Don’t You Forget About Me: ‘Pretty In Pink,’ ‘Breakfast Club’ & ‘Empire Records’ Soundtracks Getting Vinyl Reissues For Record Store Day

If there are any filmmakers who’ve worked their way through record stores as much as folks like Quentin Tarantino or even Wes Anderson, it would have to be John Hughes and Allan Moyle. So perhaps it’s no real surprise that on annual Record Store Day, where you can come out and support your local independent record stores on April 21st this year, there will be soundtrack reissues from both filmmakers.

First is Hughes’ “The Breakfast Club,” which will surely find many record enthusiasts doing some Judd Hirsch-style fist pumping as they pick up their all-white 12-inch vinyl pressing of the album. It’s hard to capture an entire mood of a film with a single soundtrack, especially when that film lingers on a dreary Saturday spent in detention with a few high school students looking to find themselves like in “The Breakfast Club,” but between the seminal Simple Minds track “Don’t You Forget About Me” and even Karla Devito’s “We Are Not Alone,” Hughes and his musical counterparts nailed it.

A major part of Hughes’ Molly Ringwald-starring “Pretty In Pink” were the characters defining themselves by the music they listened to, and thankfully those tunes weren’t cribbed from the Top 40 charts like many of today’s teen dramas and comedies. Hughes utilized his wide and varied taste in music to compile the “Pretty In Pink” soundtrack, which record nerds will be happy to know is printed on pink vinyl, so do your best Duckie impression and dance the night away to tracks like OMD's memorable "If You Leave," The Smiths' "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want," Echo & the Bunnymen's anthem "Bring On The Dancing Horses," and especially the Psychedelic Furs' title track "Pretty In Pink."

Finally, Allan Moyle may have never achieved the sort of filmmaking success that John Hughes did, but he certainly had his fans who enjoyed the fact he had his thumb firmly on the pulse of ‘90s culture with films like “Pump Up the Volume” and “Empire Records.” The latter also follows a motley bunch of teenagers, who much like those in “The Breakfast Club” are just looking to figure things out, but only this time they were in a record store blaring the best tunes of the day. This orange vinyl, double LP reissue will have you banging your head to Gin Blossoms' "Til I Hear It From You," The Cranberries' "Liar," and Edwyn Collins' electrifying "Girl Like You," along with tracks by Evan Dando, Cracker, and so many more. Perhaps most fitting since the characters of “Empire Records” are attempting to save their fledgling record store, hopefully these releases will have more than a few chanting “Damn the man, save the Empire” as they walk their way out of a crowded record shop on Record Store Day.

Full tracklists and artwork below.

"The Breakfast Club" Soundtrack Tracklist

1. Don't You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds
2. Waiting – Elizabeth Daily
3. Fire In The Twilight – Wang Chung
4. I'm The Dude (Instrumental) – Keith Forsey & Steve Schiff
5. Heart Too Hot To Hold – Jesse Johnson & Stephanie Spruill
6. Dream Montage (Instrumental) – Gary Chang
7. We Are Not Alone – Karla DeVito
8. The Reggae (Instrumental) – Keith Forsey
9. Didn't I Tell You – Joyce Kennedy
10. Love Theme (Instrumental) – Keith Forsey

"Pretty In Pink" Soundtrack Tracklist

1. If You Leave – Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
2. Left of Center – Suzanne Vega w/ Joe Jackson
3. Get to Know Ya – Jesse Johnson
4. Do Wot You Do – INXS
5. Pretty in Pink – The Psychedelic Furs
6. Shellshock – New Order
7. Round, Round – Belouis Some
8. Wouldn't It Be Good – Danny Hutton Hitters
9. Bring on the Dancing Horses – Echo & The Bunnymen
10. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths

"Empire Records" Soundtrack Tracklist

1. Til I Hear It from You – Gin Blossoms
2. Liar – The Cranberries
3. A Girl Like You – Edwyn Collins
4. Free – The Martinis
5. Crazy Life – Toad The Wet Sprocket
6. Bright as Yellow – The Innocence Mission
7. Circle of Friends – Better Than Ezra
8. I Don't Want to Live Today – Ape Hangers
9. Whole Lotta Trouble – Cracker
10. Ready, Steady, Go – The Meices
11. What You Are – Drill
12. Nice Overalls – Lustre
13. Here It Comes Again – Please
14. The Ballad of El Goodo – Evan Dando
15. Sugarhigh – Coyote Shivers