A few weeks before “Adventureland” hit theaters director Greg Mottola was kind enough to give us a rundown of most of the music in the film with his comments on why he chose each track. It was a pretty awesome feature and something we hope to do with a lot more pop-soaked films. However, there was actually more music. The ’80s college rock/indie-rock inflected soundtrack disc itself features 14 tracks, but there’s actually 44 songs that are not score used in the film. That’s a ton of music (hats off to the music supe) and to Mottola’s credit, “Adventureland” is not the overwrought music montage nostalgia fest it could have been in the wrong hands. Most of the music is diegetic, and like the film itself, most of the songs are used in understated manners (The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” bumper car sequence is probably the pic’s biggest music/movie moment and it’s actually quite romantically thrilling; though the Rolling Stones’ brief “Tops” introduction to the character Lisa P is pretty awesome too).
And if you’re looking for even more recommendations in a similar vein, Mottola’s Itunes playlist acts as a veritable part two to the existing “Adventureland” soundtrack featuring songs like Devotcka’s cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs,” The The’s “This Is The Day,” Big Star’s “Motel Blues,” Dinosaur Jr.’s “Freak Scene” and our personal favorite, an acoustic version of Yo La Tengo’s “Cherry Chapstick” (the New Jersey indie-rock trio composed the score and full disclosure, we didn’t even know an acoustic version of this track existed, so choice).
Anyhow, if you’d ever like to make your own full “Adventureland” playlist. Here’s all 41 songs featured in the film.
Bastards Of Young – The Replacements
West Beirut – Civilian Fun Group
Here She Comes Now – The Velvet Underground
Down To Rio – Daniel May
Funiculi, Funicula -Bob Stuhmer
Modern Love – David Bowie
Rock Me Amadeus – Falco
Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely – Husker Du
Looking For A Kiss – New York Dolls
Pleasure Dog – Civilian Fun Group
I’m In Love With A Girl – Big Star
Taste Of Cindy (Acoustic Version) – Jesus & Mary Chain
Tops – The Rolling Stones
Hot Blooded – Louis Grammatico (Foreigner)
Pale Blue Eyes – The Velvet Underground
So It Goes- Nick Lowe
I Need To Know – Rodney Saulsberry
-The Caissons – 5 Alarm Music
Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House
Let The Music Play – Shannon
I Want Action – Poison
Satellite Of Love – Lou Reed
Point Of No Return – Expose
Obsession – Animotion
Girls In The City – Jamison Rotz
Just One Girl – Chris Carlisle
Your Love – The Outfield
America The Beautiful – Bob Stuhmer
Libiamo (La Traviata) – DeWolfe Music
In The Ether – Black Swan Lane
Just Like Heaven – The Cure
Breaking The Law – Judas Priest
Dance Hall Days – Wang Chung
Waltz Of The Flowers – Bob Stuhmer
What Do You Got Against Love – Sarah Taylor
In My House – Mary Jane Girls
Hearts Collide – Rob E C
Limelight – Rush
Here I Go Again – Whitesnake
American Patrol March – Bob Stuhmer
Pale Blue Eyes – The Velvet Underground
Unsatisfied – The Replacements
Adventureland Theme Song – Ian Berkowitz
Don’t Change – INXS
FYI, there seems to be an issue with the disappearance of the INXS song in some prints of the film. We hope Miramax and the director get that resolved.
Thanks for posting this list; now I can track down the rest of the tunes I didn’t have. One song that was only in some versions of the movie was INXS – “Don’t Change,” which Mottola intended to be on the closing credits. The version I saw had Yo La Tengo’s theme, however. Now he’s trying to figure out just where these prints with the wrong closing are being shown.
Yeah, i forgot to mention the INXS track. It was in the version i saw. I made an update and threw you guys a link, thanks.
In what city did you see it? Thanks for the link! Mottola was pretty disappointed. I thought the song was perfect at the end the one time I saw it. The second time it was way too mellow and anti-climactic of an ending.
I saw it at a press screening in new York and another friend of mine who saw in NY, regular theaters, made mention of the “excellent INXS song” too.
Big Star’s “Motel Blues” is a Loudon Wainwright III cover. It’s great.
SO mad they didn’t ever use “Pac-Man Fever”!!
i think the acoustic cherry chapstick is from the Today is the Day EP (off of Summer Sun) – I’ve probably listened to that EP about a million more times than the Summer Sun album. pick it up!
Update: It looks like Miramax is taking steps to rectify the credits problem after diagnosing it. From Miramax: “INXS cue is on all 35mm prints and Digital-Cinema masters. Issue is it was left off DTS, which is a sound format that comes separately on a DVD. So theaters that utilize DTS as their exclusive sound format (small number relative to release) will not have the INXS song until this weekend when replacement discs are sent out.”
black swan lane’s ‘in the ether’ is a beautiful song and it’s so cool to find it in this movie!
all of their music is wonderful…guess i’m gushing, huh?
anyway, if you want to hear more of their music –
you can order directly from the band at http://www.myspace.com/blackswanlane.
their music is filled with so much beauty and emotion…
you can check out their vids on their myspace page and on youtube. vid links include: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRwzrNH8ZgQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BuCcaWFF5o
i encourage you to take a listen (and a watch!).
WOW… I made the list for JUST ONE GIRL! If you guys want, check out my website at http://www.bandorganmusic.com I provided one of the carousel songs. I can’t wait to see the movie this weekend.
Thanks,
Chris Carlisle
Just wanted to thank you for compiling this list, thanks to the artists who contributed to the soundtrack, and for Greg Mottola for making such a great movie. There are only a handful of movies that have given me nostalgic butterflies and the feeling of being able to go out and conquer the world, and this is one of them! The soundtrack is exceptional, I hope I can track down all contributions.
Thank You.