# Forgettable "Hit Songs" Shoehorned into Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797 "2019-11-21T21:40:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Brother\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_brother_1/32/3513_2.png) [@Little\_Brother\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Brother_1)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/1 "2019-11-21T21:40:50Z")
This thread is inspired by the “Movies That Would Have Been Better With No Love Interests” thread. I read somewhere that Glen Campbell was hideously miscast as La Boeuf in the original (1969) “True Grit” because the producers wanted a “hit song” on the soundtrack. Campbell sings the title song “True Grit”; I know this from looking it up on IMDb, because I can’t remember a note of it. (Fun fact: they offered the role to Bob Dylan for the same reason.) But dishonorable mention goes to B.J. Thomas’s “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (also 1969). I haven’t re-watched the film, but I remember it as an entertaining but peculiar mix of “jaunty” comedy and grim violence. I gather that George Roy Hill et al were attempting to produce an appealing gripping Western desperado “action” story with “light-hearted” elements. Casting two charismatic stars was a good start, perhaps, but the insipid Burt Bacharach song feels tacked on at best. Robert Redford reportedly hated it, and I’m with Redford. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/2 "2019-11-21T21:45:32Z")
> [@Little\_Brother\_1](#): > > This thread is inspired by the “Movies That Would Have Been Better With No Love Interests” thread. > > I read somewhere that Glen Campbell was hideously miscast as La Boeuf in the original (1969) “True Grit” because the producers wanted a “hit song” on the soundtrack. Campbell sings the title song “True Grit”; I know this from looking it up on IMDb, because I can’t remember a note of it. (Fun fact: they offered the role to Bob Dylan for the same reason.) > > But dishonorable mention goes to B.J. Thomas’s “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (also 1969). I haven’t re-watched the film, but I remember it as an entertaining but peculiar mix of “jaunty” comedy and grim violence. > > I gather that George Roy Hill et al were attempting to produce an appealing gripping Western desperado “action” story with “light-hearted” elements. Casting two charismatic stars was a good start, perhaps, but the insipid Burt Bacharach song feels tacked on at best. Robert Redford reportedly hated it, and I’m with Redford. I like it and without that we wouldnt have this lovely piece from [The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsu5OLKqQAQ) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/3 "2019-11-21T21:55:18Z")
How about [a forgettable movie which happened to spawn a hit song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_(film))? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/4 "2019-11-21T21:56:06Z")
Maybe not what the OP had in mind but you watch “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and there’s _soi_ much good music. But then there’s “Raised on the Radio” by “The Ravyns” and you think, “How’d _that_ get in there?” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/5 "2019-11-21T21:58:57Z")
> [@Little\_Brother\_1](#): > > I gather that George Roy Hill et al were attempting to produce an appealing gripping Western desperado “action” story with “light-hearted” elements. Casting two charismatic stars was a good start, perhaps, but the insipid Burt Bacharach song feels tacked on at best. Robert Redford reportedly hated it, and I’m with Redford. Personally, I liked the parody we sang in 1979 - “Skylab is falling on my head” - but damned if I can remember those lyrics now… ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/6 "2019-11-21T22:19:00Z")
> [@Little\_Brother\_1](#): > > But dishonorable mention goes to B.J. Thomas’s “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (also 1969). Weel, it’s not as if Butch or Sundance actually sang it in the movie; it was just a background to a montage of random time-killing capers. I’m trying to think of anachronistic music in a historical setting (where a character plays it) (no, _Back to the Future_ doesn’t count). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/7 "2019-11-21T22:49:38Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > I’m trying to think of anachronistic music in a historical setting (where a character plays it) (no, _Back to the Future_ doesn’t count). _Good Morning, Vietnam_ features a bit. Most notably “What a Wonderful World”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/8 "2019-11-21T22:59:51Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > _Good Morning, Vietnam_ features a bit. Most notably “What a Wonderful World”. The song is only off by a couple years though (the movie is set in 1965, the song came out in 1967), and isn’t anachronistic in _style_, like _Raindrops_ in _Butch and Sundance._ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/9 "2019-11-21T23:05:59Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > I’m trying to think of anachronistic music in a historical setting (where a character plays it) (no, _Back to the Future_ doesn’t count). [_Moulin Rouge!_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_Rouge!) was notable for using musical numbers entirely out of its time period. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/10 "2019-11-21T23:08:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [_Moulin Rouge!_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_Rouge!) was notable for using musical numbers entirely out of its time period. That’s also a farce in the British style so it should get a pass. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/11 "2019-11-21T23:13:57Z")
The Austin Powers “Goldmember” movie opens with Britney Spears singing the song “Boys” for no particular reason. The song didn’t even make the Hot 100, peaking at 22 on the “Bubbling Under” chart. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/12 "2019-11-21T23:22:39Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > How about [a forgettable movie which happened to spawn a hit song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_(film))? I always yell at the radio, “He’s singing about a friggin’ rat!” ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/13 "2019-11-21T23:24:57Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > I’m trying to think of anachronistic music in a historical setting (where a character plays it) (no, _Back to the Future_ doesn’t count). You’re The One That I Want from Grease fits. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/14 "2019-11-21T23:30:31Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > How about [a forgettable movie which happened to spawn a hit song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_(film))? My first though was you were talking about this movie: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unchained\_(film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unchained_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/15 "2019-11-21T23:40:12Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > I always yell at the radio, “He’s singing about a friggin’ rat!” Well, _Mandy_ was about a dog. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/16 "2019-11-21T23:57:26Z")
And Born to be Wild was about a Ford Falcon. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/17 "2019-11-22T00:03:31Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Well, _Mandy_ was about a dog. Are you thinking about “Shannon”, or are there two canine love songs? ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/18 "2019-11-22T08:34:08Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Personally, I liked the parody we sang in 1979 - “Skylab is falling on my head” - but damned if I can remember those lyrics now… You might be thinking about this: [Skylab, Skylab…Sh’dooby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLoNQNK376E) (Shattered, not “Raindrops”) ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/19 "2019-11-22T09:10:29Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Weel, it’s not as if Butch or Sundance actually sang it in the movie; it was just a background to a montage of random time-killing capers. > > I’m trying to think of anachronistic music in a historical setting (where a character plays it) (no, _Back to the Future_ doesn’t count). [Prepare to get your mind blown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQBGmBOhQEE) ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797/20 "2019-11-22T10:34:01Z")
[“All For The Love of Sunshine” by Hank Williams Jr.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHzIVQxhV7c) from “Kelly’s Heroes”. Matches the action so well doesn’t it? I’m reading a book about the history of MGM, and MGM Records’ chief Mike Curb stuck this song into the movie without notifying the director. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgettable-hit-songs-shoehorned-into-movies/843797.md?page=2)