Posted in: Entertainment History, News, Trivia Q & A | No Comments | August 1, 2022
Q. What 2014 movie revived an interest in 1970’s music?
A. From website songfacts.com… The movie Guardians of the Galaxy opens in America, reviving ’70s favorites like “Hooked On A Feeling” and “Come And Get Your Love.”
In the film, Chris Pratt plays a human who totes a Walkman with a tape his mother gave him: the Awesome Mix Vol. 1. As he goes on galactic adventures, he plays songs from the tape, jamming out to “Go All The Way” on his ship and playing “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” for a romantic interlude.
The tracks are not what you’d expect to hear in a superhero film, as the film’s target audience was born decades later. But director James Gunn sees them as key to the development of Pratt’s character, who loves these songs even if they aren’t cool anymore. They also jibe with the quirky nature of the film, where the music doesn’t have to fit the mood.
Gunn played the songs live when shooting the scenes, so the actors and crew had to withstand repeated listenings. Chris Pratt had to hear many of them hundreds of times; the only one that wore on him was “Escape (The Piña Colada Song),” a song that has driven lesser men to madness.
The music goes over very well with viewers, who scoop up enough copies of the soundtrack (called Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1) to send it to #1 in the US for two weeks. For many younger audience members, it’s an introduction to many of the songs their parents grew up with. When the sequel is released in 2017, we learn that Pratt’s character has discovered Awesome Mix Vol. 2, with more ’70s favorites.
