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9:30 Coffee Break: A John Hughes Tribute

Posted at 9:50 AM on August 7, 2009 by Steve Seel (3 Comments)
Filed under: 9:30 Coffee Break

A bittersweet morning today, with very sad news that director John Hughes died yesterday of a heart attack at the age of 59. Why bittersweet, you ask? Because Hughes' death has brought forth so many memories for so many people - quoting their favorite Hughes-movie lines, talking about their favorite scenes ... and recalling the music. John Hughes ushered in an era where pop music was used in the score in a way it hadn't been before; he really gets the credit for this. And the reasonance he created with his use of music truly shows to this day, both in modern film and in the way those original movies created indelible memories in the people who saw them. Indeed, the music was at least as important as the the story and the actors in many John Huges films.

So today for the 9:30 Coffee Break, I asked what some of your favorite tunes were from John Hughes movies, and the response was overwhelming. I wish I could have played them all, but in 30 minutes, I only got to about a quarter of them. So here's a sampling - including, naturally, the biggest hits, and a couple of the more obscure ones.

1) Simple Minds, "Don't You Forget About Me" (The Breakfast Club)
2) The Smiths, "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" (Pretty In Pink and Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
3) The Beatles, "Twist And Shout" (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
4) Kate Bush, "This Woman's Work" (She's Having A Baby)
5) The Psychedelic Furs, "Pretty In Pink" (Pretty In Pink)
6) The Jesus And Mary Chain, "The Hardest Walk" (Some Kind Of Wonderful)

Oh my, there are so, so many more. We might have to extend this into next week. I didn't even get to Sixteen Candles! Then there's Planes Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, the Nation Lampoon Vacation movies (which he wrote), and others (did you know he wrote Mr. Mom? I didn't either. Beer? Scotch?)

Rest in peace, Mr. Hughes. If anybody messes with the bull in heaven, you tell 'em they'll get the horns.

Comments (3)

If you do extend this into next week, would you play "I Go Crazy" by Flesh for Lulu and/or "If You Were Here" by the Thompson Twins

nice job!

Posted by wellst | August 7, 2009 11:39 AM

Wow! I couldn't have chosen any better. What a spectacular tribute to a gifted screenwriter. I love that you included the Kate Bush song, and your rewording of the "SKOW" quote. Nice!

Posted by Jennifer | August 7, 2009 12:30 PM

As my two friends and I struggled through highschool in a small town in rural Minnesota, we found salvation and kinship in the movies of John Hughes. Mr. Hughes cast freaks and geeks as humans, as heroes, as wiser and wittier than their home-coming-royalty counterparts. Pretty and Pink and Sixteen Candles gave us permission to go against the grain and offered up a sweet soundtrack for our efforts. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Hughes.

Posted by Christa | August 7, 2009 7:02 PM

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