On the Road

Of all film genres, the road movie features some of the greatest jukebox soundtracks. From the pioneering playlist of Easy Rider in 1969, through the memorable music of Thelma And Louise in 1991, to the innovative selections of Drive in 2011, driving sequences make a perfect companion to pop. Here are some of the best examples from the last 50 years...

It all started here. When editor Donn Cambern was cutting the film he used tracks from his own collection to make the hours of motorbike riding footage more interesting. The producers ended up using many of his choices with the result that the cost of licensing the music was greater than the production budget for the movie! Songs like Born To Be Wild, The Pusher and The Weight work brilliantly within the picture - setting a trend for the use of existing music that continues to this day.

This existential chase movie features music by Delaney, Bonnie & Friends (who make a cameo appearance as a Christian band in the film) as well as Kim Carnes, who also wrote Sing Out For Jesus performed by Big Mama Thornton (heard in an earlier episode of Celluloid Jukebox). One of the key characters in Vanishing Point is the blind DJ Super Soul, who commentates on the action and encourages the hero of the film Kowalski to evade the police. He’s played by Cleavon Little - the black actor who was the sheriff in Mel Brooks’ hilarious western spoof Blazing Saddles.

Although the two leads in this enigmatic cult road movie are played by musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson, neither of them contributed to the soundtrack. The eclectic selection features tracks by The Doors and Arlo Guthrie as well as the original version of Me And Bobbie McGee performed by its writer Kris Kristofferson. No soundtrack album was ever released, but in 2003 an album made in tribute to the film called You Can Never Go Fast Enough was issued. It featured music by Wilco, Sonic Youth, Lead Belly, Cat Power and others.

That rarest of things – a British road movie. A DJ investigating his brother’s suicide undertakes the journey from London to Bristol in a vintage Rover. It is a modest one by the standards of the genre – an epic 120 miles – but the soundtrack more than makes up for the lack of distance. Chris Petit’s black and white odyssey features tracks by Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Wreckless Eric, Devo and Ian Dury & The Blockheads. Look out too for a fleeting appearance by Sting as a petrol pump attendant who sings Eddie Cochrane’s Three Steps To Heaven.

Jake and Elwood Blues first appeared as characters in a sketch on Saturday Night Live – the legendary NBC variety show which spawned so many comic talents over the years. Their creators John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd portray them in John Landis’ sprawling comedy that went hugely over budget - thanks in part to one of the most spectacular and destructive car chases in film history. A host of stars appear and sing on screen in the movie including James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker and Cab Calloway. The soundtrack also includes Booker T. & The MG's, as well as The Blues Brothers Band memorably covering the theme from the TV series Rawhide.

Silence Of The Lambs director Jonathan Demme helmed this quirky comedy thriller about yuppie Charles Driggs (Jeff Daniels) who falls for femme fatale Lola (Melanie Griffith). They go on a strange road trip where he gets mixed up with her dangerous past in the form of a psychotic ex-boyfriend terrifyingly played by Ray Liotta. The delightful and diverse soundtrack includes songs by David Byrne, Jimmy Cliff and Fine Young Cannibals, plus a wonderful laid-back reggae version of The Troggs’ Wild Thing, performed by Sister Carol.

Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon are the two bored housewives in Ridley Scott’s iconic female buddy movie. The plot, which sparked some controversy at the time, sees one of them kill a predatory man who has attacked the other, after which they go on the run in a 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible. The soundtrack features Part Of Me, Part Of You by the late great Glenn Frey as well as contributions from Marianne Faithfull, Martha Reeves and B.B. King. Climax Blues Band founder member Pete Haycock plays the slide guitar on Thunderbird, the specially composed theme to the film.

Two drag queens played by Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving and a transgender woman (the brilliantly hilarious Terence Stamp) travel across the outback of Australia from Sydney to Alice Springs in a bus they have named Priscilla. This much-beloved LGBT comedy-drama features a fine selection of camp classics including I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor and Mamma Mia by ABBA. The film was subsequently transformed into a highly successful stage musical. It used many of the same songs and travelled all over the world.

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is one of the most interesting directors working today and this 2011 neo-noir crime thriller, about a Hollywood stunt driver who drives getaway cars by night, is a particular favourite of Mark's. Beautifully shot by Newton Thomas Sigel, Drive features magnetic performances from Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. The soundtrack is a superbly curated list including tracks by Kavinsky featuring Lovefoxxx, College featuring Electric Youth and Chromatics. In 2014 BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe rescored the film for a special broadcast – a fascinating and controversial exercise that included music by Bastille, CHVRCHES and Laura Mvula.