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Note: I decided to rule out
scenes involving real singers performing. This took Prince, The Blues
Brothers, and Madonna (and others) out of the running. The scenes I
considered could involve the characters actually singing and/or lip
synching.
Before I get to what I consider my best of
the best, I thought I would give you a couple of the best of the worst.
There are a couple singing scenes that are pretty bad, but I have always
found funny. One is from Coming to America (1988) when
"Randy Watson" played by Eddie Murphy sings "Greatest Love of All"
accompanied by his band Sexual Chocolate. Here is
a
link to watch that scene. The other is from The Naked Gun
(1988) when Leslie Nielsen's character, "Frank Drebin" pretends to be
"Enrico Pallazzo" singing (butchering) our National Anthem prior to a
baseball game. Here is
a
link to watch that scene. I thought both of those were worth
mentioning though I just could not bring myself to include them on my
list. Now, here is... |
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OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10
SINGIN
SCENES FROM 80's MOVIES (+Bonus 5):
Honorable Mention. 48 Hrs (1982) - The first scene introducing
Eddie Murphy's character "Reggie Hammond" shows him sitting in a jail cell
listening to his walkman (you know it's the 80s when someone is listening
to a walkman). He is obviously listening to the song "Roxanne" by The
Police because he is singing along at the top of his lungs. I could not
find a link to this actual scene, but I did find
a
link to a similar scene from the 1990 sequel Another 48 Hrs which
gives you an idea of what the original was like.
15. Cocktail (1988) - Tom Cruise plays "Brian Flanagan" who
is a bartender in New York City while going to school for his business
degree. There is a scene where he has the entire bar singing along to
Robert Palmer's classic "Addicted to Love." Here is
a
link to watch this scene.
14.
Platoon (1986) - There is a scene when members of the platoon,
including Charlie Sheen's character "Chris Taylor," are relaxing a little
and listening to some music. They begin singing "Tracks of My Tears" by
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. It was always one of my favorite scenes in
this film which won the Oscar for Best Picture. Sorry, but I could not
find a link to this specific scene.
13.
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) - There is a scene where
John Candy's character "Del Griffith" is singing along to radio ("Mess
Around" by Ray Charles) while driving the car. I love this film and this
scene is not ranked higher because the best part is really what happens
after he stops singing. Sorry, but I could not find a link to this
specific scene.
12. Stripes
(1981) - There is a scene at the beginning of Basic Training when the
group is learning to march. Bill Murray's character "John Winger" begins
singing the Manfred Mann song "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" with Harold Ramis'
character "Russell Zisky" joining in for the second verse. Here is
a
link to watch this scene.
11. Top
Secret! (1984) - This film created by Zucker, Abrahams & Zucker is
a parody of both the World War II and Elvis films. In his first feature
film role, it stars Val Kilmer as "Nick Rivers" as an American pop singer
who gets mixed up with a resistance movement while in East Germany.
Typical gags and humor of other films like Airplane! and The Naked Gun.
Val Kilmer actually sings the songs in the movie which all sound like
Elvis, Little Richard or The Beach Boys. Here is
a
link to watch a scene where Kilmer performs a couple of these songs.
10. ¡Three Amigos! (1986) - I had previously announced this
as ranked #100 on my Favorite 80's Movie list in
my
special 100th issue. There are several humorous songs written by Randy
Newman in this movie, so I will give you links to two of them. First, here
is a
link to the amigos singing "Blue Shadows" and here is
a
link to the amigos performing "My Little Buttercup."
9. Revenge of the Nerds (1984) - This is one of my favorite
80's movies and it has a great scene towards the end when the Tri Lambs
win the big Homecoming Talent Show with a special musical performance. It
does not feature a lot of singing, but does include a rap by "Lamar." Here
is a
link to watch this scene.
8.
Adventures in Babysitting (1987) - This movie stars Elisabeth Shue
as "Chris Parker" and features a scene later in the movie where they
perform the "Babysitter Blues," but that is not the scene that puts this
movie on my list. It is the very first scene during the opening credits
where Shue's character is singing along to "Then He Kissed Me" by The
Crystals. I always had a crush on her, so I loved this scene and here is
a
link to watch it yourself.
7.
Risky Business (1983) - This is the second of three appearances by
Tom Cruise on this list. This movie includes the iconic scene of Cruise's
character "Joel Goodson" dancing around in his underwear singing Bob
Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll." Here is
a
link to watch this scene.
6.
Three Men and a Baby (1987) - The best part of this movie is a
scene when the three guys played by Ted Danson, Tom Selleck and Steve
Guttenberg, are trying to get the little baby to go to sleep. The sing the
song "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" by The Spaniels which I remember
also as the ending song on the television show Sha Na Na. I'm not a huge
fan of this movie, but this scene is pretty great and here is
a
link to watch it.
5. Back To the
Future (1985) - This is an obvious choice. The scene when Michael
J. Fox's character "Marty McFly" joins the band to sing the Chuck Berry
classic "Johnny B. Goode" is a classic itself. Here is
a
link to watch this scene.
4. Top
Gun (1986) - There are two scenes from this movie involving
singing which I particularly enjoy. The first one is obvious when Cruise's
"Maverick" along with Anthony Edwards' "Goose" spot a woman who happens to
have lost that loving feeling. Here is
a
link to watch that scene. The other is a scene when the two couples
are having fun at a bar and then break out into a version of "Great Balls
of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis. My favorite quote in this scene is when Meg
Ryan's character yells "Take me to bed or lose me forever." Here is
a
link to watch this short scene.
3.
Beetlejuice (1988) - This was a tough one to decide whether I
would put it on the singing or dancing list, but obviously I decided to
put it here. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis' characters are ghosts trying to
frighten a family out of their house. They decide to possess a dinner
party making them sing and dance to "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" by
Harry Belafonte. Here is
a
link to watch this hilarious scene.
2. Pretty in Pink (1986) - In a fantastic scene, "Duckie"
played by Jon Cryer storms into the record store singing and dancing along
to the Otis Redding version of "Try a Little Tenderness" trying to impress
"Andie" played by Molly Ringwald, his one true love. It doesn't seem to
work, but what is there is one of the very best singing scenes from an 80s
movie. Here is
a
link to watch this scene.
1.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - During a parade in downtown
Chicago, "Ferris" played by Matthew Broderick somehow takes over a float
and lip synchs to the song "Danke Schoen" followed by The Beatles version
of "Twist and Shout." This memorable scene quickly became iconic and here
is a
link to watch the part where he does "Twist and Shout." This clearly
deserved the top spot on my list.
There's my list. I hope you enjoyed it as well as the links to watch most
of these entertaining and memorable scenes.
Check out Old School Tim's blog called "Kickin' it Old School" at
http://OldSchool.tblog.com for more 80s fun.
