Office of Future Plans continue their TVD Takeover Week and from the “it’s all gotta start somewhere file” bassist Brooks Harlan fills us in out his first vinyl record. Ever.
For the second day of our Vinyl District take over, I would like to write about the very first time I exchanged my cold hard cash for 12 inch vinyl. It was the summer of 1985 in El Paso, TX. I had some birthday money in my pocket and I jumped in the car with my Dad. He was headed to Sears to browse the tool section. I was hoping to spot something else, something that I could claim as my own. And there it was, on a shelf at Sears – Back to the Future: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack.
I was a big fan of the movie – it had science, rock-n-roll, love, comedy, what else is there? I grabbed the record. Made a B line to the cashier and paid my OWN money for music. I made my OWN purchasing decision for the first time in my life.
Within the hour, I had this thing blasting on the stereo in the family playroom. It stayed there in heavy rotation for at least a month. Did buying this record myself make me love the record more? Definitely. Is it a good record anyway? Yes!
This soundtrack is an eclectic mix of pop songs and orchestral score. My young hungry ears ate it up. The very first track is “the Power of Love” – Huey Lewis’ first number one song. Listening to this song is like going to pop song-writing school. Of course “Back in Time” by Huey and the boys is on here too.
The “Back to the Future” orchestral overture is probably the reason I wanted the record in the first place. It has one of the most heroic and exciting French horn parts ever written. (I ended up playing French horn for 10 years, probably thanks to this and the theme from Dallas.)
Interestingly, there are three “oldies” cover songs on this record credited to characters in the movie. They are “Night Train” and “Earth Angel (Will you Be Mine)” by Marvin Berry and the Starlighters and “Johnny B. Goode” by Marty McFly and the Starlighters. These songs really sucked me in. The 50’s sound was something new to me. I quickly learned all the words and it’s funny to think that this version of “Johnny B. Good” was the only one I would know for a few years.
Filling in the rest of the record are some random selections – “Time Bomb Town” – Lindsey Buckingham, “Heaven Is One Step Away” – Eric Clapton, and “The Wallflower (Dance with Me Henry)” – Etta James
I have so many memories associated with this record. I could put it on today and still know every word and every swell in the score. Unfortunately, I can’t put it on today (well not my original copy anyway.) Listening to it so much, moving the needle back and forth so much, eventually left me with a bad scratch on every song and then the death knell – leaving it on a Fisher Price turntable in the backyard under the sun. RIP Back to the Future: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack. Lost but not forgotten.
Office of Future Plans open for Dismemberment Plan Sunday night at the 9:30.
