The Lost Art of the Pop Movie Soundtrack: A Look Back At Some of the Biggest Hits from the Summer Blockbuster Season of 1996

Getting your label's biggest artists in a movie was peak 90s

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Memorial Day is in the rearview, and it’s already hotter than hell, which means it is once again time for the summer blockbuster season.

While this year’s slate of movies appears to be pretty dreadful, it’s nice to have at least the return of sitting in some air conditioning for a few hours after not having the option during the pandemic.

The other day I was channel surfing when I came upon Twister, which is always an instant watch. While watching Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt dodge farm equipment with an invisible force field around them, the movie got me thinking about the lost art of the pop soundtrack to go along with a blockbuster.

It would now be described as b r a n d s y n e r g y - but soundtracks were an excellent way for studios to use their music label division to promote a movie. While they often generated massive hits, the featured song was usually accompanied by many b-sides and throwaways that bands and their labels had lying around.

For example, Warner Bros. Pictures released Twister, so they needed someone from the label to provide a song to advertise the movie. Van Halen was called upon, which was an odd choice. While massive in the late-70s and 80s, the band was almost at an all-time low.

Sammy Hagar was on bad terms and living in Hawaii, while Eddie Van Halen was hopped on painkillers and walking with a cane after a hip injury. Drummer Alex Van Halen was immoble in a neckbrace. The director sent Hagar a list of storm chasing terms to incorporate, and the song that would go on to become “Humans Being” originally included lyrics like "sky turning black, knuckles turning white, headed for the suck zone.” Yikes.

After Hagar wanted to record his vocals from Hawaii, while the band asked him to be in Los Angeles, the “Van Hagar” era came to an end. That’s right, a song for a tornado movie broke up the band. Eddie and Alex Van Halen cobbled together the hilariously titled instrumental “Respect the Wind” when the soundtrack needed another song.

“Humans Being” is a pretty terrible song that found Van Halen trying to fit in with the alternative music on the radio at the time. Of course, the guitar solo rips, but the rest is entirely forgettable.

Speaking of forgettable, the rest of the Twister soundtrack is pretty much that. Other songs by Warners artists at the time like Mark Knopfler, Belly, k.d. lang, Red Hot Chili Peppers (who seem to be on virtually every 90s soundtrack), Goo Goo Dolls, and Stevie Nicks & Lindsay Buckingham turned in characterless efforts. On soundtracks, Nicks later noted, "when songs go into movies, you might as well dump them out the window as you're driving by because they never get heard."

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1996 summer movie season, let’s look at some other songs that came out of the year's blockbuster season.

“Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand” by Primitive Radio Gods, featured in The Cable Guy

While Jim Carrey singing karaoke to Jefferson Airplane is the most memorable music moment from the cult classic written by Judd Apatow and directed by Ben Stiller, “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand” is instantly recognizable.

The chilled-out hip hop beat and B.B. King sampled chorus was iconic enough to send the Primitive Radio Gods to number one on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. Released on The Cable Guy soundtrack a month before their debut album, “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth,” sounded like nothing else the band would release, cementing them as a one-hit-wonder.

“Theme from Mission Impossible” by Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. from Mission Impossible

Bono and The Edge are usually the U2 members that get the most publicity, but Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. broke away to try their hand at a dance hit for the first Mission Impossible movie.

Originally written by Lalo Schifrin, the song is one of the most recognizable themes of all time. Clayton and Mullen Jr. updated it for the 90s, giving it a techno vibe, and the music video full of movie scenes was enough to land the song at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The song becomes more enjoyable when you remember where the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack went.

“I Like” by Montell Jordan Featuring Slick Rick from The Nutty Professor

Like Mission Impossible, The Nutty Professor was another boomer property given a 90s facelift.

Universal Pictures looked to Def Jam to give the Eddie Murphy vehicle an update. Filled with songs by artists like Case, Foxy Brown, Mary J. Blige, Monica, Jay-Z, and Wu-Tang Clan’s 12 O’Clock and Raekwon, the soundtrack had many charting hits.

A pop culture hit, the soundtrack would peak at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Albums, and number eight on the Billboard 200.

“Change the World” by Eric Clapton from Phenomenon

Much like Twister featuring the Warner Bros. label’s roster, Phenomenon featured artists on Reprise Records. Featuring Bryan Ferry, Aaron Neville, Robbie Robertson, Jewel, Peter Gabriel, and others, it was the obnoxious “Change the World” that dominated the airwaves.

Written by Babyface and performed by the anti-masker and racist Eric Clapton, this song could not be escaped. It hasn’t aged well either - I still couldn’t make it through the video today.

If I could change the world, I’d erase this song and movie from existence.

“Fly Like An Eagle” by Seal from Space Jam

Sure, R. Kelly had the biggest hit from Space Jam, but there’s no way I’m featuring him.

Besides Seal covering Steve Miller Band, the movie about Michael Jordan and some Looney Toons playing basketball also featured songs from Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J, Method Man, and Barry White and Chris Rock’s cover of Cheech and Chong’s “Basketball Jones.”

Warner Bros. is trying to recapture that 1996 magic with this summer’s Space Jam: A New Legacy, which will feature LeBron James. The soundtrack features an updated roster with “We Win” by Lil Baby, Kirk Franklin, and Just Blaze.

Expectations? Low.

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