One of the most important ways for a movie to connect with an audience is the soundtrack. Every movie is scored purposely to help trigger a reaction from a movie goer at a particular moment in the film. Horror movies essentially cue the viewer to know that someone is behind the co-ed that just found her boyfriend split in half by a machete. Action films crank the drums and guitars all the way to 11 during an explosive car chase scene.
For every perfectly scored scene in a movie there is an equally placed song in a scene that is designed to garner the exact same response. In Edgar Wright’s horror-comedy Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg and company beat an old man turned zombie on beat to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” and Danny Boyle essentially made Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” make overdosing on heroin seem sexy in Trainspotting. Throughout the history of cinema, a movie’s soundtrack has often been the most important supporting cast member in a film and it is passed time they get their recognition.
For decades, the Academy Awards have awarded Oscars to Best Score and Best Original Song. Best Soundtrack is an award that is long overdue and the people responsible for curating them should be acknowledged just as much as the film’s composer. I think it is time we all write our senators and demand justice be served for the hard working men and women in the field of music supervision.
In the meantime, I have curated what I feel would have been the nominees and winners in the category of Best Motion Picture Soundtrack at the Oscars since 1975.
Best Motion Picture Soundtrack at the Oscars
1975
- Cooley High
- Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Nashville
- Tommy
1976
- Car Wash
- A Star Is Born
- Rocky
- Sparkle
1977
- Saturday Night Fever
- Pete’s Dragon
- The Rescuers
- New York New York
1978
- Grease
- Thank God It’s Friday
- The Wiz
- FM
1979
- The Muppet Movie
- Ice Castles
- The Rose
- The Electric Horseman
1980 (Sorry 9 to 5)
- Fame
- Xanadu
- The Jazz Singer
- Honeysuckle Rose
1981
- Arthur
- The Great Muppet Caper
- Heavy Metal
- Endless Love
1982
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- The Last American Virgin
- One from the Heart
- Annie
1983
- The Big Chill
- Flashdance
- Yentl
- Wild Style
1984
- Ghostbusters
- Footloose
- Beverly Hills Cop
- Purple Rain
1985
- Back to the Future
- Krush Groove
- The Breakfast Club
- Vision Quest
1986
- Top Gun
- Under the Cherry Moon aka Parade
- Pretty in Pink
- Absolute Beginners
1987
- Dirty Dancing
- Less Than Zero
- Who’s That Girl?
- The Lost Boys
1988
- Colors
- Beaches
- Cocktail
- Rattle and Hum
1989
- The Little Mermaid
- Batman
- When Harry Met Sally
- Roadhouse
- Say Anything
1990
- Dick Tracy
- Pump up the Volume
- Pretty Woman
- Graffiti Bridge
1991
- Boyz in da Hood
- Beauty and the Beast
- New Jack City
- Juice
1992
- Singles
- Aladdin
- Mo’ Money
- The Bodyguard
- Boomerang
1993
- Judgement Night
- Sleepless in Seattle
- Poetic Justice
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
1994 (Sorry Lion King)
- Natural Born Killers
- Clerks
- Reality Bites
- Pulp Fiction
1995 (Sorry Coolio)
- Waiting to Exhale
- Friday
- Mallrats
- Empire Records
- Clueless
- Higher Learning
1996
- Trainspotting
- Space Jam
- Dead Man Walking
- Romeo and Juliet
1997
- Love Jones
- Good Will Hunting
- I Know What You Did Last Summer
- Jackie Brown
1998
- Hope Floats
- Belly
- The Players Club
- City of Angels
1999
- Cruel Intentions
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
- Magnolia
- Tarzan
2000
- Save the Last Dance
- Romeo Must Die
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?
- High Fidelity
2001
- Shrek
- Vanilla Sky
- Moulin Rouge
- Choices: The Movie
2002
- 8 Mile
- Brown Sugar
- Orange County
- I Am Sam
2003
- School of Rock
- Lost in Translation
- House of a 1000 Corpses
- Bad Boys II
2004
- Garden State
- Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
- Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
2005
- Hustle & Flow
- Elizabethtown
- Walk the Line
- North Country
2006
- Marie Antoinette
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Idlewild
- Accepted
2007
- Into the Wild
- Juno
- Hairspray
- Enchanted
2008
- Twilight
- Tropic Thunder
- Cadillac Records
- Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist
- Mama Mia!
2009
- Up in the Air
- Watchmen
- This is it!
2010
- Valentine’s Day
- Scott Pilgrim vs the World
- Country Strong
- Burlesque
2011
- No Strings Attached
- The Help
- Submarine
2012
- Project X
- Pitch Perfect
- Django Unchained
2013
- Frozen
- Sound City: Real to Reel
- Inside Llewyn Davis
- 12 Years a Slave
2014
- Into the Woods
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- The Fault in Our Stars
- Chef
2015
- Fifty Shades of Grey
- Creed
- Amy
2016
- Trolls
- Suicide Squad
- Straight Outta Compton
- La La Land
2017
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Call Me by Your Name
- Baby Driver
- Marshall
2018
- A Star Is Born
- Mary Poppins Returns
- Black Panther
- Fifty Shades Freed
2019
- Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
- Rocketman
- Queen & Slim
- Mystify: A Musical Journey with Michael Hutchence
2020
- The United States vs Billie Holiday
- Birds of Prey
- Over the Moon
- One Night in Miami
Tune into a live edition of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast starting at 6:30 Sunday before the Oscars begin as the gang chats up predictions and thoughts for the biggest night of the year in Hollywood. Join the fun on the SoBros Network social media accounts and let us know who you think is taking home a gold statue Sunday night.
Steven McCash is the Music Columnist for SoBros Network, and host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast. He is the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music, in addition to the occasional live show review. Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
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