The 16 Best John Hughes Soundtrack Moments

Let me make something crystal clear before the diehards start in on me: Neither myself nor anyone at Under the Radar is saying that “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” is the best Simple Minds song (everyone knows that’s “Someone Somewhere In Summertime”) or that “If You Leave” is OMD’s finest moment. That’s not what this little write-up is about (see: title of article). But since we’re on the subject, both songs are killer. Yea, yea, yea-we know Simple Minds didn’t write their biggest, most popular, and most recognizable single. Not sure why that matters or takes away from its greatness. And as for “If You Leave,” OMD are proud of it. Paul Humphreys told me himself when I interviewed him in 2013. SO BACK OFF.

Anyway, I realize that nearly a third of this list is made up of soundtrack moments from Planes, Trains & Automobiles. I’m not saying that’s the best John Hughes movie, though I could easily be convinced. Just saying it has some of the best soundtrack moments. That scene near the end when Steve Martin is on the train reflecting on the week he’s had with John Candy? And thinking about his wife and kids? And that Dream Academy song is playing? SHEESH. Note: I’ve included the vocal version of The Dream Academy’s “Power to Believe”; the film uses the instrumental version, which until last year had never been officially released.

Also, some of these tracks were in the movies, but never made it to the official soundtracks. Licensing shit I imagine. But that doesn’t matter anymore, because the Internet and stuff!

I’ve done my best to dig up the actual clips on YouTube, though not every clip is available. Per usual, I’ve also dumped the tunes into a Spotify playlist for ya (except for “Twist & Shout” because there’s no love between The Beatles and Spotify), so between the two formats, we’ve got ya covered.

What are your favorite John Hughes soundtrack moments? We wanna know. Sound off in the comments!

By Kenny S. McGuane

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