Zoe Praises the Purple Rain Soundtrack

Vinyl hijackers known as the Popcorn Snobs are catching up on their theme, ‘The Taking of April A-Z,’ as they run this blog for the next 11 (or so) days.

Hi all its Zoe, returning to pinpoint what a picture-perfect movie soundtrack looks like. Or better yet, what it sounds like...

Purple Rain 

It's an album made for the romantic drama film of the same name and performed by Prince and The Revolution.

You know a movie has a perfect soundtrack when you listen to the entire thing without ever feeling the urge to press the skip button. Purple Rain is that kind of soundtrack, where every single song rocks your socks off!

It also helps that Prince made his acting debut in the movie, about a young musician grappling with an abusive home life, irresistible love interest, rivalry and unsatisfied bandmates on the road to stardom. As the lead character of this film and producer of the soundtrack, Prince was able to make the music blend seamlessly throughout the narrative and become an integral part of the viewing experience. The songs became just as important as the movie plot. 

You’d be hard pressed to find an album comparable to Purple Rain, winner of an Academy Award for Best Music in an Original Song Score and recipient of two Grammy Awards – one each for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal and Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special. Prince also received a Golden Globe nomination in the category of Best Original Song – Motion Picture for “When Doves Cry,” one of his biggest hits from Purple Rain. 

Dear PRINCE,

THANK YOU for a great performance on-screen as The Kid and off-screen as the genius behind a movie soundtrack that stands the test of time!

~ Hugs and Kisses from Zoe, Nicole and the Popcorn Snobs

Hey Academy, how about an Oscar for 'Earned It' by The Weeknd?

Dear voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,

Knowing the 88th annual Academy Awards are a few days away, I'm writing to encourage your recognition of one of the most acclaimed musical compositions on the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack -- "Earned It," performed by Abel Tesfaye (aka The Weeknd) -- as Best Original Song.

The tune excels at seducing listeners into believing our needs and desires will be met in ways that can only be fully understood through the experience of surrendering to an outside force. It is spellbinding in the same way that Fifty Shades of Grey portrays it's protagonist Anastasia Steele as innocent and unsuspecting prey that gets wrapped up in Christian Grey's web of mind games, control and eroticism. "Earned It" is a force that pulls at us like the ropes that bind actress Dakota Johnson's body in the music video, also helmed by Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson.

Tom Mackay, Executive Vice President of A&R at Republic Records describes working with The Weeknd as an unbelievable experience; in a collaboration with Universal Pictures that resulted in the singer's first Top 5 single of his career, on the Billboard music charts. Written by Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Quenneville and Stephan Moccio, "Earned It" is also the only song that appears in the Fifty Shades of Grey twice. In addition to the singer winning his first Grammy award for this tune, in the category of Best R&B Performance, The Weekend also scored a Best Song Written for Visual Media nomination for "Earned It."

Universial Pictures, music buyers that crowned Fifty Shades of Grey with the highest selling multi-act compilation soundtrack since Get Rich or Die Tryin (2005) and the largest debut for a soundtrack since Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009), and The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences recognize that this is more than a hot tune.

It just works....on all levels, and for the right reasons. Period.

The track's arrangement, led by Abel Tesfaye's performance, lends itself to the hynotizing nature of the film it was made for and is as magical as any Best Original Song can get.

Wouldn't YOU agree that 'Earned It' by The Weeknd deserves an Oscar?

Strength, Skyfall and Theme Songs #atozchallenge #Monday #movie #meme

“Let the Skyfall. When it crumbles, we will stand tall. Face it all together.”

British singer Adele penned and performed one of my favorite songs of all time – “Skyfall.” Winner of an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song, it is the theme to the latest James Bond movie of the same name. I find it especially inspirational because the above lyrics from this tune could be used by anyone as a sort of mantra for getting through tough times.

In the last 60 days, I found out that at least two people I know lost a close family member, two more individuals have been in and out of the hospital for serious health issues and several others have faced technological, legal, financial, physical and personal problems. This isn’t anything new – at any given time we are all dealing with like 99 problems and counting. Just last summer, I met a dude with lung cancer (I think it was in the lungs…it’s been a while, so I forgot the location of the cancer) who told me that he wanted to blow himself away. What does this song have to do with the unrelated difficulties these strangers’ are dealing with? The common ground they have in shared setbacks.

On Saturday this past weekend, someone said to me “At least you woke up this morning,” after I mentioned having a very long and not-so-pleasant week. I’m all too familiar with that saying, as it’s been repeated by many people over the years. In fact, I have developed a rather strong aversion to it because I could never understand the point of it. I always thought “What’s so damn special about waking up in the morning; especially if you’re still in the same predicament (or worse) than you were in yesterday?" Fortunately, I’ve began to realize that I may be looking at it all wrong. The special sauce in waking up in the morning is your ability to get out of or go through your predicament. This can be done even quicker if you learn from someone else who has already done it or is doing it, which is where Adele comes in.

I perceive the lyrics to the “Skyfall” song to be a testament to the fact that no matter what you’re going through, regardless of how bad it is, there is someone else who has either dealt with the same problem or is currently facing it now.

Although the friends and family that many people look to for solace in whatever issues they have, is an awesome source of support, there is also a sense of unity in the fact that you can find strength in strangers.

Men, women and even children whom you would have probably never met otherwise had it not been for you stumbling in life are now a source of strength. This doesn’t just work one way either – you might be a source of support or inspiration for someone and not even know it.

So, maybe that’s what’s so special about waking up in the morning – you just might learn something about someone that makes you glad that you did wake up – or you just might be the person who makes someone else glad that he or she woke up in the morning. I suppose, when you look at it that way, there’s nothing like knowing you have the world on your side to stand tall with when it seems like sky is crumbling down. Keeping on topic, the theme for this week’s Monday Movie Meme is inspired by Adele, Stumbling Blocks and YOU: Inspirational Movie Theme Songs.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, the most inspirational movie theme songs that you ever heard. It would also help if you add why the song(s) inspire you. I already made it clear what one of my top selections for this week’s meme is; now it’s your turn!

What are some of the most inspirational movie theme songs YOU ever heard?

How do YOU cope with the falling skies in your life?