And now the Pretty in Pink post.
Like I said yesterday, Pretty in Pink was my new wave/alternative and individuality bible. I was 12 when my mom took me to see it and it was everything. The opening montage of a Molly Ringwald getting ready for school was inspiring. I was already dressing in my own way at school. I wore a navy blazer with three brooches on the lapel. I wore mismatched earrings. I always wore makeup.
In the movie we got to see ALL the aspects of high school — bullies (“I hope they shrivel upand fall off”), the boy who follows you around like a puppy dog (I had one of those. He said hello on Facebook a couple of years ago — just “hello” — then he blocked me. Issues, much?”), the boy you want, the boy you don’t want, awful gym class — all of it. It touched all of those things, but at the heart of the movie is how we all feel like we don’t belong. It’s universal. No matter your economic status, sex, race, intelligence — we’re all weirdos who want to feel accepted. It’s the romantic version of the Breakfast Club. And just for fun, Some Kind of Wonderful is the lesser known, guy version of Pretty in Pink. John Hughes definitely had a message in the mid-80s.
Hughes was also known for putting together an amazing soundtrack. Here’s the track listing for PiP:
If you are or were an alternative music fan, you can appreciate this soundtrack. I went through three cassette tapes of this (one was stolen by a friend). And it brought several “new” bands into my music circle. I’d started listening to our local college’s radio station in 6th grade and already loved R.E.M. and INXS, some Smiths, but not most of these artists. Psychedelic Furs (or PFurs to big fans) were everything. This movie featured Susanne Vega before she released Solitude Standing and the hit “Luka.” Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark weren’t well known in America, but everyone knew their name after “If You Leave.” Here’s a piece of Kerry History: I asked for the OMD album for my birthday in 1986 and my aunt and uncle gave me the Ozark Mountain Daredevils album. Yes, that’s a band.
The Smiths were experiencing a boom and they covered “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.” Bonus fact: the instrumental version of that song is featured in the visually beautiful scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when they’re in the art museum.
“Bring on the Dancing Horses” is probably my favorite song from the soundrack. Echo and the Bunnymen are superfantastic. You might know them from the song “Lips Like Sugar.”
The film has so many memorable scenes. From the library scene where Andie is working and Blaine (my pretend boyfriend Andrew McCarthy) interrupts her to flirt via computer to the moment he says he asked someone else to prom to the sweet scene where Andie’s dad gives her the thrift store dress which turns into the music montage (a necessary 80s film component) of Andie ripping up Iona’s dress and the dress from her dad to make a completely new creation that fans universally hated. Molly Ringwald says she hated it as well.
I love Iona (Annie Pots) scene where Blaine comes into her record shop and while he’s waiting at the counter, a repeat shoplifter tries to lift something and she grabs her handy staple gun and attempts to shoot him. He says “you missed my eye by an inch!” “Half an inch,” she says. I love that so much. I love the film so much. The other best like of the movie also comes from Iona to Andie when she thinks Andie is getting stood up by Blaine, “listen, hon, it’s after 7, don’t waste good lipgloss.” Honey, yes.
Other scenes I adore come from the club they go to named Cats. Where Duckie (John Cryer) is too you get in. What’s memorable to me is what so many people might miss: the band on stage — The Rave-Ups. The Rave-Ups are a fantastic band. They still play and they’re still superfantastic. Shoutout to my Facebook friend, lead singer, Jimmer and bassist, Tommy Blatnik! They play my favorite song, “Positively Lost Me” in a club scene and I instantly fell in love. That’s what I do, I fall in love with songs. I didn’t know the name of the Band, but I thought I had figured out the name of the song. When I bought the soundtrack I was immensely disappointed that it wasn’t included. Now this was pre-Google. I couldn’t look the movie up and find out the band who played the song. So what did young music lover Kerry do? I went to the movies. With a piece of paper and a pen in my purse, I stayed until the credits scrolled up and I saw the name of the band. So, I went back to my local record store and bought their album Town and Country. I highly suggest you go out and buy all their stuff. Right now. I’ll wait.
So, that’s my story of my love for a little movie from my little life. Here’s “Positively Lost Me.”
You’re welcome.
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