After years
of being out-of-print on vinyl, ‘tis the season for Universal Music Group to
reissue the original soundtrack for Scrooged.
While the 1988 Bill Murray-led modernization of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol boasted a Danny Elfman-penned original score, it
was the pop side of the movie’s diverse musical tableau that garnered the
standout soundtrack release.
The
nine-song soundtrack came out in 1989 and it was bolstered by the Annie Lennox
and Al Green duet of the Jackie DeShannon classic “Put A Little Love in Your
Heart,” which ended up hitting #9 on the Billboard
Hot 100 and #2 on the US Adult Contemporary Chart. The fact that this decidedly
non-holiday-themed track was selected as the lead single was actually pretty
representative of the rest of the soundtrack, as many of the songs included
didn’t have much, if anything at all, to do with Christmas. However, it’s still
pretty cool to hear New Voices of Freedom’s cover of U2’s “The Sweetest Thing,”
Buster Poindexter’s cover of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” and Kool Moe
Dee’s “Get Up ‘n’ Dance” all included in the same diverse collection.
For the more
“Christmasy” fare presented on the Scrooged
soundtrack, there are a few noteworthy nostalgic nuggets as well. Robbie
Robertson’s updated take on The Band’s “Christmas Must Be Tonight” adds synth
washes and percussive propulsion to the original’s laid-back groove. While
Robertson’s redo sounds appropriately mid-80s in its sonic quality, it still
offers a refreshingly original slant when compared to his previous band’s
version. Likewise, the smooth electro-jazz version of “We Three Kings of Orient
Are” courtesy of Miles Davis, Larry Carlton, David Sanborn, and Paul Shaffer sounds
very much “of its day,” while still managing to present a fresh take on an old
classic. The album closes with Natalie Cole’s moving rendition of “Mel Torme’s
“The Christmas Song,” a holiday standard that was popularized by her father Nat
King Cole through multiple recordings throughout the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s.
"Christmas Must Be Tonight" - Robbie Robertson (Scrooged soundtrack)
"Christmas Must Be Tonight" - Robbie Robertson (Scrooged soundtrack)
While the Scrooged soundtrack is certainly one of
the most non-Christmas-themed-yet-still-associated-with-Christmas holiday
albums you’ll ever find, it’s unquestionably one of the “go-to” ‘80’s Christmas
staples. For this reason, it’s really nice to see it getting another life on
vinyl with this year’s superb reissue.
If the music
video for Annie Lennox and Al Green’s “Put A Little Love in Your Heart” wasn’t
inherently ‘80s enough on its own merit, here’s a copy of the video that
includes an opening bumper from Night
Tracks (the TBS-run version of MTV):
Just a minor quibble. According to Billboard's Top 200, the Scrooged soundtrack first charted during the week of December 3rd, 1988. Going purely off of that information, I think that makes this a 1988 release and not 1989.
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