Never released in the United States, Party Party’s soundtrack at least makes it look like one of the stupid Eighties teen movies that have been this week’s topic. Maybe some of you UK readers can leave a comment and let us know what we’re missing.
I picked up my copy of the soundtrack as a promo while working in a record store many years ago, and it was immediately in regular rotation. Party Party is a classic ’80s soundtrack — shitty album cover, awesome collection of rarities. Back in the days before the intergooglewebtube, scouring soundtracks and b-sides for rarities was almost a sport. Pre-Lute Sting’s versions of “Tutti Frutti” and “Need Your Love So Bad” were must-haves for any respectable Police mix tape.
Here’s a complete track listing:
“Party Party,” Elvis Costello and the Attractions
“Run Rudolph Run,” Dave Edmunds
“Little Town Flirt,” Altered Images
“Yakety Yak,” Bad Manners
“Tutti Frutti,” Sting
“No Feelings,” Bananarama
“Driving In My Car,” Madness
“Band Of Gold,” Modern Romance
“Elizabethan Reggae,” Bad Manners
“No Woman, No Cry,” Pauline Black
“Need Your Love So Bad,” Sting
“The Man Who Sold The World,” Midge Ure
“Auld Lang Syne,” Chas And Dave
Okay, so maybe it’s not the best album ever but it has a Bowie cover, Madness, Elvis Costello and the aforementioned Gordon Sumner. It’s by no means rare — you can pick up a vinyl copy on eBay for a buck, but the CD is harder to find.
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Categories: From the Stacks, Music
Why It Matters 
My great find in this genre is the “Last American Virgin” soundtrack – I still have the vinyl. Notable songs featured on the compilation include “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” by The Police, “Whip It” by Devo, “Better Luck Next Time” by Oingo Boingo, and U2’s “I Will Follow”. The best tracks on the album are two all-time great 80s songs: The Cars’ classic “Since You’re Gone” and “I Know What Boys Like” by The Waitresses.
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That’s a great one. Soundtracks really took off in the Eighties, powered by the late Seventies success of Saturday Night Fever and Grease.. Some of the biggest selling albums of the decade were soundtracks (Footloose, Top Gun, Back to the Future), all of which sucked. Fortunately that enabled much more interesting fare. I’ll do a “From The Stacks” on They Call It An Accident, which is probably my favorite oddball soundtrack from that decade.
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I picked up “They Call It an Accident” in a college bookstore cut-out bin. Seems like it had some U2 tracks on it as well. Another good one was the soundtrack for “Over the Edge” which featured Cheap Trick, The Cars, and even “Teenage Lobotomy” by The Ramones.
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Tuff TurF! James Spader, Robert Downey Jr., and that girl from Escape From Witch Mountain star in a story about…something. I don’t remember, the movie sucked. But the soundtrack was great.
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Useless non-musical trivia:
That girl from ‘Escape From Witch Mountain” is now on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” I believe she has just been released from rehab.
Don’t judge me.
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