye of the Tiger' was written for Rocky III after Queen refused Stallone the use of which song?

'Another One Bites the Dust' was still on the rough cut Stallone sent to Survivor, who slashed out their guitar chords in time with the punches on screen.

Which musician sued Ray Parker Jr., claiming the Ghostbusters theme copied 'I Want a New Drug'?

Huey Lewis settled out of court in 1985 on terms that barred both men from discussing the case, so when he raised it on VH1's Behind the Music in 2001, Parker sued him.

Which song beat 'Ghostbusters' to the 1984 Oscar for Best Original Song?

'I Just Called to Say I Love You', from The Woman in Red. Stevie Wonder accepted the Oscar in the name of the jailed Nelson Mandela, and South Africa banned his music from its radio the next day.

Which film's soundtrack was the first made up entirely of older songs to top the Billboard 200?

Guardians of the Galaxy. Its 1960s and 70s hits play from a mixtape in Peter Quill's Walkman, his one link to the Earth and family he lost, and the album was later reissued on cassette to match.

Which composer scored The Lion King, with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice?

Hans Zimmer. Disney hired him on the strength of two earlier scores for films set in Africa, and he brought in the South African composer Lebo M to arrange its choirs.

Who sings 'Let It Go' within the film Frozen?

Idina Menzel. Her character, Elsa, was first written as a villain, and only after the song was composed did the directors rewrite her as one of the film's heroines.

'We Don't Talk About Bruno' was Disney animation's first Hot 100 number one since which song?

'A Whole New World', from Aladdin, reached number one in 1993, and no song from a Disney cartoon matched it until 'Bruno', which the studio had not even put forward for the Oscars.

Which surf-guitar track opens Pulp Fiction and its soundtrack?

'Misirlou'. Dick Dale's 1962 surf version reworked a folk tune from the eastern Mediterranean, and its use in the film relaunched his career with new albums and world tours.

Which Neil Diamond song did Urge Overkill cover on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack?

'Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon'. Urge Overkill had put the cover out on a 1992 EP, two years before Tarantino picked it up and the film carried the band into the Hot 100.

Which Coen film's soundtrack won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002?

O Brother, Where Art Thou? George Clooney only mimed its hit 'I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow': the lead voice of his Soggy Bottom Boys belonged to bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski.

Which singer's James Bond theme became the first to win the Oscar for Best Original Song, in 2013?

Adele. 'Skyfall' ended a fifty-year wait in which nominated themes such as 'Nobody Does It Better' had all lost, and the next two Bond songs went on to win as well.

'Lose Yourself', which won the Oscar for Best Original Song, came from which film's soundtrack?

8 Mile. Eminem skipped the Oscars, sure he had no chance, and was asleep at home when 'Lose Yourself' became the first rap song to take the award.

Which song from A Star Is Born (2018) won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe and two Grammys?

'Shallow' began as an end-credits song. Co-writer Mark Ronson has said an early script had the hero drowning, which is where its lines about diving in off the deep end came from.

Which rapper curated Black Panther: The Album and duetted with SZA on 'All the Stars'?

Kendrick Lamar was asked by director Ryan Coogler for only a few songs, but after seeing an early cut of the film he decided to produce a whole album instead.

Which Barbie the Album track won the Grammy for Song of the Year?

'What Was I Made For?'. Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas wrote it after Greta Gerwig showed them a rough cut, ending a long spell of writer's block, and it went on to win the Oscar too.

Which Simon & Garfunkel song was adapted from a work in progress to fit The Graduate?

'Mrs. Robinson' began life as the half-finished 'Mrs. Roosevelt'. The film character's name, which has the same number of syllables, was swapped in, and director Mike Nichols kept it for the picture.

Which film's soundtrack did Isaac Hayes agree to write after being promised an audition for the title role?

Shaft. The audition never came and the part went to Richard Roundtree, but Hayes kept his side of the deal, and its theme won him the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Whose Super Fly soundtrack topped the Billboard album chart in 1972?

Curtis Mayfield thought the film played like an advert for cocaine, so he wrote lyrics about poverty and addiction that set out to show its dealer's world as nothing pretty.

Which film's theme did Steven Spielberg first take for a joke when John Williams played it to him on a piano?

Jaws. Spielberg had expected something melodic, but Williams argued that two grinding notes should be as relentless and brainless as the shark itself, and the score won the Oscar.

A disco version of which film's theme reached number one in the US in 1977, outcharting the original?

Star Wars. Meco's disco medley of the theme and the cantina band music spent two weeks at number one, while John Williams's own orchestral recording stopped at number ten.

Which Greek composer played the entire Chariots of Fire score himself on synthesizers, piano and drums?

Vangelis called the theme an anthem to his father, who had been a runner, and wrote it only after talking the director out of using one of his older tracks for the beach scene.

Which album spent 109 weeks in the Billboard top ten in the 1960s, the most of any soundtrack?

The Sound of Music. Its two new songs, 'I Have Confidence' and 'Something Good', have words as well as music by Richard Rodgers, because his lyricist Oscar Hammerstein had died in 1960.

Which producer oversaw the all-female-star Waiting to Exhale soundtrack?

Babyface also wrote its number one, 'Exhale (Shoop Shoop)', and admitted the 'shoops' are there because he could not think of any words for that part and they felt too good to cut.

Which director won a Grammy for hand-picking the Garden State soundtrack?

Zach Braff built it from a mix CD he made while writing the script. Sales of the Shins rose after the scene where Natalie Portman's character plays him 'New Slang' and swears it will change his life.

Whose 'All Star' began as a temporary placeholder over Shrek's opening credits and ended up staying?

Smash Mouth. The film-makers had commissioned a sound-alike from another band to replace it, until DreamWorks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg told them simply to keep the original.

Which Leonard Cohen song is heard in Shrek in John Cale's version?

'Hallelujah'. Rufus Wainwright sings it on the soundtrack album instead, and the film gave Leonard Cohen's long-overlooked 1984 song its widest audience yet, with covers and talent-show performances to follow.

Which film's songs became the first commercially issued soundtrack album, in 1938?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney had no music publisher of its own then, so the songs' rights went to an outside firm, Bourne, which still holds them and later took Disney to court over them.

Which composer built the theme of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on a two-note howl like a coyote's?

Ennio Morricone. He gave the same howl to each of the film's three leads in a different sound: a flute for Blondie, an ocarina for Angel Eyes and human voices for Tuco.

Which Footloose soundtrack song by Deniece Williams joined the title track at number one on the Hot 100?

'Let's Hear It for the Boy' was written late in production to replace a gloomier song in the scene where Kevin Bacon's character teaches his friend to dance, because the director felt the first one was not working.

Which animated film's soundtrack introduced Pharrell Williams's 'Happy'?

Despicable Me 2. Pharrell had written seven to nine rejected songs for the scene before this one, and first gave it to CeeLo Green, whose label decided against releasing his version.

Three Purple Rain tracks, including the title song, were recorded live at which Minneapolis venue?

First Avenue. The August 1983 show was a benefit for a local dance company and guitarist Wendy Melvoin's first with the band, and the film's concert scenes were later shot in the same club.

Which singer was originally asked to write lyrics for 'Purple Rain', then conceived as a country song?

Stevie Nicks was sent a ten-minute instrumental with a request for words and turned it down, telling Prince that it was too much for her and that she wished she could do it.

Whose cover of Steve Miller Band's 'Fly Like an Eagle' debuted on the 1996 Space Jam soundtrack?

Seal. Twenty years after the original, he worked a line from his own hit 'Crazy' into the cover, which opened an album that went six times platinum.

Who sings the end-credits version of 'Let It Go' on the Frozen soundtrack?

Demi Lovato. Disney put her pop version out first to win radio play, but stations barely touched it, and the recording sung in the film itself became the far bigger hit.

Simple Minds at first refused to record 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' for which 1985 film?

The Breakfast Club. Simple Minds did not want to record a song they had not written, and Bryan Ferry had turned it down too, but a visit from its co-writer Keith Forsey won the band round.

Which song was almost cut from The Wizard of Oz for slowing the pace?

'Over the Rainbow' survived only because the film's producer and director insisted it stay. It went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song and became Garland's signature tune.

Which Johann Strauss waltz accompanies the space station docking in 2001: A Space Odyssey?

The Blue Danube stayed in after Kubrick abandoned the original score he had commissioned from Alex North. North only found out when he watched the finished film at its premiere.

Which Hitchcock film's murder scene was to have no music until Bernard Herrmann wrote shrieking strings?

Psycho got its screeching cue after the two men screened the scene with and without music. Herrmann scored the whole film for strings alone, a 'black-and-white sound' for a black-and-white picture.

Which director composed and recorded the score of his own slasher film Halloween in three days?

John Carpenter billed himself in the credits as the 'Bowling Green Philharmonic Orchestra'. His score is mostly one piano melody in 5/4 time, far from the usual symphonic horror soundtrack.

Which horror film made a hit of Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells' by using its opening piano motif?

The Exorcist rescued an album that had been selling slowly. Director William Friedkin had rejected a score by Lalo Schifrin and thrown the tapes away in the studio parking lot.

Which comedy's car headbanging scene sent Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' to number two in the US in 1992?

Wayne's World kept the song only because Mike Myers threatened to quit when the studio wanted Guns N' Roses instead. The single had first peaked at number nine in America in 1976.

Which Chuck Berry song does Marty McFly perform at a high school dance in Back to the Future?

'Johnny B. Goode' becomes a time-loop joke when bandleader Marvin Berry phones his cousin Chuck to hear 'that new sound you're looking for'. Berry's own recording is travelling through space on the Voyager Golden Record.

Whose song 'In Your Eyes' does John Cusack blast from a boombox held above his head in Say Anything...?

Peter Gabriel first refused, uneasy about an overdose scene, because the studio had sent him the wrong film. He approved 'In Your Eyes' once he saw the right one.

Which rock band got its first US number one with the Armageddon ballad 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing'?

Aerosmith reached the top with a song Diane Warren had imagined for 'Celine Dion or somebody like that'. Singer Steven Tyler's daughter Liv stars in the film.

Which country star devised the typewriter beat of '9 to 5' by clacking her acrylic fingernails?

Dolly Parton wrote the song for the office comedy in which she made her film debut. Her nails are even credited as an instrument on the recording.

Which song does Ilsa ask Sam, the house pianist at Rick's café, to play in Casablanca?

'As Time Goes By' was a 1931 Broadway tune that composer Max Steiner disliked and wanted to replace. He was stuck with it because Ingrid Bergman had already cut her hair for another role and could not reshoot.

Which song does Audrey Hepburn sing with a guitar on the fire escape in Breakfast at Tiffany's?

'Moon River' nearly vanished after a tepid preview, when a Paramount executive suggested removing it. Hepburn is said to have answered, 'Over my dead body!'

Which composer wrote the jazzy Pink Panther theme with tenor saxophonist Plas Johnson in mind?

Henry Mancini's tune came first: the cartoon panther created for the opening credits was animated in time to it. The piece went on to win three Grammy Awards.

Which ragtime composer's 'The Entertainer' became a 1970s hit single as the theme of The Sting?

Scott Joplin's rag won Marvin Hamlisch an Oscar for adapting it. Since the film, many ice cream trucks in the United States and Canada have played the tune to attract customers.

Which film about a Georgia canoe trip made the instrumental 'Dueling Banjos' famous?

Deliverance used the tune without crediting Arthur Smith, who had written it in 1954. He sued and won both the songwriting credit and the royalties.

Which Bill Conti theme plays as Rocky Balboa runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art?

'Gonna Fly Now' reached number one on the US singles chart in 1977 in Conti's own orchestral version. A cover by jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson made the top 30 as well.

Which Welsh singer recorded the themes for three James Bond films, starting with Goldfinger?

Shirley Bassey got her only Top 40 hit on the American singles chart from the first of them, Goldfinger, in 1965.

Which soul legend sings 'Think' to stop her husband rejoining the band in The Blues Brothers?

Aretha Franklin was not used to lip-syncing, so the number needed many takes and heavy editing. Her sister Carolyn and cousin Brenda sang the backing vocals on the new recording.

Which Tarantino film pairs a policeman's torture with the breezy hit 'Stuck in the Middle with You'?

Reservoir Dogs was Tarantino's 1992 debut. The Stealers Wheel song was written as a parody of Bob Dylan's style, close enough that listeners have wrongly credited it to him.

Whose song 'Lust for Life', co-written with David Bowie, found new fans through Trainspotting?

Iggy Pop and Bowie wrote the song on a ukulele. The film's marketing leaned on it so heavily that a 1996 reissue gave it a new UK chart peak, almost twenty years after its release.

Which Canadian composer wove over 50 leitmotifs into the scores of the Lord of the Rings trilogy?

Howard Shore won three Oscars for the trilogy. Decades earlier he had been the original musical director of Saturday Night Live, where he also wrote the show's theme.

Which former Oingo Boingo frontman scored Tim Burton's Batman and wrote the theme for The Simpsons?

Danny Elfman went on to score most of Burton's films, and in The Nightmare Before Christmas he is also the singing voice of Jack Skellington.

Which singer-songwriter wrote and sang 'You've Got a Friend in Me' as the main theme of Toy Story?

Randy Newman also recorded it as a duet with country singer Lyle Lovett for the first film. By the third, the Gipsy Kings were singing it in Spanish.

Which composer wrote the music for Disney's The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin?

Alan Menken was hired by Disney on the strength of his stage musical Little Shop of Horrors. The Little Mermaid's success then launched the era known as the Disney Renaissance.

Which Disney film has Dwayne Johnson singing 'You're Welcome', written by Lin-Manuel Miranda?

Moana hired Miranda before Hamilton had opened on Broadway, so he was still little known and had to audition for the job.

Which pop group's hits supply the songs of Mamma Mia!, the musical filmed with Meryl Streep in 2008?

ABBA came together for the Swedish premiere in Stockholm, the first time all four members had been photographed together since 1986.

Which song from The Greatest Showman, belted out by Keala Settle's bearded lady, won a Golden Globe?

'This Is Me' took the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for both an Oscar and a Grammy. Settle plays Lettie Lutz, one of the performers in P. T. Barnum's circus.

Which film set in Mumbai closes with a railway-station dance number to A. R. Rahman's 'Jai Ho'?

Slumdog Millionaire won eight Oscars, two of them for Rahman's score and this song. He later admitted he had not expected the number to win him one.

Which Telugu-language epic won the Oscar for Best Original Song with the dance number 'Naatu Naatu'?

RRR shot the sequence in Kyiv at the Mariinskyi Palace, the official residence of Ukraine's president, a few months before the Russian invasion began.

Which Pixar film has a boy revive his great-grandmother's memory by playing her 'Remember Me'?

Coco is the great-grandmother's name, not the boy's. The song won the Oscar for Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, the couple who wrote the songs for Frozen.

Which rock star wrote 'Streets of Philadelphia' at the request of director Jonathan Demme?

Bruce Springsteen got a simple brief from Demme: 'I want it to play in the malls.' The song won the Oscar and four Grammys, including Song of the Year.

Which rapper's 'Gangsta's Paradise', built on a Stevie Wonder song, led the Dangerous Minds soundtrack?

Coolio kept the track free of profanity because Wonder did not want his 1976 song 'Pastime Paradise' paired with swearing. Wonder shares the writing credit.

Which Labelle hit did Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa and Pink remake for Moulin Rouge!?

'Lady Marmalade' spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in its 2001 remake and topped the UK chart too. Labelle's original had also been a US number one.

Which Ben E. King classic returned to the US top ten after Rob Reiner named a 1986 film after it?

'Stand by Me' replaced the film's original title, The Body, which the studio feared was misleading. The song then climbed to number nine, 25 years after first reaching number four.

Which Tom Cruise film has him lip-syncing in his underwear to Bob Seger's 'Old Time Rock and Roll'?

Risky Business gave the song a second life: re-released after the film came out in 1983, it returned to the Billboard chart. The scene has been spoofed on TV from ALF to 9-1-1.

Which Elton John song that stalled at number 41 in the US found new fame in the film Almost Famous?

'Tiny Dancer' ran over six minutes, which made it a non-starter as a single in America, and it was not even released as a single in the UK.

Which road film sets its bikers' trip out of Los Angeles to Steppenwolf's 'Born to Be Wild'?

Easy Rider tied the song to biker culture for good, though its lyrics never mention motorcycles. Its line 'heavy metal thunder' is the first use of that phrase in a song lyric.

Which Wagner piece blares from helicopter loudspeakers during a village attack in Apocalypse Now?

Ride of the Valkyries had gone to war on screen long before Vietnam: it was part of the score for the silent epic The Birth of a Nation in 1915.

Which singer's cover of 'Everybody's Talkin'' became a top-ten hit through the film Midnight Cowboy?

Harry Nilsson had written his own song for the film, 'I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City', but director John Schlesinger preferred the cover. It won Nilsson a Grammy.

Which David Lean epic introduced 'Lara's Theme', later given lyrics as the song 'Somewhere, My Love'?

Doctor Zhivago got its love theme after Lean told composer Maurice Jarre to stop thinking about Russia, go to the mountains with his girlfriend and write a tune for her.

Which mafia epic lost its Oscar nomination for best score because Nino Rota had reused an old melody?

The Godfather's love theme was too close to music Rota had written for a 1958 Italian comedy, so the Academy removed the nomination. The score still won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Grammy.

Which stringed instrument did Anton Karas play for the entire score of The Third Man?

The zither was a chance find: director Carol Reed heard Karas playing in Vienna and brought him to London to score the film. The theme then spent eleven weeks at number one in America in 1950.

Which electronic instrument did Miklós Rózsa pioneer in Hollywood scores such as Spellbound?

The theremin is played without being touched, the performer's hands moving in the air near two metal antennas. Its wail went on to haunt science fiction such as The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Which Israeli-American violinist played the solos on the Oscar-winning score for Schindler's List?

Itzhak Perlman contracted polio at the age of four and has performed seated ever since. He has been the solo violin on several other film scores too.

Which 'ghost singer' dubbed Audrey Hepburn's songs in My Fair Lady and Deborah Kerr's in The King and I?

Marni Nixon went unbilled, and Time magazine nicknamed her 'The Ghostess with the Mostest'. Kerr broke with Hollywood convention by publicly crediting her singing.

Which industrial rock star won an Oscar with Atticus Ross for scoring The Social Network?

Trent Reznor, the man behind Nine Inch Nails, later won a second Oscar with Ross for the Pixar film Soul, shared with jazz musician Jon Batiste.

Which French electronic act scored Tron: Legacy and turns up on screen as the DJs in a nightclub?

Daft Punk had never scored a film before. The pair blended their electronics with an 85-piece orchestra recorded in London.

Jonny Greenwood, who scored There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread, is the lead guitarist of which band?

Radiohead's guitarist saw his There Will Be Blood score ruled ineligible for the Oscars because it borrowed from an earlier concert piece of his own.

Which film musical's soundtrack spent 54 weeks atop Billboard's stereo albums chart in the early 1960s?

West Side Story's 54 weeks are often cited as the longest run at number one of any album, though some lists discount it because that chart covered stereo records only.

Which band's bassist and drummer had a 1996 hit with their remake of the Mission: Impossible theme?

U2's Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. took the tune to number seven in the US. Its composer, Lalo Schifrin, joked that his original five-beat rhythm was for mutant people with five legs.