In my tween years, the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever” was on repeat for months in my bedroom. This was via, ahem, an eight-track tape player. So, three or four cuts, clunky pause, three or four more, and so on. Listening this way was work, that’s how much I loved this music.
Too young to see the R-rated movie itself, I only had a hazy — and, as it turned out, completely incorrect — idea of what it was about. Imagine my surprise years later when I discovered it was a drama, not the lighthearted ode to dancing that I pictured. (To put it another way: What if you were expecting “Barbie” and got “Oppenheimer”?) It’s not a bad film, but instead of the moves of John Travolta, it’s the sounds of the Bee Gees and Yvonne Elliman that are permanently etched in my memory.
Some of the soundtracks I played incessantly back then, such as “Star Wars” (really more of a score, but still completely thrilling) and “Grease” (c’mon), were more or less universally popular; others (“Fame,” which I haven’t revisited since; no idea if it holds up) seemed like private obsessions. Years later, that’s how the “Garden State” soundtrack felt even though it became a cultural phenomenon.
As you can probably tell, I’ve always loved soundtracks. There are the individual songs, of course, but somehow it’s the album-ness of the thing — immersing me in a vibe, and reminding me of where I was and who I was when I first heard it.
My favorites (like “Purple Rain,” “Pulp Fiction” and “The Matador”) aren’t too surprising for a Gen X-er like myself. But with “Barbie” and other new movie-related albums in the last year, including the latest, “I Saw the TV Glow,” getting so much love from younger moviegoers, I got to thinking about different eras of film and music and wondering what other soundtracks I should be checking out.
So I’m asking you, readers, what soundtracks do you obsess over? Why do you return to them? I would love to hear your thoughts. Fill out the form below, and your response may be featured in an upcoming story. We will not publish or share your contact information outside the Times newsroom, and we will not publish any part of your submission without contacting you first.