2023 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

In a matter of days, one of these five songs will receive this year's Oscar for Best Original Song, an eclectic bunch of compositions that adds some real intrigue to this category. There are a couple of nominees that created music for two of the biggest box-office hits of 2022 who also happen to be two of today's greatest pop superstars. Lady Gaga contributed the '80's styled, power-ballad, "Hold My Hand" to the long-awaited sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick" which displayed Tom Cruise still has a need for speed. After a few years away from working on new music, Rihanna returned with a mournful ballad for the soundtrack to "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" with the director, Ryan Coogler also nominated for co-writing the song. The teaming of the idiosyncratic artists, David Byrne, Mitski and Ryan Lott of the band, Son Lux was the perfect combination to come up with, "This is a Life" for the absurdist comedy-fantasy, "Everything Everywhere All at Once". Lott along with bandmates, Ian Chang, and Rafiq Bhatia were also recognized for creating the original music score for the film. I'm still shocked that the only nomination that the epic Indian action drama, "RRR" received was for the song, "Naatu Naatu", a Telugu-language song that was used in the high-energy dance sequence which is one of many highlights in this movie. And Diane Warren received her fourteenth nomination for the ballad, "Applause" from the little-seen, anthology film, "Tell It like a Woman". I'm afraid to say Warren will probably have to continue enjoying the Honorary Oscar she received last year.

As for the winner, I think it could be Gaga's "Hold My Hand" if the Academy is feeling safe but the more adventurous "Naatu Naatu" would be the more thrilling selection. Here are the five nominated songs to hear and judge for yourself:

"Applause" from "Tell It like a Woman" - (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)



"Hold My Hand" from "Top Gun: Maverick" - (Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop)



"Lift Me Up" from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" - (Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler)



"Naatu Naatu" from "RRR" - (Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose)



"This Is A Life" from "Everything Everywhere All at Once" - (Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne)

MOVIE SOUNDS

It has been over thirty-five years since Tom Cruise appeared in the action-drama, "Top Gun" which helped turn him into a major movie-star. Now there is a very long awaited sequel on the horizon with "Top Gun: Maverick" finally due to reach theaters on May 27th after the pandemic delayed the release by two years. And an unlikely artist has contributed a love ballad for the soundtrack of the film: Lady Gaga. "Hold My Hand" (co-written and produced by Gaga and Bloodpop along with additional production assistance by Benjamin Rice) is a rock driven track that initially brings to mind a classic power ballad of the '80s yet this is undeniably an offbeat, emotionally powerful Lady Gaga song. The video drives the nostalgic vibe even further home with Gaga, in her version of military drag, performing the song while clips from the upcoming movie that show us the now-Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell today, are played.

Baz Luhrmann, the filmmaker behind the colorfully vibrant works, "Romeo + Juliet", "The Great Gatsby" and "Moulin Rouge!", is delivering a movie based on the life of the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley with "Elvis" which is due in theaters on June 24th. The movie doesn't appear to be your typical bio-pic and much like what he did with the soundtracks for his previous films, there will be contemporary artists performing classic songs by Presley and music inspired by the musician. One of the songs recently released is "Vegas" by Doja Cat. Using a sample of Big Mama Thornton's 1952 hit song, "Hound Dog" (which Presley would later cover in 1956 and make even more popular), Doja Cat delivers a rap/hip-hop flavored track that has her taking down a lover who proves not to be worth her time. This great tune makes me curious to hear what else that will be on this soundtrack.

2022 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

In little over a week, the winner of this year's Oscar for Best Original Song will be announced and the nominees are a particularly strong group of songs. Beyoncé performs a moving ballad, "Be Alive" for the Venus and Serena Williams bio-pic, "King Richard" which she co-wrote with DIXSON.  The only song nominated from the hit soundtrack of the Disney animated feature, "Encanto" is the Spanish language tune, "Dos Oruguitas", written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed in the film by Colombian singer-songwriter, Sebastián Yatra. For Kenneth Branagh's semi-autobiographical drama, "Belfast", Van Morrison (a native of the Irish city) composed the score, which uses eight of his classic songs, and wrote a new song, "Down For Joy". Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas wrote the haunting theme song for Daniel Craig's final turn as James Bond with the title track, "No Time To Die". The song was originally released in February 2020 with the film due in May but the pandemic changed those plans. "No Time To Die" finally reached theaters in September 2021, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year. And country legend, Reba McEntire performs "Somehow You Do", the inspirational song by Diane Warren for the film, "Four Good Days" that features Glenn Close and Mila Kunis. This is Warren's thirteenth nomination in this category without a win and while she is greatly admired, I don't think this will be her year.

I would love to see Beyoncé win the award but I think it's likely that Billie Eilish will take home the Oscar since the Academy really loves a James Bond theme. Here are the five nominated songs to hear and judge for yourself:

"Be Alive" from "King Richard" (music and lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter)



"Dos Oruguitas" from "Encanto" (music and lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda)



"Down to Joy" from "Belfast" (music and lyric by Van Morrison)



"No Time to Die" from "No Time to Die" (music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell)



"Somehow You Do" from "Four Good Days" (music and lyric by Diane Warren)

RESPECT

"Respect", the movie on the life of "the Queen of Soul", Aretha Franklin is finally hitting theaters today after a year delay due to COVID. Jennifer Hudson, who was personally selected by Franklin before her passing in 2018, plays the legendary performer. The film traces Franklin from the beginning as a child growing up in Detroit, displaying her amazing gift singing in her church lead by her reverend father. She soon begins a recording career as a young woman but does not find success immediately, struggling to find her voice as an artist. But a move to Atlantic Records and more input in to creating her music lead to Franklin's long, extraordinary career. "Respect" covers the joy and thrills in Franklin's life but also the heartbreak and trauma the singer had to endure. Hudson ignites the screen as Franklin, performing many of the Queen's biggest hits and sang them live on set during filming.



Jim Farber of Parade Magazine has looked back on Franklin's incredible catalog of music and selected twelve of her biggest hits and tells the story behind each of them. We get her iconic cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" to Franklin's last major charting song in 1998, "A Rose Is Still a Rose", which was written and produced by Ms. Lauryn Hill.

Click below to read the article:

Aretha! The Stories Behind Her Greatest Hits

2021 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

This year's Oscar nominees for Best Original Song features another group of strong contenders with any one of them being a good choice for the award. The Netflix musical-comedy of the annual Eurovision Song contest, "The Story of Fire Saga" has their only nomination with the pop-power ballad, "Húsavík (My Hometown)" which actress, Rachel McAdams lip syncs in the film to the vocals of Swedish pop singer, Molly Sandén. "Hear My Voice", from "The Trial of the Chicago 7", was written by composer, Daniel Pemberton and rising British soul singer, Celeste who also performs the tune. Actor Leslie Odom, Jr. does double duty; playing soul legend, Sam Cooke in the film, "One Night in Miami..." and co-writing (with Sam Ashworth) and performing the nominated song, "Speak Now". R&B vocalist, H.E.R. delivers a powerful anthem, "Fight For You" for the bio-drama, "Judas and the Black Messiah" which involves the tragic betrayal of Black Panther chairman, Fred Hampton by an FBI informant. And there is "Io Si (Seen)" from the feature film "The Life Ahead" which is highlighted by the return of screen legend, Sophia Loren. This ballad was co-written by Italian pop star, Laura Pausini (who also performs the song) and Diane Warren, making this her twelfth Oscar nomination yet she still hasn't taken home the prize.

My prediction is that the award will go to the sentimental favorite, Diane Warren for her well-admired work over her lengthy career. But who knows? Here are the five nominated songs to hear and judge for yourself:

"Fight for You" from "Judas and the Black Messiah" (Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas)



"Hear My Voice" from "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite)



"Húsavík" from "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga" (Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson)



"Io Si (Seen)" from "The Life Ahead" (Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini)



"Speak Now" from "One Night in Miami..." (Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth)

BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART

I finally got around to watching the HBO documentary on the Gibb brothers, "Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" and it's truly wonderful. The film by director Frank Marshall explores this Australian musical family trio from their early beginning singing tight harmonies as children before venturing to Britain to become considered the second coming of The Beatles and then making a name for themselves in the 1970's with their unique falsetto driven dance music.

There is a new interview with Barry, the last surviving member of the group that was made-up with the twins, Maurice (who died in 2003) and Robin (who passed away in 2012), who discusses in the film how they struggled with their fame and success which also put a great strain on their relationships with each other.

With archival footage and vintage interviews, the documentary covers the young brothers initially singing for pocket money before attracting enough attention to become professional. A planned move to Britain lead to Brian Epstein, who managed the Beatles, passing their demos on to Robert Stigwood in 1967. The flamboyant, Australian-born manager/producer took on Bee Gees as clients and helped guide them to charting success in the UK and America with the songs, "New York Mining Disaster 1941", "Holiday", "Massachusetts", "Words" and "To Love Somebody" which had been originally written by the brothers for Otis Redding.

In 1975, Stigwood encouraged Bee Gees to move towards the hot new sound in music, disco. During recording in Miami, Barry discovered his falsetto which would create the distinctive sound heard on the songs, "Jive Talkin'", "Nights on Broadway" and "You Should Be Dancing". Stigwood, who had moved in to film production, got Bee Gees to do work on the soundtrack for an upcoming John Travolta movie, "Saturday Night Fever". Although they were only supposed to do one song, Bee Gees ended up working on the entire album. The soundtrack became one of the best-selling albums of all-time with forty million copies sold and the singles written by the Gibb brothers, "Stayin' Alive", "Night Fever", "How Deep Is Your Love" and "If I Can't Have You" (performed by Yvonne Elliman) all reaching number one in the US. And while Bee Gees became one of the major performers riding the disco wave, finding incredible acclaim and pop chart success, they were stunned by the extreme backlash to their music and rapid decline in popularity near the beginning of the 1980's. 

"How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" is a fascinating film (which also touches on the brief yet substantial music career of their younger brother, Andy who died in 1988 at the age of thirty after years of substance abuse) that covers the brilliant highs and tragic lows of a group that I don't believe has ever been fully appreciated for their contributions to popular music. While watching the doc, you listen to one amazing song after another that highlights the astonishing songwriting craft of the Gibb brothers, leaving no doubt about the importance and enduring legacy of the Bee Gees.



And the now seventy-four year old, Barry Gibb has released a new album, "Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook, Vol. 1". This first collection features eleven classic Bee Gees songs that have been reimagined as country numbers. Gibb has recruited several musicians to join him for duets of these tunes like Dolly Parton, Sheryl Crow, Little Big Town, Jason Isbell and fellow Aussies, Keith Urban and Olivia Newton-John. Have a listen to a few of the tracks:

2020 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

This year's Oscar nominations were announced on January 13th and the awards will be presented on February 9th which makes it the earliest the awards have ever been given out. And without any nonsense about eliminating the Best Original Song nominees from the show, that means that all of the singers of these songs have been invited to perform at the 92nd annual ceremony. This year is particularly strong in this category with any of them being a worthy winner. But I have to say I'm leaning towards Elton John's song from "Rocketman". This Motown-inspired, foot-stomper, "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" has John collaborating with his long-time co-writer, Bernie Taupin and this would only be the second award this legendary team has ever won together following their recent Golden Globe win for this song. Here are all five Best Original Song nominees for your listening pleasure:

"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" from "Toy Story 4"; music and lyrics by Randy Newman



"(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from "Rocketman"; music by Elton John; lyrics by Bernie Taupin



"I'm Standing With You" from "Breakthrough"; music and lyrics by Diane Warren



"Into the Unknown" from "Frozen II"; music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez



"Stand Up" from "Harriet"; music and lyrics by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo

2019 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

With the Kevin Hart hosting scandal creating some unwanted attention to this year’s Oscars, the Academy have found themselves in another mess but this time it appears to be of their own making. A rumor surfaced that the telecast would only invite two of the five Best Original Song nominees to perform (with the two being the pop hits from Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga). The issue intensified when the Academy did not deny this was accurate which created swift backlash. Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted to the Academy his unhappiness with this plan and reminded them the importance of hearing all of the nominees on the program. I agree completely with Mr Miranda that the songs have always been an enjoyable part of the Oscars and feel strongly that you should either invite all or no one. I think it’s rude and disrespectful to the nominees to be picking and choosing who gets to perform on the show.

But it seems the Academy have come to their senses (and apparently with a little nudge from Lady Gaga) and announced that all the five Original Songs will be performed live although in a shorter 90 second format. I’m not sure yet what is worse.

So that means we will see Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper recreating their moment in the movie, "A Star Is Born" with "Shallow"; Jennifer Hudson performing "I'll Fight", the theme song for the smash documentary, "RBG" about Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg which was written by Diane Warren who has received her tenth nomination in this category (and most likely to lose for the tenth time); David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, the writers of the song, "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" from the Coen Brothers' western comedy, "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs", will sing their nominated tune and a "Surprise Special Guest" will perform the song from "Mary Poppins Returns", "The Place Where Lost Things Go" since actress, Emily Blunt, who sang the song in the movie, declined. There is no official word yet if Kendrick Lamar and SZA will appear to perform their hit song, "All The Stars" from "Black Panther". As for the winner, I think "Shallow" has a slight edge to take the Oscar but my personal choice would be "All The Stars". But we will see on February 24th when the 91st Annual Academy Awards will be presented. Here are all five Best Original Song nominees for your listening pleasure:

"All The Stars" from "Black Panther": Music by Kendrick Lamar, Mark “Sounwave” Spears and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar, SZA and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith



"I'll Fight" from "RBG": Music and Lyric by Diane Warren



"The Place Where Lost Things Go" from "Mary Poppins Return": Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman



"Shallow" from "A Star Is Born": Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt



"When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" from "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs": Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

THE 100 BEST ACTING PERFORMANCES BY MUSICIANS

While Lady Gaga has been receiving heaps of critical praise and audience love for her dramatic performance in the latest version of "A Star Is Born" which opened in theaters today, she is hardly the first pop singer to venture in to acting. It seems like a natural progression as singers express many complex emotions through song, so it would appear obvious that they should be able to do the same as an actor. And while some musicians have made an easy and impressive transition but for others, it is not necessarily a comfortable fit.

Billboard Magazine has decided to look back on one hundred different musicians throughout history who have moved from the concert stage to the silver screen and ranked them from the least successful to an outstanding achievement. The rules applied to compiling this list was that they had to begin their careers as a musician, they could not be playing themselves and only one performance per artist. This line-up is wide-ranging and features one-time acting appearances (Britney Spears, Erykah Badu, Eminem, Björk) to second careers (LL Cool J, Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover), Mandy Moore, Kris Kristofferson) to Oscar winners (Frank Sinatra, Jennifer Hudson, Barbra Streisand, Cher).

Click below to read:

The 100 Best Acting Performances By Musicians

2018 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

It has just been announced that all five of the Best Original Song nominees will be performed live on this year’s Oscars telecast and that will include appearances by the musicians who sang them in the films. So you will see first time nominee, Sufjan Stevens, the indie rocker who will perform his beautiful, “Mystery of Love” from one of my favorite films of last year, “Call Me By Your Name”. Another first time nominee is Mary J. Blige, a r&b veteran who will bring "Mighty River" to life on the show. In addition to the nomination for this song she co-wrote, Blige also received one for her impressive acting in the film, “Mudbound”. From the bio-pic, “Marshall”, Common, a previous Oscar winner for “Glory”, his song from the 2014 Martin Luther King drama, “Selma”, will appear with Andra Day to do “Stand Up For Something”, a song he co-wrote with Diane Warren, who has received her ninth Oscar nomination for Best Song yet still hasn’t taken home the prize. Keala Settle, a musical theater actress, had her first major film role in the sleeper hit, "The Greatest Showman" and will perform what I think is the best number from this original musical, "This Is Me" which was written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who won in this category last year for their work in "La La Land". And actor, Gael García Bernal, who sang the song in the film, and Miguel and Natalia Lafourcade, who recorded a pop version will all appear together to perform, "Remember Me" from the Disney animated film, "Coco" written by the team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez who took home the Oscar in 2014 for their big hit from "Frozen", "Let It Go".

This is a particularly strong year and any one of these songs would be a great selection but I'm leaning towards "Remember Me". This moving ballad was used quite effectively throughout "Coco" and even had me boo-hooing all through the ending. Here are all five nominees that you can listen to and judge for yourself:

“Mystery of Love”, Music and lyrics by Sufjan Stevens from "Call Me By Your Name"



“Remember Me”, Music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez from "Coco"



“This Is Me”, Music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul from "The Greatest Showman"



“Stand Up For Something”, Music by Diane Warren; lyrics by Lonnie R. Lynn and Diane Warren from "Marshall"



“Mighty River”, Music and lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq, and Taura Stinson from "Mudbound"

2017 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

With the show just a few weeks away, the Oscars have announced who will be performing the nominees for Best Original Song during the telecast. This year, all the songs will be represented on the program with Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer of "How Far I'll Go" from the Disney animated film, "Moana", performing the song along with the voice of the title character, Auli'i Cravalho. "The Empty Chair" from the documentary, "Jim: The James Foley Story" will be sung by writer, Sting. Justin Timberlake will do his inescapable pop hit, "Can't Stop The Feeling" he co-wrote for the animated film,"Trolls". And Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling will be spared embarrassing themselves in front of their peers by trying to sing live in front of them. Oscar-winner John Legend, who actually makes his living as a singer but made an acting appearance in the film, will perform the two songs nominated from the musical "La La Land", " "City of Stars" and "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)".

And who do I think will take the prize? Well, if it's a "La La Land" sweep as predicted, then " City of Stars" would be the best bet. If not, then perhaps Justin's feel-good "Trolls" song might sneak in there for the win. My personal choice would actually be "City of Stars" as it's a lovely, well-written, Hollywood-styled ballad that will stand the test of time.

But I guess we will have to tune in on February 26th to see who really wins during the 89th Annual Academy Awards.  Here are the five nominees for your listening pleasure:

"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" from "La La Land", Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul



"Can’t Stop the Feeling" from "Trolls", Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster



"City of Stars" from"La La Land", Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul



"The Empty Chair" from "Jim: The James Foley Story", Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting



"How Far I'll Go" from "Moana", Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

2016 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

It had been previously announced that pop stars the Weeknd, Sam Smith and Lady Gaga were invited to perform their nominated songs on the 2016 Oscars telecast next Sunday. Now, it's just been revealed that the other two nominees, J. Ralph & Antony Hegarty and David Lang were NOT invited to perform their songs.

The lame excuse is due to "time constraints" but I must ask when has the Oscars ever seriously been concerned about time? With the show to surely run well over three hours long, what's another ten minutes to give these performers their deserved moment in the spotlight? The real reason is clearly because these nominees are relatively unknown and their songs are not conventional enough to fit comfortably in to the star-filled evening. I think it's shameful, a disgrace and completely unfair. It should be all or nothing!

Let me get off my soapbox and let you listen to the two nominees snubbed from the show:

“Simple Song #3” from "Youth" (Music and Lyric by David Lang)



“Manta Ray” from "Racing Extinction" (Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty)



And here are the other nominees:

“Earned It” from "Fifty Shades of Grey" (Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio)



“Til It Happens to You” from "The Hunting Ground" (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga)



“Writing’s on the Wall” from "Spectre" (Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith)

2013 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Most of the conversation about this year's Oscar nominations for Best Original Song has been about the disqualification of the tune, "Alone Not Alone". I had found it a little suspect that a song from a film that nobody never heard of (let alone ever seen) managed to earn a nomination but the real news is that the rest of the selections are actually a solid collection of songs. It's been quite a while since music from a motion picture has received serious radio play but two of our nominees have been climbing up the Billboard charts. One of this year's big Grammy winners, Pharrell Williams has a top-ten hit with "Happy" from the animation sequel, "Despicable Me 2" while "Let It Go", the breakout song from another smash animated film, "Frozen" is also moving up the top-forty.

The other two notable songs include rock legends, U2 who received their second Oscar nomination for the moving ballad, "Ordinary Love" which closes out "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom". Karen O from the art-punk band Yeah Yeah Yeah co-wrote "The Moon Song" with the director of the film, "Her", Spike Jones. A version of the song is performed in the film by actors, Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix and by the artist during the end-credits.

The best news is that all of these great artists will be on the Oscar telecast, March 2nd to perform their songs. And the nominees for Best Original Song are:

"Let It Go" from "Frozen" -  Performed by Idina Menzel - (Music and lyric by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez)

"The Moon Song" from "Her" -  Performed by Karen O - (Music by Karen O, Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze)

"Ordinary Love" from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" -  Performed  by U2 -(Music and Lyric by U2)

"Happy" from "Despicable Me 2" -  Performed by Pharrell Williams - (Music and lyric by Pharrell Williams)

MUSIC AND THE MOVIES: PART ONE

I heard the theme song from "Flashdance...What A Feeling" on the radio a little while ago and it made me wonder:

"When was the last time a song from a film became a hit and made it on the pop charts?"

I was struggling to come up with something and I think it might have been Eminem and his rap song, "Lose Yourself" from his film, "8 Mile" (which actually won the Oscar for Best Original Song) but that was eight years ago.

The right piece of music could be an important part of a film that helped create the perfect mood or feeling as well as being just a great song you want to listen to. There is an obvious hunger for this type of music considering the success of the television shows like, "High School Musical" and "Glee" and their multiple soundtracks.

Unfortunately, there is no longer much thought put into creating a distinguishable song for a movie anymore and the songs that are used today tend to be something you would never want to listen to again. It's too bad but maybe this will make a comeback.

For this post, I'm going to focus on movie songs from the 1960's and 1970's. I think this was the golden age of songs created specifically for a film and a time when people actually loved the music enough to buy the movie's soundtrack. These songs were played regularly on the radio and became pop hits.

Let's go back and enjoy a few of the tunes that became just as memorable as the films they were used in:

Alfie - Dionne Warwick (1966)

Theme From "Valley Of The Dolls" -  Dionne Warwick (1967)

Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel (1967)

Theme From "Mahogany" (Do You Know Where You're Going To?) - Diana Ross (1975)

Night Fever - Bee Gees (1977)

"You're The One That I Want" - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1978)

And here is a selection of the theme songs from the James Bond, agent 007 films:

Diamonds Are Forever - Shirley Bassey (1971)

Live And Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings (1973)

Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon (1977)