Time Life's Classic Soundtrack Collection

This one's for anybody who's no longer thrilled by the soft rock (that's ROCK) collection. That's advertised by Air Supply - what else do you need? Country Classics presented by Kenny Rogers? DONE! 

Anyway, soundtracks these days are a bit of farce. Anywhere you see the words "music inspired by" you may as well just pour the CDs into that dodgy Cranbourne landfill and begone with them. Today, for want of anything better to do, we present TSP's all time top three favourite soundtrack albums. Your opinion may vary - I'm sure that's nice for you. 

Reservoir Dogs

The best $5 I ever spent at one of those 'Everything must go' sales. Almost completely devoid of hits, and about as short as you can get away with and still expect people to pay, but dripping with quality from top to bottom. The highlight is Little Green Bag, which was always one of my favourite songs in a childhood inexplicably spent listening to Gold 104 when they were so hardcore about the 'oldies' that they didn't even play songs from the 80's. 

1. And Now Little Green Bag... - Dialogue by Steven Wright 

2. Little Green Bag - George Baker 

3. Rock Flock Of Five - Dialogue by Steven Wright 

4. Hooked On A Feeling - Blue Suede 

5. Bohemiath - Dialogue by Steven Wright
6. I Gotcha - Joe Tex
7. Magic Carpet Ride - Bedlam
8. Madonna Speech - Dialogue by Quentin Tarantino
9. Fool For Love - Sandy Rogers
10. Super Sounds - Dialogue by Steven Wright
11. Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel
12. Harvest Moon - Bedlam
13. Let's Get A Taco - Dialogue by Harvey Keitel 

14. Keep On Truckin' - Dialogue by Steven Wright
15. Coconut - Harry Nilsson
16. Home Of Rock - Dialogue by Steven Wright 

Everyone knows Stealers Wheel, but the two Bedlam tracks are hidden highlights. Their cover of Magic Carpet Ride is flawless (I prefer it to the original) and as the title would suggest Harvest Moon is the Neil Young song that Neil Young never bothered to write himself. Throw in the Joe Tex track (later covered in ordinary fashion by Jimmy Barnes) and Coconut - one of the best closing credit music moments in cinema history and you're getting more than your $5 worth.

Party Monster

Sleazy 80's/90's disco/house out the wazoo from a film featuring the shock return of Macauley Culkin. Good film, but the soundtrack is where all the action is. 

1. Take Me to the Club - Mannequin
2. Seventeen - Ladytron
3. Frank Sinatra - Miss Kittin & The Hacker 

4. Money, Success, Fame, Glamour - Felix Da Housecat Vs. Pop Tarts/Macauley Culkin/Seth Green/Chloe ... 

5. You're My Disco - Waldorf 

6. Two of Hearts - Stacey Q 

7. Overdose - Tomcraft 

8. Get Happy - Happy Thought Hall 

9. Le Rock 01 - Vitalic 

10. Go - Tones On Tail 

11. New York New York - Nina Hagen 

12. It Can't Come Quickly Enough - Scissor Sisters 

13. Inside Out - W.I.T. 

14. Kiss Me - Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy 

15. Give Me Tonight - Shannon 

16. How to Be a Millionaire - ABC

17. Crash - Keoki 

18. The La La Song - Marilyn Manson as Christina 

19. Good Is Bad - Headrillaz/Ricky Barrow 

Highlights - Frank Sinatra (electoclash sleaze), You're My Disco and Nina Hagen's New York, New York which has absolutely nothing to do with the version made famous by Frankie. 

Velvet Goldmine 
One of my favourite films of all time - and that's got absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you can see Toni Collette's muff. 

1. Needle In The Camel's Eye - Brian Eno
2. Hot One - Shudder To Think 

3. 20th Century Boy - Placebo 

4. 2HB - The Venus In Furs 

5. T.V. Eye - Wylde Rattz 

6. Ballad of Maxwell Demon - Shudder To Think 

7. The Whole Shebang - Grant Lee Buffalo 

8. Ladytron - The Venus In Furs 

9. We Are The Boys - Pulp 

10. Virginia Plain - Roxy Music 

11. Personality Crisis - Teenage Fanclub & Donna Matthews 

12. Satelite Of Love - Lou Reed 

13. Diamond Meadows - T. Rex 

14. Bitter's End - Paul Kimble & Andy Mackay

15. Baby's On Fire - The Venus In Furs 

16. Bitter-Sweet - The Venus In Furs 

17. Velvet Spacetime - Carter Burwell 

18. Tumbling Down - The Venus In Furs 

19. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) - Steve Harley 

Quality 70s tracks all over, top shelf covers by The Venus In Furs (featuring Radiohead's Thom Yorke in shock 'useful' mode) and the last known sighting of Elastic's Donna Matthews (who as we've previously discussed I had some sort of sick crush on when I was 15). The two major highlights, though, are the Shudder To Think tracks. The versions in the movie are a million times removed from the ones on the album, and Hot One in particular is still one of my favourite songs ever.